Toledo Rockets tight end Anthony Torres (88) runs for yards after catching the ball against Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Brandon George (30) during the first half of the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit. Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Toledo needed so many tries to finish off dramatic win over Pitt

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Dec 26, 2024 7:22 PM ET

The Toledo Rockets finally won the GameAbove Sports Bowl in six overtimes on Thursday, and only after they thought they had closed out the game twice before.

Toledo beat Pitt 48-46 at Ford Field in Detroit in one of the more dramatic games of the bowl season. The Rockets had two previous game-winning plays wiped out, one by a penalty and another by replay review, before finally closing out the Panthers.

In the fourth overtime, Toledo thought it had won on a sack on the mandatory two-point conversion attempt, and even stormed onto the field to celebrate. However, most of the players had failed to notice that there was a flag on the field, and Toledo was called for defensive holding.

Toledo thought they had ended the game, but holding on the defense will stretch this out pic.twitter.com/JzyoNe0GyH

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 26, 2024

That meant Pitt got one more shot. Initially, they were stuffed short of the goal line, and Toledo thought it had won again. However, after a lengthy replay review, it was determined that quarterback Julian Dugger had made it across the plane of the end zone, so the game went on.

TOLEDO GETS THE STOP TO WIN!!! BUT WAIT!!! AFTER REVIEW THE CONVERSION IS GOOD!!! WTF??? pic.twitter.com/hc1lfxK9TA

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) December 26, 2024

Toledo finally won in the sixth overtime, when they converted their two-point attempt and put Dugger under enough pressure to force an incompletion. This time, there were no flags, and there was nothing to review.

TOLEDO WINS IT IN A 6OT THRILLER pic.twitter.com/EMuTq5J1Wa

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 26, 2024

The Rockets had to be wondering what they had to do to close this game out by the end, but they did ultimately get it done.

Amazingly, this game got off to a wacky start, too. It was wildly entertaining from start to finish, though Pitt will have a hard time believing that they lost it.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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