The Athletic College Football Staff
December 30, 2021 at 10:39 PM EST
December 30, 2021 at 10:39 PM EST
Spartans come back from halftime deficit to take the lead, 24-21
Michigan State takes a 24-21 lead against Pitt on a 22-yard TD pass to Jayden Reed with less than three minutes to play.
A Spartans win would give the Big Ten its first 4-0 start in bowl play since 2017 when it started 7-0 (finished 7-1).
Jason Starrett·
Deputy Managing Editor, College Football
December 30, 2021 at 9:49 PM EST
Michigan safety Dax Hill arrives in Miami
Michigan safety Dax Hill is now with the team in Miami on the eve of the Orange Bowl, source confirms to The Athletic.
Hill was in Wolverine team meetings tonight, source says.
Nicole Auerbach·
Senior Writer, CFB
December 30, 2021 at 9:46 PM EST
It’s not all on the quarterback
Michigan State QB Payton Thorne is not playing well, but his receivers haven’t helped him in this second half either. Four drops by MSU in this half, two on third down and one on a contested fourth-down ball.
Chris Vannini·
Staff Writer, CFB
December 30, 2021 at 9:11 PM EST
Pitt up 14-10 at half
No. 12 Pitt leads No. 10 Michigan State 14-10 at halftime of the Peach Bowl.
The Panthers scored the go-ahead TD with 1:03 left in the half on a four-yard pass from Davis Beville to Jared Wayne, Beville’s first career TD pass.
Beville, the third-string QB, took over for the injured Nick Patti. Patti was starting in place of Kenny Pickett who is sitting out the game after declaring for the NFL Draft.
Jason Starrett·
Deputy Managing Editor, College Football
December 30, 2021 at 8:13 PM EST
Purdue’s 48-45 win over Tennessee makes high-scoring history
Matt Brown·
Senior Editor, College Football
This is the highest-scoring Big Ten-SEC game ever, topping Indiana 59, Kentucky 29 in 1994 and Indiana 58, Kentucky 30 in 1969
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownCFB) December 31, 2021
December 30, 2021 at 7:34 PM EST
Heading to OT in Nashville
After Purdue and Tennessee combined to score 28 points in the final 5:00 of the fourth quarter, the score is tied 45-45 at the end of regulation. Vols kicker Chase McGrath’s 56-yard FG attempt as time expired came up short. The Music City Bowl is heading to OT.
If McGrath had made the kick, it would have been the longest game-winning kick as time expired in FBS bowl history.
Jason Starrett·
Deputy Managing Editor, College Football
December 30, 2021 at 7:31 PM EST
Cedric Tillman scores again to make it 38-38
We’ve hit the four-hour mark and Tennessee and Purdue play on in the Music City Bowl. Hendon Hooker just hit Cedric Tillman for his third touchdown of the day, on fourth and goal from the 13, to tie this game at 38-38 with 3:37 to play. This one is trying to make up for the many, many bad bowl games we’ve witnessed so far.
Joe Rexrode·
Senior Writer, Tennessee
December 30, 2021 at 5:11 PM EST
Purdue up 23-21 at halftime of Music City Bowl
Purdue scores 16 unanswered points in the second quarter (including 10 in the final 1:03) to take a 23-21 halftime lead on Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.
The Boilermakers were 7-1 during the regular season in games they led at the half.
Jason Starrett·
Deputy Managing Editor, College Football
December 30, 2021 at 3:51 PM EST
Tennessee attacking Purdue with the deep ball
Hendon Hooker to Cedric Tillman could be epic for Tennessee in 2022.
Tillman already has 102 yards and two touchdowns, on two catches, to help UT lead Purdue 14-7 in the Music City Bowl. That pushes him past the 1,000-yard mark for the season, making him the eighth player in school history to do so. The last was Justin Hunter in 2012. Tillman also is the first Vol since Joey Kent in 1995 to have a touchdown catch in seven straight games.
Joe Rexrode·
Senior Writer, Tennessee
If I were Purdue, I would simply stop letting Tennessee’s receivers get over the top on every single vertical route.
Goodness.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) December 30, 2021
December 30, 2021 at 3:22 PM EST
The story behind the mayonnaise shower
Shane Beamer braced himself for the mayonnaise bath he both desperately wanted and totally dreaded. South Carolina had beaten North Carolina, 38-21, in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and he had promised he’d let the bowl sponsors dump four-and-a-half gallons of slightly watered-down mayo on his head if his Gamecocks had won.
So they did.
The postgame mayo bath was arguably the most anticipated moment of the 2021 college football postseason outside of the College Football Playoff. It might have earned that distinction regardless, but it was certainly helped by a year’s worth of mayo-free frustration. Last December, the Mayo Bowl’s Twitter account posted a photo of what looked like it could be a cooler filled with mayo. But the winning coach — Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst — was doused with Gatorade on the sideline.
“As the person who monitors social media, it was very controversial — which we were fine with,” said Miller Yoho, the director of communications and marketing for the Charlotte Sports Foundation, which organizes the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. “But we made the decision that we could never tease it like that again.”
Nicole Auerbach·
Senior Writer, CFB
GO FURTHER
The mayonnaise bath heard ’round the world: Shane Beamer, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and a moment years in the making
December 30, 2021 at 3:15 PM EST
Here comes the mayo!
What’s better than a Mayo Bowl win to cap your first season as South Carolina head coach?
A Mayo Bowl win followed by a shower of mayonnaise, of course.
The Athletic College Football Staff
December 30, 2021 at 2:43 PM EST
North Carolina goes from preseason top 10 to losing record
North Carolina falls to 6-7 with the Mayo Bowl loss to South Carolina after opening the year No. 10 in the preseason AP poll.
UNC is the fifth preseason AP top-10 team in the past 10 seasons (and 39th all-time) to finish with a losing record.
Matt Brown·
Senior Editor, College Football
With a loss UNC would become the 39th preseason AP top-10 team to finish with a losing record
Most recent:
2020 Penn State
2016 Notre Dame
2013 Florida
2012 Arkansas
2010 Texas
2008 Auburn
2005 Tennessee
2000 Alabama— Matt Brown (@MattBrownCFB) December 30, 2021
December 30, 2021 at 2:28 PM EST
South Carolina sets program record for total yards in bowl game
South Carolina has already posted its first 500-yard game of the season and has now set a program record for total offense in a bowl game (523 yards and counting).
The Gamecocks’ previous high for a bowl game was 512 in their 2006 Liberty Bowl win against Houston.
Jason Starrett·
Deputy Managing Editor, College Football
December 30, 2021 at 1:13 PM EST
South Carolina hasn’t blown TD lead at half since 2019… vs. North Carolina
South Carolina leads North Carolina 25-13 in the Mayo Bowl and history says that bodes well for the Gamecocks… Kind of.
South Carolina entered the day having won the last eight games it led by at least a touchdown at halftime. Its last such loss? The 2019 season opener against the Tar Heels (led 13-6 at half, lost 24-20).
Jason Starrett·
Deputy Managing Editor, College Football
December 30, 2021 at 1:02 PM EST
Mayo bath coming up for Shane Beamer?
South Carolina leads North Carolina 25-13 at halftime of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Rather than the typical Gatorade, the winning coach will be doused with a jug of mayonnaise as the game goes final.
The Athletic College Football Staff
December 30, 2021 at 11:50 AM EST
How tonight’s Peach Bowl can set up Michigan State for 2022
When Michigan State takes the field Thursday evening for the Peach Bowl, it’ll be the culmination of a lot of time and energy spent making this season what it ultimately became. Ten wins. Some memorable moments. A program ahead of schedule. Bowl games have a way of providing a final bow of sorts for the players and coaches, wrapping up the year that was, for this specific team.
But if you look close enough, a game like this can also offer a peek at the makings of the next team.
Colton Pouncy·
Staff Writer, Michigan State
GO FURTHER
At the Peach Bowl, a Michigan State team in transition has a chance to battle and build for 2022
December 30, 2021 at 11:44 AM EST
It’s Mayo Bowl time
You can’t beat the central time zone for college football viewing.
The Athletic College Football Staff
10:45 a.m. and college football is on my television.
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— David Ubben (@davidubben) December 30, 2021
December 30, 2021 at 11:40 AM EST
Michigan safety Daxton Hill questionable for Orange Bowl, Jim Harbaugh says
Michigan safety Daxton Hill is questionable for Friday night’s Orange Bowl, head coach Jim Harbaugh said Thursday. Harbaugh said Hill is “working through something” and indicated Michigan would know more about his status later in the day.
Harbaugh didn’t rule out the possibility that Hill could be cleared in time for the game but did confirm that as of Thursday morning, Hill was not in Florida with the team.
Austin Meek·
Staff Writer, Michigan
December 30, 2021 at 11:38 AM EST
Stewart Mandel’s college football picks against the spread
The easy thing to do here would be just pick the New Year’s Six bowls, but frankly, some of the other games interest me more than the Opt-Out Bowl … er, Peach Bowl. So I’m including every remaining bowl from Dec. 30 on.
Stewart Mandel·
Senior Columnist & EIC, College Football
GO FURTHER
Stewart Mandel’s college football picks against the spread: New Year’s bowl games edition
