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Josh Heupel jokes Tennessee will have ‘nothing new’ for CFP matchup vs. Ohio State
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Josh Heupel is under a ton of stress right now, and that takes a toll on a college football head coach who’s about to go into hostile territory with his season on the line.
Come Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, Heupel will lead his 9th-seeded Tennessee team into The Horseshoe to face 8th-seeded Ohio State. The winner gets a shot at top-seeded Oregon on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl. Heupel desperately wants to be in Pasadena that day, and to do that his team will have to slay the Buckeyes in their home stadium this weekend.
That’s a whole lot to deal with in the immediate future. So, in the present, during Monday’s press conference, Heupel put his comedian hat on and took that orange Tennessee hat off for a few moments to tell reporters something they might not have expected.
When somebody asked about the benefit of the extra time that his coaching staff had to prepare for Ohio State, with the Playoff selections announced on Dec. 8 and the game that not being until nearly 2 weeks later, Heupel replied:
“We having nothing new defensively, offensively or special teams. It’ll be exactly what we’ve done,” said Heupel, who probably had a hard time keeping a straight face when he said it.
Assuming Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and his staff get wind of Heupel’s hysterical comment, it’ll probably be met with a collective wry grin. Because come Saturday night, everything will be different, because it’ll literally be do-or-die for the 2 tradition-rich programs.
Tennessee heads into this one as a 7.5-point underdog on the road per bet365. Be sure to keep up with the latest odds using our best sports betting app ahead of Saturday night’s kickoff from Columbus.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
