Dylan Sampson leaves Miss. State game with apparent leg injury

Dylan Sampson appeared to injure his left leg late in the second quarter Saturday night against Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee’s No. 7 junior running back ran left, was stopped for a loss of yardage and appeared to reach for his left ankle on the field.

Sampson left the field under his own power, briefly went to the injury tent on the Tennessee sideline and then went to the Tennessee locker room with just under a minute left in the first half.

The drive that Sampson left with the injury ended after 24 yards Max Gilbert Field goal gave the Vols a 17-7 lead with 46 seconds left before halftime. Gilbert then kicked a 38-yard field goal as the first half expired to give the team a 20-7 lead at halftime.

Don’t’e Thornton caught a 73-yard touchdown pass to give Tennessee a 14-0 lead with 13:35 left in the second quarter Squirrel knows Tennessee caught a 34-yard touchdown on the game’s first drive, giving the Vols a 7-0 lead heading into fourth and third. It was the Vols’ first points in an opening game since a 71-0 win over Kent State on September 14th.

Dylan Sampson rushed for over 1,000 yards in the first quarter this season

Sampson set a new Tennessee single-season rushing touchdown record last week, scoring his 18th and 19th touchdowns of the year.

He is now Tennessee’s second consecutive 1,000-yard runner. Jaylen Wright ran for 1,013 yards last season, becoming the first Tennessee running back to rush for over 1,000 yards since Jalen Hurd in 2016, when Hurd ran for 1,288 yards.

Sampson came into the game Saturday night needing just 20 yards to reach 1,000, running for 24 yards on four attempts on Tennessee’s first possession.

He broke the single-season rushing touchdown record when he scored twice in a 28-18 win over Kentucky last week, giving him 19 points on the season. The previous record of 18 was held by gene McEver in 1929.

Reggie Cobb held the modern record with 17 players in the 1987 season. He set the modern record in 12 games in 1987, finishing the season with 1,197 yards on 237 attempts and also catching three touchdown passes that year.

Dylan Sampson averaged 122.5 yards per game this season

Sampson finished the Kentucky game with a season-high 142 yards on 27 carries. He ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns and led Tennessee to a 24-17 victory over rival Alabama three weeks ago.

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

Sampson started the Mississippi State game on pace, scoring 29 rushing touchdowns in Tennessee’s 12-game regular season. In the first eight games, he ran for 980 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry and averaging 122.5 yards per game.