JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Notre Dame’s 21st ranked football team rallied from down two scores early in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl to earn a 45-38 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday evening at TIAA Bank Stadium in Jacksonville. The Irish finish the 2022 season 9-4 with the victory. The win is the 20th bowl game win in program history.
Quarterback Tyler Buchner earned the game’s Most Valuable Player award for his performance. The sophomore threw for a career-high 274 yards with 18 completions on 33 attempts and three scores. He also added 61 yards on the ground with two more touchdowns.
The Irish offense ran for 264 yards total. Audric Estime led the charge with 95 yards on 14 attempts. Logan Diggs added 13 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown. Chris Tyree added 21 yards on five rushes.
Through the air, Buchner found Jayden Thomas for a team-best five catches for 67 yards. Senior Braden Lenzy added four catches for a game-best 89 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell Evans added three receptions for 39 yards and a score and Diggs finished with a pair of catches for 81 yards and a score.
The defense was led by linebacker JD Bertrand and cornerback TaRiq Bracy. Each finished with eight tackles, five and four solo, respectively. Each added a half tackle for loss and Bracy forced a key fumble early in the first half. Ramon Henderson and Jack Kiser each finished with six tackles, with two and three solo, respectively. Kiser added a tackle for loss, with Henderson a half TFL.
The Gamecocks got the scoring started, taking the opening kickoff and marching 75 yards on 10 plays for the score. South Carolina’s quarterback Spencer Rattler went 5-for-7 on the series, picking up 60 yards and found Xavier Legette for the 13-yard score four minutes into the contest.
Henderson helped the Irish even the score. The safety recovered a Gamecock fumble and gave the ball to Buchner and the offense at midfield. Buchner found the tight end Evans for an 18-yard completion on third and 15 and moved the ball to the Gamecock 31. After a first down completion to Thomas, Buchner took the snap from shotgun on third and nine and ran 15 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at seven with 5:54 left in the first quarter.
South Carolina used another 75 yard drive to find the end zone and regain the lead. The Gamecocks utilized a little of everything on the drive, using two quarterbacks to move into Irish territory before Xavier Watts came up big on a third and eight, breaking up a pass in the end zone. South Carolina came out with its field goal unit, which saw its holder Kai Kroeger field the snap in a modified shotgun formation, connecting with long snapper Hunter Rogers who lined up in a slot receiver position for the 23-yard score.
The Gamecocks kept the momentum, creating an interception on the next possession that was returned 53 yards for a score to put South Carolina up 21-7, with 44 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Notre Dame used 12 plays to drive 56 yards to earn its next score. Buchner completed two of three passes and scampered for a 21-yard gain to move into the South Carolina red zone. The Irish settled for a 37-yard field goal from Blake Grupe to cut the lead to 21-10 with 8:36 left in the first half.
After the field goal, South Carolina rallied for three of its own. Rattler hit Dakereon Joyner for a gain of 26 yards to move into Irish territory. The defense stiffened, holding the Gamecocks to a more conventional special teams attempt. The 45-yard kick from Mitch Jeter was good to extend the lead to 24-10.
In what continued to be a back-and-forth half, the Irish got right back in it. The kickoff was a touchback, setting up Notre Dame ball on the 25. Buchner bootlegged right and found Diggs in the flat who turned on the jets and found the end zone for the score to cut the lead to 24-17 with just over five minutes remaining in the half.
After exchanging punts to start the second half, the Irish leveled the game with 10:28 on the clock in the third quarter. Estime led the charge as the big back carried for 31 yards on two carries on the drive. Buchner finished off the series with a read option, keeping the ball for an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 24 all.
South Carolina again answered the bell. A third and one conversion on a shuffle pass moved the Gamecocks into Irish territory with the 17-yard gain. A loss on first down set up a second and 11. Rattler scrambled around the pocket and launched a 42-yard touchdown pass to Legette who made a leaping grab in the end zone to regain the lead and put South Carolina up 31-24 at the 8:31 mark of the third quarter.
The Irish defense forced another Gamecock punt that set up Notre Dame inside South Carolina territory. Buchner went over the top, finding Lenzy for a 44-yard touchdown pass to knot the game at 31 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
Notre Dame used some trickery of its own at the start of the fourth quarter. On fourth and four, the Irish went back to punt where it was snapped to Davis Sherwood who flipped to Lenzy who ran for the first down and into South Carolina territory. Buchner then handed to Diggs who broke through the hole opened by Josh Lugg and Blake Fisher and ran 39 yards for the score as Notre Dame took its first lead of the game at 38-31 with just over 13 minutes left.
South Carolina snuffed out a promising Notre Dame drive as O’Donnell Fortune picked off the pass in the end zone and returned it for a Gamecock touchdown to tie the game at 38 with 7:42 left.
The Irish offense drove 80 yards for the go-ahead score, picking up 46 on the ground. Buchner had key third down conversions, rushing for four yards to move the ball to midfield. Buchner found Tyree in the flat for a gain of nine yards on third and five for another key conversion. On third and seven at the South Carolina 16, Buchner rolled right and stopped to find Evans on a wheel route on the left side for the score to go up 45-38 with 1:30 remaining.
Rattler and the Gamecocks gave it one last heave on fourth and 36, but the pass was knocked around before finding turf and securing the Irish victory.
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