MIAMI — Tennessee Football is wrapping up the season with a top-10 matchup against Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
The No. 6 Vols take on No. 7 Clemson on Friday night at 8 p.m. inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The game will air on ESPN.
UT is coming off a 10-2 regular season with signature wins over LSU and Alabama.
Clemson had ranked wins over North Carolina State, Florida State and an ACC Championship win over North Carolina. The Tigers are 11-2 up to this point.
The Vols are looking for their first 11-win season since 2001. The program hasn’t made an appearance in the Orange Bowl since the 1997 season during quarterback legend Peyton Manning’s final season with Tennessee. The Vols lost 42-17 to Nebraska in that game.
This year’s team has been potent on offense. The Vols lead the nation in scoring and total offense. However, many of those players who achieved those stats will not play in the bowl game.
Quarterback Hendon Hooker was injured in the second to last game of the season against South Carolina, suffering a season-ending torn ACL. Wide receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman declared for the NFL Draft and will not play.
On the defensive side of things, Tennessee will be without linebacker Jeremy Banks, who declared for the NFL Draft and will not play either.
Clemson comes into this game having lost some key players on defense to the NFL Draft. They ranked top 25 in total defense and top 20 in scoring defense.
They also feature a new quarterback who hasn’t really played until the ACC title game for the Tigers.
Freshman Cade Klubnik took over starting duties as Clemson benched DJ Uiagalelei in that game. Klubnik threw for 279 yards and a touchdown, completing 20 of 24 pass attempts. He also ran for 30 yards and scored a touchdown.
These two teams have played 18 times. Tennessee is 10-6-2 in those games. The last matchup came in 2004 during the Peach Bowl, which Clemson won 27-14.