| 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 77th Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | TIAA Bank Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Sam Hartman (QB, Wake Forest)[1] & Johnny Langan (QB, Rutgers)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Rutgers by 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Kevin Mar (Big 12) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Marching Scarlet Knights, Spirit of Old Gold and Black | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 28,508 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2021 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2021, with kickoff at 11:00 a.m. EST and televised on ESPN.[3] It was the 77th edition of the Gator Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Sponsored by financial technology company TaxSlayer, the game was officially known as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
On December 22, Texas A&M withdrew from the bowl, citing a breakout of positive COVID-19 cases and season-ending injuries limiting them to few players.[4] The bowl committee then worked to secure another participant.[5]
On December 23, the NCAA football oversight committee approved Rutgers as the first bowl alternate, under rules whereby five-win teams are ranked by Academic Progress Rate (APR) calculations. Rutgers finished first in APR among the five-win schools and was given the option to accept the bid. The NCAA also allowed the game to be postponed as late as January 10, if needed, by a replacement team.[6] Rutgers accepted the bid, and the game date was not altered.[7]