A top-10 battle between No. 6 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson awaits on Friday night at 8 p.m. in the 2022 Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Vols are making their third bowl appearance in four seasons. Friday will mark the program’s first trip to Miami for the Orange Bowl since facing Nebraska on Jan. 2, 1998.
The Vols are Orange Bowl bound for the first time in 25 years as they head south to Miami to square off with the ACC champion Clemson Tigers. Clemson enters the game ranked one spot behind the Vols in the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 7 after going 11-2 this season, including a perfect 8-0 record in conference play.
Both teams are coming off victories in their last game, as UT dominated in-state rival Vanderbilt with a 56-0 shutout victory in Nashville on Nov. 26 while Clemson cruised to a 39-10 win over North Carolina in the ACC title game to win its sixth consecutive conference championship. Tennessee’s last appearance in the Orange Bowl came after the 1997 season, a disappointing 42-17 loss to No. 2 Nebraska in what was Peyton Manning’s final game in the Orange & White. The Vols are 1-3 all-time in the Orange Bowl and will be looking to snap a three-game skid in the game after defeating Oklahoma 17-0 in their first trip to Miami back in 1939. UT’s other Orange Bowl appearances came in 1947 (L, 8-0 to Rice) and 1968 (L, 26-24 to Oklahoma).
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is no stranger to the Orange Bowl, having participated in the game twice during his career, once as a player and once as a graduate assistant coach. As the starting quarterback, Heupel led the Oklahoma Sooners to a National Championship in the 2001 Orange Bowl with a 13-2 victory over Florida State. Heupel returned to Miami following the 2004 season as a graduate assistant with the Sooners when they played for another national title in the 2005 Orange Bowl, a loss to Southern Cal.
A win on Friday night would give the Vols their first 11-win season since finishing 11-2 in 2001. Radio coverage of Tennessee in the Orange Bowl begins at 6:30 p.m. with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. on 103.1 FM WIKQ and 99.5 FM WGRV. Friday’s contest will be televised in primetime on ESPN as Joe Tessitore (PxP), Greg McElroy (analyst) and Katie George (sideline reporter) will have the TV call with Bob Kesling (PxP), Pat Ryan (analyst), and Brent Hubbs (analyst) on the radio call.
