2022 Sugar Bowl (December)

The 2022 Sugar Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2022, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 89th annual Sugar Bowl, the game featured Kansas State from the Big 12 Conference and Alabama from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game began at 11:00 a.m. CST and was aired on ESPN.^[3] It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by insurance company Allstate, the game was officially known as the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

2022 Allstate Sugar Bowl
89th Sugar Bowl
Alabama Crimson Tide Kansas State Wildcats (10–2) (10–3) SEC Big 12 45 20 Head coach:  Nick Saban Head coach:  Chris Klieman AP Coaches CFP 5 5 5 AP Coaches CFP 11 9 9
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 7 14 21 3 45 Kansas State 10 0 3 7 20
Date	December 31, 2022
Season	2022
Stadium	Caesars Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Bryce Young (QB, Alabama)[1]
Favorite	Alabama by 7.5
National anthem	Berkley the Artist
Referee	Larry Smith (Big Ten)[2]
Attendance	60,437
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), and Tom Luginbill (sideline)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes
Sugar Bowl  < 2022 (Jan.) 2024 >

This game was the final Sugar Bowl with its conference tie in of SEC vs Big 12 before the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams in 2024 (2025 Calendar year) and hosting the final four team playoff semifinal in 2023 (2024 Calendar year).

Due to National Football League (NFL) scheduling considerations, New Year's Day bowl games are rescheduled when January 1 falls on a Sunday. As the NFL's 18-week regular season resulted in Monday Night Football (which Sugar Bowl rightsholder ESPN is committed to broadcast) being played in Week 17 on January 2, the Sugar Bowl was moved to December 31 for the first time since its 1995 edition.^[4][5]

Teams

Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured Alabama from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Big 12 Conference champion Kansas State. In the final College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, they were ranked fifth and ninth, respectively. This was the first meeting between the two programs.

Alabama

Main article: 2022 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Alabama entered the season as one of the favorites to win both the SEC and the national championship, however, after getting off to a 6–0 start, they fell to Tennessee on a last-second field goal and were defeated by LSU in overtime. The later loss cost Alabama the SEC West title. The Crimson Tide finished their regular season with a 10–2 record, 6–2 in SEC play.

As SEC champion, Georgia finished with the number-one seed in the final CFP rankings, and thus advanced to the national semifinals, Alabama was selected for the Sugar Bowl as the next-highest ranked SEC team. This was Alabama's 17th Sugar Bowl appearance, having a record of 9–7 in prior appearances.^[6]

Kansas State

Main article: 2022 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Kansas State began the season unranked, but after compiling a 7–2 conference record, they qualified for the Big 12 Championship Game, where they upset TCU, 31–28 in overtime. Kansas State had lost to TCU during the regular season, along with losses to Tulane and Texas. They defeated two ranked teams, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. As a result of winning a Power Five championship, the Wildcats earned an automatic bid to a New Years Six game. The Wildcats were invited to the Sugar Bowl, which, since the 2015 season, normally invites the Big 12 champion, notwithstanding CFP semifinal scheduling. This was Kansas State's first appearance in the Sugar Bowl. They enter the bowl with an overall 10–3 record.

Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Alabama	7	14	21	3	45
No. 9 Kansas State	10	0	3	7	20

2022 Allstate Sugar Bowl

at Caesars Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana

• Date: Saturday, December 31, 2022
• Game time: 11:00 a.m. CST
• Game weather: n/a (game played indoors)
• Game attendance: 60,437
• Referee: Larry Smith
• TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), and Tom Luginbill (field analyst)
• Box score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Alabama Kansas State 1 6:17 11 38 4:45 Kansas State 41-yard field goal by Ty Zentner 0 3 1 3:40 1 88 0:14 Kansas State Deuce Vaughn 88-yard touchdown run, Ty Zentner kick good 0 10 1 0:32 6 69 2:46 Alabama Isaiah Bond 6-yard touchdown reception from Bryce Young, Will Reichard kick good 7 10 2 11:33 6 63 3:09 Alabama Cameron Latu 1-yard touchdown reception from Bryce Young, Will Reichard kick good 14 10 2 0:10 7 98 0:51 Alabama Jermaine Burton 12-yard touchdown reception from Bryce Young, Will Reichard kick good 21 10 3 13:54 3 46 1:05 Alabama Ja'Corey Brooks 32-yard touchdown reception from Bryce Young, Will Reichard kick good 28 10 3 13:00 1 17 0:08 Alabama Jase McClellan 17-yard touchdown run, Will Reichard kick good 35 10 3 6:33 8 54 2:17 Kansas State 28-yard field goal by Ty Zentner 35 13 3 0:00 3 51 1:32 Alabama Kobe Prentice 47-yard touchdown reception from Bryce Young, Will Reichard kick good 42 13 4 11:00 6 19 2:31 Alabama 49-yard field goal by Will Reichard 45 13 4 3:06 10 71 4:27 Kansas State Jordan Schippers 1-yard touchdown run, Ty Zentner kick good 45 20 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 45 20

Statistics

Team statistical comparison[7] Statistic Alabama Kansas State First downs 17 18 First downs rushing 8 5 First downs passing 9 12 First downs penalty 0 1 Third down efficiency 4–10 7–18 Fourth down efficiency 0–0 2–3 Total plays–net yards 55–496 74–401 Rushing attempts–net yards 33–175 39–191 Yards per rush 5.3 4.9 Yards passing 321 210 Pass completions–attempts 15–22 18–35 Interceptions thrown 0 2 Punt returns–total yards 1–15 1–1 Kickoff returns–total yards 2–31 5–67 Punts–average yardage 5–38.4 5–42.0 Fumbles–lost 0–0 0–0 Penalties–yards 5–45 6–40 Time of possession 24:56 35:04

Alabama statistics[7] Crimson Tide passing C–A Yds TD–INT Bryce Young 15–21 321 5–0 Jalen Milroe 0–1 0 0–0 Crimson Tide rushing Car Yds TD Jahmyr Gibbs 15 76 0 Jamarion Miller 3 44 0 Jase McClellan 7 42 1 Roydell Williams 5 23 0 Bryce Young 3 -10 0 Crimson Tide receiving Rec Yds TD Jermaine Burton 3 87 1 Jahmyr Gibbs 2 66 0 Cameron Latu 5 54 1 Ja'Corey Brooks 2 51 1 Kobe Prentice 1 47 1 Jase McClellan 1 10 0 Isaiah Bond 1 6 1

Kansas State statistics[7] Wildcats passing C–A Yds TD–INT Will Howard 18–35 210 0–2 Wildcats rushing Car Yds TD Deuce Vaughn 22 133 1 DJ Giddens 9 67 0 Adrian Martinez 2 12 0 Malik Knowles 1 2 0 Jordan Schippers 1 1 1 Team 1 -1 0 Will Howard 3 -23 0 Wildcats receiving Rec Yds TD Ben Sinnott 3 48 0 DJ Giddens 3 48 0 Kade Warner 5 48 0 Phillip Brooks 4 44 0 Jadon Jackson 2 16 0 Malik Knowles 1 6 0

See also

• 2022 New Orleans Bowl, contested at the same venue on December 21

References

1. @SugarBowlNola (December 31, 2022). "Bryce Young from @AlabamaFTBL is the #SugarBowl Miller-Digby MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2022 – via Twitter.
2. Austro, Ben (December 4, 2022). "2022–23 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
3. "2022 College Football Bowl Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
4. "Allstate Sugar Bowl to be Played on New Year's Eve". big12sports.com. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
5. "Sugar Bowl moved to Dec. 31 to avoid NFL game". ESPN.com. May 26, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
6. Scarborough, Alex; Wilson, Dave (December 7, 2022). "First look at Sugar Bowl: How Alabama, Kansas State can win". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
7. "2022 Sugar Bowl Final Stats" (PDF). Statbroadcast. December 31, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.