Bowl season is always crazy, but the day after Christmas, college football fans saw something they’d never seen before.
Thursday’s GameAbove Sports Bowl between Pittsburgh and Toledo took nearly five hours to finish due to a bowl game being played first.
The contest featured six overtimes, the most ever in a bowl game, en route to Toledo’s 48-46 victory.
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Toledo Rockets quarterback Tucker Gleason (4) runs for the first down during the first half of the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kimberly P. Mitchell/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Overtime was established in college football in 1996, and just a month ago we saw Georgia and Georgia Tech go to eight overtimes. The most in any game is nine in a battle between Illinois and Penn State in 2021.
In the first half, Toledo trailed 12-6 but scored two touchdowns in a 14-second span (a 67-yard pass and then a 40-yard pick-six) to take a 20-12 lead.
Pitt rallied to take a 30-20 lead at one point, but Pitt tied the game with just under five minutes left in regulation.
Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback David Lynch is sacked by Toledo Rockets defensive end D’Andre Ragin during the first half of the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024 . (Kimberly P. Mitchell/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Both teams scored field goals on their first possession of overtime and then tied it up with field goals on the next. The new overtime rules state that starting in the third overtime, teams must convert two-point conversion plays.
Both teams converted on each of their first three attempts, but in the sixth overtime, after Toledo scored its fourth in a row, Pitt’s pass fell incomplete.
In the fourth overtime, however, Toledo celebrated twice. But their first stop was overturned due to a penalty, and after thinking Pitt had been stopped again, the replay review reversed the decision and the game continued. The Rockets got the win anyway.
Toledo’s Tucker Gleason was 26 of 50 for 336 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while also rushing for a score. Junior Vandeross III had 12 receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown.
Desmond Reid ran for 165 yards on 32 carries for Pitt in the losing effort.
Toledo is now 12-10 in its bowl game history; It was the fourth year in a row they did a bowl game.
Toledo Rockets tight end Anthony Torres runs for yards after catching the ball against Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Brandon George during the first half of the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 26 of 2024. (Kimberly P. Mitchell/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Pitt missed a chance to play in a bowl game last year after taking home the 2022 Sun Bowl.
