2018 Gator Bowl
| 2018 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 74th Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Referee Mark Duddy (Pac-12) | | |||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Fightin Texas Aggie Band [3]
NC State Marching Band Network ESPN | | |||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Adam Amin, Rod Gilmore and Quint Kessenich | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2018 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2018.[8] It was the 74th edition of the Gator Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the financial technology company TaxSlayer, the game was officially known as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, after four seasons without "Gator" in the bowl name.
Teams
The game featured the NC State Wolfpack from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Texas A&M Aggies from the Southeastern Conference (SEC); the teams had never played each other.[9] This was Texas A&M's second Gator Bowl and NC State's fourth.
NC State Wolfpack
NC State received and accepted a bid to the Gator Bowl on December 2.[9] The Wolfpack entered the bowl with a 9–3 record (5–3 in conference).
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M received and accepted a bid to the Gator Bowl on December 2.[9] The Aggies entered the bowl with an 8–4 record (5–3 in conference).
Game summary
After holding a 21–13 lead at halftime, Texas A&M outscored NC State 31–0 in the second half, for a 52–13 final. Aggie running back Trayveon Williams set a new Gator Bowl rushing record with 236 yards, breaking the prior record of 216 that had been set in the 1966 edition[10] by Floyd Little. The game's attendance of 38,206 was the smallest since the 1950s.[5][11]
Scoring summary
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Statistics
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfpack | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| No. 19 Aggies | 7 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 52 |
| Statistics | NCSU | A&M |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 15 | 18 |
| Plays–yards | 69–273 | 60–541 |
| Rushes–yards | 37–134 | 34–401 |
| Passing yards | 139 | 140 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 19–32–2 | 14–26–1 |
| Time of possession | 32:57 | 27:03 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC State | Passing | Ryan Finley | 19/32, 139 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Reggie Gallaspy | 14 car, 79 yds | |
| Receiving | Emeka Emezie | 6 rec, 36 yds | |
| Texas A&M | Passing | Kellen Mond | 14/26, 140 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Trayveon Williams | 19 car, 236 yds, 3 TD | |
| Receiving | Kendrick Rogers | 6 rec, 44 yds, 1 TD |
References
- ^ "2010's Game History". taxslayergatorbowl.com. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ Fawkes, Ben (December 10, 2018). "Odds for every 2018-19 CFB bowl game". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
- ^ Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, 2018 Gator Bowl Halftime Drill TAMU vs NC State, retrieved January 11, 2019
- ^ @taxslayerbowl (January 1, 2019). "The @ncstatemusic marching band jazzed up the crowd during half-time" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b @APMarkLong (January 1, 2019). "The Gator Bowl drew 38,206, the game's smallest crowd since 1952" (Tweet). Retrieved January 1, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ @AlexMill20 (January 1, 2019). "Gator Bowl attendance: 38,206" (Tweet). Retrieved January 1, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ "2018 Bowl Schedule". CFP.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ "2018-19 College Football Playoff and bowl schedule". ESPN. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Texas A&M Accepts Invitation to TaxSlayer Gator Bowl".
- ^ @taxslayerbowl (January 1, 2019). "With that 93-yard rush, @TrayveonW just broke the record for most rushing yards in a #TaxSlayerGatorBowl game" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ "1950's Game History". taxslayergatorbowl.com. Retrieved January 1, 2019.