MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – There would still be plenty of reason to be optimistic about the direction of the Tennessee football program under Josh Heupel regardless of the Orange Bowl result, but the Vols showing left zero doubt.

If wins over Alabama, LSU and Florida during the 2022 season weren't enough to get Tennessee back into company with college football's upper echelon, it should be now.

In its first major bowl game in more than 15 years, a Tennessee team that was missing a number of key players that helped it to 10 regular season wins and plethora of other successes proved a point Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium with a 31-14 win over No. 7 Clemson.

The victory marked the No. 6 Vols' first 11-win campaign since 2001 and its first Orange Bowl win since 1939.

On one of its biggest stages of the year, the Tennessee (11-2) defense put together arguably its best performance. The unit made freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik's first start a miserable one – sacking him four times.

Missing senior Jeremy Banks, who opted out last week, the linebacking corps was as disruptive as they've been all season. Aaron Beasley was the anchor of the group, recording a game-high 12 tackles, two sacks and four tackles for loss.

In his second start since Hendon Hooker's injury, quarterback Joe Milton III was impressive, leading a pair of scoring drives in the first half and then coming through on clutch fourth quarter drive that put Tennessee back up two scores.

He finished 19-of-28 passing for 251 yards and three touchdowns en route to being named the game's Most Valuable Player.

Without its top receiver in Biletnikoff winner Jalin Hyatt as well as Cedric Tillman, Tennessee's wide receivers rose to the occasion. Freshman Squirrel White caught nine passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, while Bru McCoy and Ramel Keyton each hauled in a score.

Clemson (11-3) drove as far as the Tennessee 27-yard line on its first drive before the Vols' defense forced a field goal attempt. Instead, the Tigers opted for the fake, but the holder Drew Swinney was brought down by Solon Page III and Kamal Hadden two yards shy of the line to gain.

With the first of several key defensive stands in the first half, the Tennessee offense trotted back on the field for its second possession with momentum.

Milton started the drive with a first down pass to McCoy, then hit him again two plays later to get the Vols to around midfield.

Tennessee moved as far as the Clemson 4, but an unsportsmanlike penalty on Heupel from the sideline pushed the Vols back to the 19. It hardly mattered.

Following a 3-yard run from Jaylen Wright, Milton connected with McCoy for the fourth time on the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to give them the early lead.

Clemson had its chances to take its own lead in the first half, but kicker B.T. Potter was 0-for-3 on field goals prior to Tennessee's next scoring drive, which resulted in a 2-yard Jabari Small rush that was set up by a 50-yard pass from Milton to White.

The Tigers' coaching staff gave Potter another shot later in the second quarter with a fourth field goal try, which he made from 31 yards out to make it 14-3.

Another Potter field goal capped Clemson's first drive of the second half and the Tigers' defense held off Tennessee for much of the third quarter, Hadden and Beasley stopped Will Shipley on a critical fourth-and-2 run and Milton engineered a 56-yard scoring drive that was capped with his second touchdown pass, this one to White for 15-yards that upped the lead to 21-6.

After it seemed impossible for more than three quarter, Clemson drove deep into Tennessee territory and paid it off with its first touchdown of the night on a Klubnik run that was followed by a 2-point conversion run from Will Shipley to bring the Tigers within a possession with 10 minutes left in the fourth.

Facing pressure for the first time in the game, the moment presented an opportunity for Milton to make another special memory from a season full of them for Tennessee. He delivered.

Milton kept the Vols' drive alive on a pass over the middle to Keyton on third down that moved the chains, then found Keyton wide open again on the next play for a 46-yard touchdown.

Back up by two scores, the Tennessee defense didn't let up on Klubnik, forcing him into a desperation heave on fourth-and-long that was intercepted by Tamarion McDonald with seven minutes left that all but sealed the win.

Kicker Chase McGrath added a 32-yard field, then in appropriate fashion Wesley Walker intercepted Klubnik in the end zone to put an emphatic stamp on the game.

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