The Lead Volunteer; Dylan Sampson The Engine For Tennessee's Offensive Efforts

The Tennessee running back is leading the entire conference in rushing yards and touchdowns.

Oct 12, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Dylan Sampson (6) scores a touchdown against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images / Brianna Paciorka/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The No. 7 Alabama football program heads to Knoxville on Saturday for the "Third Saturday in October" rivalry game against the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers. Alabama enters the game as a slight favorite, but faces haunting memories entering Neyland Stadium as the last time they made the trip north they left on the wrong end of the rivalry for the firs time in 15 years.

The Crimson Tide's already lost once in the Volunteer State this season, to SEC-darling Vanderbilt in one of the season's biggest upsets. Alabama can't afford another slip-up if the Crimson Tide want to play in Atlanta for the conference championship and stay in line to qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Alabama must focus on one key on Saturday in order to avoid an upset and begin a new winning streak over Tennessee, slowing down Volunteers junior running back Dylan Sampson.

"The guy is a really good football player," Alabama defensive line coach Freddie Roach said. "Obviously, he's scored a lot of touchdowns, he's got good balance and body control, he's got a burst that could finish long runs and he's hard to bring to the ground. We have to do our job as far as fitting the gaps, and when we have the opportunity to wrap him up, [do it] and bring him to the ground."

Every Dylan Sampson touch against Arkansas.

The Tennessee running back took 22 carries for 138 and 2 TDs with 1 reception for 11 yards in the loss to the Razorbacks.

How do you think Alabama will defend against him? pic.twitter.com/cqJv4CEkjU

— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) October 17, 2024

Sampson not only leads Tennessee in touchdowns, but he leads the entire conference with 15 as he's scored multiple times in all but one game this season. The bruising running back takes advantage of the spacing created by the Volunteer offense to spot running lanes and explode for big plays.

Defenses are often caught with light boxes when facing the Vols due to Tennessee's wide splits and personnel usage. When this occurs it tempts the Volunteers to run the football as the game becomes their five linemen against limited defenders up front, resulting in fruitful opportunities on the ground.

"They spread guys out a lot and limit who you can have in the box," Roach said. "The offensive line is physical up front. They're big, there's three of them that's been playing for a long time, so they've been consistent. I think people look at them and say they just throw the ball all the time, but they do a really good job of running as well."

Sampson's 699 yards on the ground make it clear how talented he is as he leads the conference by 87 yards over the next closest rusher. His output has helped the Volunteers amass 1477 total rushing yards this season, good for seventh in the nation at 246 yards per game.

Every Dylan Sampson touch against Florida.

The Tennessee running back took 27 carries for 112 and 3 TDs with 2 receptions for 7 yards in the win over the Gators.

How do you think Alabama will defend against him? pic.twitter.com/5PHszdmp5D

— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) October 17, 2024

"He's a guy that - they've got a big OLine - and he's a little bit shorter and that's, I think, an advantage for them is that he can hide behind and be patient," Alabama Wolf Coach Christian Robinson said. "He's also really hard to get down. You can't sling him down. He can spin out of tackles. He's leading [Tennessee} with 15 touchdowns this season, the next closest guy's got four. He's obviously a mainstay in their offense. We've got to go shut that down in order to be successful and he's a great player and they find many ways to get him the ball and I expect them to try to feed him the ball on Saturday."

Alabama's struggled to defend the run, allowing teams to gain 129 yards per game, good for 55th in the country. The Crimson Tide allowed each of its last three opponents' starting running backs to get into the end zone as South Carolina's Raheim Sanders ran for 78 yards and a touchdown, Vanderbilt's Sedrick Alexander ran for 64 yards and two scores and Georgia's Trevor Etienne rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown.

No Wisconsin running backs got into the end zone, but the trio of Chez Mellusi, Cade Yacemelli and Tawee Walker combined for 131 yards shining the spotlight on the fact that Alabama has struggled throughout the year and in particular over the last four games to deal with opposing tailbacks.

Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, there aren't many alternatives to spreading thin defensively on Saturday. Tennessee will force the Alabama defense to defend sideline to sideline and down the field vertically, but will use Sampson and the offensive line like a boxer would use a jab throughout a fight.

Tennessee's head coach Josh Heupel is committed to Sampson impacting the games, particularly as his first year quarterback Nico Iamaleava has struggled over the last few weeks. He's shouldered over 20 carries in each of Tennessee's last three games and has gotten better as the game's worn on. Against the Razorbacks, he scored touchdowns on his 10th and 13th carry in a losing effort, but he put the entire offense on his back against Florida scoring touchdowns on his 18th, and 20th before walking the game off in overtime scoring on his 27th carry.

Alabama's defense struggled the past two weeks on third down, failing to get off the field consistently allowing Vanderbilt and South Carolina to convert 19 of 33 attempts to grind the clock out and keep drives alive. The Crimson Tide's key will be stopping Sampson, particularly on first down as his running ability often keeps Tennessee ahead of the chains.

The Volunteers have struggled the last two weeks when Tennessee has fallen into obvious passing situations. Arkansas mustered four sacks while Florida was able to secure three sacks and an interception due to getting Heupel's squad off schedule.

A lot of responsibility falls on the Alabama front this week as they'll be required to win at the point of attack and tackle the ball carrier without giving up too much after contact.

"I think a lot of times there's two plays going on, the perimeter and the core," Robinson said. "We always talk about starting inside out and making them make those long throws and he's a great quarterback that can make all those, but if we can make them go east-west and obviously, play everything in front of us as best we can and make the game slow down. I think they want to go fast pace, they've got a lot of great players and so it starts inside out up front and that's what's going to cause us to be successful on Saturday."