When Dont’e Thornton walked off the field after Tennessee’s crushing loss to Ohio State in the 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal, he probably didn’t realize that just months later, he’d be learning the very offense that dismantled him. Now playing under Chip Kelly—the former Ohio State offensive coordinator—Thornton has a new appreciation for what happened that night. His recent comments put it plainly: “I love it. I played (against Kelly and the Buckeyes) in my last college game, in the first round of the playoffs, and they beat us bad. So being able to play in his offense, I see why they did that.”
That quote speaks volumes, and not just because it comes from someone who was on the receiving end of one of the most dominant offensive performances of the postseason. It also tells the story of how Ohio State, under the guidance of Kelly, reinvented itself offensively at the perfect moment. After an underwhelming end to the regular season, capped off by another loss to Michigan, the Buckeyes hit reset. They recalibrated their entire offensive identity heading into the playoffs. It was no small adjustment—it was a full-on transformation. And when the Buckeyes took the field against Tennessee, they did so with a revamped game plan that caught the Volunteers completely off guard.
The final score—42 to 17—barely did justice to the domination that occurred on the field. Ohio State racked up 467 yards of total offense and averaged over seven yards per play. Tennessee, on the other hand, struggled to get anything going, mustering just 256 yards and a mere 3.7 yards per play. The disparity was glaring, but what made it worse for Tennessee was the pace and precision with which Ohio State moved. They weren’t just efficient—they were surgical. And the person pulling the strings was Chip Kelly.
Known for his tempo-heavy spread systems at Oregon and in the NFL, Kelly brought a different flavor to Ohio State. It wasn’t just fast-paced football; it was schematically sharp and tailored to the personnel. He didn’t just dust off his old playbook and hand it to the Buckeyes—he adapted. That adaptability is part of what makes his offensive mind so dangerous. In preparing for Tennessee, he and the staff made a strategic shift that made all the difference: they leaned heavily into counter run schemes, abandoning the gap-based concepts that had been the staple of their offense earlier in the season.
During the regular season, Ohio State had only run counters about 10% of the time. Against Tennessee, that number jumped to nearly 50%. And it worked. The counters created misdirection, forced Tennessee’s linebackers and safeties into hesitation, and opened up huge running lanes that hadn’t existed in previous weeks. On top of that, it set the table for play-action passes and deep shots downfield.
Thornton, who was on the field for that beatdown, now realizes how much of that offensive attack was based on preparation and disguise. When he joined the pros and began learning Kelly’s offensive system, he saw how every route, every motion, and every adjustment had purpose. The system wasn’t just about speed—it was about setting up defensive confusion and creating mismatches in real time.
Once he started learning the playbook, Thornton said, it became clear how Kelly’s scheme maximizes receiver output. “Being in a more open offense, having more route concepts and different things like that—it just gives you more chances to get the ball and create plays. Once I got the hang of it, it’s been a lot easier for me.” For a receiver, that kind of statement is significant. It suggests that at Tennessee, Thornton wasn’t being used in the most versatile way. Under Kelly, the route tree is more complex, the motion is purposeful, and the ball can go to anyone on any play depending on the read.
In that playoff game, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard looked like a completely different player compared to the regular season. He completed 24 of 29 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns, carving up the Tennessee defense with ease. His protection held up, his reads were quick, and the offense hummed with balance and rhythm. With the run game working so effectively thanks to the counter schemes, Tennessee’s defense had to respect the threat of the ground game. That opened up play-action and allowed Howard to hit his receivers in stride, especially future star Jeremiah Smith, who had a breakout performance with over 100 receiving yards and two scores.
From the first snap, Ohio State dictated the pace. They jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter alone, amassing over 200 yards while Tennessee barely crossed midfield. By halftime, the game was all but decided. Tennessee’s offense, led by young quarterback Nico Iamaleava, never found a rhythm. Injuries to key players like Thornton, Squirrel White, and running back Dylan Sampson only made matters worse, but the truth was clear: Tennessee had no answer for what Kelly and the Buckeyes were doing on offense.
Even Tennessee’s coaches acknowledged after the game that they were outschemed. The Buckeyes consistently put them in difficult situations—forcing linebackers to cover in space, stretching safeties thin with motion, and hammering inside with counter runs when defenders overcommitted outside. It was a masterclass in offensive planning and execution.
What makes Thornton’s comments even more interesting is that they confirm just how different Kelly’s system is compared to what Tennessee was running. At Tennessee, the offense relied heavily on vertical routes and tempo, but the route combinations were more limited. Thornton might’ve been fast, but he wasn’t being moved around or used in as many situations as he now finds himself under Kelly’s system. The contrast between playing in and against Kelly’s scheme was so stark that it changed the way Thornton viewed that playoff loss. It wasn’t just about who had better athletes. It was about who had the better plan.
Kelly’s scheme doesn’t just hand the quarterback a list of plays—it gives him answers. It gives him built-in options for every read. That’s what made the Buckeyes so lethal against Tennessee. They weren’t guessing. They were diagnosing. Howard knew where the weakness was going to be before the ball was snapped, because Kelly’s offense gives quarterbacks the tools to recognize coverage rotations and defensive alignments in real time. And for a defense like Tennessee’s—one built on aggression and pressure—those tools made them vulnerable.
For a receiver like Thornton, that means always being part of the plan. In this kind of offense, you can line up outside one play, in the slot the next, and go in motion the next snap to set up a rub or crossing route. Every receiver becomes a chess piece. And with route combinations designed to stretch both man and zone coverages, receivers are rarely just running go routes or shallow drags. They’re setting picks, baiting safeties, and breaking off routes based on leverage.
What happened in that CFP game wasn’t just a one-off performance. It was the result of a philosophical shift within Ohio State’s coaching staff, led by Kelly’s willingness to pivot when the stakes were highest. Rather than sticking to the plan that had failed them against Michigan, they embraced change, introduced new wrinkles, and caught Tennessee completely off guard.
And now, as Thornton dives deeper into Kelly’s system, he’s beginning to realize the full scope of what happened that night. He’s living the very play designs that picked apart his former team. He’s seeing the layers of preparation and complexity that go into each call. And he’s benefiting from an offensive approach that values flexibility and creativity over rigid structure.
In a league where offensive innovation is everything, that kind of perspective is invaluable. Thornton isn’t just learning a new playbook—he’s gaining an education in modern offensive football. And in doing so, he’s joined a growing chorus of players who have come to appreciate Chip Kelly’s genius not just from highlight reels or stats, but from the inside out.
Looking back on that playoff loss, it’s easy to say that Ohio State had more talent. But what really made the difference was that Ohio State had more answers. While Tennessee stuck to its usual game plan, Kelly and the Buckeyes evolved. They showed up with something new, something Tennessee wasn’t ready for, and they executed it to near perfection.
Now, Thornton understands why. He felt the sting of that loss. And now that he’s on the other side of Kelly’s offense, it all makes sense. That kind of clarity only comes when you’ve seen both ends of a dominant system—when you’ve been beaten by it, and then learned to master it. Thornton’s journey from victim to student to beneficiary is the perfect encapsulation of what makes Chip Kelly’s offense so dangerous: it’s hard to stop, and even harder to forget.
