2022 Gator Bowl – Notre Dame vs South Carolina

2022 Gator Bowl – Notre Dame vs South Carolina

posted December 29

The Game

There’s a good-looking match-up cooking down in Florida as Notre Dame battles South Carolina in the Gator Bowl on Friday afternoon. The COCKS finished the season in style by SHOCKING the WORLD in back-to-back weeks beating Tennessee and Clemson as double-digit underdogs on each occasion. The Irish have had a few disappointing results (Marshall, Stanford) but recall that they destroyed Clemson and had a five-game HEEETER going before falling to USC in the regular season finale. Let’s do itttttttttt !

The Details

Notre Dame -3 South Carolina (51)

MEGALOCKS LINE – Notre Dame -3

“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Notre Dame 27 South Carolina 24

Notre Dame offense vs South Carolina defense

The Irish have done almost all of their damage on the ground (183 YPG, #41 FBS) and that’ll be the key to their chances to win in this BAD BOY. They’ve got a deep and talented set of RBs and we expect A Estime to have a yuuuge day vs the COCKS suspect run defense that’s allowed an unseemly 192 YPG (2nd last SEC, #112 FBS). The bad news for the Irish relates to the departure of starting QB D Pyne as well as their all-Universe TE M Mayer who’ll be a first round DC in the upcoming NFL draft. Notre Dame has a unproductive WR group (nobody with 350+ receiving yards) so it’ll be up to the rushing attack and back-up QB T Buchner to grind out drives and keep the chains moving. The best news for the Irish is the departure of several key players on the South Carolina defense that will almost certainly allow them to have a good deal of success.

South Carolina offense vs Notre Dame defense

South Carolina struggled for a large portion of the regular season but they started to catch fire late in the season. QB Spencer Rattler has a lot of talent but makes too many costly mistakes (16-11 TD to INT) and he’s gonna have to play exceptionally well if the COCKS have a shot to win this game. #1 RB M Lloyd has hit the transfer portal and the majority of his key THROW GAME weaponry will be unavailable for to the typical reasons we’ve seen during bowl season. Notre Dame is a sound defensive squad (#23 total D, #31 scoring D) but they’ll be without their top pass-rusher and a few other pieces. We’re skeptical that South Carolina can get much going on offense.

Trends, Intangibles and More!

South Carolina has one of the best special teams units in the nation and they’ve swung many games over the course of the season……Shane Beamer won in his first bowl game as HC last season when they hammered UNC as double-digit underdogs in the Mayo Bowl (W 38-21)…..Notre Dame has dropped three of their last four bowl games.

Summary

Notre Dame should be able to dominate this game on the ground and we don’t think they’ll puke the game away with turnovers. South Carolina’s roster isn’t close to the group that played so well in their final few games.

Conclusion

Lean – Notre Dame -3


Note:

‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.

‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.

‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.