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

Entering the College Football Playoff matchup, the Vols were expected to utilize a heavy dose of Sampson on the ground against the Buckeyes. One of the best running backs in Tennessee history, Sampson captured the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year honors with a huge performance for the Vols.

Unfortunately, he has not made a major impact, and that’s because he is battling a leg injury in the game. He has not seen the field outside of 2 early carries for 6 yards.

According to ESPN’s Marty Smith, the issue appears to be left hamstring tightness for Sampson. Smith reported Sampson has been trying to regularly loosen up his hamstring on the sideline but has yet to re-enter the game.

At halftime, UT coach Josh Heupel was asked if Sampson was battling something serious at halftime, and side-stepped the question.

“Nah, a lot of football left here,” Heupel said. “We’ve got 30 minutes left. Let’s go play.”

Meanwhile, White had a 17-yard catch early on but was injured on that play. He was later captured by broadcast cameras walking to the locker room but with a heavy limp and is dealing with what is believed to be an ankle injury.

The injury to Sampson is the biggest issue for the Vols but both are significant. Sampson led the SEC in rushing with 1,485 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground this season. White is the team’s 3rd-leading receiver with 364 yards this season while also recording 2 touchdown catches.

Without Sampson available, it puts more pressure on quarterback Nico Iamaleava to lead the offense. The QB is just 7-for-16 for 81 yards in the first half but does have 36 tough rushing yards and a touchdown.

We’ll see how Iamaleava and the offense adjust moving forward, but the Vols have rebounded to make the score 21-10 ahead of halftime.

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.