Swinney says Clemson-Tennessee is a Playoff game

Dabo Swinney is ready for a top-7 battle with Tennessee in Miami.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Dec 08 12:40:00 GMT-04:00 2022

Both Clemson and Tennessee had hopes of making the College Football Playoff this season, but both programs suffered two losses along the way and missed out. Instead, they will meet in the Orange Bowl, and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says he thinks this is a Playoff game and will be one when the teams face each other down the road.

No. 7 Clemson will face No. 6 Tennessee in the 89th Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Friday, Dec. 30. The contest is scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff on ESPN.

Clemson, champion of the ACC for the seventh time in eight years, will make its seventh all-time Orange Bowl appearance and its first since appearing the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl in 2015. The Tigers are 4-2 all-time in the Orange Bowl.

The Vols spent a week at No. 1 in the rankings before losing to Georgia and provided one of the season’s signature moments with a win over Alabama that led to the Neyland Stadium goalposts winding up in the Tennessee River.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, in his second year at Tennessee, led the Vols to a 8-0 start, breaking a 5-game losing streak to their rival Florida and a 15-game losing streak to rival Alabama, launching the Vols back into the top 2 in the AP Poll. On November 1, 2022, Heupel led the Vols to their first No. 1 ranking since 1998, in the first release of the College Football Playoff rankings.

Swinney said he appreciates what Heupel has accomplished.

“What Josh has done at Tennessee is incredible,” Swinney said. “I mean, I grew up watching Tennessee. He’s made Tennessee Tennessee again. That’s good and bad, you know? They’re really talented. They’ve got a great scheme. He’s got a great staff. I’ve got a lot of respect for everything that they do.”

Swinney said he thinks this is a Playoff game.

“It’s gonna be a great trip, and the game will be an awesome game,” Swinney said. "This is Tennessee. With these programs, to me, this is a playoff game, and in a couple years it will be a playoff game. Both of these teams have been in the mix for the playoff all year, and both have had great years.”

The game will be the 20th all-time meeting between Clemson and Tennessee. Though the teams met 16 times from 1901-44, including 10 times in a 16-season span from 1901-16, this year’s postseason contest will be only the fourth meeting between the Tigers and Volunteers since Clemson joined the ACC as a charter member in 1953.

Clemson won the only postseason contest between the two teams in the programs' most recent meeting, a 27-14 Clemson victory in the Peach Bowl to end the 2003 season. Clemson entered that contest unranked after a 5-4 start to the season but finished the year 9-4, including the 13-point win against sixth-ranked Tennessee. The game marked Swinney’s first bowl game as an assistant at Clemson, as he was in his first season as the team’s wide receivers coach under head coach Tommy Bowden.

Heupel said he watched the Tigers in the ACC Championship and appreciates what Clemson has done on the big stage in recent seasons.

“Yeah, in recent years obviously I've had an opportunity to see them sporadically throughout the season, but see them. It's a tradition-rich program,” Heupel said. “They've had a ton of success, not just in past seasons but in this season, too. Obviously, finishing it out with an ACC championship. We have great respect for the quality of opponent. Coach Swinney has done a fantastic job with that program since he's taken over.

“Obviously you look at what they've done defensively year in and year out, one of the top in the country. Haven't had a chance to follow up and watch in detail, just the personnel or the scheme. Can't dive too much into that. Obviously we'll do that here in the coming days and certainly over the next week. But offensively they're historically a really good program, too. Certainly, (in the ACC Championship Game) were very explosive and created a bunch of big plays. Great opponent, one that we're excited about having the opportunity to go compete with here at the end of the month.”