Vols haven't forgotten 'the taste that was left in our mouth' after playoff loss at Ohio State

Josh Heupel addressed his Tennessee Football team in the locker room after a 36-23 win over the Commodores last November. The Vols had all but clinched a spot in the first 12-team College Football Playoff field and the head coach wanted his players to take a moment and let the feeling set in.

“Take a minute, enjoy this thing,” Heupel said. “Enjoy it tonight … and then we got to get physically healed up as good as we can to go play our best football here in a couple weeks. Everybody got me?”

Tennessee’s best football never showed up when the ninth-seeded Vols went to No. 8-seed Ohio State three weeks later. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 lead in less than 12 minutes and cruised to a 42-17 win in the first round of the new, expanded playoff at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. 

Josh Heupel: ‘We want to get in it, but you got to go win’

On Tuesday, when the 2025 season unofficially started with Tennessee’s trip to SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Heupel looked back at the loss. 

Can it be used as a building block moving forward? Did it send a message that it’s not just about playoff appearances, but playoff wins?

“Everybody inside of our program will tell you that the taste that was left in our mouth in December,” Heupel said, “(we) make sure everybody understands that’s not the goal. And we want to get in it, but you got to go win.”

Ohio State did just that, jumping out to a 34-0 lead over No. 1-seed Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, on the way to a 41-21 win. The Buckeyes then beat Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl and won the national championship, 34-23 over Notre Dame on January 21.

For Tennessee, Heupel said the first goal is to be back in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. The Vols haven’t played for an SEC title since a 21-14 loss to LSU in 2007.

“You want to play here in Atlanta,” he said, “play for a conference championship, win it, and get in the playoff and go win that thing, too.”

Vols looking for third season with 10 or more wins since 2022

Tennessee’s 11-win team in 2022 had its playoff hopes derailed by a November loss at South Carolina, leaving the Vols on the outside looking in at the four-team field. They won nine games in 2023 before going on the playoff run last fall. 

“Proud of the steps that we’ve taken,” Heupel said. 

But the misstep at Ohio State still lingers.

“And it’s been a part of helping us be challenged,” Heupel said, “every single day throughout the course of the winter, through spring ball, and certainly through the course of the summer.”