WATCH: South Carolina safety DQ Smith returns pick-six early in Gator Bowl

The South Carolina Gamecocks have jumped all over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish early in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. The Gamecocks held a commanding 21-7 advantage after the first quarter.

First, South Carolina scored a touchdown on a fake-punt pass for a touchdown. Then, Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage, where it fell into the awaiting arms of South Carolina safety D.Q. Smith. Smith then took the interception 53-yards for a touchdown to put the Gamecocks up 21-7 after the first quarter.

He had a number of blockers assist him en route to the end zone and Smith cut back inside to avoid a Notre Dame offensive player to take the interception all the way back to the end zone.

Check it out below.

SOUTH CAROLINA PICK SIX AND IT’S A MAD HOUSE pic.twitter.com/cA49xNwFl6

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) December 30, 2022

South Carolina scored a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams in the first quarter to build their early 21-7 lead. The Gamecocks have been one of the hottest teams in college football the past few games they played, and it looks like things are not slowing down one bit in Jacksonville.

Check out the clips of all three touchdowns here, including the beautifully executed fake punt touchdown pass.

.@GamecockFB has scored a TD on:

✅ Offense
✅ Defense
✅ Special Teams pic.twitter.com/6De7BEiDVH

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 30, 2022

It’s been a wild first half. South Carolina took a commanding 21-7 advantage after the first quarter, then tacked on three more points. But Notre Dame finally countered with a 75-yard touchdown catch by Logan Diggs to cut the South Carolina score to 24-17 with 5:06 remaining in the first half.

Friday night’s game was a wild and wacky game in what was one of the most entertaining matchups of the 2022-2023 college football season. Notre Dame won 45-38 in an absolute classic.

South Carolina was in firm control of the game in the first half and held a commanding 24-10 advantage, but they struggled to get anything going on the offensive side of the ball late in the game. Notre Dame outscored South Carolina 28-14 in the second half, including the game-winning 16-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Buchner to tight end Mitchell Evans with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.