| Game Name: | Gator Bowl |
| Subheader: | 78th Gator Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | TaxSlayer |
| Date Game Played: | December 30 |
| Year Game Played: | 2022 |
| Football Season: | 2022 |
| Stadium: | TIAA Bank Field |
| City: | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Visitor School: | University of Notre Dame |
| Visitor Name Short: | Notre Dame |
| Visitor Nickname: | Fighting Irish |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 19 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 20 |
| Visitor Rank Cfp: | 21 |
| Visitor Coach: | Marcus Freeman |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 14 |
| Home School: | University of South Carolina |
| Home Name Short: | South Carolina |
| Home Nickname: | Gamecocks |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Home Conference: | SEC |
| Home Rank Ap: | 20 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 19 |
| Home Rank Cfp: | 19 |
| Home Coach: | Shane Beamer |
| Home 1Q: | 21 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Mvp: | Tyler Buchner (QB, Notre Dame)[1] |
| Odds: | Notre Dame by 5.5 |
| Referee: | Mike Cannon (Big Ten)[2] |
| Attendance: | 67,383 |
| Payout: | 5,350,000[3] |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline) |
| Intl Network: | ESPN Deportes |
| Different Previous: | 2021 (Dec.) |
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.[4] 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.[5] It was also the highest-scoring Gator Bowl in history, with a combined 83 points.[6]
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.[7]
See main article: 2022 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team.
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.
See main article: 2022 South Carolina Gamecocks football team.
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.
| Statistic | Notre Dame | South Carolina | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 27 | 20 | |
| First downs rushing | 14 | 5 | |
| First downs passing | 13 | 13 | |
| First downs penalty | 0 | 2 | |
| Third down efficiency | 11–19 | 5–15 | |
| Fourth down efficiency | 1–1 | 1–2 | |
| Total plays–net yards | 80–558 | 72–352 | |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 46–264 | 22–65 | |
| Yards per rush | 5.7 | 3.0 | |
| Yards passing | 294 | 287 | |
| Pass completions–attempts | 19–34 | 31–50 | |
| Interceptions thrown | 3 | 1 | |
| Punt returns–total yards | 1–7 | 2–7 | |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 1–18 | 2–64 | |
| Punts–average yardage | 4–50.0 | 6–40.0 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| Penalties–yards | 4–40 | 8–68 | |
| Time of possession | 36:39 | 23:21 |
| Fighting Irish passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–33 | 274 | 3–3 | |||
| Davis Sherwood | 1–1 | 20 | 0–0 | ||
| Fighting Irish rushing | |||||
| 14 | 95 | 0 | |||
| 13 | 89 | 1 | |||
| Tyler Buchner | 12 | 61 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 21 | 0 | |||
| TEAM | 2 | −2 | 0 | ||
| Fighting Irish receiving | |||||
| Braden Lenzy | 4 | 89 | 1 | ||
| Logan Diggs | 2 | 81 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 67 | 0 | |||
| Mitchell Evans | 3 | 39 | 1 | ||
| Chris Tyree | 4 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Audric Estimé | 1 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Gamecocks passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29–46 | 246 | 2–1 | |||
| Kai Kroeger | 1–1 | 23 | 1–0 | ||
| Dakereon Joyner | 1–1 | 18 | 0–0 | ||
| Gamecocks 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 | ||
| 1 | −2 | 0 | |||
| 2 | −4 | 0 | |||
| Gamecocks receiving | |||||
| Xavier Legette | 7 | 78 | 2 | ||
| 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 | ||