In the summer of 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, John Hunt Morgan led a Confederate raid with approximately 2,500 soldiers from Tennessee. The unit traveled through Kentucky, across the Ohio River into enemy territory in the Midwest, and finally into the state of Ohio. Morgan’s raid penetrated deep into the state before he was subdued and captured, but the brazen invasion of enemy territory caused Union panic for several weeks.

A peaceful re-enactment of Morgan’s attack took place on a stunning Saturday inland. This too was ultimately unsuccessful, but for a time it worried those who were raided.

Tennesseans streamed north, crossing the Ohio River and descending on the Ohio Stadium redoubt in the Midwest in frightening numbers. An estimated 40% of the 102,819 spectators at The Horseshoe, home of the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes, were dressed in Tennessee Volunteers orange for their College Football Playoff first-round game. The much-discussed “Tennessee takeover” of the ticket market was real, at least in the stands.

One of the sport’s legendary home-field advantages was sabotaged by apparent apathy – or anger – locally and an outpouring of southern enthusiasm. Ohio State is widely considered to have the largest fan base in America, and nearly half of the usual home crowd was gone. It was a breathtaking scene that unfolded gradually in the hours before kickoff.

The blue Tennessee license plates were everywhere, heading north on I-75 to Cincinnati, then northeast on I-71 through the flat farmland toward Columbus, Ohio. They came, of course, from the most populous counties – Davidson (where Nashville is located) and Knox (Knoxville). But they also came from Cumberland County, where the seat is Crossville. And from Wilson County, outside of Nashville. And from Marion County, down near Chattanooga.

The green interstate sign on I-71 North that marks the Columbus city limits had an orange “T” on it this afternoon. On campus, “Rocky Top” repeatedly blared in parking garages and tailgates. A nine-tent orange pre-party was set up near the Horseshoe, with fans flocking to it in orange checkerboard jumpsuits.

The Tennessee fans were loud and cheerful despite the bitterly cold weather (25℉ (colder with the wind)), spreading a rebellious mood in a place where visitors are usually vastly outnumbered and often intimidated. Shortly after the stadium’s gates opened, the Vols had the vast majority of seats and roared through warmups. It took until Ohio State’s student sections filled up before the Buckeyes had a clear majority of fans.

“It gave us a certain feeling when we came out for warmups and got booed,” Ohio State offensive guard Donovan Jackson said. “We said, ‘Wait a minute.’ What did they call it, Neyland North? Yeah, that was lame.”

If Buckeye Nation had a bad, lingering hangover from its brutal surprise loss to arch-nemesis the Michigan Wolverines on November 30, the team clearly didn’t. Abandoned by a significant percentage of its fans for the first home playoff game in school history, Ohio State turned that into anger and defeated Tennessee, 42–17, treating the Vols as if they were a Mid-American opponent Conference.

While the attendance could be a warning sign for coach Ryan Day after four straight losses to Michigan, it wouldn’t be surprising if Ohio State fans jumped back on the bandwagon with both feet. Apparently the Buckeyes are over it, over the fear, over Michigan, over being booed off the same field three weeks ago. They are once again looking like the national championship contenders they have been through the first 11 games of this season.

“For three weeks, everyone in the world told us we suck,” Jackson said. “Half the fan base told us we suck. Almost every analyst, pundit, and anyone with a podcast told us we suck. And so we took it personally. We didn’t want to go out like that.

“We had nothing to lose. Our name remained in limbo for a month.”

They went from gutter to great in a single night. They dealt a blow to themselves, but also a blow to the increasingly insufferable Southeastern Conference fans (and some coaches, like Lane Kiffin of the Mississippi Rebels) who spent Friday night and much of Saturday day declaring that other playoffs -Losing teams would not do this. They don’t belong in the group ahead of the left-out SEC teams. Then the Vols performed no better than the SMU Mustangs, Indiana Hoosiers and Clemson Tigers – arguably worse.

Now the Buckeyes face the No. 1 Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl quarterfinals after losing to them by one point in a classic game in Eugene, Oregon, in October. Oregon had better opt for the rematch.

Ohio State was a reminder that it has the best talent in the sport if you have a competent game plan and don’t actively panic against a maize-and-blue demon. It has its top two wide receivers in freshman Jeremiah Smith (six catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns) and senior Emeka Egbuka (five catches for 81 yards). There is a relentless running back tandem in TreVeyon Henderson (134 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns) and Quinshon Judkins (two more touchdowns). In Will Howard, there’s a quarterback who can do great things when he limits his mistakes (24 of 29 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns, plus 37 yards on the ground). There’s a pass rush that produced four sacks, cover guys that broke up nine passes and run stoppers that limited the Vols to 3.9 yards per carry.

This talented core exploded out of the gate. Ohio State nearly went three-and-out on its first possession, but a facemask penalty on a third-down sack opened the door for the Buckeyes to take off. They scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and led 21-0 before Tennessee completed a single pass, with Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly emerging from the strangely conservative shell they lived in against Michigan.

“We judged this game more aggressively, there’s no doubt about that,” Day admitted.

On those first three possessions, the Buckeyes scored plays of 40, 37, 20, 18 and 16 yards. They punched holes in Tennessee’s defense and appeased all those Tennessee fans.

“They thought they were going to take over this place,” Howard said. “We showed them pretty quickly that we weren’t going to let that happen.”

The Ohio State student section mockingly chanted “SEC! SEC!” among the volunteers. But it rang a little hollow after so many opposing fans were able to fill the seats for a huge home game. Many Tennessee fans paid big money on the ticket market to get in, but as kickoff got closer, prices plummeted. Some Tennessee supporters said they paid $50 and $60 for seats at lower levels Saturday afternoon.

But by midway through the fourth quarter, most of the Orange had left the Horseshoe. They were stunned by the cold and the severity of the blows. Like Morgan’s raiders, they made a dramatic incursion across the Ohio River into the Midwest. And like Morgan’s robbers, they were defeated in the end.