I liked what Josh Heupel said and the way he said it:
“If you’re not of the mindset going into this thing, anyone, anywhere, anytime, then you’re just there to have a cup of coffee.”
I liked what Dr. Danny White said: “There is nobody we should be afraid of.”
The coach and the director of athletics said what they said during the safe period before they knew what the playoff selection committee was going to do to the Tennessee football team – at Ohio State, The Horseshoe, 411 Woody Hayes Drive, seven or eight minutes from downtown Columbus, on Saturday, Dec. 21, prime time.
Joy, joy, if the Vols beat the Buckeyes, they get to go to Pasadena to play No. 1 Oregon.
***
Tennessee and Ohio State live in very different worlds.
Big Orange Country seems proud of the Volunteers and their 10-2 record and OK with their place in the playoffs. They beat Alabama and Florida and did their coach a personal favor by hanging one on Oklahoma.
They’ve already earned for him a $200,000 bonus.
Yes, that dreadful loss at Arkansas took a toll. Think what might have been.
Unhappiness surrounds the 10-2 Buckeyes. As 21-point favorites, they lost at home in their season finale to hated, blankety-blank Michigan. That was the fourth annual disaster for coach Ryan Day.
One seriously provoked fan told me “He is John Cooper 2.0.”
Coach Cooper, from Heiskell and Powell, suffered that four-in-a row-fate 24 years ago. The school paid him $1.8 million to go away. That was a lot then.
Ohio State is a tough job, a pressure cooker of almost ridiculous expectations. Every year is “Beat Michigan or bust.” Fans talk as if anything less than the national championship is unacceptable. They have paid for the talent. They don’t think much of other Big 10 foes.
The debate lingers as to whether the Buckeyes can dare keep Day. What if losing to the Wolverines becomes a habit? Exactly how bad is his 1-4 record? Speculation swirls. How much would it cost to persuade Urban Meyer to return?
In some ways, the massive upset was overshadowed by the postgame brawl that led to $100,000 fines for both universities. Some of us thought the Buckeyes lost the fight.
***
Heupel had no complaints about the Tennessee-Ohio State pairing.
“Certainly would’ve loved to have a home game for our fans.”
Weather? My Old Farmers’ Almanac says the Ohio Valley will experience above-normal snowfall in late December for the convenience of Santa’s reindeer. Just guessing: Highs for game day in the 30s, lows for kickoff in the mid-20s.
Heupel said: “Know it won’t be sunny and 85. We played in 30-degree weather at Nashville.”
Tough road to go? Heupel said playoff teams should expect elite competition.
Coach talk: “We have an opportunity to go play a great Ohio State team. We know we have to be at our best. Now that we have an opponent, our preparation starts. Great opportunity.
“Our guys got to be able to handle anything that comes at them. That’s weather or outside distractions. It’s us getting ready to go be our best 11 on 11 between the white lines. And we’ll be ready to handle that and operate at a high level.”
Nick Saban says Tennessee matches up well in a crucial area, line of scrimmage. The Vols’ strength is the defensive line. Ohio State has on-going uncertainty with its offensive line.
Coach Day validated that view after the Michigan game.
“We struggled to run the ball.”
Day has heard most of the gripes. He faced facts. Ohio State was shut out in the second half of a home game for the first time in 13 years.
“Everybody wants to win that game in the worst way, and nobody wants to win it more than we do. It’s our No. 1 goal every year. When we don’t do that, there’s disappointment and frustration. I don’t blame anybody for being upset. I’m upset more than anybody. And those players are too, and the coaches and everybody that goes at it. We know what we’re getting ourselves into here.
“Obviously extremely disappointed and angry that we didn’t execute well enough,” Day said. “This is not easy to accept, and I obviously have to take the ownership. I’m the one ultimately that makes the final decisions on things.”
Day summed up the hurt: “One of the worst things that has happened to me in my life.”
Wow, Tennessee and Ohio State do live in different worlds.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
Beating OSU is easy, easy. Just as Marvin says that we match up on the line of scrimmage, Nico continues his good development and is protected by the offensive line, we win the kicking game, block out the environment–crowd and weather, avoid costly penalties and play our best game of the year–easy.
OSU will be tough. Think FL, AL and GA crowded into a cold stadium: loud, passionate and believing it is their Devine right to win. They probably carry buckeyes in their helmets for luck. We beat them when they had Eddie George; it can be done. We better practice with that Neyland noise pumped in.
I hope the snow is so deep on Dec. 21 that a horse will have to jump to flatulate and that we will beat Ohio State worse than Michigan did.