Before kickoff arrived, it sure felt like the Tennessee Vols were going to be in a great spot to post an upset win over the Ohio State Buckeyes at The Shoe. Instead, Ohio State jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back.
The Vols showed some heart in the second quarter to enter the halftime break down 21-10, but there was no miracle comeback. Just like that, the season is over for Josh Heupel and this team. It's heartbreaking, as there were natty dreams for this squad.
While there are people sad over the result, there are plenty of others who are disappointed by the way things went down against the Buckeyes. In this piece, we have our four biggest letdowns from the action:
4. Dylan Sampson going down with his hamstring injury
This in no way is making an excuse for Tennessee losing the game. However, it was a massive bummer that SEC Player of the Year Dylan Sampson suffered a hamstring injury early on. It completely changed the offensive game plan. This was a contest where Sampson was supposed to remind everyone why he's one of the top RBs in the country, but that wasn't the case. He was able to return midway through the third quarter, but UT was down 28-10 by that point.
3. A terrible start to the game for the Vols
Whatever Heupel said to his team before they took the field clearly didn't inspire them. Tennessee looked flat on both sides of the ball in the first quarter. To go down 21-0 on the road was inexcusable. Tim Banks' defense made Will Howard look like a first-round pick - he had all day to throw. On top of that, the Tennessee offense had 16 total yards in the first quarter. As for Ohio State? Ryan Day's offense posted 205 yards in the first 15 minutes of action. Sheesh.
2. Ohio State dominated the battle in the trenches
Games are won and lost in the trenches. In this one, Ohio State dominated both on offense and defense up front. The Tennessee defensive line couldn't put much pressure on Howard, while Nico Iamaleava wasn't given enough time to scan the field. Nico was able to make plenty of plays with his legs, but the aerial attack couldn't get into any kind of a groove.
1. Josh Heupel had Tennessee fans livid some some of his play calls
It wasn't the best night for Heupel running things for the Vols. He probably doesn't want to search his name on Twitter, as fans are letting him have it. Not having Sampson on the field for a large chunk of the game was one thing, but he just coached conservatively. One decision that stood out came on the first drive of the second half.
Here, the Vols were facing 3rd-and-7, down 21-10. Had Tennessee made a statement on that first drive, it would have really made the game interesting. Instead, he called a speed option and the play never had a chance. Tennessee punted and Ohio State scored a big-time TD not too long after. What was Heupel thinking? He has a lot of self reflection to do this offseason.