Thursday March 13th, 2025 8:36AM

Vols rout Michigan, 45-17

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ORLANDO, FLORIDA - Michigan didn&#39;t let Tennessee tailback Travis Stephens show off his speed. His teammates had no trouble showing theirs. <br> <br> Casey Clausen threw three scoring passes, two to Kelley Washington and one to Jason Witten, and ran for two more touchdowns Tuesday as the No. 8 Volunteers (11-2) handed No. 17 Michigan its worst bowl loss, 45-17 in the Citrus Bowl. <br> <br> ``I felt defensively we&#39;d do a much better job containing the Tennessee offense,&#39;&#39; Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. <br> <br> Michigan&#39;s plan was to stop Stephens, who set Tennessee&#39;s single-season rushing record this season and punished Florida for 226 yards on the ground. <br> <br> Mission accomplished, but there was a problem. Well, actually several problems. <br> <br> Michigan couldn&#39;t consistently cover Washington, Witten, Donte Stallworth and the other receivers often lining up in a four-wide set. Sometimes, the Vols lined up the fullbacks and tailbacks wide. <br> <br> ``We were trash-talking the whole game. I was saying, &#39;The SEC is too fast for y&#39;all. Y&#39;all better watch out,&#39;&#39;&#39; Stephens said he told the Michigan players. ``It didn&#39;t surprise me, their speed compared to our speed. We knew looking on the film they were overmatched speedwise.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Tennessee rolled up 503 yards, the most Michigan allowed all season. The Wolverines had not given up more than 26 points this season and saw their four-game winning streak in bowls end. <br> <br> Clausen completed 26 of 34 passes for a career-high 393 yards, with no interceptions. During one stretch, he completed 10 straight passes. <br> <br> Stephens was held to just 38 yards on 16 carries, and Stallworth outgained him with 42 yards on one rushing play. <br> <br> ``I think everybody stereotypes the Big Ten and the SEC. The Big Ten is more power and physical, and the SEC is mainly all speed,&#39;&#39; Clausen said. ``Michigan was a real big, physical team. We&#39;re big and physical too, but I think the difference was speed.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Even Jason Witten, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound tight end, made Michigan&#39;s defenders look tortoise-like. <br> <br> The Vols, who won their first bowl game since the 1998 national title, increased their lead to 31-10 at the beginning of the third quarter when Witten caught a pass from Clausen across the middle and ran untouched 64 yards for a touchdown. Stallworth blocked two trailing defenders from chasing him down. <br> <br> ``He had some breakaway speed, some speed I didn&#39;t know he had,&#39;&#39; Stephens said, laughing. <br> <br> From then on, Michigan had little chance to mount a comeback. The Wolverines couldn&#39;t get anything going on offense. Many times, they would get a drive going, but Tennessee would stop them on third or fourth down. <br> <br> ``We weren&#39;t going to let them run the football and they weren&#39;t going to let us run the football,&#39;&#39; Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. ``We were able to make the plays in the passing game that they didn&#39;t.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Michigan was held to 103 yards rushing and 240 passing. John Navarre completed 21 of 39 passes, but was intercepted once. Both quarterbacks were sacked four times. <br> <br> Stallworth finished with eight catches for 119 yards, while Witten had six for 125 yards. Washington caught six passes for 70 yards. <br> <br> With the score 3-0, B.J. Askew picked up Navarre&#39;s bobble, but Askew fumbled and Tennessee&#39;s John Henderson recovered at the Michigan 28. Washington scored four plays later on a 3-yard pass from Clausen with 3:45 left in the first quarter. <br> <br> Clausen added two 1-yard touchdown runs. Washington made a 37-yard TD catch, and Stephens ran one in from 3 yards out. <br> <br> Hayden Epstein kicked a 28-yard field goal and Navarre threw touchdown passes to Askew and Calvin Bell for Michigan.
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