Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee reached the College Football Playoff for the first time, thanks largely to a rushing attack from Dylan Sampson.

On Saturday night, the Volunteers were without the services of their workhorse running back when they needed him most.

Sampson – the SEC Offensive Player of the Year – spent most of Tennessee’s 42-17 first-round loss to Ohio State on the sideline with a left hamstring strain.

The junior had two runs for six yards in the first quarter and didn’t come back until the start of the third quarter when he had a catch for 2 yards.

That would be the extent of Sampson’s production.

Coach Josh Heupel said after the game that Sampson suffered a bump late in the Nov. 30 game against Vanderbilt, when he rushed for a career-high 178 yards on 25 carries.

Sampson had a few weeks off but returned to training this week. However, he aggravated the injury in the first quarter.

“We felt like he was fine. We assumed he wouldn’t have the same load, but he readjusted and was unavailable for a while,” Heupel said.

Sampson — who set school records with 1,485 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns — rode a stationary bike and stretched on the Tennessee sideline in the first half to loosen up his hamstrings.

He had 10 100-yard games this season as Heupel’s offensive plan evolved this season from a high tempo to wearing down opponents through the run.

Tennessee averaged 232 rushing yards per game, which led the SEC and ranked ninth nationally.

“We knew he would try. Whenever this guy isn’t at 100%, he sets everything in motion. Losing him and actually not even getting him up to speed was tough,” offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said. “But that’s part of the job: What are you going to do to get the job done when you’re not healthy, when you’re not at 100%? We didn’t make it tonight.”

DeSean Bishop, who was second on the team in rushing, had seven carries for 22 yards before getting injured in the second half.

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava was also without two of his top receivers as Squirrel White and Dont’e Thompson were also injured in the first half.

Iamaleava didn’t complete his first pass until nearly five minutes into the second quarter.

The Volunteers punted on their first three drives but scored on the next two to get within 21-10, including a 2-yard TD run by Iamaleava.

However, Tennessee didn’t score again until 1:56 into the game, when Iamaleava added another 2-yard score.

“We had problems with defense at the beginning of the game,” said Heupel. “I thought Nico did a good job with his feet on some plays over time. We didn’t separate at times and it was a combination of a lot of different things.”

Tennessee also appeared to hold Ohio State to a three-pointer on its first series, but defensive lineman Bryson Eason drew a facemask penalty after a sack by Will Howard on third down. The Buckeyes scored when Howard had a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith, giving them a 21-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the game.

Iamaleava completed 14 of 31 passes for 104 yards, but also had a career-best 20 rushing attempts for 47 yards.

“I didn’t expect to run so often. We didn’t implement the entire game plan. We had to get better,” Iamaleava said. “We were supposed to come in, had a great game plan to come in first and shoot, and they hit us in the mouth first. We were just trying to restore the whole game.”

In four years, Heupel has turned around a program that, after a 3-7 record and a recruiting scandal under former coach Jeremy Pruitt, went 10-3 this season and made it to the CFP.

“Tonight wasn’t one of our best performances this year, so at the end of the day we have to continue to grow. We’re going to start over and start retooling and rebuilding and growing as a football team,” Heupel said.

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