Holiday Bowl 2022 Oregon Vs. UNC: A Nail Biter In Photos

SAN DIEGO, CA — The Oregon Ducks overtook the North Carolina Tarheels in the 2022 San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl with a score of 28 to 27 Wednesday.

The 43rd annual Holiday Bowl, presented this year by San Diego County Credit Union, featured the Pac-12 Conference Oregon Ducks in green and white and the Atlantic Coast Conference University of North Carolina Tar Heels in powder blue and white.

The bowl game was held in downtown San Diego at Petco Park, a venue typically reserved for baseball, a few Padres players were on hand to watch the evening unfold.

San Diego showed its true military colors pregame, with skydivers and a field-covering flag display during the national anthem.

Amid travel woes that plagued many across the nation, fans of both Oregon Ducks and the University of North Carolina descended on San Diego to watch their favorite teams go to work.

University of North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown talked about the one-point loss and the heart of the Tarheel team.

"It was an outstanding trip for our guys," Brown said in a post-game interview. "They had a great time, new experiences. Most of our guys had never been to California, and the weather is great. The bowl was great. The volunteer red coats treated our guys with very high respect. It was organized it, and they had a good week."

Oregon's head coach Dan Lanning spoke on the victory. "What a fun group to share a stage with right now," he said. "I'm thrilled and excited for our team."

Of his team, Brown spoke on their preparation even with the advanced sight seeing and activities.

"They prepared well. They practiced well during the week, unlike last year. We weren't as ready to play," Brown said of the Tarheels. "We were ready to play tonight. Played our hearts out."

The Tarheels were ahead 24 to 14 before the Ducks scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter.

"You talk about phenomenal players making great plays down the stretch," Lanning said of his Ducks. "That's what you saw. They took every fourth down. They took every yard, took every inch, took every ounce of effort that our guys had to finish the way they needed to finish."

After a commanding UNC lead, Oregon took over to win the game in the last seven minutes.

On the Oregon Ducks never-give-up mindset, coach Lanning had this to say.

"I love to win, but we have relationships on this team. Everybody says blood is thicker than water. I sure love these guys," Lanning said. "Maybe not true blood, but I share blood with these guys. These guys are my family. They'll forever be my family and they'll forever be part of my first team here as a head coach, and for that I'm forever grateful."

On their opponents, Lanning lifted up the Tarheels.

"North Carolina is a great team," said Lanning after the game. "They fought. That was a game that came down to the very last second, as we all know. We talked about it going into the game that we played 720 minutes of football this season, and we had to play 60 more, and we played all 60 of it."

Among the honored guests at the game, San Diego Padres Pitcher and native San Diegan Joe Musgrove was on the sidelines, mugging with some friends for a selfie.

The game was followed by the time-honored 101.5 KGB Sky Show fireworks display over the stadium.

The night began and ended with fanfare deserving of an event that hadn't been thrown since 2019.

Petco Park will host the Holiday Bowl for several more years, according to Holiday Bowl CEO Mark Neville.