New Titans WR Carnell Tate reveals what he thought when the Vols went shirtless before playoff game against Ohio State

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Various Tennessee Vols players went viral back in 2024 when they took the field for warm-ups without shirts before their College Football Playoff matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Former Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Carnell Tate, who was selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans, revealed Friday on 104.5 The Zone’s 3HL what he was thinking in 2024 when various Tennessee Vols players ran onto the field with no shirts for warm-ups in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

The temperature in Columbus pre-game was around 25 degrees.

Numerous Vols players decided to go without shirts in an effort to make the statement that the cold never bothered them anyway.

Ohio State jumped out to a quick 21-0 first quarter lead, which led to the Vols players catching plenty of shade for their decision to go without shirts (the Buckeyes won the game 42-17).

“We said they were crazy for coming out there with no shirts on,” said Tate, who caught one pass for 18 yards in the game. “It was super cold that day.”

Tate, who also said the game was a “a lot of fun”, isn’t the first former Ohio State player to address the Vols’ shirtless shenanigans.

Former Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard called the Vols “clowns” for going shirtless.

"The thing is, they came out with their shirts off and they ran over to the opposite end zone and they immediately put them back on," said Howard a year ago. "I was like what the f*** are these clowns doing? At the moment I knew we had them." 

Former Vol addressed the decision to not wear shirts before playing Ohio State

Former Vols center Cooper Mays, who was a senior in 2024, explained the decision a week after the game.

“We do warmups at the hotel before [the game], so we did a little walk-through outside at like 10 AM, so I did that shirtless,” said Mays. “Just to kind of like make sure – I knew if I could go out there shirtless at 10 AM, then I’d be fine for the game. You know what I’m saying? Like I’ve already done the worst of it. So I did that. 

“And then kind of everybody wanted to do it in the stadium during pregame. And I was like well if other people are going to do it, I’m not about to run out there with my sweatshirt on. I’m not about to be that guy. So I was like heck yeah let’s do it. A lot of people were wearing vaseline. I didn’t wear any vaseline. I just took it on the chin.” 

Going shirtless was a poor decision in retrospect, but I don’t think it made a difference in how the game was played — Ohio State was a juggernaut during that playoff run.

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