2013 Gator Bowl

MVP	Jared Carpenter (S- Northwestern)

The 2013 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl is a planned post-season American college football bowl game held on January 1, 2013 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida in the United States. The 68th edition of the Gator Bowl will begin at 12:00 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN2. It will feature the Mississippi State Bulldogs from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) against the Northwestern Wildcats from the Big Ten Conference and will be the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Bulldogs accepted their bowl bid after an 8-4 regular season, while the Wildcats accepted theirs after a 9-3 finish. It will be the first time that the two teams have met.

Teams

Mississippi State

See also: 2012 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

With a 3-0 start in conference play (and a 7-0 start overall), the season had a bright outlook for the Bulldogs. However, the schedule's increasing difficulty put the Bulldogs in decline, only finishing at 4-4 and fourth place in the SEC Western Division.

This will be the Bulldogs' second Gator Bowl; they had previously played in the 2011 game, soundly defeating the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 52-14.

Northwestern

See also: 2012 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The Wildcats were undefeated out of conference and posted a 5-3 Big Ten record, good for third place in the Legends Division. Only a one-point loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers and an overtime loss to the Michigan Wolverines kept the Wildcats from the division title and a trip to the conference championship game.

This game will be the Wildcats' first Gator Bowl; it will also be the Wildcats' unprecedented fifth consecutive bowl game as the Wildcats hope to get their first bowl victory since the 1948 team won the 1949 Rose Bowl over the California Golden Bears by a score of 20-14.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Mississippi State Northwestern 4 14:13 - - - NORTH Interception returned 29 yards for touchdown by Quentin Williams, Jeff Budzien kick good 0 7 1 4:49 15 69 6:00 NORTH 34-yard field goal by Jeff Budzien 0 10 2 14:48 10 43 3:26 NORTH 37-yard field goal by Jeff Budzien 0 13 2 4:48 6 53 3:18 MSU 27-yard field goal by Devon Bell 3 13 2 1:06 6 62 1:25 MSU Arceto Clark 18-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Russell, 2-point {{{2pt type}}} {{{2pt result}}} 10 13 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 13

External links

• Official site of the Gator Bowl