Josh Heupel discusses the selflessness within Tennessee's running back room
The spotlight was on Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton in the Volunteers’ Week 1 matchup against Virginia as he took the field as the team’s full-time starter for the first time.
There’s no doubt that Milton and impressed, showing flashes of the NFL-level talent he possesses and earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors. But Tennessee’s running backs and ground game had an electric performance as well against the Cavaliers with numerous standout performances.
It’s not always easy sharing carries in a running back rotation, but Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel recently said that’s not the case in Knoxville.
“Very selfless group,” Heupel said. “They want to be successful individually, but I don’t think there’s anybody more happy about the success of the guy that’s on the field than the guys that are on the sideline during the moment of that success.”
Saturday’s game against Virginia was one of the rare instances where the Tennessee offense ran for more yards than they passed for, stacking up 287 rushing yards between seven different ball cariers.
Jaylen Wright led the way for the Volunteers with a team-high 115 yards on the ground on 12 carries after leading the team in rushing last year. Jabari Small also returned to this reloaded running back room after ranking second on the team in rushing last year, delivering 67 yards on the ground and also leading all running backs in receiving with three receptions for 13 yards.
Wright and Small handled the yardage, but Dylan Sampson handled the scoring on Saturday for the Volunteers. He finished third in rushing yards for the game out of the trio but punched in three rushing scores for Tennessee on the day, looking nearly impossible to stop on the goal line.
“At the end of the day, that group understands that the strength of the position can’t be one guy. They pull hard for each other, they’re great competitors on the practice field, they push each other in the meeting room, and I think all of our position groups they care about the people inside of that room,” Heupel said.
Being a running back in an offense that throws the ball as much as Tennessee does probably isn’t always easy. But it sounds like the Volunteers’ rushers are each other’s biggest fans, willing to put their overall success as a unit over anyone’s personal success. Which is the kind of attitude that could take Tennessee to new heights this season.