Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson has had an incredibly memorable season and perhaps the best year of any running back in program history.
But Sampson was not one of three players that the committee nominated for the Doak Walker Award, an award given annually to the nation’s top college running back.
Sampson discussed not being one of the three nominees for the award following his 128-yard performance in Tennessee regular season finale victory over Vanderbilt.
“Stuff like that, you can’t let it validate you,” Sampson said. “I know what I do week in, week out on the field. Shoutout to the people they picked. I like their games. I know what I bring to the table. There will be people that recognize that.”
Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton were the three finalists for the award and they all have an argument from a pure statistical standpoint. But Sampson’s ability to have success week-in and week-out in the SEC while often carrying the Vols’ offense to a 10-2 (6-2 SEC) record and College Football Playoff appearance was special.
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Sampson might not be a finalist for the Doak Walker Award but he has etched his name into the Tennessee record books this season having broken two single-season records with a pair of other records still in sight.
His 1,485 yards this season on 256 carries is a single-season rushing yards record, surpassing Travis Stephens 1,464 rushing yards during the 2001 season. Sampson’s 22 rushing touchdowns eclipsed Gene McEver’s 18 rushing touchdowns form the 1929 season.
Sampson can still break two more program records this season too. He is just two rushing touchdowns away from tying Gene McEver’s career record of 37 rushing touchdowns.
Sampson 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.
The junior running back will look to stake his claim to those two record when Tennessee opens up College Football Playoff action later this month.
