Toledo, Pitt make bowl game history in extended contest that becomes instant classic

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Bowl season is always crazy, but on the day after Christmas, college football fans saw something they had never seen before.

Thursday's GameAbove Sports Bowl between Pittsburgh and Toledo took nearly five hours to finish because of a bowl game first.

The contest saw six overtimes, the most ever in a bowl game, en route to Toledo's 48-46 victory.

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Toledo Rockets quarterback Tucker Gleason (4) runs for the first down during the first half of the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kimberly P. Mitchell/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Overtime was established in college football in 1996, and it was just a month ago that we saw Georgia and Georgia Tech go to eight overtimes. The most in any game is nine from an Illinois-Penn State battle in 2021.

In the first half, Toledo was down 12-6 but scored two touchdowns in a 14-second span – a 67-yard pass and then a 40-yard pick-six – to take a 20-12 lead.

Pitt rallied to go up 30-20 at a point, but Pitt tied the game with just under five minutes to go in regulation.

Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback David Lynch is sacked by Toledo Rockets defensive end D'Andre Ragin during the first half of the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kimberly P. Mitchell/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Both teams scored field goals on their first overtime possession, and then they matched one another with field goals on their next. New overtime rules state that from the third overtime on, teams must convert two-point conversion plays.

Both teams converted on each of their first three