COLUMBUS, Ohio — At least Tennessee fans have more money now for last-minute Christmas shopping.
Expensive plans for a Rose Bowl quarterfinal and a potential Cotton Bowl semifinal in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff were abruptly scrapped Saturday night at Ohio State, where the Buckeyes took a 21-0 lead within the first 12 minutes and raced to a 42-17 shellacking of the Volunteers. The lopsided loss ended Tennessee’s season at 10-3.
“We’ve got to play better, and we’ve got to coach better,” Vols fourth-year coach Josh Heupel said. “Ohio State is a good football team. Tonight wasn’t one of our best performances this year, and at the end of the day, we’ve got to continue to grow. We’ll start again and start retooling, rebuilding and growing as a football team.
“Two years ago, we finished sixth in the country. There’s a standard inside of our building, and we’re going to continue to grow.”
While Ohio State looked the part of the preseason No. 2 team in the country with a roster reportedly enhanced by $20 million name, image and likeness deals, the Vols spewed out a showing reminiscent of last season’s stretch run, when they were anemic in losses to Missouri and Georgia by the combined score of 74-17. Tennessee was beat up late last year due to injuries on the offensive line and at receiver, while the issues against Ohio State were at running back and receiver.