Ups and Downs: Clemson Closes Out 2022 With Struggles Against Tennessee

There was more that went wrong than right in No. 7 Clemson's 31-14 loss to No. 6 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.

© Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

No. 7 Clemson (11-3) wrapped up its 2022 season with a 31-14 loss to No. 6 Tennessee (11-2) in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. 

The Tigers never led and struggled offensively for much of the game. Here's a look at what went right and what didn't in the final game of the season. 

Ups

Only touchdown: The Tigers' best drive of the day came in the fourth quarter when they went 71 yards in 12 plays and capped it with a 4-yard TD run by Cade Klubnik. He had passes of 8, 9, 10 and 12 yards to help the Tigers get down the field. 

Defense in the backfield: Clemson recorded four sacks and eight tackles for a loss. Bryan Bresee, Barrett Carter, Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro picked up one sack each. Wade Woodaz had two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. 

Downs

Where are the points?: Clemson dominated the time of possession, holding onto the ball for over 36 minutes. The Tigers ran 101 plays and went 7-of-19 on third downs, yet the offense managed just one TD (and a two-point conversion) with two field goals. Clemson reached UT territory in all seven of its first-half drives and only had three points heading into the locker room. The Tigers crossed the 50 twice in the second half and managed 11 points in the second half. 

Secondary issues: Clemson's defense did all it could to hold up against the highest-scoring offense in the nation, but the Vols were without starting QB Hendon Hooker and the team's two best receivers. Still, Clemson struggled at times in coverage, allowing UTs' Joe Milton to take advantage of areas a safety wasn't. He finished with 251 passing yards and had big completions of 46 and 50 yards.

Special teams: BT Potter missed three field goals in the first half and Drew Swinney tried a fake field goal on Clemson's first drive that he could not convert into a first down. That's 12 points the Tigers were unable to put on the board and trailed 14-3 at the half. 

Pass protection: The Vols don't have a good pass defense, but they are able to get after the quarterback, and they did plenty of that in the Orange Bowl. Tennessee had three sacks and six tackles for a loss in the first half and finished with four sacks in the game. There were miscommunications on blitzes and times when offensive linemen just got beat. Klubnik didn't help either as he struggled to stay in the pocket or step up, instead running out of the pocket to avoid defenders. 

Last drive of the first half: The final possession was perplexing. After completing a pass to Adam Randall for the first down with under a minute to play, Klubnik spiked it, but Clemson got a delay of game call before getting off the next snap. That was followed by a pair of Klubnik scrambles with less than 30 seconds left, and the Tigers had no timeouts so the half ended since Klubnik could not throw the ball away to preserve a field-goal opportunity.

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