2013 Outback Bowl

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The 2013 Outback Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 1, 2013, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as part of the 2012–13 NCAA bowl season. It was the 27th edition of the Outback Bowl, named after sponsor Outback Steakhouse, and was telecast at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. It featured the South Carolina Gamecocks from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) versus the Michigan Wolverines from the Big Ten Conference. South Carolina won with a final score of 33–28.

South Carolina finished their season with 11 wins for only the second time in school history, while Michigan endured their second bowl loss in three years.

"The Hit" by South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has often been considered one of the greatest defensive plays in college football history, as well as one of the greatest college football plays from the 2010s.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

The Michigan Wolverines and South Carolina Gamecocks had met twice before, in the 1980s, and entered this contest with the series tied at 1-1.^[8]

South Carolina entered the game with a 10–2 record, having lost to #14 LSU and #9 Florida.

Michigan entered the game with an 8–4 record, having lost to #1 Alabama, #4 Notre Dame, #3 Ohio State and #25 Nebraska.

"The Hit" is widely considered to mark the turning point in the game for South Carolina and it earned a "Best Play" ESPY Award for South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney.^[9]

"The Hit" refers to a play by defensive end Jadeveon Clowney which occurred midway through the fourth quarter of the play. After a Wolverines fake punt, followed by a controversial call awarding Michigan a first down during a critical time-consuming drive, Clowney gained instant fame for his tackle of Michigan running back Vincent Smith that came with 8:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. "The Hit" dislodged Smith's helmet and forced a fumble that Clowney himself recovered.^[10] "The Hit" set up a touchdown pass to wide receiver Ace Sanders on the next play. Although "The Hit" itself did not result in the game-winning touchdown, it is considered by many to have motivated a previously lethargic Gamecock offense to rally and ultimately win the game.^[11]

Source.^[12][13]

With a victory in their bowl game, South Carolina would finish the season ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll, the highest final ranking in program history until then. It remains the second highest final ranking in school history.^[14]

Meanwhile, despite the loss, Michigan would also finish ranked in the AP Poll (for the second consecutive season, and for only the second time since 2008). Head coach Brady Hoke would coach at Michigan for two more seasons before being fired.

"The Hit" has often been considered the greatest play of the 2012 season, one of the greatest defensive plays in college football history, and one of the greatest college football plays from the 2010s.^{[15][4][5][6][7]} It propelled Clowney to instant fame, and he would go on to be the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.^[16] It has also been called "one of the last tackles of the pre-targeting era" and "truly the last of its kind, a savage hit unencumbered by the threat of [ejection]". Nine months after the play, starting in the 2013 season, the NCAA implemented a new rule that required officials to eject players for targeting an opponent's head during a hit.^[16][15]

Under new head coaches, South Carolina and Michigan would rematch in the same bowl game exactly five years later, with the Gamecocks winning by a score of 26–19.