The 2022 Music City Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The 24th annual Music City Bowl, featured Iowa from the Big Ten Conference and Kentucky from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game began at 11:10 a.m. CST and aired on ABC. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by translation and language services company TransPerfect, the game was officially known as the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
Teams The game features Iowa of the Big Ten and Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Both teams received and accepted invitations on December 4, 2022. This is their second-ever meeting—they previously met in a bowl game following the 2021 season, the 2022 Citrus Bowl, won by Kentucky.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes played in the Music City Bowl for the first time, and entered the game with a 7–5 record, 5–4 in conference play. They faced two ranked FBS opponents (at the time of the matchup) during the season, losing to No. 4 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes were led by quarterback Joe Labas, who was making his collegiate debut.
Kentucky Wildcats
The Wildcats enter the Music City Bowl with a 7–5 record, 3–5 in conference play. Kentucky will be making its sixth appearance in the Music City Bowl. The Wildcats opened their season with four consecutive wins and were ranked as high as No. 7 before losing three of their next four games. They faced six ranked opponents (at the time of the matchup), defeating No. 12 Florida, No. 16 Mississippi State, and No. 25 Louisville while losing to No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 3 Tennessee, and No. 1 Georgia.
Game summary
Statistics
+Team statistical comparisonStatisticIowaKentuckyFirst downs 10 10First downs rushing 3 4First downs passing 7 6First downs penalty 0 0Third down efficiency 0–11 2–18Fourth down efficiency 0–2 3–5Total plays–net yards 48–206 69–185Rushing attempts–net yards 24–67 32–68Yards per rush 2.8 2.1Yards passing 139 117Pass completions–attempts 14–24 22–37Interceptions thrown 0 2Punt returns–total yards 3–42 3–25Kickoff returns–total yards 0–0 1–16Punts–average yardage 8–48.3 10–40.9Fumbles–lost 0–0 3–0Penalties–yards 2–10 3–35Time of possession 25:43 34:17
+Iowa statisticsHawkeyes passing Joe Labas 14–24 139 1–0Hawkeyes rushing Jaziun Patterson 4 23 0 Kaleb Johnson 9 17 0 Joe Labas 4 11 0 Sam LaPorta 2 6 0 Nico Ragaini 1 5 0 Leshon Williams 3 3 0 Diante Vines 1 2 0Hawkeyes receiving Sam LaPorta 5 56 0 Luke Lachey 3 36 1 Diante Vines 2 23 0 Nico Ragaini 2 21 0 Leshon Williams 1 2 0 Jaziun Patterson 1 1 0
+Kentucky statisticsWildcats passing Destin Wade 16–30 98 0–2 Deuce Hogan 6-7 19 0-0Wildcats rushing JuTahn McClain 10 40 0 Destin Wade 16 29 0 La'Vell Wright 1 6 0 Tayvion Robinson 1 5 0 Dane Key 1 -2 0 Barion Brown 2 -4 0 TEAM 1 -6 0Wildcats receiving Dane Key 6 47 0 Tayvion Robinson 5 27 0 Barion Brown 5 24 0 JuTahn McClain 3 7 0 Jordan Dingle 1 6 0 La'Vell Wright 2 6 0
References