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College Football Bowl Game Shenanigans Reach New Heights

Nick-Roush-headshotby: Nick Roush12/28/25RoushKSR

Bowl games are supposed to be fun. They mean something different for every college football team, but there is one commonality: they’re a reward after a long, hard season. That reward should be fun, and this year, the bowl system embraced the fun in the most delightful manner possible.

Bowl season is still underway, with many interesting matchups in prolific games on the horizon, but Saturday served as the crescendo for the chaos. Big names were competing in eight games that made the most of the unusual circumstances bowls create. Let’s start with the one everybody is talking about, the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

BYU Wins a Thrilling Pop-Tarts Bowl

The Pop-Tarts Bowl has become bowl season’s greatest sideshow, but the main event was just as spectacular. BYU had four comeback victories this season, with their only two losses at the hands of Texas Tech. They had one more comeback in them to cap off a 12-win season.

Georgia Tech led 21-10 entering the fourth quarter. Bear Bachmeier‘s 2-point conversion run cut the deficit to three and got within striking range. The Cougs took the lead with a touchdown at the two-minute timeout, but Haynes King had one more magical drive up his sleeve. On fourth and 15, he dialed up a long ball for a 66-yard gain to get the Ramblin’ Wreck in the red zone. Three straight incompletions gave King one final shot at the end zone. For a moment, it look like a touchdown, but his pass was picked off, securing the BYU win, one Kalani Sitake celebrated by inhaling a Pop-Tart.

Slammin’ Strawberry opted out of the ceremonial toasting by doing a cannonball from the top of the toaster, which some may say was a shot at Notre Dame, who opted out of playing in the game. There was also a Pop-Tart mascot who was throwing Pop-Tarts on the grill. ESPN has a mash-up of all of the best shenanigans.

A Huge ACC Upset

Pitt was a 13.5-point favorite over East Carolina in the Military Bowl, but the Purple Pirates had different plans. The Panthers played from behind most of the game before falling 23-17. It’s the biggest postseason upset of an ACC team in at least 30 years. It’s safe to say that East Carolina laid it all on the line for the win.

A Shocking Backdoor Cover

A few weeks back, Geoff Schwartz joined me to talk about what Will Stein is bringing to Kentucky. The host of Bear Bets with Chris Fallica, at the end of the conversation, I asked him for his best bet of bowl season. He loved San Diego State in the New Mexico Bowl and believed they might be favorites by kickoff. I placed the bet and forgot about it.

The line closed with SDSU +7.5 and by the time I remembered the wager, it was a lost ticket. North Texas led the whole way and was scoring at will, up 42-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. I quit paying attention to the game, then checked the box score this morning. San Diego State ran the cover play with 1 second on the clock to score their fourth fourth-quarter touchdown in a 49-47 loss. What a cover.

Missouri Lost to Another Team with a Winning Record

Missouri starting quarterback Beau Pribula hit the transfer portal at the end of the regular season, forcing the 8-win Tigers to insert true freshman Matt Zollers into the starting lineup. He only completed 12-22 passes for 101 yards and an interception in a slobber-knocker that featured a pair of missed field goals and less than 500 yards of combined offense. Virginia won 13-7, dropping Missouri’s record to 0-5 against teams with a winning record. Their eight wins came against teams who went a combined 30-67.

The SEC went 0-2 on Saturday. A depleted LSU roster took a 14-0 lead before Houston got a little mojo from the hometown crowd in the Texas Bowl, rallying off three straight touchdowns. LSU tied the game at the start of the fourth quarter, but didn’t have enough in the tank as Connor Weigman threw four touchdowns in a 38-35 win. The victory gave Houston head coach Willie Fritz a 10-win season at his fifth different school.

A Reluctant Bowl Celebration

UConn’s spectacular season did not end with fireworks. After Jim Mora bolted for Colorado State, many of the Huskies’ top dogs opted out of the game, turning into a 41-16 route for Army. Head coach Jeff Monken wasn’t eager to celebrate the Fenway Bowl win with a Powerade bath.

A New Bowl Celebration

The Mayo bath at the end of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl got everyone’s attention. Now every sponsor wants to get in on the bit. After braving the snow at Yankee Stadium, Penn State celebrated a 22-10 win over Clemson with interim coach Terry Smith. The folks at Bad Boy Mowers filled up coolers with grass clippings to cap off the Pinstripe Bowl.

Painful Bowl Prep

Louisiana Tech is not playing in the Independence Bowl until Dec. 30, but this was too crazy not to share. How or why this was proposed, I do not know, but head coach Sonny Cumbie agreed to get tased before the game. What a sport.

Snoop Dogg Shows Off His Skills

Miami was seeking its second-straight win in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. It seems fitting that the Bulldogs from Fresno State won the Snoop Dogg Bowl 18-3. It wasn’t the most eventful game, except when Snoop saw a kickoff flying in his direction toward the end zone. Rather than let it fly to the turf, he actually caught the kick. Not bad for a 54-year-old.

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2026-01-05