What an offensive coordinator for Ohio State Chip Kelly said this week about the 13-10 loss to Michigan three weeks ago and Saturday night’s game against Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff (8 p.m. Eastern Time, ABC/ESPN):

Faced with the Tennessee defense

“I think Tennessee is, I mean, fifth in the country in defense, both in scoring and in total defense, No. 1 third-down defense in the country, No. 1 in the Red zone defense in the country.” So we’re playing against a really impressive defensive group that’s really well-coached and has good players at all three levels. So that will be a challenge for us again this week and our players are excited about this opportunity.”

If scoring 10 points in the loss to Michigan changes how Ohio State’s offense prepares for Tennessee

“I think this game is different. Each game gets its own identity. But of course you always go through it, be it the last game, and then look at what you did well and what you didn’t do well. And how can we correct this in the future? And that’s part of the process. And because so much time passed between games, you had good chances and weren’t allowed to go out on the streets and recruit. Usually after the last game you’re out and fighting and a lot of different things happen. The new recruiting plan actually doesn’t start until January. So we were there, analyzing the last game and understanding what we need to do to play better in this game because we didn’t play our best. We didn’t put our players in positions … and that falls on us as a coaching staff.”

Here’s how to avoid letting the Michigan loss continue to hurt Ohio State

“We are one of only twelve teams in the country that have the opportunity to compete for a national championship. So that was the team’s sole focus since the game. I think you understand that we suffered two defeats this season by a total of four points. But we still have a chance to finish the game the way we want, and that starts with this Saturday’s game against Tennessee and a really good Tennessee team. Therefore, every team left in this tournament right now is a really good football team. I think it might have been a different result. And I think that sometimes the outcome is different than in the old system, when only four teams had a chance to win the national championship. Now that there are twelve, I think that’s a little bit of a different mindset that we have to adopt and then say, “Hey, what do we do now?” And the most important thing for this group is that they change from that day on Since we started our preparation in Tennessee, we’ve been focused on one thing, and that’s playing Tennessee. And we have a whole week of work ahead of us that we need to continue to do this week to be ready to play on Friday. I mean, Saturday night at eight o’clock.”

The need for Ohio State to have new wrinkles against Tennessee

“I don’t think you go into it to show that we need to show things we’ve never shown before. We have to show things that are productive. So I could set up some really crazy formations next Saturday night. But if they don’t gain a yard, it doesn’t matter what it looks like. What matters most is productivity and are we gaining positive yards? Are we efficient on first down so we can get into viable third down situations? And then get the drives going further? And I think that in this group, usually when we get to first-first down, we can start moving the football and playing at our own pace and tempo and the way we want to do the flow of the game. But changing personnel is part of it and there are ways to do some of that.”