The 2022 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2022, at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. The 78th annual Gator Bowl, the game featured Notre Dame, an FBS Independent, and South Carolina of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game began at 3:40 p.m. EST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by financial technology company TaxSlayer, the game was officially known as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Notre Dame defeated South Carolina with a final score of 45–38.
With 5.766 million viewers, the 2022 Gator Bowl was the highest rated non-New Year’s Six bowl game of the 2022–23 season. It was also the highest-scoring Gator Bowl in history, with a combined 83 points.
Teams Based on conference tie-ins, the game was expected to feature teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference, or the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Selected to the bowl were South Carolina of the SEC and Notre Dame, who compete as an FBS Independent.
This was the fifth meeting between Notre Dame and South Carolina; the Fighting Irish lead the all-time series, 3–1.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame compiled an 8–4 record during their regular season. They opened their season with two losses, then won eight of their next nine games, before closing with a loss at USC. The Fighting Irish faced five ranked opponents, defeating BYU, Syracuse, and Clemson while losing to Ohio State and USC. Notre Dame entered the bowl 21st in the College Football Playoff (CFP) ranking.
South Carolina
South Carolina went 8–4 during the regular season, 4–4 in conference play. They also faced five ranked opponents, defeating Kentucky, Tennessee, and Clemson while losing to Arkansas and Georgia. The Gamecocks entered the bowl 19th in the CFP ranking.
Game summary
Statistics
+Team statistical comparisonStatisticNotre DameSouth CarolinaFirst downs 27 20First downs rushing 14 5First downs passing 13 13First downs penalty 0 2Third down efficiency 11–19 5–15Fourth down efficiency 1–1 1–2Total plays–net yards 80–558 72–352Rushing attempts–net yards 46–264 22–65Yards per rush 5.7 3.0Yards passing 294 287Pass completions–attempts 19–34 31–50Interceptions thrown 3 1Punt returns–total yards 1–7 2–7Kickoff returns–total yards 1–18 2–64Punts–average yardage 4–50.0 6–40.0Fumbles–lost 0–0 1–1Penalties–yards 4–40 8–68Time of possession 36:39 23:21
+Notre Dame statisticsFighting Irish passing Tyler Buchner 18–33 274 3–3 Davis Sherwood 1–1 20 0–0Fighting Irish rushing Audric Estimé 14 95 0 Logan Diggs 13 89 1 Tyler Buchner 12 61 2 Chris Tyree 5 21 0 TEAM 2 −2 0Fighting Irish receiving Braden Lenzy 4 89 1 Logan Diggs 2 81 1 Jayden Thomas 5 67 0 Mitchell Evans 3 39 1 Chris Tyree 4 10 0 Audric Estimé 1 8 0
+South Carolina statisticsGamecocks passing Spencer Rattler 29–46 246 2–1 Kai Kroeger 1–1 23 1–0 Dakereon Joyner 1–1 18 0–0Gamecocks rushing Juju McDowell 6 28 0 Spencer Rattler 7 27 0 Dakereon Joyner 1 8 0 Christian Beal-Smith 3 8 0 Ahmarean Brown 1 2 0 Rashad Amos 1 −2 0 Antwane Wells Jr. 1 −2 0 Xavier Legette 2 −4 0Gamecocks receiving Xavier Legette 7 78 2 Nate Adkins 5 78 0 Dakereon Joyner 3 35 0 Antwane Wells Jr. 5 30 0 Hunter Rogers 1 23 1 Ahmarean Brown 4 22 0 Juju McDowell 3 13 0 Christian Beal-Smith 2 7 0 O'Mega Blake 1 1 0
References