(8) Ohio State cruised to a 42-17 win against (9) Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday and punched its ticket to the Rose Bowl against a familiar foe in (1) Oregon. Though Volunteers fans showed up to Ohio Stadium in force and caused some early problems for the Buckeyes, the final result was never really in doubt.
Ohio State marched 75 yards down the field in five plays to score a 37-yard touchdown on its opening drive. The Buckeyes then forced Tennessee into a three-and-out, which set the tone for what was to come.
Ohio State scored on each of its first three drives — with two touchdown plays that covered at least 25 yards — and sat on a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. Tennessee actually roared back with a 10-point second quarter and held Ohio State scoreless to make things at least slightly interesting entering halftime.
That was the end of any sort of rally, though. Ohio State scored 21 unanswered points in the second half and didn’t even allow Tennessee to cross the 50-yard line until late in the fourth quarter when it scored a garbage-time touchdown with less than 2 minutes remaining against Ohio State’s backup defense.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard played one of the best games of his career and carved up a strong Tennessee defense with 24 completions for 311 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 10.7 yards per attempt.
The Buckeyes now turn their attention to an Oregon team that beat it 32-31 in the regular season. Ohio State and Oregon will meet again on Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal’s most anticipated matchup out at the Rose Bowl.
- Tennessee allowed 42 points Saturday, which were a season high. The Vols gave up just 23 total points in their final two regular-season games.
- This is the second-largest loss ever by an SEC team in the College Football Playoff.
- Ryan Day, who is now 2-3 in College Football Playoff games, is third among active coaches in playoff wins.
CBS Sports will update this story shortly with takeaways below.
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