Scarlet Sunrise: Former Buckeyes DB Andre Turrentine, now at Tennessee, takes shot at Horseshoe atmosphere

COLUMBUS — Ohio State will face Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff next Saturday night (Dec. 21, 8 p.m., ABC), and the Volunteers have a former Buckeyes player on their roster.

Safety Andre Turrentine, who signed with the Buckeyes as part of the 2021 recruiting class before quickly transferring to Tennessee after just one season at Ohio State, is a regular player for the Vols in the SEC.

Well, during a media session Tuesday, Turrentine decided to take a shot at the Horseshoe and the home-field advantage Ohio State has at home — because he knows it well. Turrentine said there are plenty of SEC crowds that are louder than the Horseshoe.

“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.”

He did go on to clarify, but the shot was already fired by then.

“I would say The Shoe is the same way,” he said. “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.”

Sounds like a challenge, Ohio State fans. Odds are the Horseshoe will be rocking for the first-ever College Football Playoff home game in its 102-year history. And Turrentine might regret making the comments about the atmosphere come game time.

Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin named Rimington Trophy finalist

Seth McLaughlin played his last down for Ohio State in the win at Northwestern on Nov. 16, but it seems the graduate senior is far from forgotten.

McLaughlin, despite having his season cut short by an achilles tendon tear suffered practice the week of the Indiana game,  was named one of three finalists for the Rimington Trophy on Monday. He joins Cooper Mays of Tennessee, whom the Buckeyes host Dec. 21 in the College Football Playoff first round, and Jacob Gideon of Western Michigan in the final running for the most outstanding center in college football.

The Rimington Trophy committee uses a composite of three major All-America teams — The Walter Camp, The Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America — to determine the winner. As the committee posted in its press release about the three finalists:

Counting down

Tennessee at Ohio State: 10 days
Ohio State at Michigan: 354 days

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