In the modern college football bowl landscape, non-playoff postseason games are jostling for ways to be relevant. Some choose to cook their mascots and serve them to the victor. The Duke’s Mayo Bowl employs a similar tactic, in which the winner shall be doused with a medically inadvisable amount of the eponymous product.
Thus, for Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck and Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry, a successful Friday night simply has to conclude with one or the other looking like an unmixed turkey salad. Let’s have some fun.
The Basics
What: The Duke’s Mayo Bowl
When: Friday, January 3, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Where: Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina
Who: The Virginia Tech Hokies (6-6) vs. the Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-5). A middle-of-the-pack ACC-Big Ten showdown.
Why: For glory. For honor. For mayonnaise.
The Missing Pieces
Like most bowl games, this one features a plethora of opt-outs and transfers. Virginia Tech bears the brunt of it for this matchup. The Hokies will be down 14 of 22 starters, headlined by starting quarterback Kyron Drones, lead rusher Bhayshul Tuten, cornerback Mansoor Delane, and edge Antwaun Powell-Ryland, who leads the team with 16 sacks. His closest competitor has three. This matchup would look quite different with both squads at full strength. Alas, Pry will be working predominantly with the lower tiers of his depth chart.
Minnesota, on the other hand, isn’t missing much. The overwhelming majority of their work in the portal has been incoming rather than outgoing, and have no notable opt-outs otherwise…yet. Fleck won’t make player availability known until shortly before kickoff. Likely members of that list include star left tackle Aireontae Ersery (probably a first-rounder), linebacker Cody Lindenberg, and defensive end Jah Joyner.
Nonetheless, advantage: Gophers.
The Matchup
The previous section alone would tip the scales in Minnesota’s favor, but there are additional factors to consider. For one, Fleck’s defense is in the top ten in total defense and 12th overall in scoring defense. Four different Gophers have at least four sacks, and safety Koi Perich has emerged to clock five interceptions. Going up against essentially the Hokies’ backups, this is another obvious Minnesota advantage.
Their offense is spearheaded by top receiver Daniel Jackson (75 catches for 863 yards) and running back Darius Taylor (873 yards and nine touchdowns). Quarterback Max Brosmer captains the attack and has contributed 17 touchdowns to just five interceptions. Overall they lean toward the pass, which runs antithetical to how Fleck’s teams usually operate. It might not be necessary to pass much against VaTech, but like Darrell Royal said, “Dance with who brung ya.”
On the other sideline, it’s hard to get past just how much Pry’s team won’t have. In addition to the aforementioned stars, they’ll also be without star receiver Jaylin Lane and three-fifths of the starting offensive line. Any offensive success against a defense of this caliber will be hard-earned and unexpected.
The defense is somehow even more shorthanded but does at least have the easier task. Minnesota’s offense is good but not great, and the Hokies have asked program legend Bud Foster to take a break from retirement to lend a hand in this one. If his counsel leads to a defensive spark with the players who remain, they could turn this into a rock fight and hope to get a couple of breaks that swing in their direction.
The Bottom Line
Fleck is looking for his sixth straight bowl win with Minnesota. For the team overall, it’d be their eighth straight bowl win. Somewhat surprising, as most wouldn’t normally associate the Gophers with such sustained success. Put some respect on them, though. Lately, they’ve maintained consistent, productive football teams as the landscape around them has morphed, and Fleck has led the charge by keeping his players in the program (for the most part). He might not be the paradigm-shifting firebrand he was brought in to be on the heels of his unprecedented success with Western Michigan, but he’s steadied the boat in Minneapolis and kept the Gophers competitive.
Pry and his charges, on the other hand, will more likely be looking to see what kind of team they’ll be when the 2025 season kicks off. The most tantalizing pieces are young receivers Keylen Adams and Chanz Wiggins. There’s also athletic backup quarterback William “Pop” Watson III, who will have a chance to make his case for next year’s starting role. The bowl practices and this live-action will be invaluable for determining what next year’s roster can produce. Further, it’ll also provide data on what it’s still missing, so that the Hokies can do some spring portal shopping.
All told it’s most likely this is a comfortable (if uninspiring) win for the Gophers. Then again, it’s Bowl Season, and anything can happen when a mayonnaise bath is on the line.
Long live the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Final Score Prediction: Minnesota 24, Virginia Tech 13
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