ESPN college football writer Adam Rittenberg predicted the final score of the Gator Bowl game between Notre Dame and South Carolina.

Rittenberg predicted that South Carolina would edge out N

otre Dame in a 27-25 win. Based on his score prediction, Rittenberg believed that it would be a close game and South Carolina would win by a slight margin.

In his explanation, Rittenberg mentioned South Carolina’s momentum as a reason why he picked the Gamecocks to beat the Fighting Irish:

“This feels like a fairly big game for Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who lost his debut in the Fiesta Bowl last year. After starting quarterback Drew Pyne entered the transfer portal, the Irish could turn to opening game QB1 Tyler Buchner, who is back from injury, or reserves Steve Angeli and Ron Powlus III. South Carolina comes in hot after wins over Tennessee and Clemson, and both squads excel on special teams. It’s hard to pick against Shane Beamer’s crew right now, and they win on a field goal.”

As Rittenberg noted, the Fighting Irish have some uncertainty a

t quarterback following Drew Pyne’s decision to enter the transfer portal.

The 2 teams head into this bowl game with 8-4 records. South Carolina is coming off 2 consecutive wins over Tennessee and Clemson. For Notre Dame, this will be the team’s 1st game since the Week 13 loss to USC.

Kickoff is set for Dec. 30 at 3:30 p.m. ET.