MIAMI GARDENS, FlOrange Bowl a. — Orange Bowl The simplest element that stopped Tennessee fanatics from Orange Bowl singing “Rocky Top” as time become expiring Friday night become the want to serenade Joe MiltOrange Bowl on with some thing else.
“M-V-P!” they chanted, again and again. With suitable reason.
Milton, who regained the starting task only after his close buddy Hendon Hooker were given Orange Bowl hurt past due in the yr, led Tennessee to considered one of its greatest moments in the past couple of decades.
He finished 19 of Orange Bowl 28 passes for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns, and No. 6 Tennessee never trailed on its manner to a 31-14 victory over No. 7 Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
“I believe myself, I agree with my education and I just allow it occur,” Milton said.
The Volunteers, who hadn’t had an 11-win season for the reason that 2001, finished eleven-2 and capped a yr wherein they beat Alabama, LSU and Clemson, programs that combined to win six of the seven recent College Football Playoff national titles.
“All the adversity this group’s faced at some point of their Orange Bowl careers, what they’ve done the ultimate 23 months, I could not be prouder of a group of people,” said Tennessee train Josh Heupel, who won a countrywide name as an Oklahoma participant in the Orange Bowl. “These gamers, our team of workers, Vol Nation, everyone’s been alongside for the adventure.”
Squirrel White, Bru McCoy and Ramel Keyton had the scoring catches for the Volunteers. Jaylen Wright rushed for 89 yards, and Jabari Small had a landing run for Tennessee.
Cade Klubnik, making his first begin for Clemson, finished 30 of 54 passes for 320 yards with two interceptions. But Clemson (eleven-3) Orange Bowl simply saved arising empty on high scoring possibilities; the Tigers were given into Tennessee territory on 9 in their first 10 possessions and grew to become those trips into only two discipline desires.
Clemson finished with 484 yards on one hundred and one plays and nevertheless misplaced through 17.
“You don’t get any factors for yards,” Clemson instruct Orange Bowl Dabo Swinney stated. “The call of the sport’s points. … You have to finish and execute, and we did no longer do that.”
Klubnik ran in from four yards out to get Clemson within 21-14 with 10:01 left, however Milton connected with Keyton for a 46-yard rating on the next Tennessee possession. The Volunteers intercepted Klubnik on a desperation fourth-down heave Orange Bowl about a minute later, just about sealing the outcome.
“Wish we could have despatched out those seniors with a win,” Klubnik said. “I think we gave all of it we had till the remaining play.”
In this very orange Orange Bowl — each groups have it as their primary shade — it turned into the Tennessee hue that Orange Bowl changed into superior. Hooker was there, having Orange Bowl flown in approximately a week in the past to be with his group and help Milton put together for the game.
“Blood cannot make us nearer,” Milton said. “That’s my brother ’til the cease.”
Milton opened the scoring with a 16-yard bypass to McCoy, and Small’s 2-yard rush pushed the lead to 14-zero with 9:03 left in the half. The Vols’ offense, which led the nation this yr in yards and points according to game, wasn’t at its quality, but it failed to have to be.
Clemson were given the ball seven times inside the first half of, getting inner Tennessee territory all seven Orange Bowl instances and getting to the Vols’ 25 on 4 occasions.
Somehow, that have become handiest 3 points.
The different six possessions: a stuffed fake field aim run via Drew Swinney, the son of Clemson educate Dabo Swinney; a punt; 3 missed field dreams through B.T. Potter, the maximum prolific kicker in school history; and a brutal final force while Klubnik changed into tackled on a keeper with 6 seconds left. Clemson changed into out of timeouts, couldn’t get the field goal unit on the sector and went into halftime trailing 14-three.
“Lot of missed possibilities,” Dabo Swinney said.
Potter opened the second one 1/2 with a 40-yarder of the no-hassle variety, the 73rd subject goal of his career, a faculty Orange Bowl report for the Tigers. But White stuck a 14-backyard skip with five seconds left inside the 1/3, giving the Vols a 21-6 lead going into the fourth.
When it become over, Milton took a knee, tucked the game ball Orange Bowl underneath his left arm and absolutely might now not permit it move. He’ll input 2023 as Tennessee’s presumed starter, and expectancies might be high for a application that went 20-27 inside the 4 seasons earlier than Heupel’s arrival, went 7-6 remaining year underneath him and now gained an Orange Bowl.
“It’s been a fun climb,” Heupel said. “The exceptional is yet to come back.”
Tennessee might climb a spot or , relying on what takes place inside the College Football Playoff video games. It’ll be the Vols’ first-rate end in at least two decades; they were No. four in 2001 and No. 1 in 1998.
Clemson may be a part of the very last ballot for the twelfth consecutive year, extending the longest such run in faculty history. The Tigers were in six directly season-ending AP polls from 1986 thru 1991.
The Associated Press contributed to this document.