Josh Heupel reacts to heavy total of Tennessee fans expected to be at Ohio Stadium

Head coach Josh Heupel and the rest of the Tennessee Volunteers were hoping for a home College Football Playoff game at Neyland Stadium. Instead, the Volunteers will be on the road at Ohio State.

Despite the road game, Tennessee is expecting plenty of fans to make the road trip to Columbus. That’s something that Huepel says makes sense to him given how good the fanbase is at Tennessee and the circumstances around the game.

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“Not [surprised] with this fanbase,” Josh Heupel said. “It’s a nice short drive up there and Christmas is right around the corner. It’s a great Christmas present.” 

This is the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff. With that, it’s also the first season that will have games on campus. On top of that, it’s Tennessee’s first ever trip to the Playoff. With that, this is a unique road trip for those Volunteers fans who are making the trip up to Columbus.

Ohio Stadium, also known as the Horseshoe, is also one of the iconic venues in all of college football. It fits more than 100,000 fans inside and, with that, it should be a chaotic environment for both teams to play in come kickoff.

On top of how many fans are going to be there for Tennessee, Josh Heupel is also expecting to need to contend with the weather. Going north in the winter is always going to lead to concerns about how a southern team can handle the cold. That’s especially true for a night game. At the same time, Heupel knows it’s something the Volunteers are going to need to get over.

“Yeah, it’s a June day in South Dakota,” Heupel joked about his home state. “It’s gonna be great football weather, you know, a couple weeks ago we played in, you know, 30 degree weather. We practice in the morning. Still chilly, you know, as cold as it will be around this area, and at the end of the day, you know, you get between the white lines. The weather doesn’t matter, the temperature doesn’t, and we’re ready to go play.”

The Tennessee Volunteers are making the trip to Columbus to play the Ohio State Buckeyes at 8:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 21st. On the line is a trip to the quarterfinals of the Playoff. There, the winner will play the Oregon Ducks at a neutral site, making this the final on-campus game of the season.