TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

No. 19 South Carolina (8-4) vs. No. 21 Notre Dame (8-4)

2:30 p.m. CST Friday (ESPN)

TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida

0 Victories for South Carolina in four appearances in the Gator Bowl. Of the 22 programs that have played in at least three Gator Bowls, the Gamecocks are the only one without a victory. South Carolina lost to Wake Forest 26-14 on Jan. 1, 1946, in its first bowl appearance, Pittsburgh 37-9 on Dec. 29, 1980, Oklahoma State 21-14 on Dec. 28, 1984, and LSU 30-13 on Dec. 31, 1987. The four games were among the Gamecocks’ first eight bowl appearances – all losses for South Carolina. The Gamecocks have a 10-14 bowl record.

2 Losses for Clemson this season, both inflicted by the Gator Bowl participants. Notre Dame defeated Clemson 35-14 on Nov. 5, and South Carolina defeated Clemson 31-30 on Nov. 26.

2 Consensus All-Americans for Notre Dame for the 2022 season – DE Isaiah Foskey and TE Michael Mayer. Neither will play in the Gator Bowl with both players now pointing toward the NFL Draft. Mayer had 67 receptions for 809 yards and nine TDs to lead the Fighting Irish in all three categories during the regular season. Notre Dame’s leading available receiver on Friday will be WR Lorenzo Styles, who has 30 receptions for 340 yards and one TD this season. Foskey registered 10.5 sacks in 2022. No other Notre Dame player had more than three sacks in the regular season.

2 Kickers who attempted at least 10 field goals in 2022 had made all their kicks entering the bowl season – South Carolina’s Mitch Jeter is 10-for-10 and Stanford’s Joshua Karty is 18-for-18.

4 Previous games between South Carolina and Notre Dame, with the Gamecocks winning the most recent meeting 36-32 on Oct. 10, 1984, in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame won the other games in 1976, 1979 and 1983.

5 Victories and five losses for Notre Dame in bowls against SEC opponents. Overall, the Fighting Irish have compiled a 35-18 record against SEC foes, starting with a 14-6 victory over Georgia Tech on Oct. 8, 1938. Notre Dame has lost its past two meetings against the SEC, falling to Alabama 31-14 in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2021, and Georgia 23-17 in regular-season game on Sept. 21, 2019. The Irish’s most recent victory over an SEC opponent came on Sept. 15, 2018, when Notre Dame defeated Vanderbilt 22-17.

5 Rushing attempts are needed by RB Chris Tyree to give Notre Dame three players with 100 this season, which hasn’t happened for the Fighting Irish since 1995. RB Audric Estime had 840 yards and 11 TDs on 142 carries, RB Logan Diggs has 752 yards and three TDs on 152 carries and Tyree has 438 yards and three TDs on 95 carries in 2022.

7 Kicks and punts have been blocked by Notre Dame in 2022, tied for the most in the nation entering the bowl season. South Carolina has blocked six kicks and punts this season.

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7 Victories without a loss when Notre Dame has the football for at least half the game. The Fighting Irish went 1-4 when they did not win the time-of-possession stat in 2022. South Carolina’s average time of possession is 29:08 this season.

8 TD passes and two interceptions for QB Spencer Rattler in South Carolina’s 63-38 victory over No. 5 Tennessee on Nov. 19 and 31-30 victory over No. 7 Clemson on Nov. 26 after he had eight TD passes and nine interceptions in the Gamecocks’ first 10 games of the 2022 season. By downing Tennessee and Clemson, South Carolina became the first unranked team since Auburn in 2003 to upend top-10 teams in consecutive weeks.

11 Victories without a loss for South Carolina under coach Shane Beamer when leading at halftime. The Gamecocks have a 4-10 record when they have not led at halftime.

15 Victories for coach Shane Beamer, tying the South Carolina record for wins in a coach’s first two seasons. Joe Morrison in 1983 and 1984, Steve Spurrier in 2005 and 2006 and Will Muschamp in 2016 and 2017 also posted 15 victories in their first two seasons with the Gamecocks. If South Carolina defeats Notre Dame, Beamer not only will hold the two-season record, but he will be the first Gamecocks coach with bowl victories in each of his first two seasons. South Carolina capped Beamer’s first campaign by defeating North Carolina 38-21 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Dec. 30, 2021.

19 Victories and 21 losses for Notre Dame in bowls after losing its past two appearances. The Fighting Irish have played in the Gator Bowl three times. Notre Dame defeated Penn State 20-9 on Dec. 27, 1976, and lost to Georgia Tech 35-28 on Jan. 1, 1999, and North Carolina State 28-6 on Jan. 1, 2003.

22 TD passes were thrown by Notre Dame QB Drew Pyne this season. Pyne is transferring to Arizona State and will not play in Friday’s game, leaving the Fighting Irish without a player who passed for a TD in the 2022 regular season. Tyler Buchner, who started at QB for Notre Dame in the season’s first two games before getting hurt, has returned. He completed 28-of-50 passes for 378 yards with no TDs and two interceptions before going down.

29 Victories and 14 losses in the Gator Bowl for SEC teams. The SEC has a 25-10 record against teams from other conferences in the Gator Bowl. Four Gator Bowls featured two SEC teams. The SEC has a four-game winning streak in the Gator Bowl, although the conference did not have a representative in last season’s game after an association of 11 consecutive years with the event.

59 Solo tackles have been recorded by South Carolina S Nick Emmanwori, tied with Alabama S Demarcco Hellams for the most in the SEC entering the bowl season. With 78 total tackles, Emmanwori has the most among the conference’s freshmen.

59 More points for South Carolina than for its opponents in the second half this season. While the Gamecocks have outscored their opponents 200-141 in the second half, they have been outscored 189-180 in the first half. Notre Dame has been outscored 161-158 in the second half while outscoring its opponents 210-100 in the first half in 2022.

62 Games for Notre Dame S Houston Griffith when he takes the field in the Gator Bowl, which will establish a school record for games played. He’s tied with Kurt Hinish (2017-21) at 61 for the Fighting Irish’s career record.

191 Yards and two TDs on 56 carries for South Carolina RB JuJu McDowell this season. McDowell is the top running back available for the Gamecocks in the Gator Bowl with the early departures of MarShawn Lloyd and Jaheim Bell, South Carolina’s top two rushers during the 2022 season.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.