College Football HQ

Tennessee fans take over Ohio Stadium, play "Rocky Top"

It appears those rumors of a Tennessee takeover could be true, as Volunteers fans are all over Ohio Stadium ahead of Saturday's playoff game against Ohio State.

James Parks

Tennessee fans appear to be taking over Ohio State's stadium.
Tennessee fans appear to be taking over Ohio State's stadium. / Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Reports of Tennessee football fans “taking over” Ohio Stadium in Saturday’s playoff game at Ohio State don’t appear to have been too exaggerated.

New video posted by Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger shows a very large contingent of orange-clad fans sitting around the Horseshoe as the Vols’ band blares “Rocky Top” throughout the stadium.

Rumors of a Tennessee takeover became apparent over the last week as it appeared Volunteers fans had been very active on the ticket resale market, with some estimates being that almost half of those tickets were going to fans from the state of Tennessee.

And if the pregame suggestions are correct, we could see as many as 30,000 Big Orange fans, a remarkable figure for a visiting team at a venue of Ohio Stadium’s stature.

That would be about 10 times what visitors are usually allocated for games of this kind.

The situation even aroused the concern of Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork, who went on local radio in Columbus recently to plead with fans not to sell their tickets to the other side.

“Don’t sell your tickets,” Bjork said on 97.1 FM in Columbus.

“Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans. They are going to invade the Shoe. Let’s make sure we don’t have as much orange in there as people think.”

For his part, Vols coach Josh Heupel said he wasn’t surprised to learn so many Tennessee fans were looking to buy tickets for the away game.

“Not with this fan base,” he said. “It’s a nice short drive up there. Christmas is right around the corner. It’s a great Christmas present.”

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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