Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ex-OSU QB Cardale Jones Taunts Entire SEC as Buckeyes Hammer Tennessee Early

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Dible | Last updated Dec 21, 2024 9:21 PM ET

The Ohio State Buckeyes took the Tennessee Volunteers by storm in the final game of the College Football Playoff's first round on Saturday night, while former members of the program carried the torch on social media.

Cardale Jones, the Buckeyes' quarterback when the program won the National Title following the 2014 campaign, paraded around X after his old team smacked Tennessee to the tune of 21-0 in the first quarter.

Ohio State players roused an already pumped up crowd in Columbus when the final whistle of the opening stanza blew, and ESPN's camera panned across the more than 100,000 screaming fans that played a huge role in an atmosphere that seemed simply too big for the visiting Volunteers from the opening kick off.

Hey, SEC. Welcome to THE SHOE
— Cardale Jones (@CJ1two) December 22, 2024

"Hey, SEC," Jones said. "Welcome to THE SHOE."

Jones called the Buckeyes' stadium by its nickname, "The Shoe," which refers to its horseshoe shape.

The CFP's late game Saturday represented just the fourth time a college football team hosted a playoff contest, the other three coming in the previous 24 hours at Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas.

This year marked the first time that the sport selected a 12-team field to determine its national champion, which meant four participants earned byes through the first round and four hosted a first-round game at their respective stadiums.

Home-field advantage proved a meaningful factor in the first chapter of college football's new postseason format, as the home teams/higher seeds captured all three of the previous first-round games and Ohio State was in firm control late in the first half.

All also won in convincing fashion by double-digits and covered their respective point spreads, all of which were substantial considering each matchup was part of the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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