Steve Vowell wasn’t going to miss Tennessee’s debut in the College Football Playoff. As soon as tickets went on sale for the first-round game against Ohio State, Vowell scoured the secondary market to buy them. He grabbed four tickets for $3,200 and plans to make the trip to Ohio this weekend with a buddy.
“We’ve suffered through the lean years from 2009-2020, and I want to enjoy and celebrate the return of Tennessee to relevance on the national stage,” says Vowell, 68, a UT season ticket holder from Martin. “The last three years have been really entertaining and we’ve known that we’re getting better, and this year is another step in the process.”
No. 9 seed Tennessee (10-2) plays No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) Saturday (8 p.m. EST, ABC) at Ohio Stadium, with the winner facing No. 1 Oregon (13-0) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California Jan. 1.
Given the significance of the game and their reputation for traveling well, UT fans are expected to invade The Horseshoe, which seats 102,780, in large numbers.
Tennessee received only 3,500 tickets for the CFP game compared to 5,000 for visiting fans for SEC road games. UT season ticket holders and donors had the first opportunity to submit ticket requests. UT anticipated only 1,000 tickets being available to donors after institutional needs were met.
But the longer odds didn’t deter UT fans. Many were able to buy tickets on the secondary market from OSU fans selling theirs, and others got access to a leaked Ohio State presale code.
United Airlines even added a round-trip nonstop flight from Knoxville to Columbus for the game. The flight leaves Knoxville Friday at 4 p.m. and returns Sunday at 12:15 p.m. from Columbus. Entering the week, the airfare was around $634 per person.
The fear of a UT infiltration was enough to cause OSU athletic director Ross Bjork to make a plea to Buckeye fans during a radio interview on 97.1 The Fan.
“Don’t sell your tickets,” Bjork says. “Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans. They are going to invade The Shoe, so let’s make sure we don’t have as much orange in there as people think.”
UT System President Randy Boyd ran into OSU President Ted Carter at an educational forum last week and posted about the encounter on social media.
“He thinks the stadium may be 30% orange – way to go Vol fans!” Boyd wrote. “First game ever played at Ohio Stadium in the month of December, and likely the first below freezing game the Vols have played in decades! Going to be a great game!”
In the building
UT season ticket holder Mike Head was able to purchase two tickets to the game for only $150 each by using the leaked OSU presale code. He plans to take one of his children with him to the game. Head is a former Austin Peay basketball player who teaches PE and coaches basketball at Clarksville High.
“It just happened to work out where I’m out of school Friday and I don’t have basketball,” Head says. “Normally this time of year, I can never go to a game like this. But it all just worked out perfectly. I know we are kind of playing with house money and we’re the underdogs and I wanted to be there. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Trey Vaughn has season tickets for UT football, softball, and men’s and women’s basketball. The Knoxville resident attended the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska last spring with his dad to watch the UT baseball team win the national title.
Vaughn, 40, knew he probably wouldn’t be selected to purchase CFP first-round tickets through UT’s allotment, so he bought five tickets for $400 each on the secondary market. He’s heading to Columbus with his dad, brother, brother-in-law and a friend.
“We’re pretty passionate, die-hard fans and there was no way we were going to miss Tennessee’s first playoff game. I would love to see 30 or 40,000 other UT fans there,” Vaughn says. “I’m excited also to check out another stadium of one of the all-time programs, and getting to do it while watching the Vols is pretty cool.”
Once Shelbyville resident Brayden Ward saw tickets on sale for $280, he asked his father for an early Christmas/birthday gift. They combined to purchase four tickets to attend the game with two family friends.
“A lot of the best memories of things my dad and I have done together involve Tennessee football, and this will be a great one to add to that,” says Ward, 29, whose second cousin is former UT kicker Jeff Hall. “Another reason I want to go is because I just hate Big Ten football. I think they are a bunch of pansies and the Ohio State media run their mouths. I just want to be there and shut them up.”
Vowell is planning to bring a special item on the trip to Columbus this weekend. He will be carrying the gold football his grandfather was given for being a member of the undefeated 1914 UT team. His uncle, Graham Vowell, was UT’s first All-American in football.
“My granddad and great uncle were stars of the ancient days in Tennessee,” Vowell says. “My granddad’s gold football is sort of like a national championship ring and I carry it to some of the games that I go to that are important to me just to have his memory there and maybe for good luck.”
Vowell hopes to bring the family heirloom to even bigger UT postseason games so he can carry on his family’s UT football legacy while watching the current Vols try to create their own.
“Will we win it all this year? Maybe not,” Vowell says. “But I want to be a part of it just in case we do, and I will continue to attend each and every playoff and bowl game that I can in hopes that we can hold that national championship trophy up again soon.”