Orange Bowl sneak peek: Secret players, X aspects for Tennessee, Clemson

9:00 AM ET Chris Low Close ESPN Senior Citizen Author College football press reporter Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of the University of Tennessee David M. Hale Close ESPN Staff Writer ACC reporter.Joined ESPN in 2012. Graduate of the University of Delaware.There’s no fact to the rumor that Shane Beamer will perform the opening coin toss for this year’s

• Capital One Orange Bowl, which will mark only the fourth
• time Clemson and Tennessee have fulfilled in football over the past

75 years.Had it not been for Beamer’s South Carolina Gamecocks, either the Tigers or Vols quickly could have been in the College Football Playoff. South Carolina shocked Tennessee 63-38 in the next-to-last week of

the routine season. Then in the regular-season ending, the Gamecocks snapped a seven-game losing streak to Clemson and beat the Tigers 31-30 in Death Valley.So here we are with the most”orange” Orange Bowl in the game’s storied history.Dabo Swinney has actually developed a beast at Clemson, so much so that 11 wins and an ACC championship is viewed as a ho-hum season. Josh Heupel, in simply his 2nd

season leading the Vols, guided Tennessee to its very first 10-win routine season because 2003.

The most interesting part of this game will be the quarterback position. Tennessee’s Joe Milton III took control of for Hendon Hooker, who was one of the Heisman Prize favorites when he was injured in the South Carolina game. For Clemson, freshman Cade Klubnik came off the bench to lead his team to a 39-10 win over North Carolina in the ACC national championship. The Tigers’ starter all season long, DJ Uiagalelei, has actually decided to go into the transfer website after being benched against the Tar Heels. No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson Capital One Orange Bowl When: Friday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. ET Where: Acid Rock Arena
, Miami Gardens, Florida How to see: ESPN and ESPN App Opening line via Caesars Sportsbook: Clemson by 4.5 TennesseeJoe Milton III took control of as Tennessee’s beginning quarterback after Hendon Hooker’s injury against South Carolina. Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire

Key player: Nobody in Tennessee’s program desired Joe Milton III to get his shot in this manner. But with star quarterback Hendon Hooker going down with a season-ending ACL tear, Milton gets an opportunity to reveal what he’s got on a huge phase. It’s also a chance to see how much Milton has actually enhanced from a year back, when he opened the 2021 season as the Vols’ starter however was changed by Hooker. Milton’s arm strength is incredible, and at 245 pounds, he’s a bruising runner in short-yardage circumstances. The difficulty for Milton is precision. He’s been prone to overthrow receivers and rifle passes that were hard to capture when he could have used more skill. The sensation around Tennessee’s program is that Milton has actually polished up his game in all phases. The Vols will require that variation of Milton versus a talented Clemson defense.

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X factor: The Vols’ pass defense was shaky for much of the season. They’re ranked 127th nationally out of 131 teams (allowing 287 passing yards per game) and quit 47 passes of 10 backyards or longer, which was last in the SEC. With Klubnik set to make his very first start at quarterback for Clemson, the onus will be on the Vols’ pass rush as much as (or more than) the secondary. Tennessee requires to pressure Klubnik and keep him guessing. The Vols had 27 sacks in 12 games, but were limited to 2 in their losses to South Carolina and Georgia. Getting edge rusher Byron Young going again would be huge for the Vols. He leads the group with five sacks and 14 quarterback pressures, but wasn’t as productive down the stretch.How Tennessee wins: The Vols have followed the same blueprint all season. Get an early lead, get the opposing defense on its heels, hit some huge pass plays, then finish the deal with the running game. Tennessee has actually scored 38 or more points in 10 of its 12 games. The Vols enjoy to go for the knockout punch. But in their 2 losses this season, they fell back early (24-6 to Georgia and 21-7 to South Carolina) and weren’t almost as good playing from behind. Getting Milton into a circulation in the first quarter will be vital for Tennessee, which means running the ball efficiently and creating some workable third-down circumstances will be similarly vital. The Vols wish to play fast and set the tone early, but doing that without Hooker could show challenging. That’s why Tennessee can’t manage to waste ownerships in this game.Clemson Secret player: Quarterback Cade Klubnik. While the majority of Clemson fans are most likely to spend the time between now and the

Orange Bowl thinking about what might have been had actually Klubnik been the Tigers’starter all along, there’s still the really genuine question of whether his star turn in the ACC national championship marked the start of a brand-new era or simply a good game versus a bad defense. Yes, Klubnik was an elite recruit with tons of talent, but up until the North Carolina game, he hadn’t impressed on the field in limited associates on game days and had not won over the training staff enough to unseat DJ Uiagalelei as the Tigers ‘starter, even when the offense had a hard time. Bear in mind that the Tar Heels had among the worst pass defenses in the ACC in 2022, and they were down 2 essential defensive backs in the matchup against Clemson. It appears clear Klubnik was a real enhancement over Uiagalelei– but the Orange Bowl will tell us much more about whether he suffices to lead Clemson back to the type of volatility it had under Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence.2 Related X factor: Cornerback Nate Wiggins. Yes, Klubnik was the big story from the ACC title game, however the very best player on the field was Wiggins, who had a pass breakup in the end zone, an obstructed

field goal

and a pick-six in the win over Drake Maye and UNC. Wiggins was expected to bloom into a super star this season, but he left to a rocky start, including a harsh efficiency versus Wake Forest in September. But he made consistent progress throughout the season, culminating with the monster efficiency versus Carolina. He’ll require another huge game as part of the Tigers ‘up-and-down secondary if Clemson wishes to slow an excellent Tennessee passing game.How Clemson wins: The Tigers requirement to follow the same formula they used in the ACC national championship, only with Klubnik on the field from the opening breeze. Tennessee’s run defense is excellent– 10th nationally in EPA, 4th in lawns prior to

contact per bring and 11th in run stuffs– so Clemson can’t count on Will Shipley & Co. to key a ground-and-pound win. The passing game needs to be functional, and now that’s on Klubnik’s shoulders. On the other side, Clemson’s D didn’t precisely stop North Carolina in the ACC title game, however it made huge plays at a loss zone and won the turnover fight. That may be the best-case circumstance versus Tennessee too.