A Ryan Day playoff revival! Ohio State silences noisy Tennessee fans

• Ohio State supplied fresh evidence in this College Football Playoff romp of Tennessee that they’re national championship material.
• Ryan Day silences critics in one of the finest showings of his career.
• Buckeyes look strong as they ready for Rose Bowl vs. Oregon.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tennessee fans poured in here not by the thousands but by the tens of thousands, wearing their orange and singing “Rocky Top” in the bars on Friday and the tailgates on Saturday.

The boisterous supporters from one of college football’s most ravenous fan bases hungered for this moment, but then the game began, and their Vols starved them of much to cheer.  

By the end of the first quarter, Ohio State’s rout had gained a full head of steam, and all those orange-clad fans in Ohio Stadium watched in a frozen silence while Ryan Day and his Buckeyes enjoyed a revival.

Scrape the dirt off Day’s Ohio State coaching casket. Those who grabbed their shovels after Day lost to Michigan for the fourth straight season were overly eager, and the fed-up Buckeyes fans who sold their tickets to Vols faithful gave up hope too soon.

The Buckeyes supplied fresh evidence in this 42-17 College Football Playoff romp that they’re national championship material.

Ohio State rout of Tennessee becomes total mismatch

Ohio State’s embarrassment of wide receiver riches against Tennessee’s defensive backs became the night’s most lopsided mismatch, or maybe that was the Buckeyes’ disruptive defensive front against Tennessee’s feeble offensive line.

The bell tolled on Tennessee – literally.

After Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw an completion – he had plenty of those – or the Buckeyes dragged him down for a sack, an ominous bell would begin to play on the stadium’s loudspeakers.

Dong, dong, dong.

The Vols will hear that darn bell in their sleep.

Ding, dong, Tennessee’s national championship hopes are dead, while the Buckeyes’ are alive and well, and would you really be so surprised if Ohio State won the whole dang thing?

The Buckeyes won’t face a talent disadvantage in any game. The playoff committee became victims of the moment when they seeded Ohio State eighth while the Buckeyes’ fan base experienced a meltdown after Day’s fourth consecutive loss to Michigan, this one more inexplicable than the previous three.

The Buckeyes buckled and whimpered against “The Team Up North.’ No denying it. But every playoff team other than Oregon laid at least one stinker this season, and throughout much of the season, Ohio State performed like one of the nation’s two best teams, and the rematch of the Ducks and Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl feels a bit like a national championship bout miscast as a quarterfinal.

Buckeyes fans might have stopped believing in Day two weeks ago, but in the latest round of Day vs. Everybody, Day landed one of the stiffest haymakers of his career. The Vols got flat whipped, and so did Day’s lengthy list of haters.

Ryan Day takes on everybody, and everybody loses

The coach who supposedly can’t win a big game now owns three wins this season against teams that qualified for the playoff. Only Georgia touts more.

Rarely has Day looked better than he did on this night.

While Ohio State fans bait their hooks for white whale Mike Vrabel in a coaching search that might never materialize, Day polished a winning percentage that looks phenomenal against everyone except Michigan.

There’s no excusing Ohio State’s performance against its biggest rival, but it became clear against Tennessee that while the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes, they didn’t suck out their soul. The 12-team playoff format afforded Day with a cushion he required. Michigan remains the wraith that spooks Day, but the boogeyman won’t be found in this playoff field.

The Buckeyes shouldn’t fear Oregon – not after they came so close to beating them in Eugene two months ago.

They certainly weren’t alarmed by Tennessee, and why should they be? Ohio State proved its physical advantages, and for all you hear about “SEC speed,” the Buckeyes sprinted circles around the Vols.

The moment seemed too big for Iamaleava, Tennessee’s handsomely paid quarterback who didn’t live up to the hype as a redshirt freshman. In Iamaleava’s defense, he lacked help. Tennessee’s only glimmer of offensive success came when Iamaleava chewed up yards with his legs.

An injury limited the snaps for Dylan Sampson, the Vols’ star running back. Tennessee’s receivers couldn’t get open, a continuation of a theme. Why is it that Josh Heupel, a supposed offensive maestro, can’t attract premier wide receivers?

Tennessee’s defense that brought it to the dance wilted, just as it did against Georgia. Will Howard had a hand in that. The Ohio State quarterback hit repeated deep strikes, and although the 25-degree game-time temperature refused to let Howard break a sweat, the Vols didn’t turn up the heat on him, either.

As Ohio State bludgeoned Tennessee, and that bell kept tolling, an embattled coach enjoyed a comeback, and the super squad he built reawakened, gnashed its teeth and played like the monster it is.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.