College football bowl winners and losers: BYU enjoys the Pop-Tart spoils thanks to 15 fourth-quarter points

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BYU’s late comeback against Georgia Tech earned them the opportunity to participate in the annual Pop-Tart ritual sacrifice on Saturday night.

The Cougars scored 15 straight points in the fourth quarter to beat the Yellow Jackets 25-21 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Jovesa Damuni’s 4-yard run with two minutes to go put BYU in front and Evan Johnson intercepted Haynes King in the end zone on fourth down with six seconds remaining.

But do you really care about the game? Probably not. After the game, three Pop-Tarts were foisted atop the large toaster to be sacrificed for BYU. However, one bailed, leaving just two large pastries for the Cougars to enjoy.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Pop-Tarts Bowl, winning teams get the chance eat a massive pastry out of a toaster that has previously ingested someone in a mascot costume. It’s absurd. It’s funny. It’s basically what bowl season should be outside of the College Football Playoff.

Winners

Penn State interim coach Terry Smith: Smith became the first interim coach to win a bowl game in Penn State history as the Nittany Lions took down Clemson 22-10 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday. Clemson’s day started with one of the roughest fake punts you’ll ever see and didn’t get much better from there.

Penn State got a field goal off the fake punt and never trailed. QB Ethan Grunkemeyer was 23-of-34 passing for 262 yards and two touchdowns while Quinton Martin Jr. rushed 20 times for 101 yards.

Clemson’s offense didn’t do anything. The Tigers had 193 yards on 65 plays and averaged less than two yards a carry. It was a rough final game for Clemson QB Cade Klubnik, as he was 22-of-39 passing for 193 yards.

Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors scored a touchdown with 10 seconds left to beat Cal 35-31 in the Hawaii Bowl as a fight broke out at the end of the game. The game-winning score was thrown by QB Luke Weaver on his first play of the game. Weaver had to come into the game as starter Micah Alejado was forced to sit out a play after going down with a cramp. Weaver found Nick Cenacle for a 22-yard TD and Hawaii’s best season since it was 10-5 in 2019.

Delaware: The Blue Hens not only finished their first season at the top level of college football above .500, but they capped it with a bowl victory too. Delaware beat Louisiana 20-13 in the 68 Ventures Bowl to finish the year at 7-6. Both Delaware and Missouri State started the season ineligible for a bowl game as they moved up from the FCS level. But thanks to a shortage of winning teams, both got bowl bids. Running back Jo Silver broke off a 61-yard TD run in the first quarter and finished the game with 14 carries for 116 yards.

Ohio coach Jon Hauser: Hauser led the Bobcats to a 17-10 Frisco Bowl win over UNLV as the team’s interim coach and was named the permanent coach not long after the game. Hauser, the team’s defensive coordinator took over the program after coach Brian Smith was placed on administrative leave and eventually fired for an affair with a grad student. After Ohio held UNLV’s offense in check and won their seventh-straight bowl game, Hauser is now officially Smith’s successor.

Losers

Boise State: It was an incredibly rough start to bowl season for the Broncos. Boise State lost 38-10 to Washington in the LA Bowl to kick off the postseason. And saying the game was ugly for Boise State is probably underselling it. QBs Max Cutforth and Maddux Madsen combined to throw five interceptions and just one touchdown pass. Washington led 34-3 at halftime before Boise State threw picks on back-to-back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter before finally scoring their first touchdown of the game with less than two minutes to go.

Pitt: The Panthers didn’t want Boise State to feel alone. Pitt turned the ball over five times itself in a 23-17 loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl on Saturday. Somehow, the Panthers still had a chance to win the game on a last-ditch drive as time expired, but that didn’t come to fruition. Pitt fumbled four times and QB Mason Heintschel threw an interception as ECU had four scoring drives that totaled fewer than 50 yards.

South Florida and Memphis: Both teams saw their coaches head to SEC schools at the end of the regular season. And both teams found themselves losing by double digits in their bowl games. USF lost 24-10 to Old Dominion in the Cure Bowl after star QB Byrum Brown opted out ahead of his entry into the transfer portal. Memphis lost 31-7 to NC State in the Gasparilla Bowl as the Wolfpack dominated the game.