Josh Heupel gushes over impressive play from Tennessee Vols sophomore
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said last week that getting sophomore running back Dylan Sampson the ball against UTSA would be a priority. And they weren't lying. After receiving just four touches against Austin Peay and zero touches against Florida, Sampson carried the ball 11 times for 139 yards […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said last week that getting sophomore running back Dylan Sampson the ball against UTSA would be a priority.
And they weren't lying.
After receiving just four touches against Austin Peay and zero touches against Florida, Sampson carried the ball 11 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns and caught a pass for 20 yards in Tennessee's 45-14 blowout win against UTSA.
(Note: Sampson had four total touchdowns in the Vols' season-opening win against Virginia.)
While reviewing the game during "The Josh Heupel Show", there was one particular run for Sampson that Tennessee's head coach gushed over.
In the fourth quarter, Sampson scored Tennessee's final touchdown of the day on a 41-yard run that featured a beautiful backdoor cut.
"Man, beautiful backdoor cut right there," said Heupel while watching the play with Vol Network's Bob Kesling. "I'm telling you what, [He's] got a feel for bodies in space — their closing speed, their body position….being out in the playground and having a feel for bodies in space and bodies in movement. [Sampson] does a really nice job there."
There were plenty of questions when it came to Sampson's lack of usage against Florida. Heupel admitted that Tennessee didn't rotate as much as they need to against the Gators. And he obviously corrected that against UTSA.
I'm betting that Sampson won't be "underused" moving forward — he's clearly a player that Tennessee needs on the field as often as possible. And Heupel seems to feel the same way based on his reaction to that play from Sampson.
The Tennessee fan base needs to learn an important lesson from a team the Vols destroyed last season
It’s an important lesson for Volunteers fans
