BYU Cougars Hold Off Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets In Pop-Tarts Bowl
If you haven’t realized by now that college football is the weirdest, most wonderful sport on the planet, let me introduce you to the 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl. Where else can you watch a team claw their way back from a double-digit deficit, only to celebrate by eating a sentient, life-sized pastry that willingly lowered itself into a giant toaster?
That was the scene in Orlando on Saturday as No. 12 BYU pulled off a thrilling 25-21 comeback victory over Georgia Tech. While the post-game snack was sweet, the win itself was even sweeter for a Cougars squad that capped off their first 12-win season since 2001.
A Comeback Fueled By Freshman Fire
For a while there, it looked like the Yellow Jackets were going to run away with this one. Georgia Tech hit BYU with a chaotic 10-second blitz in the first half—scoring a touchdown, recovering a fumbled kickoff, and scoring again immediately—to build what felt like a comfortable lead. By the third quarter, BYU was staring up at an 11-point hole, and the momentum was entirely on the other sideline.
But nobody told Bear Bachmeier he was supposed to play like a freshman.
The young quarterback showed ice in his veins, throwing for 325 yards and orchestrating an offense that refused to quit. He didn’t just manage the game; he took it over. When starting Running Back LJ Martin went down, the offense didn’t blink. They just leaned on the freshman’s arm and the legs of Jovesa Damuni.
Damuni’s 4-yard touchdown run with just two minutes left on the clock was the dagger BYU needed. It capped a gritty 70-yard drive that showcased exactly why this team has been so dangerous all year.
Defense Seals the Deal In the End Zone
Of course, it wouldn’t be a bowl game without a heart-stopping finish. Georgia Tech Quarterback Haynes King, who had been frustrating the BYU defense with his legs and arm all night, nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
Facing a 4th-and-15 with the game on the line, King launched a 66-yard prayer that was answered by Eric Rivers, setting the Yellow Jackets up at the BYU 18-yard line with 35 seconds to play. The tension in Camping World Stadium was thick enough to cut with a knife. But on the final play, BYU’s Evan Johnson played hero, snatching King’s pass out of the air in the end zone to secure the victory.
To the Victors Go the… Pastries?
Let’s talk about the real reason we were all glued to the screen: The edible mascot.
Once the clock hit zero, the football game turned into a surrealist dessert nightmare. The victorious BYU players gathered around a massive toaster to watch “Team Sprinkles”—the Pop-Tarts mascots—hold up signs reading “Dream It, Achieve It” before descending into the heating elements.
Moments later, a cooked, edible version of the mascot emerged, and the Cougars feasted. It was bizarre. It was hilarious. It was peak college football.
For BYU, the trophy, which is also a working toaster, is the perfect capstone to a historic 12-2 season. They survived the red zone struggles, they survived the Georgia Tech surge, and they survived the sugar crash.
