The game was played between Tennessee from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Purdue from the Big Ten Conference .[ 5] [ 6] The game was the second meeting between the schools; the first was the 1979 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl , which Purdue won by a score of 27–22.[ 7]
The Boilermakers entered the bowl with an 8–4 record (6–3 in conference), including an away upset win against No. 2 Iowa by seventeen points on October 16, and a home upset win against No. 3 Michigan State by 11 points.[ 8] The Boilermakers finished in a three-way tie for second place of the Big Ten's West Division. This was Purdue's second Music City Bowl; their 2018 team lost that season's Music City Bowl to Auburn , 63–14. The Boilermakers had not made a bowl appearance since, but this was Purdue's 20th overall bowl game in program history.
Tennessee Volunteers
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Tennessee entered the bowl with a 7–5 record (4–4 in conference), including an away upset win against No. 18 Kentucky by three points on November 6. The Volunteers finished in third place in the SEC's East Division.[ 9] This was Tennessee's third Music City Bowl; they lost in 2010 to North Carolina , 27–30, but won in 2016 over Nebraska , 38–24. This was the 54th overall bowl game for the Volunteers program.
2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Quarter
1
2
3 4 OT Total
Tennessee
21
0
10 14 0 45
Purdue
7
16
7 15 3 48
at Nissan Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee
Date : Thursday, December 30, 2021Game time : 2:00 p.m. CST Game weather : Cloudy • Temperature : 57 °F (14 °C) • Wind : 0 mph SGame attendance : 69,489TV announcers (ESPN ) : Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (color), and Cole Cubelic (sidelines)
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
Tennessee
Purdue
1
10:28
4
56
0:44
Tennessee
Cedric Tillman 41-yard touchdown reception from Hendon Hooker , Chase McGrath kick good
7
0
1
10:15
1
75
0:13
Purdue
Broc Thompson 75-yard touchdown reception from Aidan O'Connell , Mitchell Fineran kick good
7
7
1
6:31
2
63
0:27
Tennessee
Cedric Tillman 61-yard touchdown reception from Hendon Hooker, Chase McGrath kick good
14
7
1
3:29
8
80
2:14
Tennessee
Jabari Small 2-yard touchdown run, Chase McGrath kick good
21
7
2
14:01
10
68
4:28
Purdue
24-yard field goal by Mitchell Fineran
21
10
2
9:42
9
69
2:59
Purdue
36-yard field goal by Mitchell Fineran
21
13
2
1:03
8
52
2:33
Purdue
29-yard field goal by Mitchell Fineran
21
16
2
0:19
2
28
0:10
Purdue
Payne Durham 2-yard touchdown reception from Aidan O'Connell, Mitchell Fineran kick good
21
23
3
12:45
7
71
2:15
Tennessee
Velus Jones Jr. 15-yard touchdown reception from Hendon Hooker, Chase McGrath kick good
28
23
3
9:04
9
75
3:41
Purdue
TJ Sheffield 10-yard touchdown reception from Aidan O'Connell, Mitchell Fineran kick good
28
30
3
3:44
5
36
2:01
Tennessee
30-yard field goal by Chase McGrath
31
30
4
4:58
3
90
1:02
Purdue
Payne Durham 62-yard touchdown reception from Aidan O'Connell, 2-point pass good
31
38
4
3:37
5
65
1:21
Tennessee
Cedric Tillman 13-yard touchdown reception from Hendon Hooker, Chase McGrath kick good
38
38
4
2:57
3
75
0:40
Purdue
Broc Thompson 70-yard touchdown reception from Aiden O'Connell, Mitchell Fineran kick good
38
45
4
1:35
4
72
1:22
Tennessee
Jalin Hyatt 2-yard touchdown reception from Hendon Hooker, Chase McGrath kick good
45
45
OT
4
4
Purdue
39-yard field goal by Mitchell Fineran
45
48
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
Team statistical comparison
Statistic
Tennessee
Purdue
First downs
30
26
First downs rushing
16
4
First downs passing
11
15
First downs penalty
3
7
Third down efficiency
8–20
6–16
Fourth down efficiency
2–6
0–1
Total plays–net yards
103–663
81–627
Rushing attempts–net yards
62–285
33–93
Yards per rush
4.6
2.8
Yards passing
378
534
Pass completions–attempts
26–41
26–48
Interceptions thrown
0
3
Punt returns–total yards
2–(−6)
2–2
Kickoff returns–total yards
8–190
0–0
Punts–average yardage
6–43.3
5–41.0
Fumbles–lost
4–1
3–0
Penalties–yards
14–128
5–61
Time of possession
29:53
30:07
Individual statistics
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^ @BenDavisFB (December 30, 2021). "ongrats to the Music City Bowl MVP @CantGuardBroc" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 30, 2021 – via Twitter .
^ Fawkes, Ben. "Odds for College Football Playoff, every bowl game" . vsin.com . Retrieved December 8, 2021 .
^ "2021-22 bowl officiating assignments" . footballzebras.com . December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021 .
^ "2021 College Football Bowl Schedule" . FBSchedules.com . Retrieved June 17, 2021 .
^ @MusicCityBowl (December 5, 2021). "@BoilerFootball will play @Vol_Football on Dec. 30 at @NissanStadium!" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Twitter .
^ Organ, Mike (December 5, 2021). "Tennessee and Purdue to play in the Music City Bowl" . The Tennessean . Nashville. Retrieved December 7, 2021 .
^ "Purdue to Pay Tennessee in the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl" . MusicCityBowl.com . Retrieved December 5, 2021 .
^ "2021 Purdue Boilermakers Schedule and Results" . College Football at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved November 11, 2024 .
^ "2021 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule and Results" . College Football at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved November 11, 2024 .