Dylan Sampson rushes for 1,000 yards for Tennessee, chasing Derrick Henry TD record

Dylan Sampson joined Tennessee football’s 1,000-yard rushing club against Mississippi State as he chases SEC and UT touchdown records in the final month of the season.

Sampson eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing this season on the opening drive in No. 7 Tennessee’s game against Mississippi State on Saturday night. He became the 20th UT player to rush for at least 1,000 yards in one season.

Travis Stephens holds the UT record with 1,464 yards in 2001. Sampson has three regular-season games (Georgia, UTEP, Vanderbilt) plus the postseason to break that record.

Sampson already has broken the UT single-season record for rushing TDs. He entered the Mississippi State game with 19. Alabama’s Derrick Henry holds the SEC record with 28 rushing TDs during his 2015 Heisman Trophy season. And only nine players in SEC history have scored at least 20 rushing TDs in a season.

Before challenging that SEC mark, Sampson could break another UT record.

Gene McEver, a College Football Hall of Fame member, previously held the Vols’ single-season rushing TD records, which Sampson broke with his 19th. But McEver also holds the UT record for total TDs in a season with 21 in 1929.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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