There’s punch and counterpunch when it comes to a college football matchup between schools that don’t often play. And since the Tennessee Volunteers and the Ohio State Buckeyes have only met one time in their storied histories, there’s no feel for what this will be like in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
For example, when Tennessee plays Alabama, the Volunteers know what they’re going to get. Ditto for the Buckeyes taking on Michigan. But it broadly applies across all of their conference games. There’s a unique expectation when teams. The Volunteers look for certain things out of Florida that they don’t focus on when they play Georgia, and so forth.
But Tennessee simply doesn’t have much of a history against the entire Big Ten. The Vols are 1-0 against Michigan. They are 2-3 against Penn State. Therefore, the biggest factor for this matchup will be the feel of the other team. And that’s why the Buckeyes being a 7-point favorite carries no meaning at all — for on-the-field purposes.
The Volunteers should be a 3-point favorite
First, the SEC is tougher overall than the Big 10. This isn’t a slight to Ohio State, Oregon, or Penn State. And it doesn’t mean the Volunteers will paint Columbus orange and laugh on the way back to Knoxville.
The Volunteers have a healthy respect for the Buckeyes, according to Josh Huepel’s comments on tennessee.rivals.com.
“You look at Ohio State defensively, they lead almost every category in the country,” Heupel said. “Offensively, they’ve got elite players on that side of the ball. And they tie it together well with special teams. So a huge challenge for us, but one we’re really excited about.”
In truth, the Volunteers are excited about being in the playoffs. It almost slipped away a time or two. They were extremely fortunate to beat Florida. But they’re here, in a place they expected to be when the season started.
“One of the goals for our program is to earn the right to get into this tournament,” Heupel said. “Proud what our guys have done, first week of this preparation. We’ve got a lot of young guy work. We’ve been intentional with that throughout the course of the season, as well. We’ve been trying to continue that as we’ve shifted our focus to Ohio State. But this is all the work and energy that you put into it, this is where you want to be.
“If you’re just happy to be there, it’s going to be a quick cup of coffee. And the mindset of this team is get ready to go play our best football. We understand the environment that we’re playing in. They have an elite roster, really good coaches, prestigious program. We have to go play really good football. Doesn’t take anything extraordinary, at the same time. It’s us doing the ordinary things at a really high level consistently for 60 minutes. Looking forward to continuing our prep to get ready to go play.”
The difference in the contest will be …
Dylan Sampson. The Volunteers junior burst onto the national scene this year with 1,485 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns.
Yes, the Buckeyes have a pair of talented runners in Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. But add them together and they only have 14 scores compared to Sampson’s total.
Yes, Sampson can be the tipping point that puts this game in the Volunteers’ favor. He’s a finisher, and the Vols need at least two rushing scores from him. And he should deliver.
“A guy like Dylan that bought into this vision before there was tangible proof on the field of who we are, what we’re about, and how we’re going to go play together,” Heupel said. “It only happens because of the guys inside that locker room. It’s a room filled with guys that care about the guys around them. They’re elite competitors. I’m really proud of what they’ve done again to restamp this program.”
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