Dylan Sampson ties Tennessee’s modern single-season rushing TD record … with five games left

Dylan Sampson is now tied for Tennessee’s modern single-season rushing touchdown record with 17 — with five regular-season games remaining on schedule — matching Reggie Cobb’s total during the 1987 season. 

Sampson ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tennessee to a 24-17 win over rival Alabama Saturday night at Neyland Stadium in the annual Third Saturday in October game.

“Epitomizes him as a competitor,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said of Sampson’s performance against Alabama. “He’s special. 

“… We blocked a little bit cleaner in the second half. Gave him an opportunity to get started and created some plays so resiliency from him too.”

Dont’e Thornton: ‘D-Samp is one of the best running backs in the nation’

Gene McEver holds the all-time program record for rushing touchdowns in a single season with 18 touchdowns in 1929. 

Cobb set the modern record with his 17 rushing touchdowns in 12 games in 1987. He finished the season with 1,197 yards on 237 attempts and also caught three touchdown passes that year. 

Sampson is on pace for 29 rushing touchdowns in Tennessee’s 12-game regular season. He’s now up to 838 yards on 144 attempts through seven games, averaging 119.7 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry. 

He has rushed for 100 or more yards in six of the first seven games this season, with the 139 against Alabama being a new season high. He had 138 at Arkansas, 132 vs. NC State, 124 vs. Chattanooga, 112 vs. Florida, 101 vs. Kent State and 92 at Oklahoma. 

Sampson has run for two or more touchdowns in six of seven games, too, with four against Kent State, three against Florida, two against NC State, Arkansas and Alabama and one against Oklahoma. 

He’s now up to 31 total touchdowns — 30 rushing, one receiving — in just 29 career games at Tennessee. Sampson has scored his 31 touchdowns in just 16 of his 29 games with the Vols. 

Sampson had six touchdowns as a freshman in 2022 and seven more last season, while also catching a touchdown pass last season. 

McEver holds Tennessee’s all-time career rushing touchdown record with 37 between 1928 and 1931. James Stewart holds the modern record 35 from 1991 to 1994.

Dylan Sampson on pace for 1,436 yards, 29 touchdowns during regular season

Sampson is on pace to rush for 1,436 yards on 246 attempts, which would be an average of 5.83 yards per carry. 

Travis Stephens holds the single-season rushing record with 1,464 yards in 2001. Stephens also holds the Tennessee records for attempts, with 291 in 2001, averaging 4.93 yards per carry. 

Jay Graham holds the record for yards per game, averaging 130.7 in 11 games in 1995. Chuck Webb holds the record for average yards per rush, minimum 200 rushes, with 5.91 in 1989.

Sampson’s 139 yards against Alabama came on 26 attempts and included a long of 36 yards. 

“I feel like D-Samp is one of the best running backs in the nation,” Tennessee receiver Dont’e Thornton said Saturday night. “And knowing that I have D-Samp in the back running the ball, every time out there it’s a run play, it makes me want play even harder for him because I know that if we ain’t got things going, D-Samp will get the ball in his hands and make something happen. So I just go out there and play hard for him.” 

Sampson scored on a 2-yard run with 6:32 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 7-7 and scored again on a 3-yard run with one minute left in the third to give Tennessee its first lead at 14-10.

“D-Samp is a dog, man,” Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava said during his postgame press conference. “Continues to be a dog. Whenever I hand the ball off, I feel like he’s going to go score, so it’s good to have that confidence in a guy like that, for sure.”

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