The humbling loss to Michigan raised plenty of doubts about the Ohio State football team.

Those criticisms were addressed Saturday with a 42-17 whipping of Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Next up: A quarterfinal rematch with No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

How did the Buckeyes grade on Saturday? Leaves are awarded on a zero-to-five basis.

Ohio State offense (5 leaves)

It’s amazing what happens when you play to your team’s strengths, right? After a puzzling run-into-their-line strategy against Michigan, the Buckeyes remembered that they have a talent edge on the outside and opened things up. As colleague Rob Oller joked, perhaps the Buckeyes “didn’t want to show this against Michigan.” Ha ha.

Quarterback Will Howard was excellent, completing 24 of 29 passes for 311 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran five times for 37 yards. His biggest mistake was an end-zone interception. Yes, officials should have called pass interference on the play, but Howard threw to a receiver who wasn’t open.

More:Does Ohio State have best college sports tradition? Vote now!

Freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith was the star, catching six passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

Ohio State defense (5 leaves)

Tennessee’s best player, running back Dylan Sampson, was hampered by a hamstring injury, and no other Vols runners had room to move. The Volunteers were saved by some tricky running by quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who ran for 47 yards on 20 carries.

Sampson carried only twice for 6 yards.

More:Is Ohio State the best college for sports fans? Vote now!

At one point, Ohio State had more points (21) than Tennessee had yards (16).

Ohio State special teams (3 leaves)

There was a bobble of a punt by Caleb Downs and an out-of-his-range-by-a-mile miss on a 56-yard field goal try by Jayden Fielding, but no big errors. No big plays, either.

More:Does Ohio State have best college sports tradition? Vote now!

Ohio State coaching (5 leaves)

The offensive staff couldn’t have had a worse game than it did against Michigan. On Saturday, the Buckeyes ripped through a good Tennessee defense.

The key was getting the ball into playmakers’ hands.

Jim Knowles continued to excel on defense, stopping the Tennessee run and harassing Iamaleava all night.

Fun quotient (4 leaves)

Tennessee fans made their presence known, bringing what veteran observers say was the biggest contingent of road-team supporters ever to Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State opened things up on offense, creating some excitement not seen enough from the Buckeyes this season.

Tennessee Volunteers (1 leaf)

The Volunteers had their fans, and they bragged all week about how they weren’t afraid of the cold.

More:Is Ohio State the best college for sports fans? Vote now!

Then they were dominated. Vols fans probably will say things would have been different with a healthy Sampson, but their team was overmatched from the start.

Officials (1 leaf)

There were too many missed calls for a big-time game.

Officials missed a pass interference on Ohio State’s Jordan Hancock in the first quarter.

On Tennessee’s end-zone interception in the second quarter, officials missed a pretty obvious pass interference, as the defender tackled Smith before he could make a catch.

Also in the second quarter, Ohio State’s Kenyatta Jackson was called for roughing the passer on thrid-and-6. The bad call kept alive a Vols drive that led to a field goal.

Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts