Ryan Day reveals the moment that he knew that Ohio State was going to beat Tennessee in the College Football Playoff
There were quite a few folks who predicted that the Tennessee Vols would beat the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff. At the time, Ohio State was dealing with a lot of outside noise after losing at home to Michigan Wolverines in the regular season-finale despite […]
There were quite a few folks who predicted that the Tennessee Vols would beat the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff.
At the time, Ohio State was dealing with a lot of outside noise after losing at home to Michigan Wolverines in the regular season-finale despite being a huge favorite. Throw in the fact that a litany of Volunteers fans announced that they planned to make the trip to Columbus to "take over the horse shoe" and it certainly felt like an upset was brewing.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, however, revealed this week in an interview with WBNS that he knew the Buckeyes were going to beat Tennessee the moment that his team ran out of the tunnel before the game.
"The people who were at that Tennessee game, this is the craziest part, you get to tell these stories now," said Day. "Going into that game after losing the last game. You know, it was dicey there. But the people who were at that game, who were in the skull session, who were at the walk, who were in that stadium, they were unbelievable. I mean, they were true fans. They were so positive, they were so excited. And I feel like we all felt like our backs were against the wall. Maybe because of how the last game (against Michigan) ended, maybe because we felt like Tennessee was coming in our stadium. And then when we came out of the tunnel, the reaction of our guys was off the charts. It was like, I knew [then] that this thing was gonna go the right way."
Day's feeling ended up being correct. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 lead against the Vols in the first quarter. Tennessee rebounded to outscored Ohio State 10-0 in the second quarter, but the Buckeyes answered with a 14-point third quarter while on their way to a 42-17 blowout win.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, the Vols ran into a buzzsaw against the Buckeyes. It might be fair to say that Tennessee had the worst first-round draw in the history of the College Football Playoff.
