This was the 19th bowl game appearance for Oregon State, and they entered with a bowl record of 11–7.[7] The Beavers had appeared in the Las Vegas Bowl twice before: they defeated New Mexico in the 2003 game and lost to BYU in the 2009 game.[7] The game was Florida's 48th bowl game appearance, and they entered with a record of 24–23 across all prior appearances.[8] This was the first appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl — and in a bowl game in the state of Nevada — for the Gators.[8]
In Billy Napier's debut season with the program, the Gators kicked off their campaign with an upset victory over No. 7 Utah,[9] vaulting them into the AP Poll at No. 12.[10] They suffered a setback in their conference opener the next week as they lost by ten to No. 20 Kentucky,[11] but rebounded with a narrow win over South Florida closed out their three-game home stretch to begin the year.[12] They fell out of the rankings following a five-point defeat at No. 11 Tennessee the next week in a game that was visited by College GameDay.[13] After delaying their fifth game by a day due to Hurricane Ian,[14] the Gators hosted Eastern Washington and won,[15] and they played Missouri the next Saturday for homecoming in a game that they also won.[16] They were unable to keep up their good form, as the Gators fell to LSU by ten points at home before heading into a bye week.[17] They fell back to .500 with a rivalry loss against No. 1 Georgia in Jacksonville to conclude the month of October.[18] Florida responded with a pair of conference wins, the second of which earned them bowl eligibility: first on the road against Texas A&M[19] and second at home against South Carolina.[20] The Gators' final SEC game resulted in an upset loss to Vanderbilt by seven points,[21] and Florida's regular season concluded with a rivalry loss to Florida State, also by seven.[22] The Gators accepted their bid to the Las Vegas Bowl on December 4, and entered with a 6–6 overall record and a 3–5 record in SEC play.[23]
On December 5, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson announced that he would forgo playing in the bowl game and instead declare for the NFL Draft.[24] As a result, Napier announced on December 8 that redshirt freshman Jack Miller III would start at quarterback for the Gators in Richardson's place.[25]
Jonathan Smith's fifth year at the helm of the Oregon State program began with a trio of non-conference games: one home, one away, and one played at a neutral site. The Beavers' opener saw them defeat Boise State[26] and their first road contest of the season resulted in a three-point win over Fresno State after a game-winning touchdown on the game's last play.[27] They improved to 3–0 with a 40-point win over Montana State in Portland.[28] Two ranked opponents waited for Oregon State as the Beavers entered Pac-12 play with a loss to No. 7 USC, by three points,[29] followed by a loss to No. 12 Utah, by 26 points.[30] The Beavers rebounded with a one-point win over Stanford[31] before returning home to face Washington State, whom they defeated by 14 points.[32] OSU earned bowl eligibility the following week by defeating Colorado at home, 42–9.[33] After entering the rankings for the first time this season at No. 23, the Beavers fell to Washington in a Friday night road game,[34] but regained their place in the top 25 with a victory the next week against California.[35] In their final road game, Oregon State traveled to Tempe and beat Arizona State by 24 points,[36] putting them at No. 21 in the College Football Playoff rankings entering their rivalry game with No. 9 Oregon.[37] The Beavers rallied from a 21-point third quarter deficit to beat the Ducks by 4, marking the end of their best regular season under Jonathan Smith.[38]
The Beavers accepted their bowl bid on December 4; they entered with a 9–3 record and a 6–3 mark in conference play.[23]
Game summary
The game was originally scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PST on ABC, but was moved up after the NFLflexed the New England Patriots–Las Vegas Raiders game out of NBC Sunday Night Football in order to allow the Raiders, who play their home games at Allegiant Stadium, more time to prepare the venue.[39] The game's original time and network was moved to be the new time and network for the New Mexico Bowl as a result.[40]
The officiating crew for the game, representing the Atlantic Coast Conference, was led by referee Riley Johnson and umpire Mark Wilson.[3]
Due in part to many players sitting out the bowl game in order to avoid an injury, the Gators offense struggled mightily in the game. Florida scored a field goal with just 37 seconds left in the game to barely avoid its first shutout since October 29, 1988 and extend its all time NCAA record of avoiding a shutout to 436 games.[41][42][43]
