Tennessee HC Josh Heupel bluntly assesses Volunteers’ performance after blowout loss to Ohio State

Josh Heupel's Tennessee was blown out by Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday. The Volunteers traveled to Columbus with high hopes for their first playoff appearance but left with disappointment after a 42-17 loss.

In his postgame press conference, Heupel pointed to his team's poor start as the primary reason for the disappointing loss. Ohio State scored a touchdown on each of their first three drives, shifting the momentum in their favor for most of the game.

“There wasn’t a phase of the football game where we operated the way we needed to early in the game,” Heupel said. “Came back and made a couple of plays at the end of the second quarter to tighten it up. Just didn’t function well enough at the beginning of the third quarter, either.”

Despite the performance against Ohio State, Josh Heupel remains proud of the efforts of his players leading up to the encounter.

“Like the preparation going into it, guys that were out there with us for the two weeks of this preparation, I thought they did a really good job, and the performance tonight doesn’t change my viewpoint of what they did on the practice field and in their preparation.”

Heupel will look to address the flaws that were made evident in the playoff game ahead of next season.

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Josh Heupel appreciates Tennessee fans

Tennessee fans trooped in thousands to Columbus on Saturday for the highly anticipated playoff game. Despite playing on the road, the Volunteers had noteworthy support at the stadium on Saturday night. Josh Heupel couldn't help but express gratitude to the fans.

"Just want to thank our fans," Heupel said. "I don’t know what the actual number was that showed up, but there was a bunch of orange that decided to make the trip. Appreciate them. Disappointed for them. Disappointed for our team and everything that we have put into it since last January, that we didn’t coach and play better in this one early.

An estimated 40,000 Vols fans made it to the Ohio Stadium on Saturday night (per KSTM 9 News), the largest away crowd witnessed at the stadium in recent history.