Boilers win thriller over Vols
Mitchell Fineran kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime and Purdue finished off its best season since 2003 by overcoming a 14-point deficit and beating Tennessee 4845 on Thursday in a record-setting Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee.
Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell, a Stevenson grad, threw five touchdown passes and easily set a Music City bowl record with 534 yards passing, well above the 383 Mike Glennon had with N.C. State in 2012. He also ranks second all-time in passing yards by a Big Ten player in a bowl game. Purdue’s Curtis Painter threw for 546 in the 2007 Little Caesars Bowl. Northwestern’s Mike Kafka threw for 532 in the 2010 Outback Bowl.
Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker also had five touchdown passes.
Purdue (9-4) tied for the second-most wins in program history as only the 12th team in the school’s 134-year history to win nine games. They also won their fifth game away from home, something they hadn’t done since 1943.
Tennessee (7-6) snapped a four-game bowl victory streak with a loss that dropped the SEC to 1-5 this bowl season.
This high-scoring game featured a flurry of big plays and points in the final five minutes only to see the Boilermakers’ defense make the deciding play.
On the first possession of overtime, Jamar Brown and Kieren Douglas stopped Vols running back Jaylen Wright short on fourth-and-goal at the 1. After Purdue ran three plays, Fineran sealed the victory with his fourth field goal.
Tennessee finished with 639 yards total offense and Purdue had 623 in regulation — both Music City bowl records before overtime. The teams combined for 1,293 yards of total offense — second-most in overall bowl history, trailing only the 1,397 yards Baylor and Washington had in the 2011 Alamo Bowl.
Thorne leads Spartans past Pitt
Payton Thorne’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed gave No. 11 Michigan State the lead with less than three minutes remaining and the Spartans overcame an 11-point deficit to beat No. 13 Pittsburgh 3121 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Linebacker Cal Haladay’s 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining ended Pitt fill-in quarterback Davis Beville’s bid for a last-minute comeback in the game the Panthers played without starting quarterback Kenny Pickett after he opted out the game.
Thorne threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Michigan State (11-2) rallied after trailing 21-10.
Cam Bright returned a fumble recovery 26 yards for a touchdown only 20 seconds into the second half as Pittsburgh (11-3) took a 21-10 lead. The Panthers lost fill-in starting quarterback Nick Patti to an injury in the first quarter.
Thorne was 29-for-50 passing for 354 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His scoring pass to Reed with 2:51 remaining gave the Spartans a 22-21 lead. A two-point pass to Jalen Nailor pushed the lead to three points.
Beamer gets mayo bath in SC’s victory
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer had
a bucket of mayonnaise dumped over his head, putting a memorable and messy finish in the 38-21 victory over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jaheim Bell had five catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns for South Carolina (7-6). Kevin Harris added 169 yards rushing and a score.
NU safety Joseph enters portal
Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph, a consensus All-America selection in 2020, is entering the transfer portal.
This season, Joseph ranked third on the team with 80 tackles and had a team-high three interceptions.