Plenty of unknowns on both sides today in the Gator Bowl.

ND should be able to run today. What will we see from Tyler Buchner? What will we see from some young players on defense?

I'm excited to find out. See you back at kick off.

Go Irish!

South Carolina won the toss and chose to receive

Mayo Bowl running long so quick recap on 1st drive. A good start for USC, couple of big catches from TE Adkins including on 3rd and 8

Next play touchdown through the air.

7-0 the other USC. Not the start ND wanted

Carolina had a good script to start. Let's see what ND has got going

Drop by Styles on 1 and 10 after a touchback

2 and 10

Duo gets a couple of yards. Shoot the 2 and long runs into the moon

3 and 8

Carolina crowd is loud and noticeable on 3rd down.

Right read to Thomas. Looked like a good ball. Just a bit too far there.

Welp. 3 and out for ND

JR Tuihalamaka in at Vyper to start this drive

2 and 7 after an inside run

Pressure from JR, but Rattler escapes and finds a check down to move the stick

Quick bubble on 1st down gets a couple, well defended by ND

2 and 8

Confusion for ND, but they get a break with a fumble by Carolina. Just dropped forward and Henderson recovered.

ND football at midfield

1 and 10

7 inside to Diggs

2 and 3

Empty, quick screen to Tyree gets it close to the sticks. He was lined up outside

Sneak by Buchner converts

1 and 10

Way off on the wide side to Colzie

2 and 10

Estime with forward motion looking like it was the CFL, negated a big run from Tyree out of 21 personnel

2 and 15

Staes off his hands. A bit too hot on the throw

3 and long, ND in go for it territory if they get close

Don't have to worry about it. Buchner stepped up and found Evans to move the sticks. Nice job avoiding the first guy from Evans too

1 and 10 at the 27

RPO little side arm action to Thomas. He converts another 1st down

1 and 10

Diggs gets a yard, checked to a run, but ND didn't look set up well there after the check

2 and 9

Fake toss, tried to hit Merriweather on the slant. Missed him and he limped off

3 and 9

Check by Buchner to a QB counter, walked in for a touchdown. Great check there

Irish on the board, tie ball game

7-7

Great play by Marist for the TFL on the quick screen

2 and 12

Then he gets called for a facemask. Strange to say that it was probably a good penalty, he might have taken that thing to the house if he got loose

1 and 10

Sneed in vs Wildcat and they throw it. TE got loose down the seam

1 and 10

Emptying the playbook right now, double reverse and flipped it back to Rattler. Well defended by NaNa, Rattler forced to hit check down to the TE, gets about 9 but he's hurt

Not good for them. He's their only TE available with experience

2 and 1 at the ND 33

Wildcat gets 8 yards

1 and 10 at the 25

Wildcat again and they try to throw it again, pressure and incomplete

Flags on the play. Roughing the passer on Sneed negates illegal man downfield

1 and 10

TFL, Kiser off the edge. Stuffed up front by Chris Smith

2 and 12

Empty, hitch gets four back

3 and 8

Watts with the PBU, nice job vs the post.

Fake field goal touchdown

Quick on the ball and ND's special teams got caught

14-7 Carolina

Heavy formation, tried to run a PA sneaking a guy out, but didn't block the edge. Pressure forced a throw away

2 and 10

Lenzy on the jet sweep gets a first. Looked very fast on that play

1 and 10

Estime inside for about 5

2 and 5

Inside for a yard

3 and medium

Buchner pass tipped and pick. Pick six

Welp.

Sounds like a home game. Crowd is wild

21-7 Carolina

Diggs inside for a couple

2 and 8

Clock runs out on the 1st Q

21-7 Carolina. ST and defensive touchdowns the difference

2 and 8

Inside zone, Diggs gets about 5

3 and 3

Little dump off RPO to Thomas moves the sticks. Not a good throw by Buchner, but great catch by Thomas

1 and 10 near midfield

Big hole inside for Tyree gets about 14

1 and 10 in Carolina territory

Toss to Tyree gets a couple

2 and 8

Delay of game, took too long after the check

2 and 13

Read and pull from Buchner gets 1

3 and long

Side arm throw to Thomas on the money. Pressure in his face, big time throw. Great catch

1 and 10

Called keep for Buchner gets ND to the 9. Big play for the Irish

1 and goal

Estime inside gets it to the 7

2 and goal

21 personnel, Estime and Diggs

Missed Colzie in the back of the end zone. No one really open

3 and goal

Pressure up the middle forces a scramble and nothing open. Sacked

Forces a FG try

Grupe from 37 is good

21-10 ND

Fair catch

1 and 10 at the 25

TFL to start. Cross with penetration

2 and long

Tempo run gets them into a good 3 and medium

ND not ready for the tempo. It's been a problem

Confusion on 3rd down and they convert.

1 and 10

Check down to the back gets 5

Nothing on the RPO. Great job by Kollie on the perimeter

3 and 5

Strike by Rattler on the skinny post. Too much room over the middle

Juice Wells down after the next play. Quick screen gets 6

2 and 4 after they come back from break

Took a shot on 2 and 4 and missed it

Sprint out on 3 and 4 and Rattler had to throw it away

45 yard field goal attempt is good

Back to a 14 point lead

24-10

1 and 10

Diggs 75 yards to the crib! Off an RPO where he leaked out and they had no one on the edge.

Just like that, ND back in the ball game

24-17

Getting Rattler out out of the pocket a lot. Comeback for 7

Wildcat converts on second down

1 and 10

TFL on the reverse pass attempt. This is literally like the playbook from the Waterboy

ND gets a big stop, pressure forces a short throw and Mickey all over it for no gain to force a punt (if they don't fake it)

ND timeout

ND in safe punt just to make sure nothing happens. Good punt goes out inside the ND 15

TFL to start, ND didn't block the edge because they tried to influence block him. He didn't bite

2 and 17

Estime lilttle bubble screen gets some yards back

3 and 9, Carolina timeout

1:41 left in the half

Buchner sacked. Brought pressure and ND

Clip on the punt return and after a good punt, it will be a much longer field

1:25 left in the half

Beamer gets called for an additional 15. Now it gives them a really long field

Scramble from Rattler on 2nd down is short of the sticks after his slide

3 and 1 converted, 36 seconds left

Crazy play where Rattler almost lost the ball, but it somehow stayed on his finger tips. Like a yo-yo

Only 16 seconds left near midfield

2 and 10

Botelho pressure forced a quick throw. Have to burn their last timeout with 10 seconds left

3 and 7

Hail Mary? Try for a sideline shot to stop the clock?

Interception by BMo with four seconds to go in the half. Pressure from Botelho forced the ball out

Wildly entertaining half.

ND down by 7. Should be a fun one in the second half

Diggs for 1 to start the drive. Not a lot of big holes up front yet for ND

Buchner worm burner on 2 and 9. Merriweather was open

Now 3 and 9 in danger of going 3 and out

Threw it up to Merriweather and I think he lost it in the lights. Buchner gave him a shot, but didn't go for it

50 yard punt for Sot

RPO screen outside well defended by ND. Gain of 2

2 and 8

Inside zone a few

3 and 5

Screen covered well by ND. Rattler forced to scramble. Very lucky to not get it picked

3 and out for Carolina

Almost blocked by Kiser, not a great punt for Carolina

Estime stuffed.

ND getting nothing in the run game. Shocking stuff

2 and 9

Finally some running room for Estime. He gets 18, with a nice cut back

1 and 10

Buchner finds Thomas on the PA throwback for a nice gain

1 and 10

Estime gets the corner and another 1st down. Feeling it now. Great call to bounce it

1 and 10

Buchner keeps on the read and scores! Tie ball game for the first time since the 1st quarter

ND's running game finally got going

24-24

Nice return for Carolina over their own 30 after the returner broke a tackle from Kiser

1 and 10

Hitch gets 6

2 and 4

Missed call, runner's elbow was down and they said he wasn't. It's going to be reversed and ruled short of the sticks. Confirmed

3 and short

High alert for play-action

Fake the fly sweep and hit the shovel to the TE to convert for a nice gain. Good call. Knew something like that was coming from them.

BMo is down on the field after the play. that's not good

Wildcat look and TFL by Henderson and Bracy. Great job

2 and 11

Lewis lost his man in coverage. He was replacing BMo

Touchdown Carolina

It looks his foot was on the line, but tough to call it conclusive

They said it stands, so not enough overturn it

Carolina back in the lead

31-24

1 and 10

Diggs gets six on first down

2 and 4

Diggs gets 1 on the outside zone. Correll couldn't get to him

3 and 3

Empty

Pressure forces Buchner to step up, made a play to shovel it to Thomas, he can't hold on and a DL picks it.

More bad luck than anything

Carolina football, crowd is wild

Sudden change, but just a dump down on the RPO. Only a gain of 1

2 and 9

Rattler felt the blitz and threw it away

3 and 9

Rattler too high after the scramble. I think he could have ran for it. ND is fortunate to force a 3 and out

Punt pins ND inside the 10, but flag on Carolina

Will force them to punt again

Next one is fair caught at the 13

Toss to Estime gets about 5

RPO dump to Tyree gets the 1st

1 and 10

Inside to Estime gets 4

Tried to leak out Tyree on 2nd down and he had to change the arm angle, but couldn't get it to Tyree

3 and medium

Slant to Lenzy, Buchner makes a throw in his face. Great throw and catch. 1st down

1 and 10

12 personnel for ND, counter and nothing much there. Got a couple

2 and 8

Swing screen to Estime gets about 4

3 and 4

Pressure again forces the ball out. Buchner did well to get it away. Thomas had too many guys to beat. ND has to punt at midfield

Punted into the end zone

Another quick screen well defended. No gain

2 and 10

throw was off to the boundary. Rattler felt the blitz from Marist and it wasn't even really close to him. Just heard foot steps

3 and 10

DJ Brown dropped a pick. Late blitz timed up perfect by ND. Bertrand smoked Rattler

3 and out

South Carolina gets a delay of game. Worried about the rush from ND on the punt

Not a good punt. Ball at the Carolina 43

Deep ball to Lenzy, touchdown!

Pressure in his face again and Buchner delivers. He's had plenty of bad in this game, but the good has been great from Buchner

31-31

A deep ball well covered by Bracy and then a drop by Carolina sets up 3 and 10

Botelho with this second sack of the game!

That ends a wild 3rd Q

31-31

What a freaking fun game to watch

Big punt for 52 yards

ND ball at the 27 to start the 4th quarter

Diggs gets nothing on the counter

2 and 10

Diggs runs out of bounds on the outside zone, I think he could have had more than 6, but got ND into 3 and 4

Took a shot to Colzie, but it was well covered

3 and out for ND

Or wait...fake to Lenzy on 4th down converts

Woooooo I love this game

1 and 10

Ball tipped on the screen to Diggs. Ugh. They had something there, but great play by Burch

2 and 10

Buchner keep gets 8. Really great block by Evans on the edge

3 and 2

Diggs breaks a tackle and then walks into the end zone

39 yards to the house and ND has the lead for the first time today

38-31 ND

1 and 10

Reverse to Juice Wells is a TFL for Lewis

2 and long

Rattler crazy scramble turns a sack into a decent gain

3 and 5

Worm burner. Any pressure and Rattler melts

Another 3 and out

Another delay of game on ST

Punt returned by Salerno to the ND 40

1 and 10

Buchner keeps and gets another big gain on the ground. Staes with a nice block on the edge this time

1 and 10

Empty

QB draw gets only a yard

2 and 9

Little check down to Diggs and he makes a guy miss to get ND into a 3 and 3

QB sneak on 3 and 3? Wow. He converted. That's lovely

1 and 10

Estime with a big run to get ND inside the 10

Great job on the outside zone by Correll and the left side

1 and goal

Oh no, Buchner forced it and it's another pick six. An incredibly dumb decision. I don't love the call either when they are running it on them so well

Tie ball game

1 and 10

Big run for Diggs out to the ND 38

Diggs inside for 5

2 and 5

Estime runs hard inside and gets 4

Buchner keeps on the sneak and runs around the edge to convert

1 and 10

PA to Evans gets 5

2 and 5

Estime with another 1st down run. The holes are huge now

1 and 10

Tyree gets a few. Yes, I know people will complain about him coming into the game right now

2 and 8

Tyree inside gets a couple, maybe

3 and medium

Converts to Tyree who slipped out of the backfield

1 and 10

Estime stuffed on 1st down

JPat down on the field after the play. Cramps?

2 and 9 after the break. Timeout by Carolina

Estime great job to turn a TFL into a positive gain, but still going to be 3 and long

3 and 7 after another timeout

1:45 left, two timeouts left for Carolina

Wide open PA throwback to Evans! What a call by Rees. Redemption after that last red zone possession

ND back up by a touchdown

45-38 ND with 1:38 to go

Flag down on the return, which was a good one for Carolina. Going to take a good return back

Another blindside block

A first down for Carolina, but clock rolling under a minute left

55 seconds left, ND had to call a timeout because they had 12 on the field

Rattler scramble gets 19. Flag on the play. Sneed gets a completely stupid penalty and adds an extra 15

1 and 10 inside the ND 40

Lewis with an almost pick, blitz forced the ball out

43 seconds left

2 and 10

Rattler sacked by Mills, the ball was thrown away and it's intentional grounding. Add in a 10 second run off if they don't take a timeout. They do take it. Have one left

38 seconds left

3 and 21 from the ND 45

Cross pressure forced an incomplete pass. Flags at the end of play, not sure who it's on. Mad scramble after the play

Unsportsmanlike conduct on Carolina

4 and 36

Ball knocked down on the desperation attempt and the Irish win a game where they dominated the second half, but gave up a special teams touchdown and threw two pick-sixes

Victory formation seals it

What a performance by the Irish

45-38 final