The 2018 Peach Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2018. It was the 51st edition of the Peach Bowl, and the second Peach Bowl to be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game was one of the College Football Playoff New Year's Six bowl games, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Chick-fil-A restaurant franchise, the game was officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
| 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| CFP New Year's Six 51st Peach Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 29, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Feleipe Franks (QB, Florida) C. J. Gardner-Johnson (DB, Florida)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Michigan by 7.5[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Mike Defee (Big 12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 74,006[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$4 million to each team[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN and ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Wischusen (play-by-play) Brock Huard (analyst) Allison Williams (sideline) (ESPN) Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 5.3[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN Deportes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Roger Valdivieso Alex Pombo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The game featured the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference and the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. Going in to the bowl, Florida was the highest-ranked team that did not appear in the preseason AP top 25 poll. Michigan's defense had given up an average of 263 yards per game, the best in the nation.[6]
Teams
editThe game featured the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference in their fifth meeting against each other. Michigan had won each of its prior games against Florida, most recently in the 2017 Advocare Classic by a score of 33–17.[7]
Florida Gators
editAfter finishing their regular season with a 9–3 record (5–3 in conference), the Gators were selected to their third Peach Bowl appearance. This was their 44th bowl game appearance.[8]
Michigan Wolverines
editAfter finishing their regular season with a 10–2 record (8–1 in conference), the Wolverines were selected to their first Peach Bowl appearance. This was their 47th bowl game appearance, tied for 11th-highest total all-time among FBS schools.[9] Several Michigan players, including RB Karan Higdon, DL Rashan Gary, and LB Devin Bush Jr., sat out the game in order to focus on the 2019 NFL Draft.[10]
Game summary
editScoring summary
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Statistics
edit| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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| No. 10 Gators | 3 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 41 |
| No. 7 Wolverines | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| Statistics | FLA | MICH |
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| First downs | 15 | 18 |
| Plays–yards | 64–427 | 67–326 |
| Rushes–yards | 40–257 | 30–77 |
| Passing yards | 170 | 249 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 14–24–0 | 23–37–2 |
| Time of possession | 31:19 | 28:41 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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| Florida | Passing | Feleipe Franks | 13/23, 173 yds, 1 TD |
| Rushing | La'Mical Perine | 6 rec, 76 yds, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Van Jefferson | 4 rec, 64 yds | |
| Michigan | Passing | Shea Patterson | 22/36, 236 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Christian Turner | 7 car, 32 yds | |
| Receiving | Nico Collins | 5 rec, 80 yds |
Note: 74,006 was the officially announced attendance figure;[3] "turnstile count" subsequently reported as 68,413.[11]