Ad Disclosure
Social media abuzz after wild ending to Gator Bowl between Notre Dame and South Carolina
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
The last few minutes of the Gator Bowl was wild, to say the least.
Notre Dame led, 38-31, with 7 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter and the ball at the South Carolina 7. But Tyler Eichner’s pass to the end zone was intercepted and taken back 100 yards by O’Donnell Fortune as the Gamecocks knotted things up at 38.
The Fighting Irish, though, cashed in on their ensuing possession as Eichner led a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Evans as they went up 45-38.
That left it to South Carolina, but the Gamecocks simply couldn’t get out of their own way.
The ensuing kickoff saw Shane Beamer’s team whistled for an illegal block in the back that wiped out a nice return by Xavier Legette. A few plays later, the Irish weren’t called for having 12 men on the field — along with numerous issues with the clock — but were able to call timeout, which upset SC fans. But Spencer Rattler didn’t do himself any favors by picking up an intentional grounding penalty, with Juju McDowell later called for unsportsmanlike conduct for trying to pull a Notre Dame player off of Rattler with the Irish looking to run off as much time as they could.
Ultimately, a 4th-and-36 pass was unsuccessful as the Irish held on to win the highest-scoring Gator Bowl in history.
the clock operator in the gator bowl is possibly engaged in a protest of some kind?
— Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub) December 31, 2022
Could the CFP semifinals please be as fun as Holiday, Sun, Gator and Cheez-It Bowl?
— David Teel (@ByDavidTeel) December 31, 2022
#gatorbowl officials decide a bowl game. Notre Dame should thank them
— T. J. Williams (@TJ__Williams) December 31, 2022
That game was INTENSE, but extremely proud that Notre Dame pulled out a win and ended this season on a high note! I knew it'd be a pretty even matchup. #GatorBowl
— S.M. Pollard (@SM_Pollard) December 31, 2022
congratulations to the gator bowl refs for winning the game
— Willy B. ? (@willcbarr) December 31, 2022
Entertaining Gator Bowl win for @NDFootball – nice guy to see @blspeedy21 getting to play an important role. And liked most of what I saw out of @tylerbuchner
— Rich Kurz (@KOINRich) December 31, 2022
So Carolina has two pick sixes in the Gator Bowl – a 92% chance to win with only one – and still loses to Notre Dame 45-38. ??♂️
— Keith Peel (@bigblueview56) December 31, 2022
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
