College Football

College football bowl games: CFP semis and more, By the Numbers

Updated Dec. 27, 2022 8:58 p.m. ET

The college football bowl season is closing with a bang.

The final stretch includes two epic matchups in the College Football Playoff semifinals, as the defending champion and No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs take on No. 4 Ohio State in the Peach Bowl, while No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU meet up in the Fiesta Bowl. The winners of those games will advance to the national championship game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Jan. 9.

But there are some other great games remaining on the schedule, including the Holiday Bowl (Wednesday on FOX and the FOX Sports app), as well as the rest of the NY6.

Here are the stats to know for the key bowl games.

WEDNESDAY

Holiday Bowl: No. 15 Oregon (9-3) vs. North Carolina (9-4)
8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app

1: This is the first time these programs have met.

4: Oregon leads the nation with just four sacks allowed and is the only team to be sacked fewer than seven times.

507.8: Oregon is No. 4 in the nation with 507.8 total yards per game.

40+: The Ducks are one of just four FBS teams to score 40-plus points at least eight times, along with Ohio State (nine), USC (nine) and Tennessee (eight).

42: Oregon QB Bo Nix is tied for third among all FBS players with 42 total touchdowns, and his 14 rushing TDs lead all FBS quarterbacks.

20+: UNC has 80 plays that gained 20-plus yards from scrimmage this season, eighth-most in FBS.

4,000: The Heels are one of just six teams to accumulate more than 4,000 passing yards this season.

10: UNC QB Drake Maye became the 10th different QB in ACC history to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season. His season total now stands at 4,115 passing yards. It’s the eighth-highest single-season total in league history

FRIDAY

Orange Bowl: No. 6 Tennessee (10-2) vs. No. 7 Clemson (11-2)
8 p.m. ET

11-6-2: Tennessee has won 11 of the 19 games in this series. However, Clemson won the last matchup, 27-14 in the 2004 Peach Bowl.

11: The Vols are seeking their first 11-win season since finishing 11-2 in 2001.

5: The Vols join TCU as the only programs in the nation with five or more wins vs. AP Top 25 teams at the time of the meeting.

1: Tennessee is No. 1 in the nation in total offense (538.1), scoring offense (47.3), passing efficiency (181.59) and rushing touchdowns (39).

2.94: In the last two seasons combined under Josh Heupel (including 2022), Tennessee is averaging a nation-best 2.94 plays per minute. During that same span, the Vols are averaging a nation-best 1.74 offensive points per minute. Of Tennessee’s 89 scoring drives this season, 49 have come in two minutes or less (55.1%).

12: With a win, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney break Bobby Bowden’s ACC record (11) for the most career bowl wins leading an ACC program.

1953: QB Cade Klubnik will become the first Clemson quarterback to make his starting debut in a postseason game since Clemson abandoned the single-wing offense in favor of the T-formation in 1953.

17: Clemson is attempting to win its 17th consecutive December game, dating to Clemson’s 2011 ACC Championship Game victory against Virginia Tech.

SATURDAY

Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Alabama (10-2) vs. No. 9 Kansas State (10-3)
Noon ET

1: This is the first meeting ever between these programs.

76: Alabama has the most bowl appearances (76) in history, as well as the most bowl victories (44).

10+: Alabama has now won 10-plus games in 15 consecutive seasons, the longest streak in college football history.

100: If Alabama wins this game, it will be Nick Saban’s 100th career win vs. AP Top 25 ranked opponents.

26: Tide QB Bryce Young has thrown at least one passing TD in all 26 starts of his career.

3-0: This is Kansas State's record against SEC opponents under coach Chris Klieman.

+1.08: The Wildcats enter the bowl season ranked fifth nationally and tops in the Big 12 in turnover margin.

164: Since 2012, only LSU (160) has fewer turnovers than Kansas State (164) among Power 5 teams.

Fiesta Bowl (CFP semifinal): No. 3 TCU (12-1) vs. No. 2 Michigan (13-0)
4 p.m. ET

1: This is the first time TCU and Michigan have played each other.

2: TCU is just the second team (Michigan, 2021) to reach the CFP after starting the season unranked. It is also the first school from the state of Texas to make the CFP.

0-2: This is Jim Harbaugh's record as a coach against TCU, both coming when he was the coach at Stanford (2007, 2008).

12-0: Sonny Dykes became the first head football coach in TCU and Big 12 history to start 12-0 in his first season.

50+: TCU tops the nation with 19 plays of 50-plus yards and is tied for second with 10 plays of at least 60 yards, trailing only Tennessee (11).

165.5: TCU QB Max Duggan is first in the Big 12 and eighth in the nation in passing efficiency at 165.5.

1-0: Michigan is 1-0 in the Fiesta Bowl, with the appearance coming during the 1985 season when Harbaugh was a junior QB.

13: The Wolverines have 13 wins for the first time in program history.

Peach Bowl (CFP semifinal): No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) vs. No. 1 Georgia (13-0)
8 p.m. ET

1993: That's the only time these teams have met, with Georgia coming away with a 21-14 win in the Citrus Bowl.

35: Georgia is second all-time in bowl victories (35) and bowl appearances (60).

5: This is Ohio State's fifth appearance in a CFP semifinal, fewer than only Alabama (seven) and Clemson (six).

45-5: Ryan Day has won 45 of 50 games as Buckeyes head coach.

44.5: The Buckeyes are second in the nation in scoring at 44.5 points per game.

15: Georgia has won 15 straight and is 27-1 over the last two seasons. The lone loss came vs. Alabama in the SEC title game last season, whom the Bulldogs would then beat in the CFP title game.

12.8: Georgia ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (12.8), first in opponent red-zone conversion rate (60.7%), first in rushing defense (76.9), third in opponent third down conversion rate (26.7%) and ninth in the nation in total defense (292.0).

27-3: Bulldogs QB Stetson Bennett is 27-3 lifetime as a starter, with 3,425 passing yards and 20 TD passes this season.

MONDAY

Cotton Bowl: No. 16 Tulane (11-2) vs. No. 10 USC (11-2)
1 p.m. ET

2-1: USC has won two of the three games in this series, but they haven't met since 1946.

+9: Tulane’s nine-win increase from last season to this season was the best in the FBS this season. USC's seven-victory increase from last season matches the biggest one-season turnaround in school history.

30+: Four Tulane players have at least 30 catches.

20.5: Tulane allowed just 20.5 PPG this season, the best in the AAC.

11: Lincoln Riley’s 11 wins ties for the most by a USC head coach in his debut season, matching Howard Jones (1925) and John Robinson (1976).

47: USC Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams has accounted for a school-record 47 total touchdowns (both passing and running) in 13 games. He broke the previous school record of 41 by Matt Barkley (2011) and Cody Kessler (2014).

1: Williams has 4,447 total offensive yards in 2022, which ranks first on USC's single-season list (Sam Darnold previously held the record with 4,225 total yards in 2017). His 372 rushing yards this season are the most by a USC QB in the last 70 years since complete records were available.

+21: USC’s +21 turnover margin is by far the best in the FBS this season, +6 better than second-place Kansas State.

Rose Bowl: No. 11 Penn State (10-2) vs. No. 8 Utah (10-3)
5 p.m. ET

100: Penn State first appeared in the Rose Bowl 100 years ago (1923). The Lions are 1-3 in four appearances in the game.

400+: Penn State is 9-1 when gaining 400-plus yards of offense. The Nittany Lions are 6-0 when scoring first.

1: QB Sean Clifford is Penn State's all-time leader in passing yards (10,382) and passing touchdowns (84).

3: Utah became the third team in Pac-12 Conference history to win back-to-back Pac-12 Championship games, joining Stanford (2012, 2013) and Oregon (2019, 2020).

1: The Utes led the Pac-12 this season in first downs (342), rushing defense (107.0), scoring defense (20.4), sacks per game (2.92) and tackles for loss per game (6.4), time of possession (33:33), total defense (325.3) and total offense (472.7).

71-24: This is Utah's record when ranked in the AP Poll during the Kyle Whittingham era.

4+: Since the start of the 2021 season, Utah is one of just two schools (Georgia) to have four-plus wins against AP top-10 teams.

40.0: Utah is averaging 40.0 PPG this season, which ranks eighth in the FBS.

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