KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Dylan Sampson rushed for a career-high 149 yards and eclipsed 1,000 for the season and 2,000 for his career, as seventh-ranked Tennessee took care of Mississippi State, 33-14, at Neyland Stadium Saturday night in the Vols’ 100th Homecoming game.
UT (8-1, 5-1 SEC) improved to 6-0 on Shields-Watkins Field this season by winning its final Southeastern Conference home game. Tennessee utilized a balanced offensive attack of 240 rushing yards and 212 passing yards to dispatch the Bulldogs (2-8, 0-6 SEC). The ground game production was the Big Orange’s fourth best of the campaign.
Leading the charge was Sampson, whose 30 carries also ranked as a personal best. He became the second player in Tennessee history with eight 100-yard rushing games in a single season, joining Jay Graham, who had 11 in 1995. Sampson now has 1,129 yards in 2024, becoming the 20th Vol to run for 1K in a season, and he increased his career total to 2,130 in his 31st game. Sampson scored his 20th rushing touchdown of the season, moving him into a tie with Arkansas’ Alex Collins (2015) and Auburn’s Cam Newton (2010) for eighth place in SEC history.
Wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. caught three passes for 104 yards and a touchdown and carded his second 100-yard receiving game of the year and the third of his career. Squirrel White also added a TD reception and 63 yards receiving. Both wideouts were the recipients of balls thrown by quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who finished eight of 13 for 174 yards and two scores before Gaston Moore handled signal-calling duties in the second half.
Defensively, Tennessee limited the Bulldogs to 271 yards of total offense, which marked the lowest output by a Vol foe since the Arkansas game. MSU’s 92 yards passing ranks as the second fewest generated by an opponent in 2024. Jermod McCoy and Arion Carter paced the defense with seven tackles each. Boo Carter came up with an interception, while James Pearce Jr., Bryson Eason, Omarr Norman-Lott and Jayson Jenkins recorded sacks.
After forcing Mississippi State into a three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, Tennessee recorded its first points in the first quarter since game four against Oklahoma. Iamaleava’s 34-yard pass to White on fourth and three capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive that required only two minutes, 34 seconds. Max Gilbert’s PAT made it 7-0 Vols with 11:44 left in the period.
The Big Orange scored through the air again early in the second stanza. Iamaleava went deep to Thornton Jr., and the senior hauled it in for a 73-yard touchdown that was the longest pass of Iamaleava’s career, longest reception of Thornton’s career and longest offensive play of the year for the Vols. Gilbert drilled the extra point to make it 14-0 with 13:35 remaining in the second frame.
Mississippi State got on the scoreboard with 5:47 left in the half, navigating 75 yards on 16 plays and taking seven minutes, 48 seconds in the process. Davon Booth found the end zone from one yard out to cap the drive, and Kyle Ferrie’s PAT trimmed UT’s advantage to 14-7.
Tennessee answered on its next possession, marching to the MSU six yard-line before settling for a 24-yard Gilbert field goal to make it 17-7 with 46 seconds still left in the half, thanks to the Bulldogs calling three timeouts in hopes of having one last shot at points before heading to the locker room.
After forcing MSU to a quick three-and out, a nifty 23-yard Carter punt return put UT in position to score again before the intermission, and that they did. A five-yard Cameron Seldon carry and a 21-yard pass from Iamaleava to White set the table for Gilbert to drill a 38-yard field goal as time expired, giving the home team a 20-7 cushion at the break.
With Moore under center for the Vols in the second half, the Big Orange tacked on to its lead on its second series of the third quarter. Gilbert booted a career-long 51-yard field goal to make it 23-7 with 7:59 to go.
State struck right back, getting an 18-yard rush up the middle from Johnnie Daniels for a touchdown. Ferrie’s PAT pulled the Bulldogs within nine, 23-14, with 6:22 left in the third.
The Vols responded, though, with a pair of scores to increase the margin. A 33-yard touchdown scamper by Sampson with 3:31 to go in the third quarter and a 38-yard field goal by Gilbert with 8:14 remaining in the fourth period pushed the Big Orange lead to 19, 33-14, and that’s how it would end.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will be in Athens, Ga., next Saturday to take on the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. The game will be televised by ABC at 7:30 p.m. ET.
