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No. 6 Tennessee controlled the Orange Bowl from the moment toe met leather in a 31-14 win over No. 7 Clemson Friday night. Volunteers quarterback Joe Milton III, making his second start following the season-ending injury to first-team All-SEC quarterback Hendon Hooker, tossed a 46-yard touchdown to Ramel Keyton with 8:34 to play to give the Volunteers a 14-point lead that iced the game.
Milton completed 19 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns on the night, including a 14-yard pass score to Squirrel White with five seconds to go in the third quarter to keep momentum on the Vols sideline as the teams switched sides for the final frame.
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik made his first career start after earning MVP honors in the ACC Championship Game coming off the bench for an ineffective DJ Uiagalelei. Klubnik had his ups and downs against the Vols, completing 30 of 54 passes for 320 yards and two interceptions. He had a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it a one-score game, but was otherwise pressured all night and threw both of his interceptions under duress.
The Tennessee defense was relentless from the moment the game started and ended the night with seven tackles for loss and four sacks while holding Clemson to 4.8 yards per play. More importantly, though, were the empty possessions they forced. All six of Clemson's first-half possessions ended in Tennessee territory, but the Tigers only got three points out of them; kicker B.T. Potter missed three field goals and the Tigers turned the ball over on downs two more times. Clemson ran 101 plays in all, an Orange Bowl record, but the Volunteers defense refused to break no matter how much it bent.
The Volunteers improved to 11-2 on the season -- their first 11-win season since 2001. Clemson fell to 11-3 on the year and lost two of their final three outings.
