CFB Bowl Preview 2025: Pop Tarts Bowl

By Simon Carroll

Bowl season is in full swing and we will be previewing some of the bigger matchups over the next couple of weeks. This year’s Pop Tarts Bowl will be contested between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and BYU Cougars. Simon Carroll takes a look at the key matchups.

Where and When

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets take on the BYU Cougars in the Pop Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida on Saturday 27th December at 3.30pm ET/8.30pm UK time. The game is being broadcast by ESPN, and in the UK you can watch on DAZN for free!

Story So Far...

No modern day bowl game has bought into the pageantry and fun of the college football postseason quite like the Pop Tarts Bowl. The third year the unhealthy breakfast treat has sponsored the game, Orlando has hosted a bowl at Camping World Stadium since 2000 under a variety of names before Kellogg’s came along – and it’s fair to say they have crowbar’d their way into the bowl madness.

I’m not going to spoil the occasion and tell you everything that will happen. But imagine six giant anthropomorphic pop tarts, each one a different flavour. One of them is going to be eaten. Yes, that’s right – EATEN. Throw in a trophy that is also a fully functioning toaster, and you begin to get a sense of what this game is all about.

This one would be an occasion even if no teams showed up. But it just so happens there should be plenty of action on the field too, as the Pop Tarts Bowl has secured two schools that have had very strong seasons. At 9-3, Georgia Tech were very much in the ACC and playoff conversation at the business end of November, before two losses to end the campaign changed the narrative. Brent Key has done such a good job in Atlanta that he has been touted for other jobs, but the Yellow Jacket alum signed a five-year extension to quash the rumours. It’s been a decade since Tech had a double-digit winning season.

Standing in their way are the 11-2 BYU Cougars, who share some similarities with Saturday’s opponents. They too have had a hell of a season, and a head coach coveted by bigger programs only to sign a new deal at the school they love. Only Texas Tech have beaten Kalani Sitake’s team this year, and much like the Yellow Jackets this team is built from the inside out and embraces physical football.

This might be the most interesting bowl game of this year’s slate.

The Quarterbacks

GEORGIA TECH: HAYNES KING

What’s left to say that hasn’t already been said about Haynes King? Consigned to the scrapheap in College Station, King left Texas A&M for Tech in 2023 and has spent the past three years taking out the slight on the ACC. A dual threat quarterback who is as tough as any signal caller in college football, King has 7,650 passing yards and 53 passing touchdowns in navy, white and gold. Add to that another 2,250 yards and 36 touchdowns on the ground, and you begin to understand just how important King has been to the Georgia Tech turnaround.

Saturday will be King’s last college game. There was zero chance he was going to opt out of it – he’ll be determined to finish the job.

BYU: BEAR BACHMEIER

If you had told BYU fans a week before the season that they would enjoy eleven wins in 2025, they would have made you pop into the blue tent for a checkup. Their starting quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, had just been kicked off the team for breaking the school’s honour code, and hope was not high for a push in the Big 12.

They were forced to turn to backup Bear Bachmeier, a true freshman who had only joined the team during spring practice after committing to and enrolling early at Stanford. Nobody knew that BYU had stumbled upon a diamond in the rough, but Bachmeier has taken less than one year to become a cult figure in Provo. The name  ‘Bear’ obviously helps, and it suits him – burly and tough, Bachmeier is a dual threat under center with more than 3,100 all purpose yards and 25 touchdowns in his debut campaign. He wears 47 and looks like a linebacker, but this kid can play quarterback.

This is an epic QB matchup.

Who to Watch

Georgia Tech

Akelo Stone, Defensive Tackle – Haynes King is undoubtedly the star of this football team, but we’ve talked about him enough. How about a Georgia native born two hours east of Atlanta suiting up for the final time for his hometown team? Akelo Stone took a two year holiday to Ole Miss beforre returning to Georgia Tech for his last season, and he’s been a dominant force on the Yellow Jackets interior. 300lbs of power, Stone has played predominantly nose but offers some sneaky pass rush from inside, backed up by 17 career sacks. Saturday is one more chance to add to his resume before targeting a pro career.

BYU

LJ Martin, Running Back – As good and as fun as Bear Bachmeier has been this season, he has been blessed with an incredible ground game to lean on, led by star ball carrier LJ Martin. Martin was the hammer behind BYU’s dominant o-line, topping 100 yards in six games this season – he had 222 yards rushing against Cincinnati in Week 3! He needs another 302 yards to surpass Tyler Allgeier as the Cougs’ single season rushing champion (1,606), which sounds ridiculous – but I’m not counting it out.

Prediction

This one is going to be a bloodbath.

Notre Dame were supposed to be in this game, and whilst I don’t condone teams opting out of bowl games it has given us one hell of a matchup. This one will be won and lost in the trenches, but both teams have been so dominant up front it’s difficult to tell who’se going to come out on top. I’m a romantic at heart, so give me Haynes King to walk off into the sunset with a toaster trophy under his arm and a mouth full of Pop Tarts – Bear Bachmeier will have his day, but it won’t be on Saturday.

GEORGIA TECH 20 – 10 BYU

Mock Draft

SIMON CARROLL

LEAD WRITER, HEAD OF CONTENT

PREVIOUSLY THE FOUNDER OF NFL DRAFT UK, SIMON HAS BEEN COVERING COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE NFL DRAFT SINCE 2009. BASED IN MANCHESTER, SIMON IS ALSO CO-CREATOR & WEEKLY GUEST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST, COVERS COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR DAZN AND THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS FOR SB NATION.

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