Dylan Sampson needed just eight games to break a nearly 100-year-old Tennessee football program record. The third-year winger’s second touchdown came against Kentucky on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, scoring in the fourth quarter with most of his teammates pushing the pile of balls across the goal line , which gave him a single-season record of 19 for the 2024 season. Sampson entered the game with 17 hits, tied with Reggie Cobb (1987) for second, and two runs scored against the Wildcats gave him surpassing Gene McEver, who had 18 touchdowns in 1929.

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Entering Saturday’s game, the SEC’s leading rusher with 119.7 yards per game ranked third in the FBS and first among Power 4 players in touchdown runs behind quarterback Ashton Jeanty of Boise State, who scored twice in the 15th-ranked Broncos’ 56-24 rout of San Diego State on Friday night, and Army quarterback Bryson Dailey, who missed the win Saturday against Air Force for the undefeated Black Knights. Sampson scored his seventh multi-touchdown performance in eight games this season. His 17 rushing touchdowns before the Kentucky game were the most by an SEC player since Alabama running back Najee Harris had 26 in 2020. “I wouldn’t say there was anything that really surprised us,” head coach Josh Heupel said during Tennessee’s open day last month. “There’s been a lot of confidence in who he is, his competitive nature, continuing to add to his physique, his tenacity. He’s a dynamic player, man, and was part of changing the way we play the game. Him making explosive plays was instrumental in getting us started when we weren’t necessarily operating at our highest level.”

Sampson also has another McEver record in his sights. He now has 32 career passing touchdowns, tied with quarterback Joshua Dobbs for third in Tennessee history. Sampson needs three more touchdowns to match James Stewart at 35 and six to surpass McEver at 37. After waiting his turn in the starting role behind Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright in his first two seasons, Sampson opened the 2024 season in style with three touchdowns in a 124-yard performance against Chattanooga. He scored twice in a win over NC State at Charlotte before finding the end zone four times in the first half of a 71-0 win over Kent State. Sampson completed an eight-play, 46-yard drive just before halftime with his 10th touchdown of the season in the win at Oklahoma.