Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
TV/Radio: ESPN and ABC/1410
Series history: Tennessee leads 1-0. Ohio State is 2-13 against SEC teams in the postseason, including losses to Missouri and Georgia to end the previous two seasons.
Last meeting: Peyton Manning threw for 182 yards and Jay Graham ran for 154 yards and a touchdown for the Volunteers as they won 20-14 in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 1996. St. Henry grad Bobby Hoying threw for 246 yards and a touchdown, Ricky Dudley had 106 yards receiving, and Eddie George ran for 101 yards for the Buckeyes.
Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 66-10 overall and 46-5 in the Big Ten in six seasons, all at Ohio State. Josh Heupel is 37-14 in four seasons at Tennessee and 65-22 overall in seven seasons.
Ohio State notes: This will be the first December game in Ohio Stadium history… ESPN last appeared on ESPN/ABC in 2022 against Wisconsin and Notre Dame… Ohio State is 3-0 at Ohio Stadium against teams that were in the SEC at the time of the game, beating LSU (36-33) in 1988, Kentucky (19-6) in 1935 and Vanderbilt (75-0) in 1933…Ohio State leads the nation in scoring defense (10.9 points per game) and total defense (241.1 yards per game)… The Buckeyes are second in the nation in passing defense (144.3 ypg.) and red zone defense (.552)… Senior TreVeyon Henderson needs 58 yards to pass Tim Spencer to move into fifth place in career rushing yards at Ohio State… Ohio State is making its sixth College Football Playoff appearance. The Buckeyes also made it in 2014, ‘16, ‘19, ‘20 and ‘22.
Tennessee notes: The Tennessee radio network’s lead play-by-play man is Bob Kesling, a Kettering native who has called Volunteers games for 26 seasons and spent 50 years with the VRN, and his father, Devon, was an Ohio State drum major in 1947 and ‘48… Volunteers safety Andre Turrentine played for Ohio State for one season before transferring to UT… Tennessee defensive analyst Taver Johnson is a former Ohio State assistant and played at Wittenberg… Tennessee led the SEC in rushing offense (232 yards per game) and ranks second in rushing defense (99.6 YPG.), scoring offense (37.3 ppg.), scoring defense (13.9 ppg.), total offense (462.9 ypg.) and total defense (278.3 ypg.)… The Vols are 12th in pass defense (178.7 ypg.) and 10th in red zone offense (.817)…. Tennessee will be playing its first College Football Playoff game.
Quoted: Heupel on the game: “When you get into the postseason, you’re playing in a game like this, you got to do the ordinary things at a really high level consistently for four quarters. It’s not about some magical play that is going to be the difference in the football game. It’s about the fundamentals, technique, eye discipline, playing within the structure of what you’re doing in any three phase of the game.”
Prediction: Tennessee 17, Ohio State 13
Next week: The winner will play No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
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