Tennessee football’s rushing attack has been elite through three weeks this season with the Vols leading the SEC in rushing by a full 73 yards. It’s a bigger gap than between the conference’s second best rushing team (Texas A&M) and the seventh best rushing team (Auburn).
An abundance of factors go into creating an effective running game and Tennessee’s offensive line has certainly been stout this season at creating push and running lanes for the Vols’ tailbacks.
But Tennessee’s running backs have been fantastic so far this season. In fact, the Vols have the SEC’s two highest graded running backs so far this season according to PFF.
Sampson is the SEC’s highest graded running back through the first three weeks of the season, earning an 88.9 grade. Tennessee’s junior running back being at the top of the list is no surprise. He’s second in the SEC with 357 rushing yards, first with nine rushing touchdowns and fifth with 7.9 yards per carry.
After shining as part of a loaded running back room in his first two seasons at Tennessee, Sampson is proving he can shoulder the load as the lead man this season. The Baton Rouge native looks like not only one of the best running backs in the SEC but the entire country through three weeks.
“You can put him in any position,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “He’s a guy that can have success and that’s pass protection. It is as a runner, it’s out in space as a receiver, getting him swing passes, whatever it might be. He’s got a great, great, great skillset.”
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While it’s not surprising that Dylan Sampson has the best PFF grade amongst SEC running backs, it is surprising how effective redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop has been so far this season.
In fact, Bishop’s 86.7 PFF grade is the second best amongst SEC running backs so far this season. Bishop has few carries this season (22) but he’s made the absolute most of them. The Knoxville native ranks 11th in the conference with 222 yards per game and leads the conference with 10 yards per carry.
A preferred walk on, Bishop was battling with Cam Seldon for Tennessee’s second running back spot in the preseason and in week one. But after earning second team snaps against Chattanooga, Seldon’s missed the last two games due to injury and Bishop has been the clear second option behind Sampson.
Bishop is running with his opportunities and even led Tennessee with 120 rushing yards against Kent State despite carrying the ball just seven times.
“He’s the same dude every day,” Heupel said of Bishop. “He’s competing. He wants to grow. He challenges himself. He responds well to the challenges from his coaches. I thought he did a really good job tonight pressing around the line scrimmage and getting to the second level and creating big plays.”
The challenge gets greater for Sampson, Bishop and the entire Tennessee rushing attack this Saturday when the Vols open up SEC play against one of the conference’s best run defenses in Oklahoma. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
