Orange Bowl 2022 was highly orange.
The Tennessee Volunteers met the Clemson Tigers.
It was the Volunteers’ orange that was superior.
Joe Milton filled in for the injured Hendon Hooker and led no.6 Tennessee to a convincing 31-14 victory over no.10 Clemson.
Milton was named Orange Bowl MVP. The Gatorade bath color for Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel; orange.
The Tigers ran an Orange Bowl-record 101 plays.
“You don’t get any points for yards,” Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney stated.
The Tigers missed three field goals in the first half; they finished the season 11-3.
Volunteers finished 11-2 for the first time since 2001.
Milton completed 19 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 6 Tennessee never trailed in the Orange Bowl.
“Hendon got us here; I just had to get it done for him,” Milton stated.
Hooker, the offensive player of the year, was out for the Volunteers. He sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in the Volunteers’ 63-38 loss to South Carolina.
The Volunteers capped a year when they beat Alabama, LSU, and Clemson — programs that combined to win six of the seven most recent College Football Playoff national titles.
Cade Klubnik, making his first start for Clemson, completed 30 of 54 passes for 320 yards with two interceptions. But Clemson kept coming up empty on prime scoring chances; the Tigers got into Tennessee territory on nine of their first ten possessions — and turned those trips into only two field goals.
Clemson finished with 484 yards and still lost by 17.
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