Tennessee football starting running back DeSean Bishop is just short of reaching a significant milestone as the Vols prepare to play Illinois in the Music City Bowl. Bishop sits just 17 yards shy of having a 1,000 rushing yard season as a redshirt sophomore.
Through the 12 regular-season games, Bishop has posted 983 yards and 14 touchdowns on 163 carries. He’s also caught 12 passes for 127 yards this season. His rushing yards mark sits at fifth in the conference for the 2025 season.
Bishop is set to be the feature back again for Tennessee in the upcoming bowl game. Barring injury, it’d be very surprising if he didn’t get to the 1,000-yard mark by gaining 17 yards.
“When I achieve that, it’s going to be a dream come true,” Bishop said on Saturday. “Not so much focused on that. Obviously, want to take care of the game and get the win, but I feel like that’s going to come as the game goes on. That’s the journey, man. Just to finally achieve a 1,000 yards to complete the season, individually, as well, good to build on for next year.”
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Bishop has seen the majority of snaps at the position this year in front of Star Thomas and Peyton Lewis. Ahead of the Music City Bowl, Lewis has announced his intention to enter the transfer portal, ruling him out of the rotation against Illinois.
This could mean some additional snaps for Bishop, or the Vols could insert Daune Morris as a true freshman. While Bishop has gotten dinged up some, he’s proven to be a reliable option with the high workload this year.
“It’s tough playing in the SEC as a running back,” Bishop said. “But you just take care of your body, you’ll sustain and you’ll hold on until the end of the season. It’s really a job, maintenance. What you put into it, you’re going to get out of it. I believe that. You can’t take it lightly. You’ve got to take care of your body, especially in this league, if you want to reap the benefits of it. It’s what you want out of it, you’re going to get out of it.”
Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 30, 2025, in Nashville at Nissan Stadium at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
