VQ Pod: Vols finish off Orange Bowl prep in Miami
MIAMI — Tennessee is set to take on Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl this Friday, concluding the 2022 season with hopes of its first 11-win season since the 2001 campaign. Josh Heupel, Dabo Swinney and both squads are on-site, putting in the finishing touches prior to kickoff later this week.
Brent Hubbs, Austin Price, Rob Lewis and Eric Cain preview all the action, and talk a little Tennessee basketball as well as the Vols open SEC play on the road at Ole Miss tomorrow night. All this coming on this week’s Volquest Podcast.
The QBs for Tennessee, Clemson
The Vols ended the regular season with a 10-2 record while the Tigers finished 11-2 with a 39-10 ACC Championship win over North Carolina Saturday night. It was there when Dabo Swinney made a quarterback change from DJ Uiagalelei to Cade Klubnik that sparked the offense towards the 29-point victory. The former has since transfered to Oregon State.
The true freshman, who finished the title game 20-of-24 for 309 total yards and two total touchdowns, is the expected starter against the Volunteers, as announced by Swinney after the game.
“Just like most of their team, he’s really talented—strong arm, strong release. He’s played some reps,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks said last week. “Obviously not the lion’s share the other kid (DJ Uiagalelei) did outside of the North Carolina game. He’s an athlete. We went back and watched his high school film. He’s a tremendous athlete, strong arm. He’s talented. I can see why he’s there and see why those guys are so high on him. We’ll have our hands full, but we’ve obviously played a ton of talented quarterbacks in this league, and he’s just the next guy up.”
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Joe Milton, a senior, will make his second-straight start for Tennessee in place of Hendon Hooker, who is injured.
Josh Heupel on arrival
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel spoke to reporters Sunday evening when he and the Volunteer football team touch down in Miami.
“We are so excited to be here. We are extremely proud to be in this bowl game. Historic, iconic bowl game. It’s great to be in the city of Miami and we are looking forward to a great week of festivities with our players. We obviously have a great opportunity to play a great opponent at the end of the week.
“This is a huge step for out program. We have an opportunity to play in this game. We haven’t been here in almost 25 years. There’s a lot of proud VFLs, former players, who are looking forward to getting down to South Florida and being at this game. This is an important step for our fan base and I’m really proud of what our players and coaches have accomplished this season.”
