CFB Playoffs Round one: Tennessee v Ohio State
By GEORGE SOMERVILLE
After much anticipation, the expanded College Football Playoff is finally here! This weekend Playoff football embarks on uncharted territory with round one being played on Campus. In what I think is the most intriguing game and once which has the potential to be the best of the first round games, the Tennessee Volunteers travel up to Columbus to play The Ohio State University!
Where and When
The Ohio State Buckeyes host the Tennessee Volunteers at the Horsehoe in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday 21st at 8.00pm ET/ 1.00am UK. The game is being broadcast by ESPN/ABC, but in the UK you can watch on Sky Sports Mix (channel 416).
Story so far…
Buckeyes under pressure
The Ohio State Buckeyes were the much fancied team going into this season. The amount of NIL money very publicly spent on this team had the Buckeyes at the front and centre of every conversation during “talking season”. In fact many commentators went as far to say that this season is “win or bust” for the Buckeyes head coach, Ryan Day. Which in all likelihood is not hyperbole given that Day’s team subsequently fell short of beating arch rivals Michigan, again. With his fourth straight loss to Michigan, Day seems incapable of getting the Big Blue monkey off his back. A situation made worse this year by Jim Harbaugh having moved to the NFL. Harbaugh’s disciple Sherrone Moore took up the reins and continued the winning streak over Day. The Ohio State head coach is under increasing pressure. However, despite not getting to the BIG10 Championship game it is not all doom and gloom in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 10-2 for the season which was enough to secure the #6 seed in the final Playoff rankings ensuring a first round home game.
New territory for the vols
Ranked #7 by the Playoff Committee, the Tennessee Vols make their first appearance in the CFB Playoffs. The Vols 10-2 record includes wins over Alabama, Oklahoma and a resurgent Vanderbilt. So in many ways the Vols have lived up to the pre season hype afforded to them.
While the Vols offense has attracted the headlines and rightfully so, its their defense which is the star of the show. How good is Vols D? very good. The Tennessee defense is ranked 2nd in the SEC in both total and scoring defense and have given up fewer than 100 yards in every game played.
We also understand that Vols fans have travelled in large numbers to Ohio meaning the home advantage that the Buckeyes so dearly wanted may not be as loud as first hoped.
The Quarterbacks…
Ohio State : Will Howard
This year Will Howard took over the reigns from Kyle McCord who transferred out to Syracuse. With two defeats to Oregon and Michigan, Howard like his head coach goes into the Playoffs under pressure to win.
Howard has been prone to turning the ball over in the big games, with key moments impacting the losses to Oregon and Michigan. Offensive co-ordinator Chip Kelly is on record as saying he needs to put Howard in a better position to win, however Kelly’s gameplan so far has seen Howard rushing rather than passing. With the Tennessee defense elite when rushing the passer this makes for a fascinating match up.
Tennessee : Nico Iamaleava
Nico as we have all grown to know him is Tennessee’s wunderkind redshirt freshman. While head coach, Josh Heupel has been fiercely protective of his young quarterback, Iamaleava has done all of his talking on the field.
Iamaleava came to Knoxville in a blaze of glory. He is a highly aid NIL athlete, earning $2m annually, it is no exaggeration to say that he is the biggest thing to happen to Knoxville since Peyton Manning.
This season Iamaleava has 2,512 yards, 19 touchdowns & 5 interceptions which is spookily close to the stats that Manning recorded during his second year in Knoxville. So Vols fans know they have the real deal in Iamaleava.
Prospects to watch…
It’s no great surprise that I have chosen two running backs to watch during this game. This is a game, in the north, in December with much at stake so it will be won and lost in the trenches. If ever the words “run the damn ball” were appropriate, this is it.
Both sides have Playoff class backs who can win the game almost single handedly. While Tennessee may have the best running back in college football, Ohio State has a very recognisable running back star to SEC fans.
Dylan Sampson
Sampson has had a season which has been further endorsed by winning SEC Offensive player of the year. Sampson has already broken a 95 year old school record for the most rushing touchdowns in a season (22). He has also broken the Tennessee record for rushing yards (1,485), the 5th most in SEC history. Looking closer at the stats, the vast majority of Sampson’s yards come after contact. He is a workhorse that Tennessee relies heavily on. That is unlikely to change on Saturday in Ohio.
Quinshon Judkins
When you talk about the NIL money spent in Columbus, Ohio this year Judkins is one of those players who moved North from the Deep South. Judkins decided Ole Miss and in particular, Lane Kiffin couldn’t deliver him a national Championship (&presumably $1m), so the impressive running back from Alabama decided to transfer to the Buckeyes last summer. The Buckeyes have a twin threat at running back with Judkins and TreyVeyon Henderson who have been at the centre of Ohio State running the ball 54% of all plays this season.
These two players will be at the centre of the Buckeyes offense on Saturday but will need to find a way around the Vols aggressive defense.
Prediction
This is only the second time in the program’s history that Tennessee has ever matched up against Ohio State. This is also the first time ever that the Buckeyes have played a home game in December, so there are many variables to take into consideration.
We also know that Vols fans travel well and there are strong rumours that Tennessee fans will be in the stadium en masse. Officially the Vols have an allocation of 3,500 tickets for the game. Unofficially t could be many multiples of that. You would fully expect for home advantage to play a significant part in the outcome of this game. However should Tennessee Orange fans make their presence felt this might start to feel more ike a neutral site game.
Much has been made of the cold weather, however I think this has largely ignored the elevation that Knoxville sits at. This would have been a much harder game for say Texas to travel to than Tennessee, so it looks like this will be less of a factor than some think.
Again, at the sake of repeating myself the game will be won and lost in the trenches and via the run game. Currently the Buckeyes O-line is beat up. Left tackle, Josh Simmons and Centre, Seth McLaughlin both have season ending injuries and won’t feature. On the other side of the ball the Tennessee D-Line is legit.
So can Dylan Sampson run the Vols to victory? Well Sampson is a real threat to the Buckeyes play off chances. If the Vols O-line plays as it has been doing this season I think they can shock the Buckeyes at home and send a message to the rest of the playoff teams.
Tennessee 31 – Ohio State 17
George Somerville
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.