Josh Heupel explains Dylan Sampson’s injury after Ohio State loss

Tennessee coaches Josh Heupel said Saturday night that Dylan Sampsons missed most of the 42-17 College Football Playoff loss at Ohio State with a soft tissue injury sustained late at Vanderbilt on Nov. 30.

The Vols beat Vandy 36-23 behind Sampson’s season-high 178 rushing yards, helping his team punch a ticket to the new 12-team College Football Playoff. He carried just twice for six yards against Ohio State at Ohio Stadium, playing on the first possession of the game and then two snaps in the second half.

Heupel added that Sampson missed practice time during the first two weeks of playoff practice but had returned to practice this week.

“The end of the Vandy game, (he) got confused,” Heupel said, “and it was soft tissue. And he had been out the first couple of weeks and came back with us. Started building him through the week. Felt he was a good place.

“Expected him not to have the same type of strain that he would normally have. Right early in the game it remade it and wasn’t available there for a while.”

Without Samspon, quarterback Nico Iamaleava had to run 20 times for 47 yards. Freshman Peyton Lewis ran 10 times for a team-high 77 yards and redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop ran seven times for 22 yards. Sophomore Tennessee running back Cameron Seldon left the team eight days ago to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Sampson met with reporters earlier this week in Knoxville and said he felt “good” when asked about the three weeks off.

“This day off has been good for my body,” Sampson said. “It’s probably the best I’ve felt all season. My legs feel fresh. Every day counts.”

Sampson, Tennessee’s junior running back from Baton Rouge, La., carried the Vols during the regular season. He set new program single-season rushing records with 1,485 yards and 22 touchdowns. Travis Stephens held the previous record for rushing yards with 1,464 in 2001 and Gene McEver held the previous touchdown record with 19.

Sampson became Tennessee’s 20th running back to pass for 1,000 yards on the season when he rushed for 149 yards on a season-high 30 carries against Mississippi State on November 9.

He rushed for 100 or more yards in 10 of 13 games this season and 130 or more yards six times. He had multiple rushing touchdowns in seven games, including three with three or more, but did not score a rushing touchdown in either of Tennessee’s last two games.

“We knew Dylan wasn’t 100%,” Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said during his postgame press conference. “We knew he was going to go early and he was going to give it a shot. When that guy’s not 100%, you know, he’s the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, right, he makes everything go.

“So it was hard to lose him and actually not even have him at full speed. But that’s part of the job, when you’re not healthy, when you’re not 100 percent, what do you have to do to get the job done. We didn’t make it tonight.”