Ryan Day, Ohio State silences Tennessee in College Football Playoff

Ohio State provided new evidence that it is national championship material in this College Football Playoff game against Tennessee.
Ryan Day silences critics in one of the best performances of his career.
The Buckeyes look strong as they prepare for the Rose Bowl against Oregon.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee fans flocked here not by the thousands but by the tens of thousands, wearing their oranges and singing “Rocky Top” at bars Friday and tailgates Saturday.

The boisterous fans of one of college football’s hungriest fan bases longed for this moment, but then the game started and their Vols left them with little to cheer about.

By the end of the first quarter, Ohio State’s loss had gained momentum, and all the orange-clad fans at Ohio Stadium watched in frozen silence as Ryan Day and the Buckeyes staged a revival.

Scrape the dirt from Day’s Ohio State coaching box. Those who picked up their shovels after Day’s fourth straight loss to Michigan were overly eager, and the fed-up Buckeyes fans who sold their tickets to Vols faithful gave up hope too soon.

The Buckeyes provided new evidence that they are national championship contenders in this 42-17 College Football Playoff game.

Tennessee’s loss at Ohio State becomes a complete mismatch

Ohio State’s embarrassing matchup of rich wide receivers against Tennessee’s defensive backs became the most one-sided mismatch of the night, or perhaps that was due to the Buckeyes’ disruptive defense against Tennessee’s weak offensive line.

The bell rang in Tennessee – literally.

After Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw a completion – he had many of them – or the Buckeyes pulled him down for a sack, an ominous bell began to sound from the stadium’s speakers.

Dong, dong, dong.

The Vols will hear that damn bell in their sleep.

Ding dong, Tennessee’s national championship hopes are dead while the Buckeyes are alive and well, and would you really be that surprised if Ohio State won the whole damn thing?

The Buckeyes will not be at a talent disadvantage in any game. The playoff committee fell victim to the moment when it placed Ohio State in the eighth seed, while the Buckeyes’ fan base suffered a meltdown more inexplicable than the previous three after Day’s fourth straight loss to Michigan.

The Buckeyes caved and whined against “The Team Up North.” That cannot be denied. But every playoff team except Oregon has put up at least one stinker this season, and Ohio State played like one of the top two teams in the country for most of the season, and the Rose Bowl rematch of the Ducks and Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl feels a bit like a national championship fight miscast as a quarterfinal.

Buckeyes fans may have stopped believing in Day two weeks ago, but in the final round of Day vs. Everybody, Day landed one of the hardest haymakers of his career. The Vols were trashed, as were Day’s long list of haters.

Ryan Day takes on everyone and everyone loses

The coach who supposedly can’t win a big game now has three wins this season against teams that qualified for the playoffs. Only Georgia advertises more.

Day has rarely looked better than he did that evening.

While Ohio State fans reach for White Whale Mike Vrabel in search of a coach that may never materialize, Day posted a winning percentage that looks phenomenal against everyone but Michigan.

There’s no excuse for Ohio State’s performance against its biggest rival, but against Tennessee it was clear that while the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes, they didn’t suck their souls out. The 12-team playoff format gave Day the cushion he needed. Michigan remains the specter that frightens Day, but the specter will not be found in this playoff field.

The Buckeyes shouldn’t fear Oregon – not after they came so close to beating them in Eugene two months ago.

They certainly weren’t fazed by Tennessee, and why should they be? Ohio State proved its physical advantages, and despite what you hear about “SEC speed,” the Buckeyes sprinted around the Vols.

The moment seemed too big for Iamaleava, Tennessee’s well-paid quarterback, who didn’t live up to the hype as a redshirt freshman. Iamaleava’s defense lacked help. Tennessee’s only hint of offensive success came when Iamaleava used his legs to gain several yards.

An injury limited the snaps of Dylan Sampson, the Vols’ star running back. Tennessee’s receivers failed to get open, a continuation of a theme. Why can’t Josh Heupel, a supposed offensive maestro, recruit top-notch wide receivers?

Tennessee’s defense that made it dance faded, just like it did against Georgia. Will Howard was involved. The Ohio State quarterback repeatedly hit deep, and although Howard didn’t break a sweat in the 25-degree game temperature, the Vols didn’t heat him up either.

As Ohio State crushed Tennessee and the bell continued to ring, an embattled coach staged a comeback and the superteam he built reawakened, gritting its teeth and playing like the monster it is.

Blake Toppmeyer is the national college football columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read his entire columnS.

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