Josh Heupel raves about Tennessee defense's strong first half vs Clemson in Orange Bowl

Defense was an area filled with question marks for Tennessee during the regular season, but that was the unit that stepped up in a big way in the first half of Friday’s Orange Bowl against Clemson. The Volunteers held the Tigers to just three points and forced multiple missed field goals.

Josh Heupel spoke highly of the way his defense played through the first two quarters. However, he said the offense needs to get going a bit more so that unit doesn’t get tired.

“Relentless in the way they played,” Heupel told ESPN’s Katie George. “Obviously, we’ve got to sustain a few more drives offensively to keep them off the field. Really good job on the plus side of the 50, holding them to field goals. Got a couple misses. Got to go play another 30 minutes.”

B.T. Potter struggled mightily in the first half, making just one of his four field goal attempts as Tennessee took a 14-3 lead into the break. The Volunteers got solid quarterback play from backup Joe Milton — starting in place of Hendon Hooker — as he threw for 155 yards on 13 of 18 passing and a touchdown pass to Bru McCoy. Tennessee’s run game was fairly quiet through the first half, totaling just 36 yards, including 27 from Jabari Small.

Cade Klubnik got his first start as Clemson’s quarterback and completed 16 of 29 passes for 201 yards prior to halftime. He also rushed for 32 yards, one yard behind Phil Mafah, who had a team-high 33.

Tennessee got the scoring early in the first quarter when Milton found McCoy for a 16-yard reception before Small found pay dirt in the second quarter to make it a 14-0 Volunteers lead. Potter finally made his first field goal on his fourth attempt to get Clemson on the board in the second quarter.