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Postseason college football bowl game
College football game
The
2021 Gator Bowl
was a
college football
bowl game
played on December 31, 2021, with kickoff at 11:00 a.m.
EST
and televised on
ESPN
.
[3]
It was the 77th edition of the
Gator Bowl
, and was one of the
2021?22 bowl games
concluding the
2021 FBS football season
. Sponsored by financial technology company
TaxSlayer
, the game was officially known as the
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
.
On December 22,
Texas A&M
withdrew from the bowl, citing a breakout of positive COVID-19 cases and season-ending injuries limiting them to few players.
[4]
The bowl committee then worked to secure another participant.
[5]
On December 23, the NCAA football oversight committee approved
Rutgers
as the first bowl alternate, under rules whereby five-win teams are ranked by
Academic Progress Rate
(APR) calculations. Rutgers finished first in APR among the five-win schools and was given the option to accept the bid. The NCAA also allowed the game to be postponed as late as January 10, if needed, by a replacement team.
[6]
Rutgers accepted the bid, and the game date was not altered.
[7]
Teams
[
edit
]
The bowl has tie-ins with the
Atlantic Coast Conference
(ACC) and the
Southeastern Conference
(SEC). The initially planned matchup of Wake Forest vs.
Texas A&M
was consistent with those ties-ins,
[8]
until Texas A&M had to withdraw from the bowl due to an insufficient number of players being available.
[9]
Rutgers of the
Big Ten
was subsequently named as a replacement team due to having the highest APR amongst candidates.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
[
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]
Wake Forest enters the bowl with a 10?3 record (7?1 in ACC play). The Demon Deacons won their first eight games, then went 2?3 over their final five games. Wake Forest played two ranked teams, defeating
NC State
and losing to
Pittsburgh
.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
[
edit
]
Rutgers finished their season with a 5?7 record (2?7 in Big Ten play). The Scarlet Knights won their first three games, then lost four in a row, and finished the season by going 2?3 in their final five games. Four of their losses came against ranked teams in FBS.
Game summary
[
edit
]
2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Period
|
1
|
2
|
3
| 4
| Total
|
No. 17 Wake Forest
|
14
|
6
|
3
| 15
| 38
|
Rutgers
|
7
|
3
|
0
| 0
| 10
|
at
TIAA Bank Field
?
Jacksonville, Florida
- Date
: Friday, December 31, 2021
- Game time
: 11:00 a.m.
EST
- Game weather
: Cloudy ?
Temperature
: 74 °F (23 °C)
- Game attendance
: 28,508
- Referee
: Kevin Mar
- TV announcers (
ESPN
)
: Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play),
Matt Stinchcomb
(analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline)
- Box score
Game information
|
- First quarter
- 11:34 WF ? Brandon Chapman 4-yard pass from
Sam Hartman
, Nick Sciba kick good.
Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 3:26.
Wake Forest 7?0
- 5:11 RU ? Aaron Young 12-yard rush,
Valentino Ambrosio
kick good.
Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:23.
tied 7?7
- 2:16 WF ? A. T. Perry 29-yard pass from Sam Hartman, Nick Sciba kick good.
Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 2:55.
Wake Forest 14?7
- Second quarter
- 12:02 RU ? Valentino Ambrosio 28-yard field goal.
Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 5:14.
Wake Forest 14?10
- 8:21 WF ? Nick Sciba 37-yard field goal.
Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 3:41.
Wake Forest 17?10
- 0:00 WF ? Nick Sciba 29-yard field goal.
Drive: 10 plays, 87 yards, 1:42.
Wake Forest 20?10
- Third quarter
- 6:37 WF ? Nick Sciba 23-yard field goal.
Drive: 13 plays, 62 yards, 3:57.
Wake Forest 23?10
- Fourth quarter
- 12:24 WF ? Brandon Chapman 1-yard pass from Sam Hartman,
A. T. Perry
conversion pass from Hartman.
Drive: 7 plays, 62 yards, 3:30.
Wake Forest 31?10
- 4:15 WF ? Justice Ellison 27-yard run, Nick Sciba kick good.
Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards, 6:59.
Wake Forest 38?10
|
Statistics
[
edit
]
Statistics
|
WF
|
RU
|
First downs
|
28
|
17
|
Plays?yards
|
60?452
|
47?276
|
Rushes?yards
|
37?148
|
29?111
|
Passing yards
|
304
|
165
|
Passing: comp?att?int
|
23?29?0
|
18?33?2
|
Time of possession
|
30:05
|
29:55
|
Team
|
Category
|
Player
|
Statistics
|
Wake Forest
|
Passing
|
Sam Hartman
|
23/39, 304 yards, 3 TD
|
Rushing
|
Justice Ellison
|
9 rushes, 59 yards, TD
|
Receiving
|
A. T. Perry
|
10 receptions, 127 yards, TD
|
Rutgers
|
Passing
|
Noah Vedral
|
8/13, 87 yards, INT
|
Rushing
|
Gavin Wimsatt
|
4 rushes, 39 yards
|
Receiving
|
Johnny Langan
|
6 rushes, 57 yards
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
@jaxdotcom (December 31, 2021).
"A pregame meeting with former @BollesSchool and @WakeFB star Riley Skinner might have inspired Sam Hartman to TaxSlayer Gator Bowl MVP honors on Friday"
(
Tweet
)
. Retrieved
December 31,
2021
– via
Twitter
.
- ^
@BCpresident0718 (December 31, 2021).
"Congratulations to our Johnny Langan for being named the Rutgers MVP for the Gator Bowl game"
(
Tweet
)
. Retrieved
December 31,
2021
– via
Twitter
.
- ^
"2021 College Football Bowl Schedule"
.
FBSchedules.com
. Retrieved
June 17,
2021
.
- ^
Li, David K. (December 22, 2021).
"Texas A&M backs out of Gator Bowl after Covid outbreak leaves team without enough players"
.
NBC News
. Retrieved
December 22,
2021
.
- ^
@taxslayerbowl (December 22, 2021).
"Ticket Update"
(
Tweet
)
. Retrieved
December 23,
2021
– via
Twitter
.
- ^
Russo, Ralph.
"NCAA clears way for Rutgers to replace (Texas) A&M in Gator Bowl"
.
AP
. The Associated Press
. Retrieved
December 23,
2021
.
- ^
"Rutgers receives Gator Bowl bid"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
.
AP
. December 23, 2021
. Retrieved
December 23,
2021
.
- ^
Brown, Travis L. (December 5, 2021).
"No. 25 Texas A&M to face No. 17 Wake Forest in Gator Bowl on Dec. 31"
.
theeagle.com
. Retrieved
December 23,
2021
.
- ^
Smits, Garry (December 22, 2021).
"Texas A&M opts out of TaxSlayer Gator Bowl; speculation centers on Rutgers, Illinois, Northern Illinois"
.
The Florida Times-Union
. Retrieved
December 23,
2021
– via
Yahoo! Sports
.
External links
[
edit
]
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History & conference tie-ins
| |
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Games
| |
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Notes
|
- There was a Gator Bowl in January and December in 1954, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1989, 1991, 2016, and 2021.
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