An essay by Ryan Wooden, a close friend of Rocky Top Insider.
Football Time in Tennessee means a helluva lot to a helluva lot of people. For most, UT fandom is inherited at birth. For others (like me), it was a choice informed by history. My dad and stepmom moved to Tennessee when I was in high school and when I was making a college choice as a junior, I chose Tennessee because I wanted to see big-time football games (in-state tuition helped too). For nearly 20 years, those opportunities were few and far between, but last Saturday I had the privilege of seeing the Volunteers play in the College Football Playoff at Ohio Stadium.
Now, I wish I could forget… some of it, at least.
My wife and I live in Silver Spring, Md. now, a quick walk from the border with our nation’s capital. As ticket prices fell on Friday night, I half-jokingly suggested that we cancel our weekend plans. I laid out a scattershot plan for how we’d make it work (it’s only a six-hour drive!), expecting it to be lovingly and politely declined. A half-hour later we had tickets and 10 hours later we were in the car on the way to Columbus.
We hit a little snow as we moved through the Allegheny Mountains and knew we were in for at least a little suffering. We’re from Chicago but only recently moved to the outskirts of DC from Phoenix and our skin has most certainly thinned from our years in the desert. We got into town just in time to grab dinner with some dear friends in Short North before grabbing an Uber to the stadium for the game.
The Horseshoe is a sight to behold. My wife went to school 100 miles up the road at a small private school, so she didn’t experience big-time college football as a student. However, she loves Neyland Stadium and for a second I think she felt like she picked the wrong Ohio school as we rolled up to Ohio Stadium. We knew from the restaurant and the drive over that Tennessee had arrived in force as predicted, but it was still impressive to get up to our seats and see as much as 30% of the building clad in orange.
The cold hit quickly though and the wind was piercing near the top of the stadium. In what was probably a bit of foreshadowing, many Tennessee fans turned to blankets because their wardrobes weren’t built to handle wind chills in the teens. Ohio State fans could feel the cold just the same but looked better prepared with closets full of apparel made for nights like this.
Buckeyes fans who didn’t throw their program under the bus by selling their tickets were understandably on edge. The noise during pregame was considerable from both sides and it was clear there would be a battle for momentum early on. Any success from Tennessee would have brought Vol Nation to life and the Ohio State fans in attendance felt obligated to at least try to stop that from happening. Fortunately for them, Ryan Day’s squad seemed well aware of the circumstances.
What unfurled over the next four hours is the part I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to forget. Tennessee won the toss and lost the night, with Ohio State taking advantage of an opportunity to set the tone to the fullest extent. The Volunteers were beaten with malice early, won a couple of rounds late in the first half and then were knocked out for good early in the second half. Everybody in the building had a different opinion on why, and most were probably right to some degree.
Josh Heupel’s squad hasn’t gotten up for big games on the road and his offense has lost its threatening manner. The pass rush didn’t exist, crossers ran freely across the middle of the field and the secondary had no answers for Ohio State’s talented receivers. The Buckeyes dominated and the myriad of reasons for that embarrassing performance will understandably fill column inches, run up page views and control the airwaves for months in Knoxville.
When we left the building, we could have grabbed a hotel or even stayed with our friends, but we ultimately decided to get out of dodge. Despite having recently reached the age where I am consumed by World War II history, this weekend would seem to indicate I’ve learned nothing. We went deep into hostile territory, nearly froze, were beaten mercilessly and needed to retreat.
NFL Sunday is a work day for me, so I slept a bit on the ride home. When we hit some pretty gross weather coming back across the mountains, we decided fresh eyes would be best so I took over and drove the rest of the way back. We got home at 6 a.m. and then slept a few more hours. We were pretty shell-shocked the next day but I worked through my assignments methodically and then I let the Bears resume the torture for a while. Football is often cruel in waves and a crushing Fantasy loss made this my Perfect Storm.
However, as I’ve slowly separated myself from the result, so much of this whirlwind trip means so much to me. Tennessee fans from far and wide came to experience one of the great atmospheres in college football. Columbus (a town I love and spent several summers in as a kid) welcomed them hospitably, for the most part, and showed that it likes to have a good time too. The Volunteers stepped back onto the national stage where they belong and now they understand that it will take a LOT more to stay there.
Coach Heupel will either turn this into a learning experience or he won’t and we’ll start this process all over again. I learned plenty and the Vols can too. I’ll make sure I get into town (whichever town that may be) a bit earlier so I can actually make it to the tailgate (sorry I missed ya, Reed). If it’s cold, I’ll be bringing an extra pair of socks and I’ve already ordered my Tennessee gaiter for that damned wind as well. Santa Claus even delivered me some new boots that will surely be used, too. Maybe Heupel found some NIL money in his stocking for some transfer portal help at linebacker, in the secondary and at wide receiver to help better prepare for his next big road trip.
We all have room for improvement but I won’t let my mistakes or the team’s take away from an incredible trip. My wife is from the suburbs of Chicago and went to a small school in northern Ohio. She had no vested interest in Tennessee until we met and I’m thankful every day that she embraces and emboldens my passions. Luckily, there are wives and husbands like that everywhere that make Vol Nation and college football as a whole truly special. They make nights like Saturday possible, where you can chase your favorite football team across the country on a whim.
I’ve traveled to watch Tennessee play a number of times and the Volunteers always travel well, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like Neyland North. Tens of thousands of Tennessee sickos put together an epic football vacation on less than two weeks’ notice to take a foothold (however briefly) in one of the most hostile environments the sport has to offer. The boys may have slipped up — as can happen from time to time — but Vols fans proved every step of the way that they were College Football Playoff-ready.
