The rivalry known as “Deeper Than Hate” between Georgia Southern (7-6) and Appalachian State (5-8) put its hate on full display during the 2025 Birmingham Bowl on Monday, Dec. 29. However, the Mountaineers’ hatred wasn’t enough to power them to a win as the Eagles were able to defeat their longtime rivals 29-10.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- — Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt delivered another victory to end a surprising season.
Pavia threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and Vanderbilt secured its first winning season since 2013 with a 35-27 victory over Georgia Tech on Friday in the Birmingham Bowl.
The Commodores (7-6) capped the year with another big game from Pavia, a New Mexico State transfer whose gritty play helped lead a huge turnaround from a 2-10 season.
“This is just a stepping stone of what we want to do here at Vanderbilt,” Pavia said. “We’ve got bigger dreams.”
Pavia accounted for three of his scores in a six-minute span starting late in the third quarter before Georgia Tech (7-6) rallied. A lightning delay with 7:17 left only pushed back the celebration of the Commodores' first bowl win since that 9-4 season 11 years ago.
“That was a tough fight and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and the weather delay added a layer that we had to overcome,” Vandy coach Clark Lea said.
Pavia, the game MVP, completed 13 of 21 passes for 160 yards and gained 84 yards on 17 rushes. He had a 7-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Skinner Jr. and a 6-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Afterward, he announced his plans to return to Vandy next season, with the caveat that Lea and staffers like Jerry Kill come back.
Georgia Tech's Haynes King tried to bring his team back from a 35-13 deficit with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Haynes with 5:03 left and a 2-yarder to Bailey Stockton at the 1:30 mark. Both onside kick attempts failed.
“I thought the character of our team showed with the final seven minutes of the game, how they fought through adversity and continued to play until the end of the game," Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said.
King was 25-of-33 passing for 204 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Haynes carried 17 times for 136 yards and had five catches for 32 yards.
The Commodores went ahead 21-13 on Pavia's 3-yard touchdown pass to Eli Stowers with 56 seconds left in the third quarter in a drive filled with fireworks.
Key was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct protesting a pass interference call on the drive. It came after a non-call on what he thought was a kick catch interference that had buried the Yellow Jackets at their 2.
“There was dialogue and we have to control what we can control as a football team,” Key said.
Then, Tech was flagged for defensive holding and both teams were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after a scuffle on Vandy's sideline. The Yellow Jackets also had a roughing the kicker call on the extra point.
King then threw only his second interception of the season and CJ Taylor returned it 22 yards to the 11. Pavia was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after flipping the ball into the stands following a run but still produced a 3-yard touchdown to Eli Stowers.
“I don't know that there was a more perfect person to quarterback this team and to quarterback this program,” Lea said. "This is a chip on the shoulder program."
Takeaways
Georgia Tech: Had eight penalties for 90 yards and two turnovers that both led to touchdowns. The Yellow Jackets had already lost two key players to the transfer portal, edge rusher Romello Heights (Texas Tech) and leading receiver Eric Singleton Jr. (Auburn)
Vanderbilt: Staged a big turnaround in Lea's fourth season a year after going 0-8 in Southeastern Conference games last season. Lea retooled the staff and brought in players like Pavia, and it paid off.
“We've come a long way in 12 months,” Lea said.
Up next
Vandy's prospects for next season got brighter when a federal judge cleared the way for Pavia to return for another season, pending an NCAA appeal. Georgia Tech's King also can come back.
Todd Pelino kicked three field goals and Duke relied mostly on defense to defeat Troy 17-10 in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala., where interim coaches guided both teams.
Troy didn’t score until the second half but made a game of it until a late interception doomed the Trojans’ final chance.
Pelino had second-quarter field goals from 34 and 37 yards, including the latter on the last play of the first half. Combined with Jaylen Coleman’s 1-yard run late in the first quarter and Nicky Dalmolin’s two-point conversion run, the Blue Devils carried a 14-0 lead to halftime.
Quarterback Grayson Loftis finished the game 19-for-29 for 183 yards with an interception for the Blue Devils.
Duke (8-5) received 73 rushing yards from running back Jaquez Moore and 66 yards from running back Jordan Waters.
Troy quarterback Gunnar Watson completed 21 of 36 passes for 230 yards, and running back Kimani Vidal gained 79 yards on 17 carries. The Trojans (11-3), the Sun Belt Conference champions, had a 10-game winning streak end.
Both teams saw their previous coaches depart for other jobs after the regular season. Mike Elko left Duke to go to Texas A&M, while Jon Sumrall departed Troy for the Tulane position.
Trooper Taylor, the running backs coach, was in charge for Duke. Defensive coordinator Greg Gasparato oversaw Troy.
Troy finally got on the board on Scott Taylor Renfroe’s 44-yard field goal with 1:36 remaining in the third quarter. That capped a 10-play, 53-yard drive.
After Pelino’s 45-yarder with 13:29 remaining, the Blue Devils made a fourth-down stop that seemed critical at the time.
But Damaje Yancey’s interception gave the Trojans the ball back. They got going and moved 87 yards in 10 plays to score on Derrick Graham’s 2-yard run with 5:54 left.
Troy forced a Duke punt and started their last possession at its own 11-yard line with 1:40 left. Two plays later, Jeremiah Lewis intercepted Watson as Duke sealed the outcome to push its bowl winning streak to five games.
–Field Level Media
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Holton Ahlers chose to stay in his hometown with a mission to restore some pride and prominence to East Carolina football.
After Tuesday night's 53-29 throttling of Coastal Carolina in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl, the senior quarterback can proudly say, "Mission accomplished."
Ahlers, who played at Greenville's D.H. Conley High School, punctuated his record-breaking career with a stellar performance in ECU's first bowl game since the 2014 Birmingham Bowl. The 6-4, 230-pound left-hander displayed his versatility and had a hand in six touchdowns, throwing for five to four different receivers and running for one. He nearly added a score on a reception but came up a yard shy after hauling in a pass from receiver and former high school teammate C.J. Johnson.
To cap off the evening, Ahlers, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player, made his final move by assisting senior Noah Henderson with the traditional dumping of the Gatorade cooler on head coach Mike Houston.
"This is all I ever wanted, this moment right here," an emotional Ahlers said moments after the game. "To finally be here means everything to me."
Ahlers came to ECU in 2018, the last of Scottie Montgomery's three consecutive 3-9 seasons. Houston took over the rebuilding task and got the Pirates to bowl eligibility in year three with a 7-5 record, but the chance to play in the Military Bowl ended when Boston College pulled out due to covid.
The long journey culminated in a celebration Tuesday night in Protective Stadium.
"This has been the goal since we got here, to get ECU back to winning and back to being in bowl contention and back to winning bowl games. Tonight's a very significant achievement for a lot of people.
"I told Holton and Noah after they froze me to death on the sideline just how proud I am of them," Houston said. "They stuck it out, they finished the way they wanted to finish, and they truly can say that they turned the program around."
With the exception of a season-high 11 penalties for 130 yards and a blocked punt, the Pirates (8-5) dominated a Coastal Carolina team seeking a third straight 10-win season. ECU remarkably extended its streak of games without a turnover to seven while forcing a pair of fumbles.
The 53 points not only marked a season high but rank as the second most an ECU team has scored in a bowl game.
"It was a tough game," said interim head coach Chad Staggs, who took over after Jamey Chadwell departed for Liberty. "We fought, we battled. We're not going to leave any excuses out there. We didn't compete well enough to win the ballgame. They outplayed us."
Coastal (9-4) traded blows with ECU into the second quarter and led 14-10 when talented quarterback Grayson McCall left with an injury. With backup Bryce Carpenter suspended due to an arrest, the duties fell into the hands of junior Jarret Guest.
Guest threw one touchdown pass before being a crunching hit sidelined him in the fourth quarter. That left little firepower to answer the Pirates' onslaught.
"When you've got No. 10 (McCall) in the ballgame we're a little bit better," Staggs said. "Jarret came in and threw a touchdown pass. It was really kind of the turnovers there."
Ahlers, meanwhile, showed poise and leadership in his finale. He finished 26 of 38 for 300 yards, rushed for 48 yards and added 14 yards receiving for 362 total yards. For his career, Ahlers compiled school and American Athletic Conference bests of 13,927 passing yards and 15,387 total yards.
He also set an AAC record for touchdowns responsible for, throwing for 97 scores and eclipsing Shane Carden's ECU record for rushing touchdowns with his 25th.
The 300-yard passing game gives Ahlers five for this season and 19 for his career. He said finally being healthy played a big role in being sharp.
"I could finally run again without my shoulder popping out of place," he said. "I tore my labrum the third drive of the season. I was told I should sit out, and I said, "Hell no, I ain't taking off that purple and gold just yet.' I did it for this right here. I did it for these fans and my family and my football family as well."
Although Ahlers took center stage, he benefited from a strong supporting cast. Sophomore speedster Keaton picked up 83 yards on his first three carries and finished with 127 yards on 22 carries – his seventh straight 100-yard game, ninth eight of the season and 15th of his career. He also moved into third place on ECU's career rushing list with 3,026 yards, passing Carlester Crumpler (2,900) and Chris Johnson (2,982).
C.J. Johnson had seven catches for 83 yards, boosting his season total to 1,016. Isaiah Winstead added six catches for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns, giving the Toledo transfer 1,085 yards and seven scores. Jaylen Johnson added five catches – three on the opening drive – for 55 yards and a touchdown.
"It was a total team effort," Ahlers said.
The Pirates led 24-14 at the end of a long and disjointed first half plagued by penalties, injuries and official reviews. ECU moved the ball at will, piling up 330 total yards and scoring on four of six possessions – one drive ended on downs at Coastal 33, and the half ended the other.
ECU, the least-penalized team in the nation at 29.8 yards per game, drew seven flags for 85 yards in the first half. The first of those came on the opening drive on first down from the 5, and the Pirates settled for a 28-yard field goal.
Ahlers' first of two first-half touchdown strikes to Winstead put ECU up 10-0 before the Chanticleers awakened and rallied for a pair of scores and a 14-10 lead. Resse White ran in from the 1 at the end of a none-play, 60-yard drive, then McCall tumbled in on a 9-yard scamper that put Coastal ahead but also ended his night.
McCall, a three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year who has entered the transfer portal, flipped as he collided with three Pirates at the goal line and landed on his head. He walked off slowly and did not return, finishing the night 11-of-14 for 75 yards through the air and 12 yards rushing.
ECU quickly answered, cashing in a 46-yard kickoff return by Marlon Gunn with an 11-yard pass from Ahlers to Winstead. The Pirates extended the lead to 24-14 when Mitchell darted in untouched from the 1 with 1:44 left.
The Pirates pounced quick in the second half after Jireh Wilson recovered the first of two fumbles forced by Gerard Springer. Ahlers nearly got in the end zone with his third career reception, then tossed 2-yard pass to Jaylen Johnson for a 31-21 lead.
A 47-yard pass from Guest to Tyler Roberts gave Coastal a glimmer of hope, but ECU chalked up two quick scores to seize control. Ahlers scored on a 1-yard run after Springer sacked Guest, forced a fumble and then jumped on the loose ball.
A 15-yard connection to C.J. Johson made it 49-21, then Ahlers capped the night with a 1-yard pass to Shane Calhoun and a two-point shovel pass to Mitchell.
All that remained was the celebration.
"I told Coach Houston I was going to sleep in my uniform," Ahlers said. "I don't want to take it off yet.
"Being a kid from Greenville and experiencing that out there, that's all I've ever wanted, was to bring this university and this football program back. These fans certainly deserve it. You could see it out there. Almost the whole stadium on our side was purple and gold. It's a night I'll remember forever."
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- — Clayton Tune and the Houston Cougars punctuated an impressive season with a win in Southeastern Conference country.
Jake Herslow caught a 26-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass from Tune with 3:27 left to help lift No. 21 Houston to a 17-13 victory over Auburn on Tuesday in the Birmingham Bowl in front of a mostly orange-and-blue crowd at Protective Stadium.
The Cougars (12-2) marched 80 yards in eight plays to cap the third season in program history with at least 12 wins. They snapped a four-game bowl losing streak and won 12 of their final 13 games, the only loss after the opener coming to No. 4 Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
Houston coach Dana Holgorsen said this win was similar to "some other ones that we've had this year."
"Just a bunch of guys that fight hard and win," Holgorsen said. "Basically, winning this game solidified this 2021 football team at the University of Houston as a great football team."
The Tigers (6-7) went in the opposite direction at the end of coach Bryan Harsin's first season. They ended with five straight losses for the first time in 71 years and dropped their third bowl game in a row.
Harsin was already looking ahead to, he hopes, better things.
"Nobody's going to go in there and just hang their head and say, ‘Well, this is just how it is,' " Harsin said. "We're going to change it. We're going to fix it, and we're going to get better.
"I mean, there is no Plan B. There's Plan A, and we're here to make this work."
Game MVP Tune completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns with an interception while also rushing for 43 yards. Nathaniel Dell caught 10 passes for 150 yards, while Alton McCaskill ran for 66 yards and caught a touchdown pass.
"That's kind of been our offense this whole season, is when we've needed to make plays we do," Tune said. "There was no panic."
And Herslow, who walked on after playing for Old Dominion from 2017-19, delivered the biggest catch. He's a player Horgorsen called "one of the best stories in college football."
Auburn, which fired offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after the regular season, had one more chance but couldn't get a first down. Tank Bigsby ran for 8 yards on first down and then T.J. Finley threw three straight incompletions on short passes.
Houston ran out the clock.
Finley completed 19 of 34 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown in his third start since replacing injured Bo Nix. Bigsby had 88 rushing yards and 68 receiving yards.
The Cougars had moved across midfield for the go-ahead score after Auburn's second targeting ejection, this time against Jaylin Simpson.
Tune set it up with a 20-yard pass to tight end Christian Trahan.
The Tigers rallied from a 10-0 deficit to take the lead late in the third quarter on Kobe Hudson's 12-yard touchdown catch from Finley on third and goal.
Auburn had several promising drives stall.
"It was pretty frustrating," tight end John Samuel Shenker said. "We moved the ball pretty well, then we'd get down there and we'd have little mental errors. That's just little things that you can't afford to happen this late in the season."
THE TAKEAWAY
Houston lost its opener to Texas Tech but was awfully hard to beat after that. The Cougars got their first bowl since since beating then-No. 9 Florida State in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, 2015
Auburn had another game that slipped away late, including a quadruple-overtime loss to No. 1 Alabama. The Tigers were without some key players who were hurt, transferred or opted out.
TARGETED
Auburn safety Smoke Monday was the first player ejected for targeting after an earlier flag against him was overturned. This call came during Nehemiah Pritchett's interception return. The penalty knocked the Tigers back 47 yards and cost them one of their top defenders.
NEXT?
Holgorsen noted that Cincinnati has been on a roll since a win in Birmingham. Now, the Bearcats are set to play No. 1 Alabama Friday in the College Football Playoff semifinals in Arlington, Texas.
"Maybe they can beat the SEC, too," the Cougars coach said.
UP NEXT
Houston will try to close the gap on Cincinnati with an offense that is expected to return Tune and tailback Alton McCaskill. The Cougars open against UTSA.
Auburn has an important offseason that includes replacing Nix, who was injured and subsequently transferred to Oregon. The Tigers open against Mercer.
“I want to personally apologize to Jay Jacobs, Gus Malzahn, the Auburn Football team, its fans and the Birmingham Bowl for the highly-inappropriate actions of one of my student-athletes regarding a game ball at the end of Wednesday’s game,” Memphis athletics director Tom Bowen said in a university statement. “This player’s actions are totally unacceptable. He has been immediately removed from the team and we will continue to move swiftly in addressing what occurred."
