Tennessee Vols assistant confirms reason why RB Dylan Sampson didn't play against Florida

One of the bigger mysteries of the 2023 season for the Tennessee Vols centers around sophomore running back Dylan Sampson and why he didn't play in UT's loss to the Florida Gators in Gainesville last month. 

Sampson, despite scoring four touchdowns in Tennessee's season-opening win against Virginia, saw zero snaps against the Gators. 

The following week, against UTSA, Sampson received 12 touches and totaled 159 yards and two touchdowns. 

Vols head coach Josh Heupel told reporters after the loss to Florida that Sampson didn't play against the Gators because of the flow of the game. Tennessee's game plan was essentially wrecked during the Gators' big second quarter (Florida outscored Tennessee 20-0 in the second quarter). 

On Monday at the Knoxville Quarterback Club, Vols running backs coach Jerry Mack went a little more in depth about why Sampson didn't play against Florida. And he said it was entirely due to pass protection because the Vols were forced to throw the ball more than they had planned (due to the deficit). 

"When you look at the flow of the game against Florida, really, what happened was we got behind a little bit, and we felt like we were going to have to throw the ball a little bit more," said Mack (via GoVols247). "So, when that aspect, Sampson is about 195-ish, somewhere in that range, so we wanted to put a guy in the game like Jaylen Wright, like Jabari (Small), who would have a chance to maybe be better at pass (protection). And that was really the biggest thing with it. That’s really the main reason, really, the only the reason, that he didn’t play." 

Tennessee probably should've found a way to get Sampson involved in the game, due to his ability to create explosive plays in the run game. 

And that's something that Mack acknowledged on Monday. 

“We probably missed the boat a little bit in the Florida game because of certain situations that didn’t allow him (Sampson) to get on the field," noted Mack. "But every time he steps on the field, every time he has a chance to touch the ball, you can see he does something dynamic and explosive with the ball in his hand.”

Vols fans have to appreciate the way the Tennessee coaching staff has handled talking about Sampson's lack of playing time against Florida. 

Instead of trying to make excuses to fans, they've been transparent. And they've admitted that they probably should've found a way to get Sampson involved in that game. 

Of course, there's no changing it now. What's done is done. And moving forward, I'm betting it won't happen again. Tennessee knows they have a dangerous weapon in Sampson. They know he can flip a game. And it seems like a certainty that he won't be watching an entire game from the sidelines again unless he's inactive due to injury.