Tennessee vs Ohio State Predictions: College Football Playoffs

Final score predictions for the Tennessee vs Ohio State college football playoff game.

Jonathan Williams | 4 Hours Ago

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel during a college football game between Tennessee and UTEP at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Tennessee Volunteers

Final score predictions for the Tennessee vs Ohio State college football playoff game.

The college football playoffs are getting started on Friday with Notre Dame vs Indiana and the first round will conclude with Tennessee vs Ohio State on Saturday night. The winner between the Buckeyes and the Volunteers will move on to the quarterfinal round to play the Oregon Ducks.

These two teams have not played one another since Peyton Manning played quarterback for Tennessee. , the Ohio State Buckeyes are seven-point favorites heading into this one. The game will be played in Columbus Ohio as the first round games are played at the higher seeded team's home stadium. A unique road trip for the Tennessee Volunteers.

With that said , here is how the staff at Tennessee Volunteers on SI sees the game playing out on Saturday:

Tennessee vs Ohio State Predictions:

Jonathan Williams: Tennessee 27, Ohio State 24

I think this is going to be a defensive battle and it is going to boil down to which team can be better at the thing they have struggled with most on offense this season. For the Volunteers, that's creating explosive plays in the passing game and for Ohio State that has surprsingly been creating a consistent run game. In a game like this, I am going to roll with the team who I trust more to do what the core of identity of their team is the most. Tennessee has been reliant on Dylan Sampson and no matter where the game is played or what the weather is, that style of play will always travel and I think that results in Tennessee's passing game opening up.

Tanner Johnson: Ohio State 28, Tennessee 20

Tennessee's secondary versus Ohio State's wide receivers will be the most important matchup in this game. The Buckeyes have Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, and Carnell Tate at their disposal. Any one of those three receivers on their best day could be the Vols' best receiver. The Vols' secondary is much improved this season, led by Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III. But as we saw against Georgia, Tennessee can be susceptible to giving up big plays in the passing game against a very talented team, and there is no team in the country more talented than Ohio State. Ultimately, the Buckeyes' ability to score touchdowns in the red zone, while Tennessee settles for field goals, will be the difference.

Caleb Sisk: Tennessee 20, Ohio State 7

Tennessee may be on the road but this won't be a typical road game for the Vols as Tennessee has bought tons of tickets to support their team. The crowd advantage shouldn't be anything they are not used to. Tennessee will need to get started early and keep their foot on the gas. Similar to Georgia they jumped out to an early lead and gave it up. They can not do that. This team is at its best when they are staying on the gas. Tennessee is a talented team on both sides but so is Ohio State. This is the matchup of the day and that is why they have a primetime game which Tennessee typically plays better. They struggle more in the noon games as many can tell from the start of the UTEP and Vanderbilt games to close out the season. This one should be a fine but the rushing attack for Tennessee will be demoralizing to this Ohio State defense which will later open up the passing game to its fullest.