USA Today tagged Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson as the SEC Player of the Year on Thursday.
The announcement on Thursday comes in as Tennessee and Sampson prepare for the Vols’ first playoff game in program history as an opponent and date will be revealed following conference championship weekend in just a few days.
Sampson has put together a historic campaign in Knoxville during his junior season.
The Louisiana native rushed for 22 touchdowns and scored 132 points himself, both single-season records in the Tennessee Football history book.
Congrats to @dylans21527 on being named the @SEC Player of the Year by @usatoday #GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/gZSLkWJZfn
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 5, 2024
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On the season as a whole, Sampson has racked up 1,485 yards and 22 rushing touchdowns on 256 carries. The 5-foot-11 running back also added in 141 yards on 19 receptions throughout the season.
Sampson led the SEC this season in rushing attempts (256), rush yards (1,485), rushing touchdowns (22), scoring (132), and all-purpose yards (1,626). The Vols running back truly was the Most Valuable Player in the conference and his ability to take weight off of Nico Iamaleava’s shoulders in his first season starting was a huge boost for Tennessee’s offense.
Sampson began the season with three straight 100+ yard games and then fell just eight yards short of 100 yards in Tennessee’s fourth game against Oklahoma. Sampson then returned to form and rattled off six straight 100+ yard games including against Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia.
Sampson’s three-game stretch of Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi State saw him average more than 143 yards on the ground per game.
The Tennessee running back superstar hasn’t gotten all the recognition he deserves, though. Sampson has not been in the national media’s Heisman Trophy conversations and was snubbed as one of the three finalists for the Doak Walker Award given to the nation’s best running back.
Sampson, though, doesn’t appear to care about individual awards. Not when there are still team goals out there to be taken, either. Sampson spoke with Jim Rome on Thursday about that.
“Certain things don’t, I don’t let validate me,” Sampson said on the show. “It would be great to be in those conversations, I do think I’ve done everything possible to deserve being in those conversations, but those things don’t value me.”
See the full clip below:
.@Vol_Football RB Dylan Sampson (@dylans21527) on being snubbed as a finalist for the Doak Walker Award. pic.twitter.com/f4eOxWeIbe
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) December 5, 2024
