Players of the Game From the Notre Dame Gator Bowl Victory Over South Carolina
The No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-4) capped off the 2022 season with a come-from-behind victory over the No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks (8-5). Notre Dame's 45-38 victory was its most points scored in a bowl game since 2008. There were several standouts on both sides of the ball and on special teams, but three players stood above the rest.
OFFENSE - Logan Diggs, Running Back
Stats: 13 carries, 89 yards, 6.8 YPC, 1 TD / 2 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD
Runners Up: RB Audric Estime, QB Tyler Buchner, WR Jayden Thomas
There were several players that could have earned this award, and early in the game there is no way I thought Logan Diggs would get the nod from me. I did not like how Diggs ran early in the game, as he was a bit tentative and wasn't running with much authority.
But it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Diggs turned the game completely around when he caught a quick slide pass from Tyler Buchner and then out ran the South Carolina defense on his way to a 75-yard touchdown. A 24-10 game in which the Irish were thoroughly being outplayed looked a lot different after that play, and despite a few costly mistakes the Irish regained and kept the momentum after the big play from Diggs.
In the second half Diggs ran with more authority, and he gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game when he burst through the line and raced 39 yards for another touchdown. By the end of the night Diggs had racked up 170 yards of offense and two huge touchdowns.
Backfield mate Audric Estime was arguably the most consistent back on the night, and he sparked the ground attack in the second half, but the big plays from Diggs were game changers. Buchner was named the game MVP and he did some great things in the win, but he had two really bad picks in the game (the other was a tipped pass) and missed a few too many layups to be the POTG for me.
DEFENSE - Jordan Botelho, Defensive End
Stats: 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 QB hurries
Runners Up: S Xaver Watts, DL Rylie Mills, LB JD Bertrand
Junior edge Jordan Botelho earned his first start of the season and he was tasked with filling the massive shoes of Isaiah Foskey, who sat out the game as he prepares for the NFL Draft. Botelho did his best Foskey impression, handling the edge in the run game and providing some very crucial pressures.
Botelho made a very good read early on a Spencer Rattler fake, bringing him down for a loss on the play. On the final play of the third quarter, Botelho won around the edge, battled and eventually brought down Rattler for his second sack, which forced a punt. That was with the game tied 31-31, and the Irish offense followed that stop with a scoring drive that gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game.
Botelho also had two more great pressures that forced incompletions, including a third-down pressure that ended a drive. It was Botelho that sparked the second half pass rush that got Rattler completely out of his game.
SPECIAL TEAMS - Braden Lenzy, Wide Receiver
Stats: 1 catch, 20 yards
The two players of the game on offense and defense made game changing plays, and that's also true of Braden Lenzy. He not only made huge plays on offense, performing in a way where he could make his own case for being the player of the game there, Lenzy made the special teams play of the game.
With the game tied 31-31 early in the fourth quarter, Lenzy was called on to execute a shovel pass on a fake punt. His timing was perfect and he used his speed to outrun the South Carolina defense for a 20-yard gain, which got the Irish into South Carolina territory. The drive ended three plays later when Diggs raced 39 yards for a score.
If this is the last game of Lenzy's career he ended it in impressive fashion. He caught three other passes for 69 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown pass and then converting a 3rd-and-7 on a well-executed slant route. The fake punt was icing on the cake for the veteran.
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