Tennessee’s backfield is going to look a whole lot different than it has all season when the Vols take on Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.
What was once a group that featured running backs Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small, and Dylan Sampson alongside quarterback Joe Milton III will now be the dynamic running back duo of sophomore Dylan Sampson and freshman Cam Seldon alongside freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
There are questions that surround Tennessee’s running backs, though. Can Dylan Sampson be a No. 1 back in the offense against a stout Iowa defense? Can Cam Seldon produce enough on offense to simultaneously give Sampson a spell and the Vols’ offense a burst? We will find out those answers on Monday, but until then, the head coach and conductor of Tennessee’s offense feels confident in what he has.
Sampson had 86 attempts for 471 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games this season, all of which were career highs for the Louisiana native. But it was the passing game where Sampson really broke out onto the scene. After just totaling three receptions during his freshman season, the 5-foot-11 running back had 17 catches for 175 yards and one touchdown during his sophomore campaign this past season.
“DSamp, just the way he’s played throughout the course of the season and he’ll have more opportunities in this one,” Josh Heupel said on Wednesday. “But he’s smart. He’s competitive. He’s a really good leader. He’s been dynamic when he’s had opportunities and the ball’s been in space. We’re going to need him to play and function there at a really high level.”
Cameron Seldon, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Browns Store, Virginia, racked up 12 carries for 51 yards in 12 games this season. Seldon bounced back and forth between offensive clean-up time and special teams work throughout his first season on Rocky Top but will be a much more integral part of the offense against Iowa with Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small opting out for the game.
“The way that we practice, he gets a lot of reps during the course of a normal game week,” Heupel said about Seldon’s preparation and work throughout the season. “He’s continued to grow, understanding our schemes versus what we’re seeing front-wise, how to press his aiming points, deliver double teams. He’s dynamic, he is strong, he’s physical. Excited to see him play, but see Khalifa (Keith) play as well.”
More from RTI: Nico Iamaleava Recruiting Bru McCoy To Return For His Super Senior Season
Khalifa Keith, as Heupel mentioned, is another talented young freshman running back who will likely see playing time against the Hawkeyes on Monday.
Fortunately for Sampson, Seldon, and Keith – and certainly Iamaleava, too – Heupel spoke highly of the health of Tennessee’s offensive line heading into the bowl game, saying that it is “a lot better than it was at the end of the regular season.”
The details of that statement, though, are still to be seen when the game is played.
While Tennessee feels good about their crop of young running backs and young quarterback, the Iowa Hawkeyes bring a Top 5 total defense into Camping World Stadium to ring in the new year.
“Yeah, it’s not just the numbers that say they got a really good defense,” Heupel said about the Hawkeyes’ unit. “You can watch the film. They’re dialed in, they make you earn it. They don’t give up a bunch of big plays. That’s in the pass game and in the run game. They’re really good on third downs getting off the football field. They’ve created zero in negatives. They adjust during the course of the ball game extremely well to the things that they’re seeing. It’ll be important for us to go maximize our opportunities and create big plays. But you got to sustain drives in this one. So first and second down are really important not to be in third and long, and third down, you got to convert.”
It’ll be a challenging game for the Tennessee offense, but an opportunity for a big moment to close out the season nonetheless.
No. 21 Tennessee will take on No. 17 Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day at 1:00 p.m. ET in Camping World Stadium (Orlando, FL).
