2022 Texas Bowl (December)

The 2022 Texas Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2022, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The 16th annual Texas Bowl, the game featured Texas Tech from the Big 12 Conference and Ole Miss from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game began at 8:09 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by tax preparation software company TaxAct, the game was officially known as the TaxAct Texas Bowl.

2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl
16th Texas Bowl
Texas Tech Red Raiders Ole Miss Rebels (7–5) (8–4) Big 12 SEC 42 25 Head coach:  Joey McGuire Head coach:  Lane Kiffin
1 2 3 4 Total Texas Tech 10 16 0 16 42 Ole Miss 7 0 6 12 25
Date	December 28, 2022
Season	2022
Stadium	NRG Stadium
Location	Houston, Texas
MVP	Tyler Shough (QB, Texas Tech)
Favorite	Ole Miss by 3.5
Referee	Stuart Mullins (ACC)
Attendance	53,251
Payout	US$6,400,000
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes

Teams

Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured teams from the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

This was the seventh meeting between Texas Tech and Ole Miss, with their most recent prior meeting coming in 2018. Coming into the bowl, the Rebels led the all-time series 4–2. This was the fourth bowl game played between the two teams—they met in the 1986 Independence Bowl, 1998 Independence Bowl, and 2009 Cotton Bowl Classic; all three match-ups ended in a victory for Ole Miss.

Texas Tech

Main article: 2022 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team

Texas Tech, from the Big 12, finished the regular season with a record of 7–5, led by first-year head coach Joey McGuire. Highlights of the season included finishing with a winning conference record (5–4) for the first time since 2009 and defeating Texas and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time in program history. This was the Red Raiders' third Texas Bowl appearance, having won the 2012 edition, 34–31, to Minnesota and losing the 2015 edition, 27–56, to LSU. Texas Tech began the game in air raid formation as a tribute to former head coach Mike Leach.

Ole Miss

Main article: 2022 Ole Miss Rebels football team

Ole Miss, from the SEC, finished the regular season with a record of 8–4, led by third-year head coach Lane Kiffin. The team started the season 7–0, but lost four of their next five games. This was the Rebels' first Texas Bowl appearance.

Game summary

2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas Tech	10	16	0	16	42
Ole Miss	7	0	6	12	25

at NRG Stadium • Houston, Texas

• Date: Wednesday, December 28, 2022
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: None (retractable roof closed)
• Game attendance: 53,251
• Referee: Stuart Mullins
• TV announcers (ESPN): Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline)
• Box score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Texas Tech Ole Miss 1 6:43 7 27 2:30 Texas Tech Tyler Shough 2-yard touchdown run, Trey Wolff kick good 7 0 1 5:26 5 75 1:17 Ole Miss Zach Evans 8-yard touchdown run, Jonathan Cruz kick good 7 7 1 3:23 7 49 1:56 Texas Tech 42-yard field goal by Trey Wolff 10 7 2 6:59 4 9 1:03 Texas Tech Tyler Shough 2-yard touchdown run, Trey Wolff kick good 17 7 2 2:13 8 18 4:11 Texas Tech 32-yard field goal by Trey Wolff 20 7 2 0:28 5 37 1:14 Texas Tech Jerand Bradley 12-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Shough, 2-point pass failed 26 7 3 9:08 10 80 3:40 Ole Miss Jordan Watkins 11-yard touchdown reception from Jaxson Dart, Jonathan Cruz kick no good 26 13 4 13:20 11 71 3:35 Texas Tech SaRodorick Thompson 1-yard touchdown run, 2-point rush failed 32 13 4 9:36 7 66 2:27 Texas Tech 26-yard field goal by Trey Wolff 35 13 4 7:35 7 75 2:01 Ole Miss Jaxson Dart 9-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed 35 19 4 3:10 9 80 2:30 Ole Miss Malik Heath 19-yard touchdown reception from Jaxson Dart, 2-point pass failed 35 25 4 3:03 Texas Tech Kickoff returned 44 yards for touchdown by Loic Fouonji, Trey Wolff kick good 42 25 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 42 25

Statistics

Team statistical comparison

Statistic	Texas Tech	Ole Miss
First downs	27	27
First downs rushing	11	12
First downs passing	11	14
First downs penalty	5	1
Third down efficiency	7–19	5–13
Fourth down efficiency	5–6	2–7
Total plays–net yards	88–484	84–558
Rushing attempts–net yards	48–242	43–197
Yards per rush	5.0	4.3
Yards passing	242	361
Pass completions–attempts	24–40	25–41
Interceptions thrown	1	3
Punt returns–total yards	1–38	1–43
Kickoff returns–total yards	9–564	5–210
Punts–average yardage	1–38.0	1–43.0
Fumbles–lost	3–2	2–2
Penalties–yards	3–15	8–86
Time of possession	33:24	26:36

Texas Tech statistics

Red Raiders passing
	C–A	Yds	TD–INT
Tyler Shough	24–39	242	1–1
Behren Morton	0–1	0	0–0
Red Raiders rushing
	Car	Yds	TD
Tyler Shough	25	111	2
Tahj Brooks	14	90	0
Cam'Ron Valdez	1	29	0
SaRodorick Thompson	7	14	1
TEAM	1	–2	0
Red Raiders receiving
	Rec	Yds	TD
Loic Fouonji	7	100	0
Jerand Bradley	8	88	1
Myles Price	3	35	0
Xavier White	3	11	0
Brady Boyd	1	9	0
Henry Teeter	1	5	0
SaRodorick Thompson	1	–6	0

Ole Miss statistics

Rebels passing
	C–A	Yds	TD–INT
Jaxson Dart	25–41	361	2–3
Rebels rushing
	Car	Yds	TD
Quinshon Judkins	23	91	0
Jaxson Dart	11	66	1
Zach Evans	8	37	1
Dayton Wade	1	3	0
Rebels receiving
	Rec	Yds	TD
Malik Heath	8	137	1
Dayton Wade	3	73	0
Jonathan Mingo	3	53	0
Jordan Watkins	4	45	1
Zach Evans	4	26	0
Quinshon Judkins	2	16	0
Bralon Brown	1	11	0