| Game Name: | Music City Bowl |
| Subheader: | 24th Music City Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | TransPerfect |
| Date Game Played: | December 31 |
| Year Game Played: | 2022 |
| Football Season: | 2022 |
| Stadium: | Nissan Stadium |
| City: | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Visitor School: | University of Iowa |
| Visitor Name Short: | Iowa |
| Visitor Nickname: | Hawkeyes |
| Visitor Record: | 7–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | Big Ten |
| Visitor Coach: | Kirk Ferentz |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 21 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home School: | University of Kentucky |
| Home Name Short: | Kentucky |
| Home Nickname: | Wildcats |
| Home Record: | 7–5 |
| Home Conference: | SEC |
| Home Coach: | Mark Stoops |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | Cooper DeJean (DB, Iowa)[1] |
| Odds: | Iowa by 2.5 |
| Referee: | Mark Duddy (Pac-12)[2] |
| Attendance: | 42,312 |
| Payout: | 5,700,000[3] |
| Us Network: | ABC |
| Us Announcers: | Matt Barrie (play-by-play) Louis Riddick (analyst) Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline) |
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.[4] 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.
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.[5] This is their second-ever meeting—they previously met in a bowl game following the 2021 season, the 2022 Citrus Bowl, won by Kentucky.
See main article: 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes football team. 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.[6]
See main article: 2022 Kentucky Wildcats football team. 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.
| Statistic | Iowa | Kentucky | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 10 | 10 | |
| First downs rushing | 3 | 4 | |
| First downs passing | 7 | 6 | |
| First downs penalty | 0 | 0 | |
| Third down efficiency | 0–11 | 2–18 | |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0–2 | 3–5 | |
| Total plays–net yards | 48–206 | 69–185 | |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 24–67 | 32–68 | |
| Yards per rush | 2.8 | 2.1 | |
| Yards passing | 139 | 117 | |
| Pass completions–attempts | 14–24 | 22–37 | |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 2 | |
| Punt returns–total yards | 3–42 | 3–25 | |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 0–0 | 1–16 | |
| Punts–average yardage | 8–48.3 | 10–40.9 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| Penalties–yards | 2–10 | 3–35 | |
| Time of possession | 25:43 | 34:17 |
| Hawkeyes passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Labas | 14–24 | 139 | 1–0 | ||
| Hawkeyes rushing | |||||
| Jaziun Patterson | 4 | 23 | 0 | ||
| 9 | 17 | 0 | |||
| Joe Labas | 4 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Nico Ragaini | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Leshon Williams | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Diante Vines | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Hawkeyes receiving | |||||
| Sam LaPorta | 5 | 56 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 36 | 1 | |||
| Diante Vines | 2 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Nico Ragaini | 2 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Leshon Williams | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Jaziun Patterson | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Wildcats passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destin Wade | 16–30 | 98 | 0–2 | ||
| Deuce Hogan | 6-7 | 19 | 0-0 | ||
| Wildcats rushing | |||||
| JuTahn McClain | 10 | 40 | 0 | ||
| Destin Wade | 16 | 29 | 0 | ||
| La'Vell Wright | 1 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 5 | 0 | |||
| 1 | -2 | 0 | |||
| 2 | -4 | 0 | |||
| TEAM | 1 | -6 | 0 | ||
| Wildcats 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 | ||