The Orange Bowl

Tennessee Volunteers (6) Vs. Clemson Tigers (7)

Tennessee is one of the greatest and most storied programs in college football, with a national championship and a winning history to its name. That is, up until about 20 years ago. Ever since legendary head coach Phil Fulmer resigned in 2008, Tennessee has been one of the most scandal-filled and chaotic programs in the country. Success has been rare over the last decade and a half, with bad coaching hire after bad coaching hire putting the Volunteers in a very dark place. 

But everything changed this year (on Rocky Top/in Knoxville). Head coach Josh Heupel arrived last year from UCF and installed his spread offense, which gave the Vols a 7-6 record in 2021. Tennessee could score on anyone, but their defense was awful. However, everything exploded this year. 

The Vols started the season 8-0, with the high point being their 52-49 win over Alabama, their first in 15 years. Some may remember this game because Tennessee fans tore the goalposts down and dumped them in the Tennessee River after the surprising win. However, after ascending to the no. 1 ranking, the Vols fell 27-13 to Georgia, and two weeks later, they were embarrassed 63-38 at South Carolina, which ended their hopes for a college football playoff berth. They finished the season with a 10-2 record.

Tennessee lives and dies with its offense. The Vols scored 47.2 points per game, which was the best in the country. Quarterback Hendon Hooker was the Heisman frontrunner until suffering a torn ACL against South Carolina, so Joe Milton III will be starting in his stead. The Michigan transfer has a cannon for an arm but has been plagued with accuracy issues his entire career.

Even without Hooker, the Vols still have a plethora of dangerous playmakers. Biletnikoff award-winning receiver Jalin Hyatt is a threat to score on any play, and Cedric Tillman, a great receiver in his own right, is his partner in crime on the outside. Running back Jabari Small is a nice complement to their prolific passing attack, and tight end Princeton Fant is versatile and reliable. Tennessee spreads out its formations and can attack a defense in a ton of different ways.

The performance of the defense will dictate Tennessee’s success in this game. They have been suspect all year, but they’ve generally done just enough to allow the offense to shoot people out. However, good offenses have exposed them this year, as they gave up 49 in their win over Alabama and a staggering 63 points in their loss at South Carolina. This defense is leaps and bounds ahead of what it was last year, but it has held this team back at times.

The Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide have been the two foremost programs in college football over the past decade. Ever since Ohio State and Oregon played for the national championship in 2014, either Clemson or Alabama has appeared in each national championship since.

Clemson hasn’t been to the playoff for the last two years. Despite this “downturn,” the Tigers are still pretty good. They finished with an 11-2 record, going undefeated in conference play and winning the ACC championship.

However, their record is a little bit misleading — four of their wins have been by 10 points or less, including a 51-45 overtime thriller over Wake Forest that the Demon Deacons probably should have won. This luck ran out against Notre Dame, as the Irish smoked the then-undefeated Tigers 35-14. A couple of weeks later, they lost 32-31 to rivals South Carolina, effectively ending their Playoff aspirations.

Offensively, the Tigers are led by sophomore running back Will Shipley, who racked up over 1,300 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns. But make no mistake, this team goes as its quarterback situation goes. Junior DJ Uiagalelei was the fifth-ranked player in the country coming out of high school, and he showed a lot of promise as a freshman before enduring a nightmare sophomore year. He has rebounded nicely this year, but a string of poor performances to end the year caused coach Dabo Swinney to give him the hook for true freshman Cade Klubnik. Klubnik is highly touted but untested, and it will be fascinating to see how he does in his first career start against the Vols.

Defensively, the Tigers have an all-star defensive line, led by defensive tackle Bryan Bresee and defensive end Myles Murphy. This pair of former five-stars wreaks havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Behind them is star linebacker Trenton Simpson. However, their secondary is relatively untested and could be the key to cracking this defense open. The ACC doesn’t have a lot of great passers, but when the Tigers faced pass-happy Wake Forest, they were lit up for 337 yards and six touchdowns by quarterback Sam Hartman. 

Brooks: This game should be a fun one, but even without Hendon Hooker, I don’t expect the Tigers to be able to keep pace with Tennessee’s high-octane offense, especially with Cade Klubnik making his first career start. I expect the Volunteers’ passing attack to overwhelm Clemson’s suspect secondary. The Vols will take this one 48-31.

Brett: Each of these teams has shown their ability to score with the best of them and win convincingly. With a back-and-forth game that doesn’t disappoint, I see the Tigers taking this one 33-32 behind a legendary performance from Will Shipley.