Tennessee football defeated Vanderbilt 36-23 on Saturday afternoon to clinch a 10-2 (6-2 SEC) record and a berth in the expanded College Football Playoffs.
But star running back Dylan Sampson didn’t wait until the playoffs to break another Tennessee record. Sampson is the Vols’ new single-season rushing record holder.
After the performance, Sampson has rushed for 1,485 yards this season on 256 carries. The junior running back surpassed Travis Stephens who previously held the record, rushing for 1,464 during the 2001 season.
Sampson’s performance against Vanderbilt was one of the best of his season, rushing for 178 yards on 25 carries. Ironically, it was his first game all season where he didn’t total a rushing touchdown. Still, Sampson concludes the regular season with a 22 touchdowns to go along with his 1,485 yards.
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It’s not the first record that Sampson has broken this season. He already holds the Vols’ single-season rushing touchdown record and is just two rushing touchdowns away from tying Gene McEver’s career record of 37 rushing touchdowns.
Not rushing for a touchdown against Vanderbilt hurts him in that hunt but he still has a great chance to at least tie the record in the postseason.
Sampson now has 10 100-yard rushing games this season and is just one 100 yard game away from tying Tennessee’s program record for most 100-yard rushing games in a single-season in program history. He is already in second place outright. Sampson totaled 100 yards in every game this season besides the Vols’ wins over Oklahoma and UTEP. He totaled just 11 carries in the blowout win over UTEP.
But the best part for Sampson and Tennessee is that he’s not done yet. The Vols will make the College Football Playoff and could potentially host a first round game.
