Will Howard's knockout and every disrespectful jab Ohio State took at Tennessee over CFP blowout

Just about everything was going against the Ohio State Buckeyes ahead of their first-round College Football Playoff matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night. After a fourth straight loss to Michigan, this one more embarrassing than all the rest combined, the conversation in Columbus was far more concerned with whether it was time to fire Ryan Day than whether this team could go on a national title run. And as if that weren't bad enough, Vols fans had spent the weeks leading up to the game talking a very big game and threatening to turn Ohio Stadium orange. Sure, Ohio State was the home team, the higher seed and a full touchdown favorite, but the vibes could hardly have been worse.

It turns out that Ohio State's players do in fact have working internet connections, and heard all the noise from Knoxville and their own backyard about how their season was basically already over. The Buckeyes took all that angst and all that frustration and channeled it into by far their best performance of the season, a 42-17 romp that felt like it was over midway through the second quarter. And then, once the clock hit zero, they made sure to let everybody know about it.

Will Howard, Ohio State can't stop trolling Tennessee after CFP blowout

The trolling began before the game had even ended, as the PA system at the Horseshoe played a hearty rendition of Tennessee's Rocky Top as Vols fans streamed toward the exits in the closing minutes. Ohio State center and Alabama transfer Seth McLaughlin, who went down with a season-ending Achilles injury just before the Michigan game, even brought some SEC flair to the proceedings, lighting up a victory cigar on the sideline — a Tuscaloosa tradition after each win over the rival Volunteers.

But no one on Ohio State's roster talks smack quite like quarterback Will Howard. This is the man who nursed a grudge against Penn State for half a decade over the Nittany Lions passing on the Pennsylvania native out of high school, the man who couldn't wait to rub the Buckeyes' blowout win over Indiana last month in Curt Cignetti's face. For better or worse, Howard doesn't back down from anyone or anything, and after a near-perfect performance in the win against Tennessee (24-29, 311 yards, 2 TDs, one INT, plus five carries for 37 yards) you just knew he was going to have something special planned.

Sure enough, Howard took to Instagram on Monday afternoon, going full Game of Thrones with his caption.

You can definitely find a nit to pick with this sort of behavior, especially given the ruckus the Buckeyes raised over Michigan's own attempted flag-planting after being Ohio State last month. But Tennessee set the tone for this game early, coming to Columbus in droves and doing everything they could to get under their opponent's skin. That's all well and good — all's fair in love, war and football — but you can't be surprised when the other team responds in kind after delivering a blowout win.