Dylan Sampson and Squirrel White are both battling injuries Saturday night, leaving Tennessee without some key offensive players against Ohio State.

Going into the College Football Playoff matchup, the Vols were expected to use a heavy dose of Sampson on the ground against the Buckeyes. One of the best running backs in Tennessee history, Sampson earned SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors with a tremendous performance for the Vols.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make much of an impression and that’s because he was battling a leg injury in the game. He didn’t see the field outside of 2 early runs for 6 yards.

According to ESPN’s Marty Smith, the problem appears to be left hamstring tightness for Sampson. Smith reported that Sampson has regularly tried to loosen his hamstring on the sideline but has never gotten back into the game.

At halftime, UT coach Josh Heupel was asked if Sampson was dealing with anything serious at halftime and dodged the question.

“No, there’s still a lot of football left here,” said Heupel. “We still have 30 minutes. Let’s go play.”

Meanwhile, White had a 17-yard catch to start, but was injured on that play. He was later filmed by broadcast cameras walking to the dressing room limping heavily and believed to be suffering from an ankle injury.

Sampson’s injury is the biggest issue for the Vols, but both are significant. Sampson led the SEC in rushing this season with 1,485 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. White is the team’s third-leading receiver with 364 yards receiving this season and also recorded two touchdown catches.

Without Sampson available, the pressure on quarterback Nico Iamaleava to lead the offense increases. The QB is just 7 of 16 for 81 yards in the first half, but has 36 strong rushing yards and a touchdown.

We’ll see how Iamaleava and the offense adjust moving forward, but the Vols rallied to make it 21-10 before halftime.

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.