Tennessee football’s performance in its 42-17 loss at Ohio State was extremely underwhelming. It was perhaps the most one-sided loss of Josh Heupel’s tenure in Knoxville as the Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 lead and scored touchdowns on six of nine drives that the starters played.
There was plenty of disappointment from Tennessee coaches and players during the postgame press conferences and that included disappointment for the fans that made the trek to Columbus.
“First, just want to thank our fans,” Heupel said. “I don’t know what the actual number was that showed up, but there was a bunch of orange that decided to make the trip. Appreciate them. Disappointed for them.”
“We feel like our fans play a big part in everything that we did this year,” Tennessee defensive tackle Omari Thomas said. “They continued to just support us in everything, regardless, bad, good, ugly. We had fans who continued to support us and come down here. It meant a lot for us. We play for each other. We play for the fans. We play for the culture. Like being a part of Tennessee culture, it just means a lot to us.”
Vol fans talked about taking over “The Shoe” for the two weeks leading up to the game and they lived up to their word, showing up in droves to watch Tennessee’s disappointing performance.
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It is challenging to estimate how many made the trip but Tennessee fans filled a large chuck of Ohio Stadium as prices for the game went down over the last week.
“Pretty special what our fans have done,” Heupel said. “Yeah, a ton of disappointment in our locker room for everybody that’s invested. There’s so much work that goes into it. But absolutely disappointed in the performance tonight for our fans. The amount of people that traveled. But it’s every week. It’s 365 days out of the year. Disappointed for them, absolutely.”
“I love it,” Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava said. “I was so happy to see all the orange in the stands. It sucks the performance we gave out for them, but I hope they get home safe, man. I really appreciate their support.
Tennessee finished the season 10-3 (6-2 SEC) with wins over SEC rivals Alabama and Florida. The Vols made the College Football Playoffs for the first time but once they got their Ohio State reminded them how much growing they still have to do before being a real contender to win the National Championship.
Still, the Vols have won 10-plus games in two of their last three seasons. Neyland Stadium has become one of the toughest places to play in the nation with Tennessee’s resurgence under Heupel. Over the last three seasons, Tennessee is 20-1 at home.
