2022 Music City Bowl

The 2022 Music City Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The 24th annual Music City Bowl, featured Iowa from the Big Ten Conference and Kentucky from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game began at 11:10 a.m. CST^[4] and aired on ABC.^[5] It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by translation and language services company TransPerfect, the game was officially known as the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.

2022 TransPerfect Music City Bowl
24th Music City Bowl
University of Iowa Marching Band performing at halftime
Iowa Hawkeyes Kentucky Wildcats (7–5) (7–5) Big Ten SEC 21 0 Head coach:  Kirk Ferentz Head coach:  Mark Stoops
1 2 3 4 Total Iowa 0 21 0 0 21 Kentucky 0 0 0 0 0
Date	December 31, 2022
Season	2022
Stadium	Nissan Stadium
Location	Nashville, Tennessee
MVP	Cooper DeJean (DB, Iowa)[1]
Favorite	Iowa by 2.5
Referee	Mark Duddy (Pac-12)[2]
Halftime show	Hawkeye Marching Band, Wildcat Marching Band
Attendance	42,312
Payout	US$5,700,000[3]
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Matt Barrie (play-by-play) Louis Riddick (analyst) Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline)
Music City Bowl  ← 2021  2023 →

Teams

The game features Iowa of the Big Ten and Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Both teams received and accepted invitations on December 4, 2022.^[6] This is their second-ever meeting—they previously met in a bowl game following the 2021 season, the 2022 Citrus Bowl, won by Kentucky.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Main article: 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The Hawkeyes played in the Music City Bowl for the first time, and entered the game with a 7–5 record, 5–4 in conference play. They faced two ranked FBS opponents (at the time of the matchup) during the season, losing to No. 4 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes were led by quarterback Joe Labas, who was making his collegiate debut.^[7]

Kentucky Wildcats

Main article: 2022 Kentucky Wildcats football team

The Wildcats enter the Music City Bowl with a 7–5 record, 3–5 in conference play. Kentucky will be making its sixth appearance in the Music City Bowl.^[8] The Wildcats opened their season with four consecutive wins and were ranked as high as No. 7 before losing three of their next four games. They faced six ranked opponents (at the time of the matchup), defeating No. 12 Florida, No. 16 Mississippi State, and No. 25 Louisville while losing to No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 3 Tennessee, and No. 1 Georgia.

Game summary

2022 TransPerfect Music City Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa	0	21	0	0	21
Kentucky	0	0	0	0	0

at Nissan Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee

• Date: Saturday, December 31, 2022
• Game time: 11:00 a.m. CST
• Game weather: Cloudy• Temperature: 59 °F (15 °C) • Wind: 7 mph (11 km/h) southwest
• Game attendance: 42,312
• Referee: Mark Duddy
• TV announcers (ABC): Matt Barrie, Louis Riddick, Harry Lyles Jr.
• Box score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Iowa Kentucky 2 12:08 2 42 0:54 Iowa Luke Lachey 15-yard touchdown reception from Joey Labas, Drew Stevens kick good 7 0 2 11:57 Iowa Interception returned 52 yards for touchdown by Xavier Nwankpa, Drew Stevens kick good 14 0 2 1:36 Iowa Interception returned 14 yards for touchdown by Cooper DeJean, Drew Stevens kick good 21 0 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 21 0

Statistics

Team statistical comparison[4] Statistic Iowa Kentucky First downs 10 10 First downs rushing 3 4 First downs passing 7 6 First downs penalty 0 0 Third down efficiency 0–11 2–18 Fourth down efficiency 0–2 3–5 Total plays–net yards 48–206 69–185 Rushing attempts–net yards 24–67 32–68 Yards per rush 2.8 2.1 Yards passing 139 117 Pass completions–attempts 14–24 22–37 Interceptions thrown 0 2 Punt returns–total yards 3–42 3–25 Kickoff returns–total yards 0–0 1–16 Punts–average yardage 8–48.3 10–40.9 Fumbles–lost 0–0 3–0 Penalties–yards 2–10 3–35 Time of possession 25:43 34:17

Iowa statistics[4] Hawkeyes passing C–A Yds TD–INT Joe Labas 14–24 139 1–0 Hawkeyes rushing Car Yds TD Jaziun Patterson 4 23 0 Kaleb Johnson 9 17 0 Joe Labas 4 11 0 Sam LaPorta 2 6 0 Nico Ragaini 1 5 0 Leshon Williams 3 3 0 Diante Vines 1 2 0 Hawkeyes receiving Rec Yds TD Sam LaPorta 5 56 0 Luke Lachey 3 36 1 Diante Vines 2 23 0 Nico Ragaini 2 21 0 Leshon Williams 1 2 0 Jaziun Patterson 1 1 0

Kentucky statistics[4] Wildcats passing C–A Yds TD–INT Destin Wade 16–30 98 0–2 Deuce Hogan 6-7 19 0-0 Wildcats rushing Car Yds TD JuTahn McClain 10 40 0 Destin Wade 16 29 0 La'Vell Wright 1 6 0 Tayvion Robinson 1 5 0 Dane Key 1 -2 0 Barion Brown 2 -4 0 TEAM 1 -6 0 Wildcats receiving Rec Yds TD Dane Key 6 47 0 Tayvion Robinson 5 27 0 Barion Brown 5 24 0 JuTahn McClain 3 7 0 Jordan Dingle 1 6 0 La'Vell Wright 2 6 0