Notre Dame vs South Carolina TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Prediction Game Preview
Notre Dame vs South Carolina prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Friday, December 30
Notre Dame vs South Carolina TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Prediction Game Preview
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Notre Dame vs South Carolina How To Watch
Date: Friday, December 30
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: TIAA Bank Stadium, Jacksonville, FL
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Notre Dame (8-4), South Carolina (8-4)
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Notre Dame vs South Carolina TaxSlayer Gator Bowl 5 Things To Know
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
– Notre Dame’s season started bad, got weird, and closes strong before the loss to USC. Call it the Marcus Freeman growing pain campaign. The team was able to figure it out rocked eventual ACC champion Clemson, and it got a nice bowl even though it lost to Marshall and Stanford along the way. After all the weird moments, getting to nine wins and closing out with a bowl would be terrific. There’s a problem, though …
The Irish are losing way too many important players. The pass rush took a major hit through the transfer portal and opt-outs, losing TE Michael Mayer to the NFL is big, and the quarterback situation is potentially a mess. On the flip side …
– Spencer Rattler is still in place for South Carolina. But who will he throw to? Star WR Josh Vann is questionable, a ton of tight ends are gone, and lowing RB Marshawn Lloyd to the transfer portal is tough. Throw in the losses in the secondary, and both teams will be throwing way too many unknown starters out there.
No matter what, it was an outstanding season for the Gamecocks. The ruined Clemson’s hope for the College Football Playoff. They ruined Tennessee’s hope for the College Football Playoff. They won seven of their last nine, had a tremendous passing game, but again, someone has to catch the ball.
– South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer won last year’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl over North Carolina. That made it six bowl wins in the last eight tries for the program going back to 2010. This doesn’t matter that much one way or another to take away from the season, but beating the Fighting Irish would still be a big deal.
– Notre Dame started going to bowl games in 1925. It took a while off and went back in 1970, and it’s been a mixed bag ever since – to be nice.
After beating Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 1993 season, the Irish are just 6-15 in bowls including losing the last two, three of the last four, and four of the last six. After the way they collapsed in the Fiesta last year against Oklahoma State, winning this would be a huge deal for Freeman.
– The historic game that started in 1946 has been hit-or-miss lately. Rutgers was a late fill-in last year, and it showed in an ugly 38-10 loss to Wake Forest. Texas A&M annihilated NC State in 2018.
Between those two games, the Tennessee 23-22 win over Indiana at the end of the 2019 season and Kentucky’s 23-21 win over NC State at the end of the 2020 campaign were two of the best bowls of the respective seasons.
CFN Experts CFP, NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2
Why Notre Dame Will Win The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
The Notre Dame personnel losses are huge, but South Carolina’s should be a tad more crippling if this turns into a low-scoring defensive battle.
Yes, the quarterback situation is a bit sketchy, and yes, losing Mayer and a few receivers is a problem, but the running game should still work.
Keep this extremely simple. Line up and pound away with an offense that got better and stronger on the ground as the season wore on, and try to control the clock throughout. The Irish weren’t always great at pounding away – Navy and USC were able to hold up just fine – but good things happened when the O line got into a groove.
They were 6-0 when running for over 150 yards and 7-1 when running for over 130. The South Carolina run defense hasn’t been bad and it shouldn’t be that big of a problem, but it got run on by Florida and Arkansas in losses and is 2-3 when allowing over 200 yards.
However …
Top 100 Bowl Players | Ranking Bowl Games So Far
Why South Carolina Will Win The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
The Gamecocks will be able to load up against the run.
As is the Notre Dame passing game was hardly cranking up big things, and it can all but forget about anything amazing in this through the air. South Carolina won’t have to do anything funky in the secondary, and its lack of any sort of a pass rush or playmaking ability in the backfield won’t be a problem here.
Offensively, Spencer Rattler has to simply be careful.
Again, a slew of parts might be missing, but there’s a huge advantage at quarterback The Gamecock attack bakes at least two turnovers into the cake every game out, but the Notre Dame defense is hit-or-miss on takeaways. It destroyed Boston College with five of them, but it only forced multiple turnovers three times this season.
Rattler has to be the best offensive player on the field, and he’s got to make everyone around him better.
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Notre Dame vs South Carolina Prediction, TaxSlayer Gator Bowl History
Notre Dame vs South Carolina TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, What’s Going To Happen
Can Notre Dame own the lines?
South Carolina isn’t disruptive enough defensively up front and the offensive line gives up way too many negative plays for the running game. Time of possession is going to matter – the Irish will be at least +3 minutes – and the turnovers will be a difference.
Spencer Rattler will generate a few big downfield plays, but the offense’s two giveaways combined with the Irish grinding ground attack will be just enough to get by a weird, uneven game.
Notre Dame vs South Carolina TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Prediction, Line
CFN Prediction: Notre Dame 27, South Carolina 23
Line: Notre Dame -3.5, o/u: 50.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Must See Rating (out of 5): 3.5
CFN Experts CFP NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl History
Dec. 31, 2021 Wake Forest 38, Rutgers 10
Jan. 2, 2021 Kentucky 23, NC State 21
Jan. 2, 2020 Tennessee 23, Indiana 22
Dec. 31, 2018 Texas A&M 52, NC State 13
Dec. 30, 2017 Mississippi State 31, Louisville 27
Dec. 31, 2016 Georgia Tech 33, Kentucky 18
Jan. 2, 2016 Georgia 24 Penn State 17
Jan. 2, 2015 Tennessee 45 Iowa 28
Jan. 1, 2014 Nebraska 24 Georgia 19
Jan. 1, 2013 Northwestern 34 Mississippi State 20
Jan. 2, 2012 Florida 24 Ohio State 17
Jan. 1, 2011 Mississippi State 52 Michigan 14
Jan. 1, 2010 Florida State 33 West Virginia 21
Jan. 1, 2009 Nebraska 26 Clemson 21
Jan. 1, 2008 Texas Tech 31 Virginia 28
Jan. 1, 2007 West Virginia 38 Georgia Tech 35
Jan. 2, 2006 Virginia Tech 35 Louisville 24
Jan. 1, 2005 Florida State 30 West Virginia 18
Jan. 1, 2004 Maryland 41 West Virginia 7
Jan. 1, 2003 N.C. State 28 Notre Dame 6
Jan. 1, 2002 Florida State 30 Virginia Tech 17
Jan. 1, 2001 Virginia Tech 41 Clemson 20
Jan. 1, 2000 Miami 28 Georgia Tech 13
Jan. 1, 1999 Georgia Tech 35 Notre Dame 28
Jan. 1, 1998 North Carolina 42 Virginia Tech 3
Jan. 1, 1997 North Carolina 20 West Virginia 13
Jan. 1, 1996 Syracuse 41 Clemson 0
Dec. 30, 1994 Tennessee 45 Virginia Tech 23
Dec. 31, 1993 Alabama 24 North Carolina 10
Dec. 31, 1992 Florida 27 N.C. State 10
Dec. 29, 1991 Oklahoma 48 Virginia 14
Jan. 1, 1991 Michigan 35 Mississippi 3
Dec. 30, 1989 Clemson 27 West Virginia 7
Jan. 1, 1989 Georgia 34 Michigan State 27
Dec. 31, 1987 LSU 30 South Carolina 13
Dec. 27, 1986 Clemson 27 Stanford 21
Dec. 30, 1985 Florida State 34 Oklahoma 23
Dec. 28, 1984 Oklahoma State 21 South Carolina 14
Dec. 30, 1983 Florida 14 Iowa 6
Dec. 30, 1982 Florida State 31 West Virginia 12
Dec. 28, 1981 North Carolina 31 Arkansas 27
Dec. 29, 1980 Pittsburgh 37 South Carolina 9
Dec. 28, 1979 North Carolina 17 Michigan 15
Dec. 29, 1978 Clemson 17 Ohio State 15
Dec. 30, 1977 Pittsburgh 34 Clemson 3
Dec. 27, 1976 Notre Dame 20 Penn State 9
Dec. 29, 1975 Maryland 13 Florida 0
Dec. 30, 1974 Auburn 27 Texas 3
Dec. 29, 1973 Texas Tech 28 Tennessee 19
Dec. 30, 1972 Auburn 24 Colorado 3
Dec. 31, 1971 Georgia 7 North Carolina 3
Jan. 2, 1971 Auburn 35 Mississippi 28
Dec. 27, 1969 Florida 14 Tennessee 13
Dec. 28, 1968 Missouri 35 Alabama 10
Dec. 30, 1967 Florida State 17 Penn State 17
Dec. 31, 1966 Tennessee 18 Syracuse 12
Dec. 31, 1965 Georgia Tech 31 Texas Tech 21
Jan. 2, 1965 Florida State 36 Oklahoma 19
Dec. 28, 1963 North Carolina 35 Air Force 0
Dec. 29, 1962 Florida 17 Penn State 7
Dec. 30, 1961 Penn State 30 Georgia Tech 15
Dec. 31, 1960 Florida 13 Baylor 12
Jan. 2, 1960 Arkansas 14 Georgia Tech 7
Dec. 27, 1958 Mississippi 7 Florida 3
Dec. 28, 1957 Tennessee 3 Texas A&M 0
Dec. 29, 1956 Georgia Tech 21 Pittsburgh 14
Dec. 31, 1955 Vanderbilt 25 Auburn 13
Dec. 31, 1954 Auburn 33 Baylor 13
Jan. 1, 1954 Texas Tech 35 Auburn 13
Jan. 1, 1953 Florida 14 Tulsa 13
Jan. 1, 1952 Miami 14 Clemson 0
Jan. 1, 1951 Wyoming 20 Washington & Lee 7
Jan. 2, 1950 Maryland 20 Missouri 7
Jan. 1, 1949 Clemson 24 Missouri 23
Jan. 1, 1948 Maryland 20 Georgia 20
Jan. 1, 1947 Oklahoma 34 N.C. State 13
Jan. 1, 1946 Wake Forest 26 South Carolina 14
