Tennessee would certainly never be considered a cocky football program. However, confidence is certainly taking shape as the Vols tried to make a deep run into the inaugural, 12-team playoff before losing to Ohio State _____.
UT coach Josh Heupel said he didn’t care where the game was played before Columbus, Ohio was determined to be the final destination by the College Football Playoff committee on Sunday for Vols-Buckeyes. Yet, there were more challenges for the Vols.
ESPN announced that the kickoff for the Ohio State game was the coldest in Tennessee football history as the temperatures only topped out at 30-degrees on Saturday but was much colder when the game kicked off just after 8 p.m.
That didn’t seem to bother Tennessee’s linemen, who walked onto the field with no jerseys on as they went through their pregame warmups at Ohio Stadium. Clearly, the Vols were trying to make a statement by their lack of usual garb in frigid temperatures.
Corralling a red-hot Nico Iamaleava was certainly one of the first goals for the Buckeyes. The Tennessee redshirt freshman quarterback had thrown for four touchdowns in each of the Vols’ last two games. Ohio State was able to slow him down, as Iamaleava wasn’t able to complete a pass in the first quarter.
However, Iamaleava wasn’t the primary reason why the Vols stumbled early and fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter. The Vols can blame their secondary for that early lead as Tennessee’s defensive backs gave up 124 passing yards on, primarily, two scoring drives in the first quarter that gave Ohio State a two-touchdown lead.
The early lead put the Vols in a tough spot. They had to throw more than they would prefer to close the gap while Ohio State was able to protect its suspect run defense late in games, especially considering the Vols weren’t even considering running the football in their comeback attempt. No one wants to get off to a bad start, but a fast start by Ohio State certainly made things much, much more difficult on the Vols.
Tennessee’s offense didn’t hold up its end of the deal in the first half. The Vols had two three-and-outs on their first two drives. As about a seven-point underdog, it would have been an upset had the Vols beaten the Buckeyes. However, the table seemed to be laid out for them with Ohio State losing to Michigan in its last game and coach Ryan Day supposedly on the hot seat.
That uncertainty allowed the Vols to grab some extra seats in Ohio Stadium, but not the ultimate prize, which was a trip to the Rose Bowl to play Oregon in the next round of the playoffs. The Buckeyes will handle that challenge after manhandling the Vols. However, Tennessee fans certainly deserve credit for their support after buying up well over 10,000 tickets in Ohio State’s home stadium. Some even estimated there may have been more than 25,000 Tennessee fans that managed to get into the stadium.
The game was a reminder that, while Tennessee may be closer to winning a championship than recent years, the Vols aren’t there yet. In Tennessee’s last two matchups against former national championship programs, such as Georgia and Ohio State, the Vols were outscored by Georgia 31-17 earlier this season, and we all saw what happened to the Vols against the Buckeyes on Saturday.
Are the Vols perhaps a bit further away from matching the elite talent roaming the field at the nation’s best programs than we once though? Quite possibly.
It’s also worth noting that the Vols set several high-water marks with their 10 wins this season and a run at their first college football playoff. However, those are thoughts that will wait a while. The Vols aren’t a disappointing team this season, but they sure were disappointing on Saturday.
Some discussed them as true national championship contenders. They didn’t look like they should be in the College Football Playoff after their trip to Columbus on Saturday.
No one was expecting the lopsided affair that unfolded in Columbus. Tennessee’s players and coaches can learn from that, be better and use that same confident nature to walk in the 2025 College Football Playoff.
Tennessee had far too many in-game injuries that undermined any chance the Vols had to take down the up-start Buckeyes. The Vols had to deal with the following injuries: running back Dylan Sampson (undisclosed), receiver Squirrel White (shoulder), receiver Donte’ Thornton (lower leg) and running back DeSean Bishop (undisclosed).
While I’m not certain the Vols – even if 100-percent healthy – are ready to win a championship quite yet, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they were annual participants the the college football playoff. They just need to find a way to come across as a little bit less cocky and let their play do the talking a bit more next year.
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I guess we’re a basketball and baseball school now.