2023 UNION HOME MORTGAGE GASPARILLA BOWL GAME NOTES
FINAL SCORE: GEORGIA TECH 30, UCF 17
Game MVP:
Jamal Haynes, Georgia Tech – Rushing Statistics – 18 carries, 128 rushing yards, 7.1 yards per carry. His 128 rushing yards are the fourth-highest single-game total in Gasparilla Bowl history.
Bowl Notes:
● The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) improves 3-0 in Gasparilla Bowl appearances while the Big 12 falls to 0-1. Georgia Tech is 1-0 in the Gasparilla Bowl while UCF is now 3-3 in their six appearances in the game.
● In the 15-year history of the Gasparilla Bowl, the team designated as the visiting team has won all 15 matchups.
Bowl Game Records Set:
Team Records
● Longest Touchdown Drive: 98, UCF (vs. Georgia Tech) 2023 (10/98/4:41)
Individual Records
● Most receiving yards: 173, Javon Baker, UCF (vs. Georgia Tech) 2023
Game Notes
● UCF’s opening-drive touchdown marked the first time a team scored a TD on the game’s first possession since 2012. (UCF vs. Ball State)
● UCF’s 98-yard scoring drive in the first quarter that culminated in a 17-yard touchdown pass from John Rhys Plumlee to Kobe Hudson is the longest scoring drive by yards in Gasparilla Bowl history. The previous record holder, Temple marched 93 yards down the field against FIU in 2017.
● UCF scored the first 14 points of the game and later went up 17-3 in the second quarter. Georgia Tech then scored 27 consecutive points en route to matching the largest comeback in Gasparilla Bowl history. Louisville overcame a 14-point deficit vs. Southern Miss in 2010.
● GT’s Jamal Haynes (128 yards) and UCF’s RJ Harvey (100 yards) became the first pair of opposing players to rush for 100 yards in a Gasparilla Bowl game. This also marks the second time in Gasparilla Bowl history that there are two 100-yard rushers in the same game. (Isaiah Bowser and Ryan O’Keefe, UCF vs Florida 2021)