While the Pop-Tarts Bowl featured the epic battle between Team Sprinkle and Team Swirl as to who would be toasted for the winner to eat, the Big 12’s #12 BYU Cougars were victorious in a competition just as epic as they cameback with 15 fourth-quarter points to beat the ACC’s Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 25-21.
Both teams had their starting quarterbacks for the contest, but it was BYU’s Bear Bachmeier who took the field with his offense first.
While Bachmeier completed five of his first six passes and led the Cougars to the one-yard line, Georgia Tech repelled them on 4th down for the stop. After quarterback Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets went three-and-out, Bachmeier and the Cougars marched down the field for the game’s first touchdown. A seven-yard pass to Chase Roberts capped the drive. Roberts finished the game with seven catches for 57 yards.
Bachmeier finished the game, connecting on 27 of his 38 attempts for 325 yards and a touchdown with an interception.
King and the Jackets answered back on the next drive. On a 4th down at the three-yard line, Trelain Maddox took the direct snap and smashed up the middle. He stretched to get the tip of the ball over the line to score to tie the game at the end of the first quarter, 7-7.
BYU opened the second half with another drive into the red zone. After a third down with what appeared to be a missed defensive pass interference, the Cougs settled for a 22-yard field goal from Will Ferrin to make it 10-7.
Georgia Tech took the lead on the next drive with a pass from King to Eric Rivers from five yards out for their first lead of the game, halfway through the second quarter. Rivers finished with four catches for 102 yards
Immediately after that, the Yellow Jackets swarmed on the ball when the Cougars muffed the kickoff. After Will Kiker recovered the fumble on the six-yard line, Tech immediately scored when King connected with J.T. Byrne for a touchdown. In 13 seconds of game time, Tech was suddenly up 21-10 with 5:oo minutes left in the first half.
After halftime, King and the Yellow Jackets opened the third quarter by marching down the field, looking like they would blow the game open. Before they could hit paydirt, Jordan Allen was forced to fumble in the backfield at the 15-yard line on a screen pass by BYU’s Nusi Taumoepeau. Isaiah Glasker recovered the fumble on his team’s 31-yard line.
Entering the red zone again, the Cougars failed to score for a second time inside the five. Bachmeier threw an interception in the endzone to Rodney Shelly. After Shelly’s takeaway, Georgia Tech moved into position to give kicker Aiden Burr a 35-yard field goal opportunity that was blocked by Keanu Tanuvasa assuring that the third quarter went scoreless.
With 11:13 left in the game, Enoch Nawahine scored BYU’s first rushing touchdown of the contest. Bachmeier converted the two-point conversions with his legs to make it 21-18. Filling in for L.J. Martin who ran for 1300+ yards on the season, Nawaine finished the night with 32 yards on 10 carries. Adding 48 yards on seven carries was Jovesa Damuni.
The Cougar-friendly crowd started chanting “B-Y-U” when Georgia Tech was forced to punt giving the Yellow Jackets the ball back with 9:37 left. This energy was in the crowd that fueled the Cougars to score with 2:00 minutes remaining in the game.
Tech found themselves with a last gasp to take back the lead for a chance to win. King found Rivers for a 66-yard strike that put them at BYU’s 18-yard line. The Cougars prevented King from completing a pass for the rest of the night closing the game out on an interception from Evan Johnson which was intended for Jamal Haynes.
King finished his night with 22 completions on 40 passes for 270 yards was well as two touchdowns and an interception. Another key performace for the Yellow Jackets was Malik Rutherford who snagged eight catches for 105 yards.
Bachmeier was Player of the Game, but a key piece of his success was tight end Carsen Ryan. Ryan led the squad in receptions and yards, posting eight for 120.
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