The 2022 Gator Bowl was a

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bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played on December 30, 2022, at

TIAA Bank Field EverBank Stadium is an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL), and the headquarters of the professional wrestling promotions Al ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. The 78th annual

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

, the game featured Notre Dame, an FBS Independent, and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). The game began at 3:40 p.m. EST and was aired on

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. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by financial technology company

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, 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 The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC), the

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, or the

(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 USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. The Fighting Irish faced five ranked opponents, defeating BYU,

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, and Clemson while losing to

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and USC. Notre Dame entered the bowl 21st in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

(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 Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and Clemson while losing to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The Gamecocks entered the bowl 19th in the CFP ranking.

Game summary

Statistics

References

{{South Carolina Gamecocks bowl game navbox

Gator Bowl

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football bowl games South Carolina Gamecocks football bowl games 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida