ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Two teams who played their best football late in the season clash as seventh-ranked Tennessee takes on Clemson in the Peach Bowl.
The Volunteers rebounded from a 41-14 defeat to Georgia on October 11, their worst home defeat in nine years, to win their final six games and gain a share of the Southeastern Conference East Division title. Tennessee has allowed just 40 points in its last five contests.
Tennessee (10-2) is making its school-record 15th straight bowl appearance and 44th overall, second all-time. A victory will give the Volunteers their fifth 11-win season during coach Phillip Fulmer's 12-year tenure.
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden enters the game armed with a contract extension through 2010. Tigers' fans were calling for Bowden's head after a 45-17 loss to Wake Forest on November 1. But he might have saved his job a week later as Clemson defeated Florida State, 26-10. Tommy Bowden beat his father, Bobby, for the first time in five meetings.
The younger Bowden is the first Clemson coach to lead the Tigers (8-4) to bowl games in each of his first five seasons. Clemson secured the berth by winning its final three regular-season contests.
Tennessee has won seven straight against Clemson and leads the all-time series, 11-5-2, although the teams will be meeting for the first time in 27 years. The last two games were tight affairs with the Volunteers pulling out victories in 1974 (29-28) and 1976 (21-19).
Both teams will be looking to rebound from disappointing bowl performances last season. Tennessee was routed by Maryland, 30-3, in the Peach Bowl and Clemson suffered a 55-15 loss to Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl.
Quarterback Casey Clausen, who has a career record of 34-9 as a starter, will be making his final appearance for the Volunteers. He ranks sixth on the SEC's all-time passing yards list with 9,323.
Charlie Whitehurst set Clemson single-season records with 266 completions and 3,315 passing yards and tied a school mark with 21 touchdown passes. He needs only 131 yards to join North Carolina State's Philip Rivers as the only quarterbacks in Atlantic Coast Conference history to surpass 5,000 yards by the end of their sophomore year.
In the last three games, Whitehurst completed 62-of-93 passes for 905 yards and eight TDS. Wide receiver Derrick Hamilton earned second team all-ACC honors, catching 57 passes for 857 yards and 10 TDs. Kevin Youngblood leads the team in receptions with 67 for 833 yards.
Tennessee has a postseason mark of 23-20 and has lost three of its last four bowl games. Clemson has dropped six of its last seven bowl games, falling to 13-13 all-time.
