Notre Dame to face South Carolina in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 30
What narrow chance the bowl gods would concoct a Notre Dame-LSU grudge match in the Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl completely dissolved Friday night, when underdog Utah trampled USC, 47-24, in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
And set the dominoes in motion for the 21st-ranked Irish (8-4) to land in the Gator Bowl for the fourth time in school history. The Taxslayer Gator Bowl, to be precise. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Notre Dame still gets an SEC opponent this postseason, just one a little lower on that conference’s food chain and one with a lot less familiarity than an LSU matchup would have offered, with former Irish coach Brian Kelly and his Tigers (9-4) instead headed to the Citrus Bowl to play unranked Purdue (8-5).
No. 19 South Carolina (8-4) will face the Irish in football for the first since 1984 and the fifth time ever. Notre Dame leads the series 3-1, with all four previous meetings coming during the regular season.
Of the teams in consideration to match up with the Irish in the Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field — Ole Miss, South Carolina and Mississippi State — the Bulldogs, at 38th nationally in total defense, would have posed the most formidable defensive challenge for an ND team playing without the quarterback who led the Irish for the past 10 games.
South Carolina, at 79th in total defense, is the lowest ranked defense among those three teams, but the hottest team overall.
After getting crushed by Florida, 38-6, on Nov. 12, the Gamecocks knocked off top 10 teams Tennessee (63-38) and Clemson (31-30) to finish their regular season.
Meanwhile, Irish junior Drew Pyne, 21st nationally in pass efficiency, announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal when it opens for business on Monday, with its early 45-day window for undergrads.
Notre Dame will use some combination of sophomore Tyler Buchner and freshman Steve Angeli in the bowl game at QB. Buchner started the first two games of ND’s season before suffering a left (non-throwing) shoulder separation on Sept. 10 in a loss to Marshall.
Originally, his recovery timeline projected that he’d be unavailable for a postseason game, but he’s ahead of schedule and already practicing. Angeli got two cameos all season, comprising seven snaps.
The Irish last appeared in the Gator Bowl at the end of the 2002 season. NC State dominated the Irish in that game, 28-6. ND also lost its Gator Bowl matchup at the end of the 1998 season. Georgia Tech beat the Irish 35-28 in that game.
Notre Dame beat Penn State, 20-9, in its initial Gator Bowl appearance two days after Christmas in 1976.
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