Tennessee Volunteers Keys to Victory vs Ohio State Buckeyes

What the keys to victory are for the Tennessee Volunteers vs Ohio State.

Jonathan Williams | 5 Hours Ago

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) looks for a receiver during the third quarter at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Tennessee Volunteers

What the keys to victory are for the Tennessee Volunteers vs Ohio State.

The college football playoff officially start this week as the first round games will be held on Friday and Saturday of this week. One of those games will be between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Tennessee Volunteers. Ohio State will be the home team for this game and Tennessee will make the trip up to Columbus and will be the final game of the first round of the playoffs.

Right now, Ohio State sits as a touchdown favorite heading into the game but the general feeling around the matchup is that it will be a close game. Both teams seem evenly matched against one another. So if Tennessee if going to come out with a win on Saturday, here are three things they are going to need to do:

Tennessee's Keys to Victory vs Ohio State

1. Put the Game on Will Howard's Shoulders

Ohio State's most reliant factor on offense this season has been its rushing attack. The trio of TreyVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, and Will Howard has provided a safe space in the offense for the Buckeyes, even if it hasn't produced the numbers many expected them to. However, if Tennessee can take away the run game, it will cause some struggles for Ohio State on offense.

Against Michigan, Ohio State rushed for just 77 yards on 26 attempts and threw for just 175 yards on 33 attempts. Eliminating the run game puts Ohio State in an uncomfortable position and will be a key for Tennessee on Saturday.

2. Hit the Deep Shots

This has essentially been a mainstay in the key to victories for Tennessee this year because has been something they have struggled a little bit with, but it is going to be necessary to take down Ohio State. The Buckeyes are top 10 in both run and pass defense which means Josh Heupel and the offense are going to have to force the Buckeyes' defense to opeto n up somehow. The best way to do that is by taking the top off of the defense and forcing them to respect the deep ball.

If they can do that and create lighter boxes for the run game, it will be a much easier day on offense for the Volunteers.

3. Late Game Awareness

The belief is that this will be a close game which means it very likely could come down to the very last possession of the game. That also means that Tennessee needs to have late-game awareness and fully understand what must happen in the game's biggest moments. Over Heupel's time at Tennessee, there have been some issues with late game clock management and just a lack of awareness by players late in the game. That can't happen on Saturday or else it very well could be the end to their season. late-game