Some less familiar with Tennessee football might be surprised to see Vol fans show up to Ohio Stadium in droves for the College Football Playoffs this weekend.
Josh Heupel would not be on that list.
With his fourth season on Rocky Top nearing its completion, the Tennessee head coach has delivered the Vols’ fanbase two 10-win regular seasons, and in return, the fanbase has given his team consistent support on the road. Whether that’s taking over half the stadium at Vanderbilt, emptying out Tiger Stadium against LSU, or leading Rocky Top during Heupel’s return to Oklahoma, the Tennessee fanbase has proven time and time again that it will travel to support the Vols.
And with one of the biggest games in program history coming up this weekend, no one should be surprised to hear that Tennessee is projecting a heap of orange in Columbus this weekend.
“Not with this fanbase,” Heupel said on Monday on if he’s surprised to hear all the chatter about Tennessee fans buying tickets for the game. “It’s a nice short drive up there. Christmas is right around the corner. It’s a great Christmas present.”
Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson, a third-year player with the Vols, has seen much of what Heupel has seen on the road as well.
Consider Sampson another member of the Tennessee football program who wouldn’t be shocked in the slightest to see a wave of orange mixed in with the scarlet of Ohio State.
“No, it doesn’t surprise me,” Sampson said when asked about the projection on Monday. “I just think about a couple years ago at LSU where it felt like a home game, you know? That’s what I expect from Tennessee fans. I can’t wait to get out there and see a whole bunch of orange.”
Strong words coming from a native of Baton Rouge, LA.
More from RTI: Everything Tennessee HC Josh Heupel Said To Open Up Ohio State Week
It wasn’t hard to predict that Tennessee fans would eat up their allotment of tickets through the University and start figuring out other ways to gobble up tickets.
After a rumor had popped up that Tennessee fans had uncovered the OSU ticket pre-sale code, many UT fans took to social media to share their excitement after swindling the home team’s ticketing system. Whether that had an impact or not, the sheer magnitude of Tennessee fans waiting to haul tail north to Columbus rattled the Ohio State Athletics Director.
“What we need Buckeyes to do is wear scarlet. Don’t sell your tickets,” Ohio State AD Ross Bjork said 97.1 The Fan’s Morning Juice last Thursday. “Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans. They are going to invade the Shoe (Ohio Stadium). So let’s make sure we don’t have as much orange in there as people think.”
Ohio State has called for a “scarlet-out” in the 102,780-seat stadium, likely to try to visually drown out the (potentially large) pockets of orange scattered throughout.
8-seed Ohio State will host 9-seed Tennessee in a first-round playoff game this Saturday night in Ohio Stadium at 8:00 p.m. ET.
See Heupel’s full response below:
