COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee’s fight song blares from the speakers at Ohio Stadium, but only a few fans dressed in orange sing “Rocky Top.” Most of them volunteered to leave early during (or, more accurately, before) Ohio State University’s 42-17 win over Tennessee on Saturday in the College Football Playoff, which is strange. Because the SEC representatives looked, acted and talked much tougher at the beginning of the evening.
“They thought they were going to take over this place,” Howard said. “We showed them pretty quickly that we weren’t going to let that happen.”
They definitely tried. Vols fans filled The Shoe at an impressive rate as the stadium gates opened, to the point where people were wondering aloud if UT could “take over” the venue on the road. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin spent his weekend talking trash in support of his conference on Twitter, the internet’s harshest echo chamber. And Tennessee players went shirtless on the field during warmups, signaling to pregame doubters that December weather can’t stop the South.
Taken together, the SEC’s chest-thumpers have almost convinced me that they are macho men. Then the game started and – strangely again – the volunteers looked a little cold.
Ohio State led 14-0 within seven minutes and 21-0 less than five minutes later. The Buckeyes never trailed, leading by at least two points for 53 of 60 minutes. When OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson scored a 24-yard touchdown to give Ohio State a 42-10 lead with 10:53 to play, he helped put a new twist on an old Southern saying.
In SEC land they like to say, “Footbawl is just more fun” down there. They point to Nick Saban’s Alabama and Kirby Smart’s Georgia as their standard-bearers, winning five of the first 10 CFP national titles (though not the most recent). And we should assume that the other conference attendees are just as impressive given their proximity.
Even a three-loss Alabama with no Saban, they shout from their laptops, could play better against Penn State than SMU did in Saturday’s 38-10 Big Ten victory. Choosing one-loss Indiana, which lost 27-17 to Notre Dame on Friday, instead of three-loss heavyweights like Ole Miss or South Carolina? Eye roll.
“Really exciting, competitive playoff game @CFBPlayoff,” Kiffin typed into the airwaves Friday night. “Great job!!”
Why do these propagandists spend so much time asserting a supremacy they can no longer prove? “I have no idea,” OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said Saturday. “I don’t know. I know we won today and played pretty well.” We also know that the Big Ten had three teams advance to the CFP quarterfinals (OSU, PSU and Oregon), while the SEC had two teams (Texas and Georgia) advanced. I can’t wait for the SEC’s supporters to formulate their hypothetical response to this reality.
Here they come: If Alabama had made the playoffs (read: not lost to 6-6 Vanderbilt), the SEC could have reestablished its dominance. If the committee paid more attention to top-25 wins (and overlooked ugly conference losses), then Ole Miss or South Carolina would give the South another seat at the table. But when you look at it in reality, these teams are sitting at home, puffing out their chests and voicing their displeasure at the poor competition we saw this weekend.
Notre Dame led Indiana by 24 before winning by 10. Penn State beat SMU by four touchdowns. Ohio State beat the third-best SEC team by 25 points on Saturday night, but Saban’s performances, his shirtless players and his sarcastic tweets should convince me that the South still plays better football.
I’m skeptical after watching throngs of orange fans leave Ohio Stadium early Saturday night. Or call me old-fashioned when I suggest the SEC should assert its superiority on the scoreboard. As long as Georgia beats Notre Dame and Texas beats Arizona State next week – small potatoes for college football’s superpowers – the SEC will have another chance (funny concept) to put the Big Ten in its place.
They can leave the locker room shirtless, watch their rivals wave pom-poms on the internet, and fill the stadium with fans from the South. But if it doesn’t cause too much trouble, they should also try to play within two or three touchdowns – at least until the fight song plays over the fourth-quarter speakers. Otherwise, football audiences might wonder where the tough guys went, or even misinterpret the conference’s motto.
“Big Ten football. I think it just means more,” Ohio State tackle Donovan Jackson said Saturday.
The scoreboard agrees, if you’re into that sort of thing. If not, enjoy the ride home to SEC country. The Buckeyes enjoyed welcoming you so much that they played your favorite song in the fourth quarter.
Too bad you didn’t stay long enough to sing.
“What did they call it, Neyland (Stadium) North, something like that?” Jackson said. “Yeah, that was lame.”
