Toledo beat Pittsburgh in a bowl-record six overtimes

DETROIT – Tucker Gleason ran for an overtime score and threw for four more as Toledo beat Pittsburgh 48-46 in a bowl-record six overtimes at the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field on Thursday.

The game surpassed the previous mark set 48 hours earlier when South Florida beat San Jose State 41-39 in five overtimes in the Hawaii Bowl on Tuesday.

This is the third bowl game to go to multiple overtimes this season, already the most in a single bowl season since OT was established in 1996. Northern Illinois beat Fresno State 28-20 in double overtime in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Monday. There had never been a bowl game to go to four overtimes before this week.

This is also the first season with multiple games going to at least six overtimes after Georgia beat Georgia Tech 44-42 in eight overtimes last month. Toledo’s last multi-OT game was a double-overtime win against Iowa State in September 2015.

Pitt freshman Julian Dugger, making his college debut, ran in two overtime scores and threw for two more, but his incomplete pass in the sixth overtime ended the game. The Panthers, who started the season 7-0, became just the second team in FBS history to end a season with a losing streak of six or more games, including a bowl game.

After Gleason and Dugger traded rushing touchdowns in the first overtime, each team got a field goal in the second. Each threw two-point passes in the third overtime and Gleason got another in the fourth to make it 44-42.

Dugger was sacked, seemingly ending the game, but the Rockets were called for holding. Dugger was called short on a sneak attempt, sending Toledo rushing onto the field for the second time, but replay ruled he crossed the plane.

In the fifth overtime, Dugger made it 46-44 with a score to Gavin Bartholomew, but Gleason tied it with his fifth score of the game. The sixth put Toledo back in front and Dugger was forced into a bad throw to end the game.

The Panthers were without starting quarterback Eli Holstein (leg) and backup Nate Yarnell (transfer portal). David Lynch, a redshirt freshman, started his first game but was pulled in the third quarter after throwing two interceptions.

Dugger led the Panthers to two touchdowns and a field goal on his first three drives, turning a 20-12 deficit into a 30-20 lead.

However, Toledo got its second pick-6 of the game when Darius Alexander returned Dugger’s interception 58 yards for a touchdown. The extra point made it 30-27 with 7:49 left and the Rockets kicked a tying field goal with 1:45 left.

Toledo got off to a fast start, chasing a Gleason touchdown pass on the game’s opening drive, but Kyle Louis blocked the extra point and returned it for Pitt’s first defensive two-point conversion since 1990.

Desmond Reid’s 3-yard run and Ben Sauls’ 57-yard field goal gave Pittsburgh a 12-6 lead, but Gleason’s 67-yard touchdown pass to Junior Vandeross III put the Rockets up 13-12 midway through the second quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage, Braden Awls picked off Lynch’s pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown and a 20–12 halftime lead.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.