JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Consider the sandstorm weathered.
As Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans walked into the South Carolina end zone, the white towels that waved with vigor pregame at TIAA Bank Field hung idly. The scattered Notre Dame fans that felt outnumbered five-to-one in the concourses and concessions stands around TIAA Bank Stadium were heard, truly, for the first time.
Notre Dame 45, South Carolina 38.
South Carolina entertained the overwhelmingly garnet and black-clad 67,383 fans with a first half filled with enough wild and whimsical plays to fill a backyard football playbook.
Quarterback-turned-receiver Dakereon Joyner threw a pair of passes. Spencer Rattler looked deep on a double-reverse flea flicker. Receiver Xavier Legette even had a shot to toss a completion of his own on a double-pass play.
Punter Kai Kroeger, though, provided the most wonky of the Gamecocks’ early antics when he connected on a beautifully lofted 23-yard touchdown pass to long snapper Hunter Rogers off a fake field goal.
Four plays later, freshman safety DQ Smith — who played high school ball with Rogers — put the Gamecocks ahead 21-7 when he corralled a deflected Tyler Buchner pass, dashed down the sideline and into the end zone for a pick-six.
That South Carolina slugged its way to a two-score first half lead only lasted so long. Despite an erratic 9-of-17 passing effort in the first two frames, Buchner scampered his way to rushing scores of 15 and 11 yards — the latter of which pulled the squads even at 24 on the second drive of the second half.
The Fighting Irish and Gamecocks continued trading blows throughout Friday’s third quarter. Rattler delivered the first of the haymakers, stepping into the pocket and leaping as he slung a third-down pass to the back left corner of the end zone. There, Legette dove, arms outstretched and tapping his toe within millimeters of the sideline for a highlight reel grab.
Buchner responded with a hook of his own, connecting with a streaking Braden Lenzy on a deep crossing route. Running underneath Buchner’s pass, Lenzy outpaced the South Carolina secondary to the pylon to knot the score entering the final 15 minutes of Friday’s prize fight.
Notre Dame tailback Logan Diggs seemed to find the knockout blow, bursting through the South Carolina defensive line for his second score of the evening and silencing the garnet and black partial crowd.
But those frenzied fans that fell to a hush following the Diggs touchdown erupted as Buchner reverted to his wayward first half ways. Seeking a pair of crossing receivers, Gamecocks cornerback O’Donnell Fortune leapt in front of a Buchner pass and darted 100 yards for the game-tying score.
Finally, though, it was Buchner connecting with a wide-open Evans on a third-and-7 to find the final score of the night.
South Carolina was stunned on Friday. It ran the gauntlet of emotions the 2022 season brought in a campaign filled with top 10 upsets and stunning no-shows.
Yet on a cool night in Jacksonville, a day that started with chants of “Game” and “Cocks” in the corridors around TIAA Bank Field, the Fighting Irish clutched the Gator Bowl trophy by night’s end.
First down
The 28 combined points between South Carolina and Notre Dame in Friday’s first quarter set a new Gator Bowl record. The previous record was 24, which occurred twice — Mississippi State vs. Michigan (2011) and Florida State vs. West Virginia (2005).
It was just the second time in two seasons under Shane Beamer that the Gamecocks have scored 21 or more points in the first quarter of a game. The only previous time was in the November upset win of No. 5 Tennessee.
Key Stats
6 — Number of completions for Kroeger in his career
11 — Notre Dame’s rushes of 10 or more yards
