2022 Orange Bowl – Clemson vs Tennessee
posted December 30
The Game
It’s a great way to finish a Friday BOWL FEST as Clemson and Tennessee meet in the Orange Bowl down in Miami. The Tigers have already booked eleven wins and took the ACC Championship back with a blowout win over North Carolina (W 39-10). It’s not a CFP game but Clemson should be pumped to play a quality opponent in a major bowl game. The Volunteers were right in the mix for a playoff berth until they were destroyed by South CACKALACKY in November. They’ve got ten wins and have easily been one of the more entertaining teams in the country. Let’s gooooo !
The Details
Clemson -6 Tennessee (62)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Clemson -7
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Clemson 34 Tennessee 28
Clemson offense vs Tennessee defense
The Tigers haven’t been that scary on offense (#47 FBS rush, #73 pass) but they’ve made a change at QB and youngster C Klubnik looked pretty good in their demolition of UNC (20/24, 279, TD). Klubnik should benefit greatly from getting all the first team reps during bowl prep and we expect him to do well vs a soft Volunteers secondary that’s been lit up on occasion and ranks #87 in pass efficiency defense. The good news for Tennessee is that their run defense has been solid (112 YPG, #19 FBS, #2 SEC) and recall that they held ROLL TIDE and Georgia to 114 and 130 yards on the ground respectively. RB W Shipley will get lots of opportunities (1,110, 15 TD) and he’s a tough runner that’ll work for those important extra yards. The key match-up in the game is probably the inexperienced (but talented) QB and average WR corps vs the Tennessee secondary. Note that the Volunteers’ defense is mostly intact but they’ll miss starting LB J Banks who’s packed it in for the year.
Tennessee offense vs Clemson defense
Tennessee was absolutely unstoppable on offense behind the wizardry of Heisman hopeful H Hooker (27-2 TD to INT, 5 rush TD) until he was injured late in the year. Back-up QB J Milton has looked decent in limited action but he’s certainly a bit inconsistent and more prone to make mistakes than Hooker. Sadly, Milton will be without star WR J Hyatt who’s one of the most dangerous weapons in the nation (1,267, 18..9, 15 TD) as well as WR C Tillman. Clemson can be had thru the air at times so those missing pieces are almost certainly gonna negate the ability of Tennessee to do serious damage with the THROW GAME. They’ve got a fine 1-2 punch at RB (Wright, Small) that’s combined for almost 1,500Y and 22 (!) TDs and they’ll most definitely try and work the Clemson run D that showed it could get worn down once in a while. The Irish rumbled for 263 whilst Florida St also crossed the 200Y barrier. Clemson will be missing a few key players on defense but thankfully will have a small handful of stars staying the course and giving it one more go with the Tigers.
Trends, Intangibles and More!
Clemson is 11-7 in bowl action under the tutelage of HC Dabo Swinney…….HC Josh Heupel was 1-3 in bowl games during his time with UCF…….The Volunteers are #122 in penalty yards per game…..Clemson rates #45 in that regard……Tennessee is dead last (#131) in time of possession.
Summary
We’ll ride with the team that boasts the better defense and the one that has a QB upgrade coming into this game. Clemson is looking at this event as a springboard into 2023 and a potential championship run. The Volunteers had a great regular season but might be a bit bummed after coming so close to getting into the CFP. For those that want a totals-related stab, we like the Tennessee TT under (28 implied) a bit as we think Clemson will be able to control the clock and keep the Vols from hitting a lot of deep shots.
Conclusion
Lean – Clemson -6
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.