"A roster full of elite players": Tennessee HC Josh Heupel offers his honest evaluation of Ohio State ahead of CFP clash

Josh Heupel will lead his team to a tough test in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Seeded as the No. 9 team, Tennessee will make a trip to Columbus to play the No. 7 Ohio State. The game is one of the most anticipated playoff encounters in the first round.

Following the announcement of the seeding by the selection committee on Sunday, Josh Heupel offered his opinion about the Volunteers’ playoff opponent.

“This is a roster full of elite players and coached extremely well,” Heupel said. “They’re smart, tough, physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We’re going to have to play at our best and have a couple of great weeks of preparation to give ourselves a chance to do that in Columbus.”

Josh Heupel would have loved a home game

Apart from securing a spot in the playoffs, hosting a playoff game is coveted among teams in the new CFP format. Tennessee was one place away from hosting a game in the seeding. The Vols now have to travel to Columbus instead.

Josh Heupel shared his perspective on missing the opportunity to host a playoff game in Knoxville, expressing that a matchup of this magnitude at Neyland Stadium would have been incredible.

“Certainly would have loved to have had a home game here for our fanbase. But at the end of the day, you’re in the Playoffs. You’re going to play elite competition … during the course of this run,” Heupel said.

“We have an opportunity here in Week 1 to go play a great Ohio State team. We know we’ve got to be at our best and now that we have an opponent, our preparation starts. It’s a great opportunity for us.”

Tennessee to prepare for cold weather in Columbus

The weather in Columbus will be pretty different from Knoxville at this time of the year. Heupel assured that Tennessee will be ready to face the cold conditions at Ohio State, noting that the Vols typically practice in the morning, which aligns with cooler temperatures.

“A week ago we played in 30-degree weather (at Vanderbilt),” Heupel said. “This isn’t the Deep South. We get some colder weather. We practice in the mornings. We’ll be outside during the course of our preparation. We’ll be ready to handle the elements when we get up to Columbus, Ohio.”

Apart from playing in front of its home fans, the weather is also bound to offer some advantage to the Buckeyes in the upcoming playoff matchup. This is a challenge Heupel and his team have to overcome to seal a crucial win in Columbus.