CFB Data: Notre Dame 2022 Gator Bowl Preview VS South Carolina

The Gator Bowl is upon us!!

It was a long season for the Irish fandom. There were some ups, lots of downs and a consistent level of anxiety/angst that I’m sure most of us are more than glad to see go.

In previous years, bowl games allowed teams and their fans a bit of a last look at squads before things officially closed out. Rosters stayed largely intact with opt outs primarily reserved for immediate NFL hopefuls. Unless you’ve been living under several rocks, you’re aware that this year is different.

Hence the approach for this game’s data review is going to be a bit different. Less focus on what the opponent (South Carolina Gamecocks) bring to the table and how Notre Dame stacks up and more details on our roster in terms of the future.

Think a Blue and Gold game just in Jacksonville with a lot more glitz and glamour.

Offense

Quarterbacks

Tyler Buchner is likely to see the most time at quarterback for the Irish, although the door is open for freshman Steve Angeli to grab some snaps. Buchner had a very abbreviated regular season, going out with injury in Week 3 during the California game. For the games that he played in, the sophomore completed 56% of his attempts for a total of 378 yards.

Runningbacks

Notre Dame will fielding all three of the regular season’s prominent running backs. Estime comes into the Gator Bowl leading in terms of yards, touchdowns and efficiency while Diggs is the back with the most carries.

Wide Receivers

The Irish’s receiver corps is mostly intact for the postseason matchup. Sophomore Lorenzo Styles comes in leading the group in terms of yards and receptions while fellow sophomore Jayden Thomas leads in touchdowns.

Tight Ends

The squad’s tight end group will look fundamentally different from what we saw during the regular season, with star Michael Mayer getting prepped for the NFL Draft. Sophomore Mitchell Evans was utilized primary in a rushing capacity and freshman Holden Staes found a receiving role. Sophomore David Sherwood is listed on the dept chart for the bowl game but we don’t have any stats for him from ND’s 2022 campaign.

Offensive Line

Notre Dame’s offensive line for the Gator Bowl is expected to be pretty similar to the regular season, with grad student Jarrett Patterson listed on the depth chart.

Defense

Defensive Line

The Irish are bringing a very solid secondary from the regular season into the Gator Bowl. Senior DJ Brown leads the group in solo tackles while Benjamin Morrison brings a strong track record of picking off opposing quarterbacks.

Linebackers

The Irish’s linebacker will be headlined by seniors JD Bertrand (leader in tackles) and Marist Liufau (leader in interceptions and recovered fumbles)

Secondary

The Irish are bringing a very solid secondary from the regular season into the Gator Bowl. Senior DJ Brown leads the group in solo tackles while Benjamin Morrison brings a strong track record of picking off opposing quarterbacks.

With the lineups for both teams looking different at some key spots, and the overall purpose of non-CFP bowl games being completely transformed this year for everyone involved, it’s just about impossible to make an “informed” outcome prediction.

With Notre Dame’s defense looking to be the more intact of the Irish’s two units and South Carolina’s late season successes coming because of explosive offensive play (i.e. Spencer Rattler), I give the edge to Notre Dame down in Jacksonville. If nothing else, after the last couple weeks of winter shenanigans I’m excited to live vicariously through the lucky attendees in a warm climate.

Cheers and Go Irish!!