# 2022 Sun Bowl

The 2022 Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2022, at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The 89th edition (88th playing) of the Sun Bowl, the game featured Pittsburgh from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and UCLA from the Pac-12 Conference. The game began at 12:13 p.m. MST and was aired on CBS. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by Kellogg's Frosted Flakes breakfast cereal, the game was officially known as the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, after its mascot, Tony the Tiger.

## Teams

The bowl has tie-ins with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Pac-12 Conference, who supplied Pittsburgh and UCLA, respectively, for the game. This will be the 15th meeting between the programs; the Bruins lead the all-time series, 9–5.

### Pitt

Pittsburgh played to a 8–4 regular-season record, 5–3 in conference play. They were ranked as high as No. 17. in September, but fell out of the rankings after losing two of their first five games. The Panthers finished their regular season with four consecutive wins. They faced three ranked FBS teams during the season, defeating Syracuse while losing to Tennessee and North Carolina.
Several days before the game, three Pittsburgh players had their flight from Dallas to El Paso canceled on Christmas Day, but were able to make the 600-mile (970 km) trip via a carpool with Joe Golding, head basketball coach of the UTEP Miners men's basketball team, who was making the same Dallas-to-El Paso journey with his family.

### UCLA

UCLA compiled a 9–3 regular-season record, 6–3 in conference play. They opened the season with six consecutive wins, but then lost three of their next five games. They faced four ranked opponents during the season, defeating Washington and Utah while losing to Oregon and USC. Ranked as high as No. 9 during the season, the Bruins enter the bowl ranked No. 18 in major polls. Appearing in their fifth Sun Bowl, UCLA is 3–1 in prior editions of the bowl.

## Game summary

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 37 |
| No. 18 UCLA | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
at Sun Bowl • El Paso, Texas
* Date: Friday, December 30, 2022
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. MST
* Game weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 41,104
* Referee: Derek Anderson
* TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (analyst), and Jenny Dell (sideline)
* Box score
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | Pittsburgh | UCLA |
| 1 | 8:05 | 13 | 71 | 6:55 | Pittsburgh | 22-yard field goal by Ben Sauls | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | 5:15 | 7 | 74 | 2:50 | UCLA | Logan Loya 11-yard touchdown reception from Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Nicholas Barr-Mira kick good | 3 | 7 |
| 1 | 0:00 | 11 | 71 | 5:15 | Pittsburgh | 48-yard field goal by Ben Sauls | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | 11:57 | 8 | 75 | 3:03 | UCLA | Dorian Thompson-Robinson 1-yard touchdown run, Nicholas Barr-Mira kick good | 6 | 14 |
| 2 | 3:49 | 9 | 94 | 4:21 | Pittsburgh | Bub Means 15-yard touchdown reception from Nick Patti, 2-point pass to Konata Mumpfield good | 14 | 14 |
| 2 | 0:57 | 8 | 75 | 2:52 | UCLA | Titus Mokiao-Atimalala 28-yard touchdown reception from Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Nicholas Barr-Mira kick good | 14 | 21 |
| 3 | 8:45 | 2 | 6 | 0:55 | UCLA | Interception returned 52 yards for touchdown by Jaylin Davies, Nicholas Barr-Mira kick good | 14 | 28 |
| 3 | 3:04 | 11 | 75 | 5:41 | Pittsburgh | Rodney Hammond Jr. 1-yard touchdown run, Ben Sauls kick good | 21 | 28 |
| 4 | 12:44 | 5 | 18 | 1:57 | Pittsburgh | Rodney Hammond Jr. 7-yard touchdown run, Ben Sauls kick good | 28 | 28 |
| 4 | 10:38 | 6 | 7 | 2:06 | Pittsburgh | 31-yard field goal by Ben Sauls | 31 | 28 |
| 4 | 4:24 | 11 | 41 | 4:24 | Pittsburgh | 27-yard field goal by Ben Sauls | 34 | 28 |
| 4 | 0:34 | 8 | 70 | 1:27 | UCLA | T. J. Harden 8-yard touchdown run, Nicholas Barr-Mira kick good | 34 | 35 |
| 4 | 0:04 | 6 | 46 | 0:30 | Pittsburgh | 47-yard field goal by Ben Sauls | 37 | 35 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 37 | 35 |

## Statistics

Team statistical comparison :
| Statistic | Pittsburgh | UCLA |
| First downs | 27 | 19 |
| First downs rushing | 12 | 7 |
| First downs passing | 14 | 12 |
| First downs penalty | 1 | 0 |
| Third down efficiency | 6–18 | 5–10 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 3–4 | 0–1 |
| Total plays–net yards | 89–447 | 59–442 |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 46–199 | 27–141 |
| Yards per rush | 4.3 | 5.2 |
| Yards passing | 248 | 301 |
| Pass completions–attempts | 21–43 | 21–32 |
| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 4 |
| Punt returns–total yards | 1–6 | 0–0 |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 1–17 | 1–23 |
| Punts–average yardage | 4–54.8 | 3–36.3 |
| Fumbles–lost | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Penalties–yards | 6–36 | 4–42 |
| Time of possession | 37:07 | 22:53 |
Pittsburgh statistics :
| Panthers passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Nick Patti | 20–41 | 224 | 1–1 |
| Nate Yarnell | 1–2 | 16 | 0–0 |
| Panthers rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Rodney Hammond Jr. | 25 | 93 | 2 |
| Nick Patti | 10 | 72 | 0 |
| Vincent Davis | 7 | 27 | 0 |
| Daniel Carter | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| Panthers receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Bub Means | 4 | 84 | 1 |
| Konata Mumpfield | 7 | 78 | 0 |
| Jared Wayne | 5 | 50 | 0 |
| Vincent Davis | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Rodney Hammond Jr. | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Karter Johnson | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Daniel Carter | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Gavin Bartholomew | 1 | -1 | 0 |
UCLA statistics :
| Bruins passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Dorian Thompson-Robinson | 16–24 | 271 | 2–3 |
| Ethan Garbers | 6–9 | 39 | 0–1 |
| Bruins rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| TJ Harden | 11 | 111 | 1 |
| Keegan Jones | 20 | 0 |
| Dorian Thompson-Robinson | 5 | 15 | 1 |
| Colson Yankoff | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Ethan Garbers | 3 | -4 | 0 |
| Bruins receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Kam Brown | 4 | 115 | 0 |
| Titus Mokiao-Atimalala | 3 | 89 | 1 |
| Keegan Jones | 6 | 53 | 0 |
| Jake Bobo | 3 | 28 | 0 |
| Logan Loya | 3 | 26 | 1 |
| Michael Ezeike | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| TJ Harden | 2 | -6 | 0 |