Just a putrid night in Columbus.
Tennessee went up to Columbus on Saturday night and took a beating from Ohio State, there’s no other way to put it. From the very start, the Volunteers were playing from behind. Despite showing some fight in the second quarter, the Buckeyes convincing put Tennessee away in the third quarter.
Let’s talk about it.
A classic bounceback spot for Ohio State.
Ohio State took an embarrassing loss to a bad Michigan team to close the regular season, and all the pressure was on Ryan Day to make things right on Saturday night. He did that and then some. Perhaps the Michigan game was a wakeup call for one of, if not, the most talented rosters in the country. Maybe it was just another rivalry game moment. Either way, Day and his staff had the team ready to roll for this one.
Day has to go figure out how to beat Michigan next season, but he’s cooled the temperature for now in Columbus.
Chip Kelly called a masterful game.
After receiving plenty of criticism following the Michigan loss, Kelly was brilliant on Saturday night. Tennessee was off-balance all night long, completely guessing at what was coming next. That’s what an offense featuring elite talent at both running back and wide receiver should look like.
Kelly used motion and play-action to negate Tennessee’s pass rush. James Pearce and Joshua Josephs were non-existent, while Will Howard executed plenty of simple throws to keep the chains moving. Kelly and Howard picked their spots to be aggressive, particularly when it was apparent that Jeremiah Smith was going to get a press-man look on the outside.
Credit to Howard, too — he was nearly flawless on the night during a near perfect showing for the Ohio State offense.
Tennessee’s offensive problems started up front.
Down early — and then quickly down even bigger — Tennessee was forced into obvious passing situations. The problem was, Nico Iamaleava never had a chance. Ohio State took apart Tennessee’s offensive line, instantly winning off the edge time and time again. Iamaleava was constantly on the run, and those issues were only compounded by an extremely limited Dylan Sampson.
Tennessee’s gameplan changed in a hurry, turning to Nico as a runner in the second quarter. Iamaleava handled 20 carries and found the endzone in the second quarter to cut the lead down to 21-10. Still in a passing situation in the second half though, the pressure didn’t let up.
Iamaleava took four sacks on the night and frankly it could have been many, many more. Constantly on the run, the passing attack didn’t have a chance to develop down the field. That resulted in Tennessee throwing for just 104 yards. People will be quick to blame the quarterback here, but if you’re under constant, instant pressure, what do you expect the quarterback to do? You can even point to the play-calling some for not adjusting. Either way, Tennessee just didn’t have the protection to play like they wanted, especially with how one dimensional they became.
Tennessee will lose four starters up front this offseason. The offensive line, particularly in pass protection, was wildly inconsistent all season long. The staff now has a chance to rebuild that starting five with the lone returner in Lance Heard, Arizona transfer Wendell Moe Jr. and five-star incoming freshman tackle David Sanders.
Injuries didn’t help.
Let’s face it, Tennessee was really banged up entering this one. More so than the staff let on. Dylan Sampson was limited with his hamstring injury and hardly even saw the field after hurting it again early. In a spot where Tennessee needed a classic bell-cow effort from their offensive leader, Sampson was stuck on the sideline.
“End of the Vandy game, got dinged up, and it was soft tissue, and had been out the first couple weeks and got back with us,” Heupel said after the game. “Started building him through the week. Felt like he was in a good spot. Anticipated him not having the same type of load that he normally would have. Just early in the game kind of retweaked it and wasn’t available there for a while.”
Sampson handled two carries and caught one pass on the night.
Making matters worse was injuries to receivers Squirrel White and Dont’e Thornton, who also had been fighting through issues since the Vanderbilt game. With Chas Nimrod and Kaleb Webb in the transfer portal, Tennessee’s backup options went down to true freshmen Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley.
Winning in Columbus was going to be difficult enough, but doing it without three key offensive players for much of the night proved to be impossible.
Tennessee’s slow starts and road struggles continue.
Simply put, Josh Heupel has to figure this out. Tennessee was down 21-0 before they got off the bus on Saturday night. That was a continuation of a theme we had seen all season long. Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt…. add Ohio State to the list of slow starts.
You can also add Ohio State to the list of ugly road losses over the past three seasons.
Heupel’s teams have been nearly lights out at home, but they really struggle once you get them in true road environments. It’s tough to point out an exact reason why, but it’s a clear trend.
Credit Tennessee for fighting back in a tough spot in the second quarter and clawing back into the game. However, the Vols couldn’t string that together with anything productive to start the third quarter.
Tennessee goes to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi State and Kentucky next season. We’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but winning three of those four is probably a must to make the playoff next season. Also, as we just saw with how the current CFP is structured, the ability to win on the road is something you’ll need to have going forward.