UNDATED (AP) — Payton Thorne’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed gave No. 11 Michigan State the lead with less than three minutes remaining and the Spartans overcame an 11-point deficit to beat No. 13 Pittsburgh 31-21 in the Peach Bowl.
Linebacker Cal Haladay’s 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining ended Pitt fill-in quarterback Davis Beville’s bid for a last-minute comeback.
Thorne threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Michigan State rallied.
The Panthers played without star QB Kenny Pickett and lost fill-in starter Nick Patti to an injury in the first quarter.
In other college football bowl games:
— South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was rewarded with a bucket of mayonnaise dumped over his head, after the Gamecocks’ 38-21 victory over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Jaheim Bell had five catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns for South Carolina. Kevin Harris added 169 yards rushing and a score. By agreeing to the mayo bath, Beamer got $10,000 donated to a favorite charity.
— The Music City Bowl in Nashville went to overtime, with Purdue emerging the victor 48-45 over Tennessee. Mitchell Fineran kicked a 39-yard field goal for the win, as the Boilermakers finished off their best season since 2003 by overcoming a 14-point deficit.
— Braelon Allen ran for 159 yards and Wisconsin drained the final 9:57 off the clock with an 18-play drive that sealed a 20-13 victory over Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Allen, a 17-year-old true freshman, had 101 yards by halftime for his eighth 100-yard game of the season. The Badgers started the season 1-3 with Big Ten losses to ranked opponents Penn State and Michigan but answered with a seven-game winning streak to earn a 20th consecutive bowl bid.
