Kentucky drops haymaker roller coaster to Clemson in Gator Bowl

There likely will not be a better game played during the 2023 bowl season. At the Gator Bowl in front of 40,132 fans at EverBank Stadium, Kentucky and Clemson gave the college football audience quite the show. In one of the wildest fourth quarters you will ever see, the Tigers ended up making more plays than the Wildcats.

Despite throwing for 306 yards, posting 7.8 yards per play, and scoring 35 points against a top-15 defense, Kentucky will leave Jacksonville without a trophy. Mark Stoops saw his team land their fair share of haymakers on both offense, defense, and special teams. However, Kentucky made some critical mistakes in the fourth quarter on both sides of the football and could not finish the game despite getting multiple opportunities.

Poor ball security gives Clemson too many scoring chances

Kentucky outgained Clemson in total yards (398-367) and yards per play (7.8-4.6). The Wildcats won the Middle 8 (7-0) and recorded seven plays of 20-plus yards. Liam Coen‘s offense had one of their best performances of the season, but they did not play complementary football.

Three fourth quarter turnovers immediately turned into Clemson scoring opportunities with the Tigers not having to take a snap. Dabo Swinney‘s squad owned a plus-18 position in the field position battle (own 41 to own 23) and that helped the ACC program erase a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter.

A Devin Leary sack fumble was when Kentucky started to lose momentum. The Kentucky defense responded by forcing a takeaway on the very next play, but the offense could not help them out. On the next possession, a Leary interception turned into a Clemson field goal. After that kick, a Barion Brown fumble on the first snap turned into a 29-yard touchdown run by Phil Mafah.

This is @PhilMafah1's THIRD (!!!) touchdown of the day 🤯 pic.twitter.com/N8umRwsW5V

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) December 29, 2023

Clemson owned a 27-21 lead following the touchdown run with 6:45 to play. Kentucky’s offense would score touchdowns on their next two possessions as both teams continued to trade haymakers. Coen’s unit played well enough to win, but the lack of ball security put Kentucky’s defense in constantly bad situations and eventually opened the floodgates.

Kentucky allows third-and-longs to turn into touchdown possessions

Situational football was a problem for Kentucky all season in each phase. On defense, the Wildcats were very bad at getting off the field on third down. Brad White‘s unit entered the Gator Bowl ranked No. 112 in third down conversion percentage (44.38%). With the game on the line, that season-long problem showed up even when Clemson did not move the sticks.

The Tigers finished the game 5-of-16 on third down, but two non-conversions really stand out when you look back at this game.

Holding a 21-10 lead with the clock quickly evaporating in the third quarter, Clemson faced a third-and-23 at their own 47 following a false start by left tackle Tristan Leigh. This was a prime opportunity for the Wildcats to record a fourth consecutive stop and give the offense the ball to begin the fourth quarterback. Instead, Cade Klubnik found Troy Stellato for an 18-yard gain to create a fourth-and-five. The Tigers converted the fourth down opportunity and would cut the Kentucky lead to 21-16 just five plays later.

After each side traded knockout blows in the fourth quarter, Clemson got the ball back trailing 35-30 with 2:34 remaining in the fourth quarter. After moving the ball out to the Kentucky 35, a Jantzen Dunn second down sack created a third-and-18 for Clemson at midfield. The Wildcats were two plays away from winning the game with right at a minute remaining in the football game. Instead, Klubnik found Stellato again for a 16-yard gain to set up a fourth-and-two. The Tigers would again move the chains.

Clemson scored another touchdown three plays later to claim a 38-35 lead. Kentucky’s defense made big plays all season but could not get off the field in a pair of third-and-(very) long situations.