Tennessee safety, ex-Buckeye, Andre Turrentine: 'The Shoe isn’t as loud as the SEC, it’s a different animal'

Tennessee safety Andre Turrentine won’t be intimidated by the Ohio State crowd in a first-round College Football Playoff matchup. A former transfer who played his true freshman season with the Buckeyes, Turrentine knows firsthand what the expect from the atmosphere.

In fact, having now played in several SEC stadiums, he would even go as far as to say those are more difficult environments. His comments came two weeks before the Vols are set to travel to The Shoe for the clash with Ohio State, and will certainly give fans in attendance a call to action.

“The Shoe isn’t as loud as the SEC,” Turrentine said. “It’s a different animal here. Whether you’re at South Carolina at night time or whether you’re at Arkansas or whether you’re in Neyland at night time, or the day time for that matter, it’s loud here. It’s deafening. I would say The Shoe is the same way. They have the really diehard fans that are prepared to make enough noise that they need to. So I would say the SEC is a little bit louder, but The Shoe brings it as well.”

“The shoe isn’t as loud as the SEC, it’s a different animal”

Former Buckeye and current Vols safety Andre Turrentine takes a shot at the atmosphere in the Shoe.

There’s a focus for OSU to make the environment at the Shoe for the playoff game special:

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— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) December 11, 2024

Andre Turrentine played only four games during his lone season at Ohio State as he took a redshirt year. He has since gone on to become a full-time starter this year after mostly playing a reserve role in his first two seasons since transferring to Tennessee.

The safety has recorded a career-best 35 tackles to go along with one interception and three passes defended this season. He’ll continue to be a big part of the defensive gameplan as the Vols look to slow down a Buckeyes passing attack that features freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith and veteran Emeka Egbuka.

Ohio State enters the game as a 7.5-point favorite according to FanDuel and the winner will play No. 1 Oregon in the quarterfinals. Kickoff for the contest is set for 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 21 at Ohio Stadium.