THURSDAY’S BOWL GAMES

Duke’s Mayo Bowl

■ Who: North Carolina (6-6) vs.

South Carolina (6-6)

■ When: 8:30 a.m., ESPN

■ Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

■ Line: North Carolina by 9½, total 57½

■ What’s at stake: Border state bragging rights — and a mayonnaise bath for the winning head coach. North Carolina’s

Mack Brown and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer have agreed to a mayonnaise bath if they win the game. By doing so, the winning coach will get $10,000 donated to his favorite charity.

■ Key matchup: North Carolina QB Sam Howell vs. the South Carolina secondary: A projected first-round NFL draft pick, Howell looks to wrap up his college career with a splash. He has thrown for 2,851 yards and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions this season, while rushing for a career-high 824 yards and 11 TDS. He’ll face a very good Gamecocks secondary that allowed just 179 yards passing yards per game.

■ South Carolina player to watch: RB Marshawn Lloyd. With leading rusher Zaquandre White not playing, the Gamecocks will turn to their top 2020 recruit Lloyd, giving them a better glimpse of their future at running back.

■ North Carolina player to watch: WR Josh Downs: He’s Howell’s favorite target, and finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 1,273 yards while hauling in eight TD passes.

Music City Bowl

■ Who: Purdue (8-4) vs. Tennessee (7-5)

■ When: Noon, ESPN

■ Where: Nissan Stadium, Nashville

■ Line: Tennessee by 6½, total 64½

■ What’s at stake: Purdue needs a victory to finish with its most wins in a season since 2003. It would be only the 12th time in the Boilermakers’ 134-year history to win nine games in a season. Purdue also is looking for its first bowl victory since the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl. Tennessee already has more than doubled its wins of a a season ago. Coach Josh Heupel can become the sixth Volunteers’ coach all-time to win eight or more games in his debut season.

■ Key matchup: Tennessee’s up-tempo offense against Purdue’s defense. The Volunteers not only score fast, they have outscored opponents 169-44 in the first quarter this season. Purdue ranks 19th nationally, allowing just 20.5 points a game. The Boilermakers also have 14 takeaways over the past seven games.

■ Purdue player to watch: QB Aidan O’connell. The fifth-year senior led the

Big Ten completing 73.5 percent of his passes and has completed 74 percent or better in seven straight games. O’connell was at his best against top competition, averaging 433.7 yards, completing 75.3% of his passes and throwing nine TDS with no interceptions in games against Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State.

■ Tennessee player to watch: QB

Hendon Hooker. The senior ranked third nationally and led the Southeastern Conference with a 182.15 passer rating. He took over as the starter Sept. 18 and went 6-4 as a starter throwing 24 TD passes with only two interceptions. He had 2,866 yards of total offense completing 68.6% of his passes. He has 26 TD passes and five rushing TDS overall. Hooker has thrown at least one TD pass in 11 straight games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in school history.

Peach Bowl

■ Who: No. 13 Pittsburgh (11-2) vs. No. 11 Michigan State (10-2)

■ When: 4 p.m., ESPN

■ Where: Mercedes-benz Stadium,

Atlanta

■ Line: Michigan State by 2½, total 56

■ What’s at stake: Coming off its first ACC championship, Pitt aims to become the second 12-win team in school history. The Panthers finished 12-0 in 1976 and won the national championship. Michigan State is looking for its sixth 11-win season and to cap a dramatic turnaround under second-year coach Mel Tucker from a 2-5 pandemic-shortened 2020 finish.

■ Key matchup: Pitt WR Jordan Addison vs. the Michigan State secondary. The Panthers won’t have QB Kenny Pickett, who finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting before opting out of the bowl game, but they have Addison, who won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver. The Spartans rank last in the nation in pass defense, allowing 337.7 yards per game through the air. Addison leads the nation with 17 touchdown catches. Addison says he has confidence in Nick Patti, who will start for Pickett.

■ Michigan State player to watch: QB Payton Thorne. Following the decision by RB Kenneth Walker to skip the game and prepare for the NFL draft, there will be more pressure on Thorne, a first-year starter. Thorne has passed for 2,886 yards and 24 touchdowns, one away from matching the Spartans’ season record of 25 by Kirk Cousins in 2011.

■ Pitt player to watch: Patti will be making only his second career start and his first since 2019. He saw only limited playing time this season, completing 12 of 14 passes for 140 yards. His only previous start came in a 17-14 win over Delaware on Sept. 28, 2019, when he completed 23 of 37 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.