Urban Meyer predicts the winner of the College Football Playoff matchup between Tennessee Vols and Ohio State Buckeyes
The Tennessee Vols are set to head to Columbus this weekend for a first round College Football Playoff matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tennessee is flying under the radar a bit in this matchup with much of the national attention focused on Ohio State after the Buckeyes ended the regular season with a surprising […]
The Tennessee Vols are set to head to Columbus this weekend for a first round College Football Playoff matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Tennessee is flying under the radar a bit in this matchup with much of the national attention focused on Ohio State after the Buckeyes ended the regular season with a surprising loss to a middling Michigan squad.
All of the pressure is seemingly on Ohio State in this game. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day knows he needs his team to play deep into the post-season to wash away the stain of the Michigan loss. The fact that the game is in Columbus should ratchet the pressure up a notch or two for the Buckeyes.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is playing with "house money". No one will be calling for Vols head coach Josh Heupel's job if Tennessee is eliminated in the first round. Heupel and his players will be disappointed — their goal is to win it all — but there won't be any loud noise in Knoxville this offseason if the Vols don't get the job done.
Former Florida Gators/Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer predicts the winner of Ohio State vs Tennessee
Former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer made his pick on Wednesday for the Tennessee/Ohio State game, and unsurprisingly, he doesn't have the Vols winning.
Meyer thinks the game will be close — he has Tennessee covering the 7.5 point spread — but he doesn't think the Vols will leave the Horseshoe with a win.
"The strength of Tennessee is their defense," said Meyer on The Triple Option. "I watched them yesterday because I wanted to see the SEC. SEC defensive line? Guess what, they (UT) have an SEC defensive line. Big thick cats that get their feet across the line of scrimmage and that's not good for Ohio State. So they (OSU) gotta get the ball out [quick]. It's going to be cold. It's going to be 20 degrees. I don't know the wind and I don't think there's any snow or anything like that.
"But I think it's going to be a low scoring game. I do think Ohio State's got the best defense in the country, so it'll be a 16-10 type game. I really believe that. I got Ohio State winning but Tennessee covering."
Former Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who is a co-host on The Triple Option, made the same pick as Meyer. Ingram has the Vols covering the spread, but the Buckeyes winning the game.
Tennessee and Ohio State will kick off at 8:00 PM ET on Saturday night. The game will air on ABC.
