Welcome to DTE Helmet Stickers. Since 1968, Ohio State has rewarded its top performers with stickers for big plays, wins and key milestones. We at Dotting the 'Eyes can't physically reward any stickers but we're doing our part to highlight the players that stood out the most in every Buckeyes victory.

COLUMBUS—It was more than just cathartic for Ryan Day and Ohio State: it was absolutely necessary.

The Buckeyes rolled over the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night, stomping their SEC guests 42-17 in a game that felt much more lopsided than the 25-point margin indicated.

Ohio State came out of the gate swinging and connected on shot after shot, dismantling the Vols with an aggressive mindset that has been prevalent all week in Columbus.

"We've talked about that the last few weeks in some of the press conferences we've been in," Day said after the game. "I know you've heard us harp on execution, execution, execution, because there's a lot of things coming out of that last game that we just look back on and we just didn't execute very well. And certainly there are things that we needed to do better in terms of scheme. But we also didn't execute. I thought we for the most part fielded the kicks better in this game.

"I thought we blocked better in this game. I thought we ran through contact better in this game. And certainly we threw and caught better in this game. And that made a huge difference in it ... there was a confidence coming out of that first quarter because we were playing with a lot of energy."

The Buckeyes led 21-0 after that first quarter and never looked back, pounding Tennessee into submission with a relentless wave of pressure on offense and defense. As a result, Ohio State gets a chance to fix one of its two blemishes this year when they head to California to play the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

Before then, we're taking another glance at the first round of the College Football Playoff and awarding some Buckeyes Leaves to Saturday's standouts.

Ohio State didn’t lose confidence in its quarterback after his worst outing with the program. More important, Will Howard didn’t have any dip in his trademark self-belief.So, with a more offensive game plan to execute and better health with which to do it, Howard delivered a masterful performance to fuel a dominant offense that can effectively only be stopped by poor officiating.

Touch, accuracy, decision-making, anticipation, toughness, rushing ability — Howard checked every single box for the Buckeyes in a make-or-break playoff scenario against one of the nation’s best defenses in the cold at the Horseshoe.The reward for that faith in Howard: A rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl. There is simply no question about his motivation level for that opportunity, and now he’s also carrying some momentum into the next round of the playoff.

JT Tuimoloau is one of the country's premier run-stopping defensive ends and he plays his role exceptionally well week in and week out but sometimes that role means surrendering the pass-rushing spotlight to others.

That was not the case on Saturday and Tuimoloau delivered in a big way, terrorizing the Tennessee offensive line and quarterback from the Buckeyes first defensive series of the night until the midway point of the fourth quarter when he hung up his helmet for the final time of the evening. Tuimoloau put together his most complete performance in more than two years against the Vols, collecting a pair of sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss among his eight tackles. He knocked down a pass, he forced a fumble and in general was a menace throughout the night.

If he's able to build off that performance heading into the Rose Bowl it could be a great sign of things to come for Ohio State.

The freshman phenom was at his very best on Saturday night, taking on the challenge of battling one of the country’s top cornerbacks and dominating every rep.Smith was targeted six times for six catches, 103 yards and two touchdowns. He did much of that work against Tennessee’s Jermond McCoy, a second-team All-American who came into that game with fifth-highest coverage grade in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. Smith undressed McCoy at every turn, and flat out cooked the talented corner off the line in the third quarter for his second touchdown of the game.

A winning Ohio State game plan was always going to include a heavy dose of Smith, who caught only five passes for 35 yards in the loss to Michigan three weeks ago and registered only one 100-yard game in the second half of the regular season. The Buckeyes peppered their rising star receiver on Saturday, and Smith delivered on the biggest stage he’s played on to date.