Minnesota beats Virginia Tech 24-10 in Duke's Mayo Bowl for 8th straight bowl victory

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Minnesota beats Virginia Tech 24-10 in Duke's Mayo Bowl for 8th straight bowl victory

2025-01-04 13:08 Last Updated At：13:10

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Moments before being doused with a five-gallon tub of mayonnaise, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck shouted “make it a double!"

Then the 44-year-old coach strapped on a Duke's Mayo Bowl necktie and — with his players watching and chanting “Mayo! Mayo!" — was drenched on a chilly 40-degree night, a celebration that has become part of the game tradition.

“I told our players if they had 15 tubs of those, I would have done all 15," Fleck said. "It's worth it to be a champion at the end of the year.”

Max Brosmer threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, Darius Taylor ran for 113 yards a TD and also threw for a score and the Golden Gophers extended their bowl winning streak to eight with a 24-10 victory over Virginia Tech on Friday night.

Elijah Spencer had six catches for 81 yards and two TDs for Minnesota (8-5) and was selected the game's MVP after returning to Charlotte, where he played two seasons for the 49ers.

“It was big time because I didn't think I would have another opportunity to play in front of all of my friends and family,” Spencer said. "A lot of friends and family haven't seen me play since I went to Minnesota, so being able to play in my backyard, hey, why not?'

Said Fleck: "It's a little ironic. And it's a fitting end to his career. He had two really great years with us."

For Fleck it was another victorious bowl victory — his sixth in a row at Minnesota.

“In the era 2024-25 is it really difficult to build a team and connect a team, but it is way easier when you have a group of men like these guys," Fleck said.

Backup quarterback Collins Schlee ran for a touchdown and Ayden Greene had six catches for 115 yards for the Hokies (6-7). They’ve lost five of their last six bowl games.

The Golden Gophers outgained the Hokies 403-223.

Schlee and William Watson split time at quarterback for Virginia Tech, with neither eclipsing 100 yards passing.

The Hokies failed to pick up a first down in three series under Watson, so coach Brent Pry switched to Schlee on the and he provided instance offense with a 67-yard strike to Greene to set up his own 3-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.

But the Hokies couldn't sustain the momentum.

Minnesota rattled of 21 consecutive points in the second quarter behind Spencer, who hauled in a 10-yard halfback option pass from Taylor and a 12-yard TD toss from Brosmer over the middle on back-to-back possessions. Taylor then made it 21-7 when he raced around left end on a 28-yard run.

With Minnesota up 24-10, Dante Lovett intercepted Brosmer’s to give the Hokies the ball at the Minnesota 15 and a last chance at a comeback midway through the fourth quarter. But the Hokies couldn’t convert as Za’Quan Bryan intercepted Watson’s pass in the end zone, essentially sealing the game with 4:24 remaining.

“Offensively, we got in the red zone and we couldn't score," Pry said. “We get down there and we have to score.”

Minnesota: It took a while for the Golden Gophers to get going, but three touchdowns in the second quarter proved to be the difference. “It’s one of the great traditions of bowl games and I hope we never ever go away from bowl games," Fleck said of the mayo bath. ""I think it is what makes college bowl games special.”

Virginia Tech: The Hokies came in with 14 new starters — seven on each side of the ball — after several players either opted out or entered the transfer portal leading up to the game. “I'm hopeful and encouraged about where we are at,” Pry said.

Virginia Tech's John Love made a bowl-record 60-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

Word leaked out during the game that there was a celebrity serving as “Tubby,” the bowl game's mascot which resembles a large yellow-and-white mayonnaise jar. It turns out to be hip-hop artist Flavor Flav, with his identity being revealed shortly after the game. He also helped with the mayo pour.

Pry received a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct in the second quarter when he raced down the sideline to about the 15 — well outside of the coach's box — to argue a call with the officials. "We are going to fight for every inch and I thought there were couple of calls I thought were missed," Pry said.

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'The Brutalist,' 'Emilia Perez' triumph at Golden Globes

2025-01-06 13:18 Last Updated At：13:22

Two wildly audacious films — Brady Corbet's 215-minute postwar epic “The Brutalist” and Jacques Audiard's Spanish language, genre-shifting trans musical “Emilia Perez” — won top honors at the 82nd Golden Globes on Sunday.

The Globes, which are still finding their footing after years of scandal and makeover, scattered awards around to a number of films. But the awards group put its strongest support behind a pair of movies that sought to defy easy categorization.

“The Brutalist” was crowned best film, drama, putting one of 2024’s most ambitious films on course to be a major contender at the Academy Awards. The film, shot in VistaVision and released with an intermission, also won best director for Corbet and best actor for Adrien Brody. In his acceptance speech, Corbet spoke about filmmakers needing approval on the final cut.

"I was told that this film was un-distributable," said Corbet. “No one was asking for a three-and-half-hour film about a mid-century designer in 70mm. But it works.”

“Emilia Pérez” won best film, comedy or musical, elevating the Oscar chances of Netflix’s top contender. It also won best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña, best song (“El Mal”) and best non-English language film. Audiard, the French director, made way for Karla Sofía Gascón, the film's transgender star who plays a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirming surgery, to speak on behalf of the film.

“The light always wins over darkness," said Gascón, gesturing to her brightly orange dress. “You can maybe put us in jail. You can beat us up. But you never can take away our soul or existence or identity.”

“I am who I am. Not who you want.”

Though the Globes audience was particularly starry, including nominees Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Angelina Jolie and Daniel Craig, most of the winners hailed from smaller, less seen films.

That included some surprises. One was Demi Moore's win for best actress in a comedy or musical. Her comeback performance in “The Substance," about a Hollywood star who resorts to an experimental process to regain her youth, landed the 62-year-old Moore her first Globe — a victory that came over the heavily favored Mikey Madison of “Anora.”

"I’m just in shock right now. I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years, and this is the first thing I’ve ever won as an actor," said Moore, who was last nominated by the Globes for a film role in 1991 for “Ghost.” “Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress.”

Best actress, in a drama film, was an even bigger surprise. The Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres won for her performance in “I’m Still Here,” a based-on-a-true-story drama about a family living through the disappearance of political dissident Rubens Paiva in 1970s Rio de Janeiro. Torres dedicated the award to her mother, the great actor Fernanda Montenegro, who appears in “I'm Still Here,” too.

“She was here 25 years ago," said Torres. "And this is like a proof that art can endure through life even through difficult moments.”

Best supporting actor in a musical or comedy went to Sebastian Stan for “A Different Man,” in which Stan plays a man with a deformed face who's healed. Stan, who was also nominated for playing Donald Trump in “The Apprentice," noted that both films were hard to get made.

“These are tough subject maters but these films are real and they're necessary,” said Stan. “But we can't be afraid and look away.”

Comedian Nikki Glaser kicked off the Globes, with a promise: “I'm not here to roast you.”

But Glaser, a stand-up whose breakthrough came in a withering roast of Tom Brady, made her way around the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on Sunday picking out plenty of targets in an opening monologue she had worked out extensively in comedy clubs beforehand.

While Glaser might not have reached Tina Fey and Amy Poehler levels of laughs, the monologue was a winner, and a dramatic improvement over last year’s host, Jo Koy. Last year's Globes, following a diversity and ethics scandal that led to the dissolution of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, were widely panned. But they delivered where it counted: Ratings rebounded to about 10 million viewers, according to Nielsen. CBS, who waded in after NBC dumped the Globes, signed up for five more years.

Hosting the Globes two weeks before the inauguration of Donald Trump, Glaser reserved perhaps her most cutting line for the entire room of Hollywood stars.

“You could really do anything ... except tell the country who to vote for,” said Glaser. “But it’s OK, you’ll get ’em next time ... if there is one. I’m scared.”

The Globes are now owned by Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, which acquired the award show from the now defunct Hollywood Foreign Press Association. However, more than a dozen former HFPA members are currently seeking to have the sale to Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions rescinded.

Unlike last year's Oscar race, when “Oppenheimer” rolled, this year's season has more uncertain, with a field of contenders. Most of the movies that are seen as having a chance — “Conclave,” “Emilia Perez,” “The Brutalist,” “Wicked” and “Anora” — came away with at least one award Sunday. The exception was Sean Baker's Palme d'Or-winning “Anora,” which went home empty handed despite five nominations.

The Globes' award for cinematic and box-office achievement went to Jon M. Chu's “Wicked,” which has nearly collected $700 million in theaters. In a heavily arthouse Oscar field, “Wicked” is easily the biggest hit in the best picture mix. Accepting the award, Chu argued for “a radical act of optimism” in art.

Though few awards have been predictable this season, Kieran Culkin is emerging has the clear favorite for best supporting actor. Culkin won Sunday for his performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” his second Globe in the past year following a win for the HBO series “Succession.” He called the Globes “basically the best date night that my wife and I ever have,” and then thanked her for “putting up what you call my mania.”

The papal thriller “Conclave” took best screenplay, for Peter Straughan's script. “Flow,” the wordless Latvian animated parable about a cat in a flooded world, took best animated film, winning over studio blockbusters like “Inside Out 2” and “The Wild Robot.” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won best score for their thumping music for “Challengers.”

Most of the TV winners were oft-awarded series, including the Emmy champ “Shōgun." It won four awards, including best drama series and acting wins for Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai and Tadanobu Asano. Other repeat winners were: "Hacks" (best comedy series, actress for Jean Smart), “The Bear” (Jeremy Allen White for best actor) and “Baby Reindeer” (best limited series).

Ali Wong won for best stand-up performance, Jodie Foster for “True Detective” and Colin Farrell for his physical transformation in “The Penguin.”

“I guess it's prosthetics from here on out," said Farrell.

For more coverage of the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards