COLUMBUS, Ohio — Will Howard threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jeremiah Smith, while TreVeyon Henderson rushed for two scores as No. 8 seed Ohio State routed No. 9 seed Tennessee 42-17 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (11-2) will play No. 1 seed Oregon (13-0) in the quarterfinals in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1.
Ohio State bounced back after a puzzling 13-10 home loss to unranked Michigan on Nov. 30. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said the time in between games helped his team refocus.
“They had a look in their eye that they were going to win this game, and they played that way,” he said.
Smith scored his second touchdown, a 22-yarder with nine minutes left in the third quarter, to make it 28-10.
“I think all of us can agree that we’re not surprised by how good he is now,” Howard said of the freshman receiver. “He’s the dude, man. I mean, he’s the best receiver in the country.”
Henderson’s 24-yarder early in the fourth extended the lead to 42-10.
Howard finished 24 of 29 with an interception, while Smith’s six catches went for 103 yards. Henderson gained 80 yards on 10 carries.
The kickoff temperature was 25 degrees with a wind chill of 17 before a crowd of 102,819, with about 40 percent rooting for the Vols.
“I’m disappointed for our team,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “There wasn’t a phase of the football game where we operated the way we needed to early in the game.”
The Volunteers (10-3) rallied to trail 21-10 at the half after it looked as if they would be blown out.
Tennessee got a 36-yard field goal by Max Gilbert after an interception by Davison Igbinosun at the Ohio State 19 was nullified by a roughing-the-passer penalty.
The Volunteers pulled within 11 on a 1-yard run by Nico Iamaleava with 20 seconds left before the break to cap a 16-play, 79-yard drive that used 4:03.
Iamaleava completed 14 of 31 passes for 104 yards and rushed 20 times for 47 yards and two TDs.
“Man, we’ve been putting in the work to get to this point, and it sucks to go out this way because that’s not who we are,” Iamaleava said.
Ohio State blitzed the Volunteers for first-quarter scoring drives of 75, 68 and 58 yards to lead 21-0 while outgaining the visitors 205-16 in total yards.
“Having two or three weeks that we had to get ready for these guys, I think, gave us a little bit of an edge,” Howard said.
On the first possession of the game, the Buckeyes went ahead 7-0 on a 37-yard catch by Smith.
Quinshon Judkins made it 14-0 with a 1-yard run, and Henderson extended the lead to 21-0 on a 29-yard run.
Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson, the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year, had two carries for 6 yards in the first quarter before leaving with an undisclosed injury. He returned in the third quarter to make a 2-yard catch but had no more carries.
–Up next for Ohio State: vs. 1 Oregon (13-0), Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 5 p.m. (College Football Playoff quarterfinal).
–About Oregon: The Ducks are led by Heisman Trophy finalist Gabriel Dillon. They defeated the Buckeyes 32-31 in Eugene, Ore., on Oct. 12. Oregon played in the inaugural CFP championship game on Jan. 12, 2015, losing to Ohio State 42-20.
–Craig Merz, Field Level Media
