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How It Happened: No. 6 Tennessee 31, No. 7 Clemson 14

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•12/30/22•

GrantRamey

Tennessee football at the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (Tennessee Athletics)
Tennessee football at the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (Tennessee Athletics)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No. 6 Tennessee beat No. 7 Clemson 31-14 in the 89th Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Here’s what happened, how it happened, as it happened:

FIRST QUARTER

Tennessee 7, Clemson 0, 5:17 | 1st Quarter — Bru McCoy opened the scoring with 5:17 left in the first quarter, grabbing a 16-yard touchdown catch to cap a 12-play, 74-yard drive that took 4:01 off the clock. Joe Milton threw the touchdown two plays after Josh Heupel was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct on the Tennessee sideline. The Vols started the game with a punt, but got a stop on defense when they stuff a Clemson fake field goal attempt.

SECOND QUARTER 

Tennessee 14, Clemson 0, 9:03 | 2nd Quarter — The Vols made it a two-touchdown lead with a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that needed just 1:12 off the clock. Joe Milton went 4-for-4 for 73 yards on the drive, including a 50-yard bomb to Squirrel White, down to the 2-yard line. Jabari Small scored on the next play. The touchdown drive for Tennessee came after Clemson kicker BT Potter missed his third field goal attempt of the game.

Tennessee 14, Clemson 3, 5:11 | 2nd Quarter — Clemson kicker BT Potter finally got a kick through the uprights, connecting from 31 yards out after missing his first three attempts of the game. The Tigers went 46 yards in 10 plays to get on the scoreboard. The drive was kickstarted by a 40-yard kickoff return by Will Shipley.

HALFTIME

Joe Milton completed 13 of 18 pass for 155 yards and a touchdown the first half. The Vols rushed for just 36 yards, led by Jabari Small’s six carries for 27 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run. Freshman Squirrel White was targeted seven times by Milton, catching six passes for 82 yards. Bru McCoy caught four passes for 48 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the game.

Defensively, the Vols had three sacks, six tackles for loss and two quarterback hits while keeping consistent pressure on Clemson’s Cade Klubnik. The freshman quarterback for the Tigers complete 16 of 29 passes for 201 yards. Clemson ran 22 times for 72 yards.

THIRD QUARTER

Tennessee 14, Clemson 6, 10:57 | 3rd Quarter — Clemson started the second half with a 10-play, 45-yard scoring drive, taking 3:45 off the clock in the third quarter. BT Potter kicked a 40-yard field goal to get Clemson back within one possession, down by eight.

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Tennessee 21, Clemson 6, 0:05 | 3rd Quarter — The Vols came up with a huge answer on offense, driving 70 yards in just four plays, needing just 1:22 off the clock, to built the lead to 15. Jaylen Wright had the biggest play of the drive, running for a 42-yard gain, then Joe Milton threw a 14-yard touchdown to Squirrel White. With Jalin Hyatt opted out, White stepped up, with the touchdown giving him eight catches for 98 yards on nine targets through three quarters.

FOURTH QUARTER

Tennessee 21, Clemson 13, 10:01 | 4th Quarter — Clemson answered Tennessee’s touchdown drive with its first touchdown of the game. The Tigers went 71 yards in 12 plays, capped by Cade Klubnik’s 4-yard touchdown run. Tennessee’s Kamal Hadden was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play, putting the ball on the 1-yard line as Clemson converted a two-point attempt with a Will Shipley run up the middle, helping the Tigers get back within seven points.

Tennessee 28, Clemson 14, 8:34, 4th Quarter — The Vols had their own answer on the next possession. Ramel Keyton was wide open behind the Clemson secondary and Joe Milton found him for a 46-yard touchdown, giving Tennessee a two-possession lead again. The drive went 75 yards in six plays and needed just 1:27.

Tennessee 31, Clemson 14, 3:07, 4th Quarter — Chase McGrath kicked a 32-yard field goal with just over three minutes left in the game as Clemson fans poured out of Hard Rock Stadium. The drive went 23 yards on six plays, after the Vols picked off Cade Klubnik on fourth-and-8.

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