The Gamecocks have proven to be a tough out when playing at home this season, entering this weekend’s contest with a 4-2 record at Williams-Brice Stadium, including a perfect 4-0 mark in night games.
A fast start could prove instrumental in quitting the capacity crowd on Saturday night and another strong performance on the ground could go a long way in achieving that fast start.
Freshman running back Dylan Sampson provided a major spark to the offense in the second half of UT’s win over Missouri last week, finishing with 98 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries, and could be in line to get more touches this weekend.
“Really impressed with what the young man did on Saturday,” running backs coach Jerry Mack said on Tuesday. “The way he pressed the hole, the way his patience was, Dylan showed all of the things that we had been seeing in practice, for the most part. I was really impressed with protection. That is one thing we know, as a young back, he has been consistently working on. He stepped up, he fit the guy up. That is all you can ask for right now.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Big Orange will look to build off yet another stellar second-half performance where they held Missouri to just seven points and 47 rushing yards after halftime to help fuel a 38-0 run to finish the game.
“We made some, what we felt, were uncharacteristic mistakes,” linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said in regard to the Vols’ first half defense against the Tigers. “Putting our eyes in the wrong place and they started really running the quarterback in some design quarterback runs that we didn’t feel like we handled very well. We made some of the adjustments at halftime, but really it wasn’t anything that we did miraculously. Guys just got back to playing with fundamentals and putting their eyes in the right spot and we were able to get off of the field on third down.”
Tennessee has held its opponents to seven or fewer second-half points in each of its past three games, including a shutout against Kentucky on Oct. 29.
The Vols and Gamecocks are set to square off at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN.
Videos, transcripts and player quotes from Tuesday’s media availabilities can be found below.
Running Backs Coach
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