Dylan Sampson’s hamstring injury leaves Tennessee’s offense struggling in CFP loss to Ohio State

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Tennessee reached the College Football Playoff for the first time thanks in large part to a rushing attack powered by Dylan Sampson.

On Saturday night, the volunteers were without the services of their workhorse who ran back when they need him most.

Sampson — the SEC Offensive Player of the Year — spent most of it Tennessee’s 42-17 first-round loss to Ohio State on the sidelines due to a strained left hamstring.

The junior had two carries for six yards in the first quarter and didn’t return until early in the third quarter, when he had a 2-yard catch.

That would be the extent of Sampson’s output.

Coach Josh Heupel said after the game that Sampson got fouled near the end of the game Nov. 30 game against Vanderbiltas he had a career-high 178 yards on 25 carries.

Sampson was rested for a few weeks but returned to practice this week. However, he aggravated the injury in the first quarter.

“We felt he was in a good spot. We expected him not to have the same load, but he adjusted it again and was unavailable for a while,” Heupel said.

Sampson — who set school records with 1,485 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns — rode a stationary bike and stretched on Tennessee’s sideline in the first half in an attempt to loosen his hamstring.

He had 10 100-yard games this season as Heupel’s offensive scheme evolved this season from up-tempo to wearing down opponents with the run.

Tennessee averaged 232 rushing yards per game. game, which led the SEC and was ninth nationally.

“We knew he was going to give it a shot. When that guy’s not 100%, he makes everything go. So it was tough to lose him and actually not even have him at full speed,” offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said . “But that’s part of the job, when you’re not healthy, when you’re not 100%, what do you have to do to get the job done. We didn’t get it done tonight.”

DeSean Bishop, who was second on the team in rushing, had seven carries for 22 yards before he was injured in the second half.

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava also had to struggle without two of his top receivers as Squirrel White and Dont’e Thompson also went down with injuries in the first half.

Iamaleava didn’t complete his first pass until almost five minutes into the second quarter.

The Volunteers punted on their first three drives but scored on their next two to get within 21-10, including a 2-yard TD run by Iamaleava.

However, Tennessee did not score again until 1:56 remained in the game as Iamaleava had another 2-yard score.

“We struggled with protection early in the game,” Heupel said. “I thought Nico did a good job with his feet during that when he made some plays. We were inseparable at times and it was a combination of many different things.”

Tennessee also looked to hold Ohio State to a three-and-out on its first series, but defensive lineman Bryson Eason drew a facemask penalty after a sack by Will Howard on third down. The Buckeyes would go on to score as Howard had a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith as they built a 21-0 advantage less than 12 minutes into the game.

Iamaleava was 14-of-31 passing for 104 yards, but also had a career-high 20 rushing attempts for 47 yards.

“I did not expect to run so many times. We didn’t execute the whole game plan. We had to be better,” Iamaleava said. “We had to come in, had a great game plan to come in and shoot first, and they hit us in the mouth first. We just tried to recover the whole game.”

In four years, Heupel has turned a program that was 3-7 and reeling from a recruiting scandal under former coach Jeremy Pruitt to finish 10-3 this season and reach the CFP.

“Tonight was not one of our best performances this year and so at the end of the day we have to continue to grow. We start again and start rebuilding, rebuilding and growing as a football team,” said Heupel.

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