7. TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Notre Dame 45, South Carolina 38
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 4
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 16, 2020: 15, 2019: 10
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 35, 2020: 12, 2019: 15
There was no way you didn’t have fun with this.
Notre Dame was missing a few key guys, but it wasn’t woefully undermanned like South Carolina was. That made the game that much better.
Irish QB Tyler Buchner ran well, threw well – to both sides – and got it done with a wonderful late drive to finally put the team ahead for good, head coach Marcus Freeman appeared to have aged 14 years during the game, and both sides put on one fantastic show.
South Carolina’s Shane Beamer and the coaching staff pulled out all the tricks in the bag. Some worked – like a fake kick for a touchdown pass – and others didn’t.
The Gamecocks came up with two pick-sixes – including a 100-yard version just as the Irish were about to put it away, and there was a 4th-and-38 at the very end that seemed like it just might have worked considering the wacky way this game went.
The pass fell incomplete, but no one seemed to quite believe it was really over. With the was this game went, it seemed certain something weird was going to pop up.
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means
Bowl Rankings 2022-2023
Bowls of Sad | Instant Memory Dumped Bowls
Just Bowls | Very Good Bowls | Great Bowls
Classic Bowls No. 8 | No. 7 | No. 6 | No. 5 | No. 4
No. 3 | No. 2 | No. 1 | Bowl Scoreboard