It was the longest bowl game in college football history
It happened at Ford Field.
It took a record six overtimes, but Toledo earned a 48-46 win over Pitt on Thursday in the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Detroit Lions. There were 22 scoring plays, with 11 scoring players in the first four quarters and 11 scoring players in the six overtime periods.
“I was having a blast,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said.
With the victory, the Rockets (8-5) won their third bowl game in seven attempts since the 2016 season. The Panthers (7-6) won their first seven games for an undefeated start to the season, only to lose their final six games.
The GameAbove Sports Bowl lasted 4 hours, 38 minutes.
After the four quarters, the each team started with the ball at the 25-yard line in the first two overtime periods. The rules changed for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth overtime periods, as each team started with the ball at the 3-yard line.
The first two overtime periods permitted touchdowns and field goals on one possession for each team, whereas the final four overtime periods were played with alternating two-point conversation attempts until one team won.
“We had a chance to win the game several times in overtime,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said.
In the sixth overtime, Toledo quarterback Tucker Gleason completed a pass to wide receiver Junior Vandeross III for a 48-46 lead. After that, the Toledo defense forced an incomplete pass from Pitt quarterback Julian Dugger. The incomplete pass from Dugger, who started in place of injured quarterback Eli Holstein, put an end to the longest game in bowl history.
Gleason, a starting quarterback for the first time in his fifth college season, completed 26 of 50 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Vandeross, who earned MVP honors, racked up 12 catches for 194 yards and one touchdown.
“Not making the moment bigger than what it was,” Gleason said. “When we got down into those later overtimes, it’s one play to end the season.
“That’s what the mindset was — just go out there and have fun. That’s all it is.”
All six of the overtime periods were filled with emotions for both teams, especially when Toledo players and coaches enjoyed two on-field celebrations but had to be corralled back to the sideline.
The premature celebrations happened in the fourth overtime.
The Toledo defense sacked Pitt’s quarterback in what appeared to be the final play, but a holding penalty on the defense gave Pitt another opportunity. Moments later, the Toledo defense stopped Pitt’s quarterback on a sneak attempt, but a replay review overturned the call on the field, determining Pitt’s quarterback reached the ball across the goal line before his knee was down.
Just like that, the game continued to a fifth overtime.
“Sometimes, you’re only going to be defined by how you respond,” said Candle, who tied Gary Pinkel as Toledo’s all-time winningest coach with 73 victories. “I challenge our team all the time to live in the moment.
“Can you produce in the present? We were able to do that, regardless of the emotional swings.”
A potential mistake for Pitt occurred in the second overtime, as the Panthers had a chance to win the game on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but instead of trying for a touchdown, Narduzzi called for a successful field goal and forced a third overtime, in which the overtime rules began alternating two-point conversations.
Here’s the big question: Why didn’t Pitt try to score from the 1-yard line to win the game in the second overtime, considering the rule of one play from the 3-yard line began in the third overtime?
“Fourth-and-one, if you don’t get it, you lose the game,” said Narduzzi, who served as Michigan State’s defensive coordinator from 2007-14. “I don’t want it to end like that. I want our kids to make plays. For the coach to make a decision to lose the game, to win the game, I’m not for that.”
Before the field goal, wide-open Pitt lineman Isaiah Neal dropped a pass from tight end Gavin Bartholomew in the end zone on third-and-goal trick play from the 1-yard line. Neal should’ve caught the ball.
“I have no regrets on the call that was made,” Narduzzi said. “Just got to make a play, somehow, some way. I’m going to go back and look at the tape.”
But Bartholomew could’ve ran the ball into the end zone.
“Yeah, probably,” Bartholomew said.
The mistakes from Pitt and the premature celebrations from Toledo ultimately led to a sixth overtime.
The GameAbove Sports Bowl ended when the Rockets converted a two-point conversion on offense and delivered a stop on defense. Finally, the players and coaches were able to celebrate on the field without interruption.
Not only did the Toledo-Pitt matchup set the record for the longest bowl game, but it also became one of the most exciting bowl games in college football history.
And it happened at Ford Field in Detroit.
“To GameAbove, to the Detroit Lions, to the city of Detroit, the hospitality this week was first class in every sense of the imagination,” Candle said. “When bowl games get announced, I don’t know how many 18- to 22-year-old kids are really excited about spending Christmas away from their families. We had a really good week.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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