BYU: 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl Champions

BYU has won some pretty big games in its proud football history, because the Cougars have a winning tradition and even boast a national championship back in 1984.

Iowa State: 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl Champions

 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- — It was a season of Iowa State comebacks. And fittingly, that's how it ended for the Cyclones.

Game MVP Rocco Becht scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining and No. 18 Iowa State capped the best season in school history by rallying past No. 15 Miami 42-41 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday.

Becht finished with 270 passing yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (11-2), a program that entered this season — the 133rd year of Cyclone football — never having won more than nine games in a year.

“If you look at this team, it’s really who they’ve been all year,” coach Matt Campbell said.

The win marked the fourth time in 2024 that Iowa State got a winning score with less than two minutes remaining. For this one, the Cyclones rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half — with Miami quarterback Cam Ward watching after a record-setting first half — to get win No. 11. Carson Hansen rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Iowa State.

And as the MVP, Becht got the honor of choosing which flavor Pop-Tart was to be sacrificed in a giant toaster.

“There's only one,” Becht said. “Cinnamon roll.”

Ward passed for three touchdowns in his final college game, while Damien Martinez rushed for a career-high 179 yards for Miami (10-3), which dropped its sixth straight bowl game and lost three of four games to end the season — those three losses by a combined 10 points.

"Disappointed that we couldn't pull out a victory," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “These guys have always fought and always competed and this was no exception. ... It's painful. It's as painful as it gets when you don't win. But there's a lot to build on.”

Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for scores for Miami, which was seeking its first 11-win season since 2003. Elijah Arroyo, Jojo Trader and Jacolby George had TD catches for the Hurricanes.

A 15-play, 84-yard drive by Iowa State was what delivered the winning score.

The first half was wild. Miami fumbled the ball away on the game's first snap. And the next eight drives all ended with touchdowns, neither team able to stop the other.

The teams combined for 625 yards — 358 for Miami, 267 for Iowa State — and 59 points by halftime, which Miami ended holding a 31-28 lead. The only punt was by Iowa State's Tyler Perkins midway through the second quarter; he was cheered when he entered the field during a ping-pong game of a first half, the teams trading touchdowns like nothing.

Ward was 12 of 19 passing for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, before Emory Williams took over to start the second half. Fletcher's 1-yard run midway through the third quarter put Miami up 38-28, but the Hurricanes managed only three points on their final three drives.

“To end the season this way, it’s really fitting,” Campbell said. “It really tells the character of this team. Hard to find teams still in college football, but we’ve got one in Ames, Iowa.”

The takeaway

Iowa State: The Cyclones had touchdown drives of 22, 75, 65 and 75 yards on their first four possessions — 237 yards in all. They had one touchdown and 110 yards in their next five possessions, not counting one that was only a kneel-down to end the half.

Miami: The Hurricanes were 50-0 since the start of 2000 when scoring at least 38 points and gaining at least 500 yards. They're 50-2 now — the loss to Syracuse that cost Miami a College Football Playoff berth ended the streak, and the Hurricanes lost despite 41 points and 524 yards on Saturday.

Poll implications

If Miami remains in the AP Top 25, it'll make 2024 the first season since 2017 in which the Hurricanes appeared in every poll. Iowa State will end the season ranked for only the second time since 2000.

School record

Andy Borregales' field goal with 9:40 left gave Miami a 41-35 lead — giving him 11 points (five PATs, two field goals) on the day and 404 points in his career. That set a new Miami school record, one more than Michael Badgley.

Up next

Iowa State: Opens the 2025 season on Aug. 23 against Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland.

Miami: Opens the 2025 season at home against Notre Dame, sometime over Labor Day weekend. The date — anytime between Thursday, Aug. 28 and Monday, Sept. 1 — has not been finalized.

Kansas State: 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl Champions

Avery Johnson found Jayce Brown for an 11-yard touchdown to cap the clinching drive in the fourth quarter as No. 25 Kansas State defeated No. 18 North Carolina State 28-19 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Thursday in Orlando.

The Wildcats took the ball with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter and kept it for 7:24 on the decisive march, which lasted 15 plays and covered 72 yards.

Kansas State (9-4) only had one quarterback on the roster Thursday, limiting the Wildcats’ use of Johnson in the running game. He still finished with 71 yards on seven carries to go with 14-of-31 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

North Carolina State (9-4) was seeking its second 10-win season in program history (2002). Brennan Armstrong was 14 of 28 for 168 yards and one interception. He led the Wolfpack with 121 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground but ran for only 7 yards in the second half.

After trailing 21-10 at halftime, NC State dominated the third quarter, outgaining the Wildcats 166-44. Brayden Narveson hit a 49-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half. Narveson missed a chance to cut into the lead further when he missed a 52-yard attempt on the Wolfpack’s next possession.

NC State used a fake punt to cut the deficit. Trent Pinnix took the snap and went 60 yards for the score. The two-point conversion attempt failed when Armstrong was sacked before he could find a receiver, leaving Kansas State up 21-19 with 1:50 left in the third quarter.

Seth Porter appeared to put the Wildcats up by two scores with a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown, but a penalty nullified the score. The Wildcats had another touchdown wiped out by a penalty, but Johnson ran for a first down on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive. Eight plays later, Johnson and Brown connected for the crucial touchdown.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Jacob Parrish intercepted an Armstrong pass to all but seal the victory. The Wildcats were able to run out the final 2:33.

–Field Level Media