The most orange of all: Tennessee pummels Clemson 31-14 in 2022 Orange Bowl

MIAMI GARDENS − The University of Tennessee was declared the most orange of them all with a 31-14 victory over Clemson Friday night in the orange-est Orange Bowl of all time.

Hard Rock Stadium is traditionally the home of the Miami Hurricanes, but its last "home" team of 2022 was Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson (11-3). Regardless of who got to call Miami Gardens "home" on the final Friday before 2023, to Tennessee (11-2), it didn't matter.

Between "Rocky Top" bellowing from the stands and a sea of Peyton Manning jerseys, Volunteer fans could've properly renamed the venue "Neyland South."

Tennessee's playoff hopes may be over. That won't stop the Vols from partying like its 1998, the last time they won a major bowl game − and the national championship.

"What they've done in the last 24 months, I couldn't be prouder of the coaches as individuals, these players, our staff, Vol nation and everybody who has been along for the journey," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said.

"It's been a fun ride and the best is yet to come and I'm really proud of the team," Heupel said.

Here are five takeaways:

First drive at Klub level

Tennessee's Aaron Beasley sacked Cade Klubnik for an eight-yard loss on the second down of his first series as starting quarterback for the Tigers.

The true freshman rebounded with a 22-yard pitch on the run to Cole Turner, another first down pass to Joseph Ngata and a short throw to Antonio Williams, but a shot on third down gave the green light for Clemson kicker B.T. Potter.

Rather than securing three points with a 44-yard field goal, Tiger special teams attempted a fake with a handoff to Drew Swinney for a turnover on downs at the Tennessee 25 yard-line.

It took just four minutes for the Vols to capitalize on Clemson's bowl-opening miscue.

Tennessee chunked its way downfield with 11 plays, backup-turned-starting quarterback Joe Milton III completing a 16-yard pass up the middle to Bru McCoy to score with five minutes to go in the first quarter.

Fire at field-goal range for Clemson

Short and sweet, contrary to the usual, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney described the formula to the Tigers' loss: “A lot of missed opportunities. A lot of missed field goals.”

With Tennessee's five penalties for 55 yards, Clemson finished the first quarter with eight more total yards on offense - and the only show it put on was havoc from field goal range.

Clemson's two remaining drives of the first quarter would end with two field goal attempts. The first from 55 yards and the second from 49. Both went wide right.

The hijinks continued into the second quarter. Klubnik overthrew two deep end zone attempts, prompting Clemson assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Mike Reed to give Potter a fourth attempt. This time for 42 yards.

Another miss from Potter put the Volunteers at their own 25 yard-line once again for yet another scoring drive. But Friday wasn't a traditional day for the super senior, who had only missed three of 21 field goal attempts all season.

The fifth time was the charm to put Clemson on the board, as Potter broke the rare streak with a 31-yard field goal with a little over five minutes to halftime.

Clemson deferred the toss to receive the ball at the second half. Hard Rock held its breath until Potter found luck to clear the posts again for 40-yards to restart scoring efforts for the Tigers.

It was the eighth time the Tigers found themselves 35 yards from the goal line and they had just six points to show for it.

"The name of the game is points and you get points by scoring touchdowns," Klubnik said, holding himself accountable for the Tigers' inconsistency from offense to special teams.

"You need to score touchdowns and we weren’t doing that," Klubnik said.

Beasley breaks down Clemson backfield

Clemson's breakdown in the backfield came at the hands of Tennessee middle linebacker Aaron Beasley. By the end of the first half, the senior made two sacks for 15 yards of losses and accounted for five tackles.

The Vols roster also compiled six first-half tackles for loss. Four could be credited to Beasley.

Beasley added a pass breakup and finished with 10 solo tackles, a game and career-high after a junior year that put him on the map in 2021.

Milton marks new era for Tennessee

Milton, who hails from Pahokee, scored twice more for Tennessee, signaling that the Vols are in good hands with the Michigan graduate transfer despite a heart-wrenching injury for former starter Hendon Hooker.

Hooker's Heisman candidacy ended at South Carolina with a torn-ACL, but he made it to midfield of the Orange Bowl to participate in the coin toss, supported by crutches.

"It was so awesome to have Hendon here tonight," Heupel said. "He led the team here. We're not here without him. Absolutely love him and this football team."

Four quick passes from Milton for 72 yards, highlighted by a 50-yard bomb to Squirrel White, to put Tennessee in scoring position, saw Jabari Rush punch it into the end zone from 2 yards, giving the Vols a 14-3 lead.

The third quarter saw Jaylen Wright make three carries − with a long of 42 yards on a busted play for Clemson's defense. Milton finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to target of choice White.

Spiraling out oranges for over 100 yards earlier in the week, Milton proved practice made perfect with one last long touchdown in the fourth quarter − 46 yards to receiver Ramel Keyton.

Milton finished with 251 passing yards, three touchdowns and a 68 percent completion rate (19-of-28) against no interceptions to win Orange Bowl MVP honors.

Heupel noted Milton's consistent progression in on-field celebrations after the game.

"He did a lot of really good things tonight. I'm so happy to have him," Heupel said.

Tigers get outplayed

Clemson ran an Orange Bowl record 101 plays, just one shy of its program record 102.

The Tigers previously set the record with 90 plays against Oklahoma in 2015, defeating the Sooners 37-17.

In Klubnik's first official starting nod since former starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei announced his transfer to Oregon State, he threw for a game-leading 320 yards. On the ground, Klubnik made 20 carries for 51 yards and Clemson's only touchdown − four-yards early in the last quarter.

Sacked four times and bullied by Beasley on tackles for loss, the five-star recruit completed 56 percent of his passes (30-of-54), chunking two fourth-quarter interceptions in a last-ditch effort to keep Clemson in the game.

His hoarse voice starting to break, Klubnik said, "There are so many guys you don’t get to see everyday that have such an impact on me. So many times that I need help and they’re there for me."

"Wish we could have sent out these seniors with a win but I think we gave it all we had to the very last play," Klubnik said.

“He made a lot of great, great plays but also had some mistakes," Swinney said of Klubnik.

"Took some sacks, rolled some hot. These are all things he’ll learn from, but what a great opportunity for him to come out and compete," Swinney said.

“Nowhere near where we need to be or where we’re going to be, but we got better,” Swinney said, recalling a "very challenging" 2021 season for the Tigers.

Coach and player alike agreed that the Tigers season didn't end the way they wanted it to, but that Clemson had an "excellent year" and best is still the "standard."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tennessee Volunteers defeat Clemson Tigers in 2022 Orange Bowl