Tennessee Vols junior running back Dylan Sampson broke the UT single season record for rushing touchdowns this past Saturday night in a win against the Kentucky Wildcats, thanks to a memorable play that fans will almost certainly never forget. 

Sampson scored his 19th touchdown of the season, breaking Gene McEver’s school record of 18 that was set in 1929, on a play where every Vol on the field was involved. 

Late in the fourth quarter, with the Vols clinging to a three point lead, Sampson appeared to be stopped short of the goal line. Every Tennessee player on the field, however, helped push Sampson across the goal line for the record breaking touchdown (the score also helped put the game away for the Vols). 

Vols offensive lineman Cooper Mays, who was part of “the push”, joined Off the Hook Sports on Sunday to discuss Tennessee’s win against Kentucky. 

Mays admitted that he thought the officials were going to blow the play dead before Sampson crossed the goal line. The senior center also admitted that he was glad Sampson scored, in part because pushing the pile was so exhausting that he wasn’t sure he could run another play if the whistle had been blown.

“During the play, I thought they were going to blow it dead at some point,” said Mays. “Because I couldn’t see anything, I was in the middle of it, so I couldn’t’ really see, but I felt like we were stalling out or maybe going a little bit backwards. And I was like, they’re gonna blow it dead. And then we started moving forward, but we were moving forward slow. And then I was really like oh my God they’re going to blow it dead and I’m just going to be exhausted this next play. So I was just like please don’t blow it dead because I don’t even know if I can run another play at this point. That’s the most tiring, tiring thing you can do is push the pile — especially when you’re in the middle of it. Terrible. But super awesome.

“Really, the coolest thing that I thought about it was when I went back to the sideline after it, we get a little tablet on the sideline, we watch the film back and you see Nico (Iamaleava) run in and get it on it. And then you see Bru (McCoy) coming from the sideline where he ran his route, he’s getting in on the pile, you just see everybody helping, it’s pretty cool.”

It’s easy to forget that players on the field have to deal with fatigue. They might be elite athletes, but there’s only so much in the tank. That particular play came late in the fourth quarter. And it was the last play of a 13 play drive. The fact that Tennessee’s players even had the energy to push Sampson across the goal line was quite impressive.