Tennessee’s college football stars made a powerful move before their Saturday night showdown against Ohio State – walking outside shirtless in 25-degree weather to warm up for the game.
The players briefly stretched with exercise bands before eventually having to cover up due to NCAA rules requiring players to wear shirts with their numbers on them for warmups.
But with many predicting Ohio’s cold weather would be a factor against Tennessee, the players made their point loud and clear in a stadium that will host thousands of traveling fans.
When coach Josh Heupel spoke about the conditions earlier in December, he was dismissive of suggestions that his players would struggle with the cold conditions.
“A week ago we played in 90-degree weather (at Vanderbilt),” Heuepl said on Dec. 8.
“This isn’t the Deep South. We’re getting some colder weather. We practice in the morning. We are outside during our preparation.
Tennessee’s college football stars warmed up shirtless before the Ohio State game
Temperatures had dropped to 25 degrees as the teams got ready
NCAA rules meant players were only shirtless for a short time before covering up
“We’ll be ready to handle the elements when we get to Columbus, Ohio.”
But fans on social media felt the gesture showed Tennessee was focusing too much on the noise surrounding the game in the lead-up.
“Teams on the verge of bankruptcy do things like this,” one fan wrote on X.
Another social media user agreed, saying, “Honestly. When has this ever gone well for the team doing this? They usually don’t lose when they try to pretend the cold doesn’t matter and come out shirtless.
Another viewer wrote: ‘I honestly can’t believe it worked. We told them for 2 weeks that it was too cold for them and that was all they could think about. We’re in their heads.’
Another said sarcastically: “Hang up the banner. Players warm up in the cold without their shirts on.”
The power move failed after four quarters as the Buckeyes steamrolled the Volunteers 42-17.
Ohio State overwhelmed Tennessee in most metrics, including a lopsided 473-256 differential in total yards.
The win secured the Buckeyes’ date with No. 1-ranked Oregon in the Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day. Tennessee finished their season with a 10–3 record.