Clemson survived a wild fourth quarter to outlast Kentucky in Gator Bowl

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JACKSONVILLE — It was wholly appropriate that Tony Khan, the president of AEW (and the Jaguars chief football strategy officer) presented Clemson coach Dabo Swinney with a championship belt after the Tigers outlasted Kentucky 38-35 on Friday in the 79th TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium.

The game was a slugfest, 15 rounds of punches, counter-punches, body blows and headshots that wasn’t over until Tigers defensive end Justin Mascoll intercepted Wildcats quarterback Devin Leary with nine seconds to play for his second turnover of the game, eight seconds after running back and game MVP scored his Gator Bowl-record fourth touchdown of the game from 3 yards out for the eighth lead change in the game and fifth of the fourth quarter.

The two teams scored a game-record 42 points in the final period, two touchdowns each, and two field goals by Clemson’s Jonathan Weitz, the second from 52 yards out that bounced through off the crossbar to set another Gator Bowl record.

Clemson offensive linemen Bryn Tucker (73) and Zack Owens (72) celebrate with the TaxSlayter Gator Bowl trophy while Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney hugs quarterback Cade Klubnik (2)

The offenses ran 131 plays — yes, another game record — for 765 total yards. There were also a combined five turnovers and 10 sacks (eight by Kentucky).

“Just [an] unbelievable game,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who was in his 20th bowl game with the Tigers and won his 12th — breaking the ACC record he had shared with former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.

Swinney’s success bookended by two Gator Bowls

Swinney’s first bowl game as the Tigers’ coach was the 2009 Gator Bowl, a 26-21 loss. In between those two stops in Jacksonville, he’s won two national championships and eight ACC titles.

Clemson defensive end Justin Mascoll (7) stretches to recover a fumble by…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/rumble-bank-clemson-survived-wild-133635121.html

Author : The Florida Times-Union

Publish date : 2023-12-30 13:36:35

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