Clemson’s thrilling 38-35 victory over Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl has had a lot of people talking over the past week, and with good reason.
Not only was the Tigers’ incredible 28-point fourth quarter, come-from-behind victory a much-needed shot in the arm headed into 2024 for Dabo Swinney’s program, the game is widely being panned as one of the best bowl games from this year’s crop of postseason contests.
With opt-outs, losses in the transfer portal, and general malaise that can set in after a trying regular season, many bowl games can sometimes feel like glorified scrimmages between schools after a month-long break.
Clemson made sure that malaise didn’t happen to them.
Earlier this week, CBS Sports ranked the Gator Bowl as its second best game of the 2023-24 bowl season behind only Michigan’s thrilling overtime victory against Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The Gator Bowl also earned high praise from the website College Football News, which ranked the game sixth in its annual list of bowl rankings.
Things looked dark for Clemson, which trailed Kentucky, 21-10, after Barion Brown returned the second half kickoff 100 yards for a Wildcats touchdown.
“And then the fourth quarter happened,” CFN notes. “42 points, five lead changes, four lead changes over the final 6:12, and wild back-and-forth plays with each side outdoing the other whenever it got a chance. This was a true last-team-with-the-ball wins game.”
Clemson’s Phil Mafah set a Gator Bowl record with four rushing touchdowns in the Tigers’ win.