Clemson’s season finale turned out to be a wild one, with the 22nd-ranked Tigers rallying from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and ultimately outlasting Kentucky in a back-and-forth, 38-35 affair on Phil Mafah’s fourth touchdown run of the game with 17 seconds left.
The Gator Bowl thriller was recently named the best game of the 2023 bowl season by ESPN’s Ryan McGee.
“Yes, we are aware the Rose Bowl went to OT. Heck, I was standing on the sideline,” McGee wrote. “However, when it comes to pure entertainment, it is difficult to top the show put on by the Tigers and Wildcats, who slugged through the first half but then scored a combined 42 points in the fourth quarter with five lead changes, including three in the final 4:20, ultimately won by Clemson with 17 seconds remaining.”
The Gator Bowl was also recently ranked by CBS Sports as the No. 1 bowl game outside of the College Football Playoff.
“I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just begin with the record. There were 42 points scored in the fourth quarter of this game, more than in any fourth quarter in bowl game history — and that was just part of what went down in the Gator Bowl,” CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli wrote. “There were eight lead changes, including five in the fourth quarter, as both teams kept trading haymakers. It was everything you could want from a bowl game played on a Friday morning in Jacksonville. …
“All bowl games in the future should study tape of the 2023 Gator Bowl for an idea of what they should want to be. There wasn’t even an edible mascot, or a novelty Gatorade dump in this game, but it didn’t need it. Everything that happened on the field was more than enough.”
With the win, its fifth Gator Bowl victory in school history, Clemson (9-4) finished the season on a five-game winning streak and now boasts a postseason victory in an FBS-record 13 straight seasons.
The Tigers now turn their attention to their 2024 season, which will open at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 31, when Clemson renews its rivalry with Georgia.