Ryan Day needed this

Even though Ohio State entered the playoff as a top-10 team and with only two losses on the season, the vibes around the program seemed a little bleak.

When we last saw them playing they were losing — again — to their fiercest rival (Michigan) and giving away a chance to play in the Big Ten championship game, and then humiliated themselves afterward by getting into a brawl over a flag-planting at the 50-yard line.

It was not great, and it set up a situation where head coach Ryan Day might need to go on an extensive run into the playoff — and perhaps even win the whole thing — to win back the fans.

Well, he and the Buckeyes took a big step toward winning them back on Saturday night with an emphatic win over Tennessee.

Calling it an emphatic win might not even be doing it enough justice. The Buckeyes pummeled the Volunteers as soon as the game started, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the third quarter.

Outside of a brief stretch in the middle of the game where Tennessee scored 10 consecutive points, this was never anything close to a competitive game.

Home teams ruled the first round

This was the first year of the College Football Playoff having home games played on campus, and the home teams feasted in those matchups.

All four home teams not only won, but all of them won by double digits.

The only road team that was within even 10 points on the scoreboard was Indiana’s 27-17 loss at Notre Dame on Friday night, and even that final score was misleading as the Hoosiers did not even find the end zone until there were less than three minutes to play. That game was also never in doubt.

Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith were unstoppable

Pretty much everything Ohio State did on both sides of the ball worked to perfection on Saturday night, but the Howard-to-Smith connection was especially dominant.

As it has been all season.

Howard completed 24-of-29 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns.
Both touchdowns went to his sensational freshman target, with the second being an absolutely perfect throw from Howard where he just dropped in over the defense with ease.

The only way that pass could have been placed any more perfectly is if Howard had walked to that spot on the field and handed it to Smith.

Smith finished the game with six catches for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Tennessee didn’t represent the SEC well

The loudest noises about the 12-team field coming into the playoff came from the SEC over teams like Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina (all three-loss teams) being left out of the field in favor of teams like Indiana and SMU.

When Indiana and SMU were easily defeated to open the playoff, those noises became even louder, especially from Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

So it is worth pointing out that Tennessee, a two-loss SEC team, ended up having the absolute worst showing of the first round. Not only did it lose by 25 points, it was outgained 473-256, only had 17 first downs compared to 24 for Ohio State, and lost by nearly four touchdowns.