COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Tennessee fan base was out in force with splashes of orange throughout Ohio Stadium on Saturday night in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately for the Vols, that energy and passion didn’t translate to the field. They were outclassed in every way in a 42-17 loss to Ohio State, Tennessee’s 22nd straight road loss to a top-10 team.

“We’ve worked hard since January to get to this point and it sucks to go out like this because that’s not who we are, man,” Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava said. “I love this team. I love the team we have and tonight wasn’t what we wanted it to be and we’ll use that as motivation in the offseason.”

Several longtime Buckeyes observers said Saturday they saw the most fans of an opposing team they have ever seen at Ohio Stadium. Tennessee fans, estimated to number about 30,000, showed up early, started partying early and were hungry for the school’s first postseason appearance (CFB playoff or BCS national championship game) since the Vols’ 1998 national championship season.

But the Vols (10-3) were no match for a Buckeyes team that built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, dominated the line of scrimmage and scored the most points Tennessee has scored since a 63-38 loss to South Carolina in 2011 allowed 2022. At the end of the first quarter, Ohio State had outgained Tennessee 205 yards to 16, and Iamaleava had yet to pass completed. Tennessee got within 21-10 at halftime, but Ohio State increased the gap to 42-10 before the Vols scored their final touchdown in the final two minutes.

“I think they thought they were going to take over this place, and we showed them pretty quickly that we weren’t going to let that happen,” Ohio State quarterback Will Howard said. “And I think what obviously helped us was that we got off to a pretty quick start. But I have to thank Buckeye Nation for showing up and being loud.”

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel called the Vols fans’ turnout “special” and apologized that it wasn’t a better result.

“I’m disappointed for them, disappointed for our team and everything we’ve put in since last January that we didn’t train and play better early in this game,” Heupel said. “There was no phase of the football game where we performed the way we needed to at the start of the game. We came back and made a few plays at the end of the second quarter to tighten up the game, but it just didn’t work well. “That was also enough to get us into the third quarter, but it was easy for us on the road against a really good football team didn’t do what you need to do.

Iamaleava said it was disheartening not to be able to reward fans for the trip.

“The performance we showed them sucks. I hope they get home safe, man,” Iamaleava said. “I really appreciate the support.”

Tennessee’s passing game was nonexistent for most of the game, and the Vols were unable to generate big plays on the field, whether because Iamaleava was pressured by Ohio State’s pass rush or because the receivers simply couldn’t create spacing to hold and open. Tennessee has also been hampered by injuries. Leading rusher Dylan Sampson, the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, was nursing a hamstring injury suffered in the regular-season finale against Vanderbilt on Nov. 30. He only carried the ball twice for 6 yards.

“He was out for the first couple of weeks, then came back to us and started building up over the course of the week,” Heupel said. We felt like he was in a good spot and expected him not to have the same kind of load that he would normally have, but at the start of the game he kind of tweaked it again and was there for a while not available.”

Receivers Dont’e Thornton and Squirrel White also left the game with injuries and battled injuries for most of the season.

“At the end of the day, whoever is out there, freshman or not, we have to be able to handle those guys the same way or not, and we didn’t do that well tonight,” Iamaleava said , who went 14 of 31 for 104 yards and no touchdowns and was sacked four times.

Because the passing game was so ineffective, the Vols used Iamaleava in the running game more often than they had all season. He had 20 carries, including several scrambles, and finished with 47 yards.

“We are the ones playing out on the field and we just have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and perform at a higher level,” Iamaleava said.

Heupel, completing his fourth season at Tennessee, has led the Vols to at least nine wins in each of the last three seasons, including victories over rivals Alabama and Florida in two of the last three years and an Orange Bowl win over Clemson two years ago . But there is a next step, especially in those games where the stakes are highest.

“Well, you have to play better. You have to train better,” said Heupel. “Ohio State is a good football team and tonight wasn’t our best performance this year, so at the end of the day you have to continue to grow. We’re going to start over and start retooling and rebuilding and growing that way.” Two years ago we were ranked sixth in the country.

“There is a standard in our building and we will continue to grow.”