Tennessee coach may have discovered why Dylan Sampson keeps fumbling, but it's not an easy problem to fix
Junior running back Dylan Sampson has been the Tennessee Vols' best offensive player in 2024 — he has 20 touchdowns and over 1,200 total yards — but he's had some ball security issues over the last few games. Sampson had zero lost fumbles over his first two-and-a-half seasons at Tennessee. In the last three games, […]
Junior running back Dylan Sampson has been the Tennessee Vols' best offensive player in 2024 — he has 20 touchdowns and over 1,200 total yards — but he's had some ball security issues over the last few games.
Sampson had zero lost fumbles over his first two-and-a-half seasons at Tennessee. In the last three games, however, Sampson has lost three fumbles.
Fortunately for the Vols, Tennessee has won all three games in which Sampson has fumbled. But it's still an issue that obviously needs to be fixed as the Volunteers attempt to lock down a College Football Playoff berth over the next couple of weeks.
Tennessee running backs coach De'Rail Sims met with reporters on Tuesday ahead of the Vols' upcoming game against the Georgia Bulldogs and he was asked about Sampson's ball security issues.
Sims suggested that the reason Sampson is struggling with fumbles in recent games is because of his desire to pick up extra yardage — even when it's clear that there are no extra yards to be had.
“The number one deal is understanding when you’ve drained it enough," said Sims. "A lot of times you go back through and you look at the tape, a lot of those is he’s fighting for those extra yards. He still keeps trying to churn. The guys are sitting there trying to club at it and they’re trying to pull the ball off. So understanding it when you drain it out enough, it’s time to go down so that they can’t get those shots on the ball. Then it comes down to our ball mechanics, too — like we practice every day. Just make sure when we’re in the pile arm bar the football and do a really good job having your pads over it and continue to keep protecting it.”
That sounds easy to fix, right? Just go down when you feel contact.
Except it's not that easy. As Sims pointed out, fighting for extra yards is something that's a part of Sampson's mentality as a player.
"I think it’s a habit portion now," said Sims of Sampson fighting for extra yards. "We always talk about as a program going ‘pad plus two.’ And I think he’s doing a really good job of finishing off his runs. So a lot of times when that’s already ingrained in you, it’s kind of hard to understand in this certain situation, I’ve drained it out enough, let me go ahead and get down so that I don’t put the ball in jeopardy."
The last thing that coaches want players doing is thinking too much on the field. That's typically when the game can speed up and mistakes are more likely to be made. When Sampson is fighting for extra yards, the only thing going through his mind is to keep fighting. It can be tough to flip that switch. Especially since it's not like anyone is asking Sampson to stop fighting for extra yards — that's still a big part of his game. It's just Sampson needing to know when he's gained every extra yard he can get. And again, that's not as easy as it sounds. Things happen much faster on the field than they seem when you're watching the game on TV or from the stands.
Sampson will continue to work on protecting the football and I think we'll see him get better in that area. But it's not nearly as simple of a fix as it sounds.
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