Jaxson Moi shuts down Nico Iamaleava's weather excuse for playoff loss to Ohio State

Jaxson Moi isn't going to blame it on the weather.

The last thing any Vols fan wants to talk about is last year's 42-17 loss to Ohio State in the playoffs. It was a rough night. Give the Buckeyes credit, they were the better team.

It was also a cold night in Columbus, cold enough that former quarterback Nico Iamaleava said the cold weather was the reason for the lackluster performance from Tennessee.

But Moi doesn't want to hear it.

“Surprisingly, it does get pretty cold out here in Knoxville,” Moi said last week on the Paul Finebaum Show. “So, you know, I don’t think the weather had anything to do with that (loss to Ohio State). I felt like, from a weather standpoint, we were prepared. But obviously, we left a lot on the table."

Moi isn't wrong. It gets pretty chilly in Knoxville, and the state of Tennessee in general once you hit around mid-November. Looking at the final two regular-season games for the Vols in the 2024 season, the 56-0 win over UTEP was a 1 p.m. (ET) start and the temperature was 47 degrees and the 36-23 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville was a noon start with a temperature of 41 degrees.

Is that as bad as the 25 degrees it was at kickoff time in Columbus? No, but it wasn't warm either and, without getting all meteorological here, the temperature likely got into the 30s as the Vanderbilt game went on. Also, there were several days in the first week of December when the high temperatures in Knoxville didn't get outside the 30s and two days when the lows were in the 20s.

Moi is probably correct about the weather not being a big deal, but I don't know if the Vols were prepared. The defense gave up touchdowns on Ohio State's first three drives and the offense didn't record a first down until their third possession.

Hey Nico, it gets cold in the Big Ten as well

So, yeah, it can get cold in Knoxville in December. It can also get cold in East Lansing, Michigan in mid-October when UCLA plays Michigan State. I bet Bloomington, Indiana isn't going to be a tropical paradise on October 25 when the Bruins head there.

And, oh yeah, UCLA plays at Ohio State on November 15. Better pack a warm jacket Nico.