2021 Music City Bowl

The 2021 Music City Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2021, with kickoff at 3:00 p.m. EST (2:00 p.m. local CST) and televised on ESPN.^[4] It was the 23rd edition of the Music City Bowl (after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Sponsored by translation and language services company TransPerfect, the game was officially known as the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.

2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl
23rd Music City Bowl
Purdue Boilermakers Tennessee Volunteers (8–4) (7–5) Big Ten SEC 48 45 Head coach:  Jeff Brohm Head coach:  Josh Heupel
1 2 3 4 OT Total Purdue 7 16 7 15 3 48 Tennessee 21 0 10 14 0 45
Date	December 30, 2021
Season	2021
Stadium	Nissan Stadium
Location	Nashville, Tennessee
MVP	Broc Thompson (WR, Purdue)[1]
Favorite	Tennessee by 3[2]
Referee	Jerry Magallanes (ACC) [3]
Attendance	69,489
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN ESPN Radio
Announcers	ESPN: Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (color), and Cole Cubelic (sidelines) ESPN Radio: Dave Neal (play-by-play), Deuce McAllister (analyst), and Andraya Carter (sideline)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Brazil
Announcers	Renan do Couto (play-by-play) and Weinny Eirado (analyst)
Music City Bowl  < 2019 2022 >

Teams

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]

Purdue Boilermakers

Main article: 2021 Purdue Boilermakers football team

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

Main article: 2021 Tennessee Volunteers football team

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.

Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Tennessee	21	0	10	14	0	45
Purdue	7	16	7	15	3	48

2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl

at Nissan Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee

• Date: Thursday, December 30, 2021 ^[10]
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 57 °F (14 °C) • Wind: 0 mph S
• Game attendance: 69,489
• TV 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.

Statistics

Team statistics

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

Tennessee statistics

Volunteers passing
	C–A	Yds	TD–INT
Hendon Hooker	26–41	378	5–0
Volunteers rushing
	Car	Yds	TD
Jabari Small	26	180	1
Hendon Hooker	19	62	0
Jaylen Wright	17	54	0
TEAM	1	−8	0
Volunteers receiving
	Rec	Yds	TD
Cedric Tillman	7	150	3
Velus Jones Jr.	10	85	1
Princeton Fant	3	71	0
Jalin Hyatt	3	35	1
JaVonta Payton	2	35	0
Jabari Small	1	2	0

Purdue statistics

Boilermakers passing
	C–A	Yds	TD–INT
Aidan O'Connell	26–47	534	5–3
Jackson Anthrop	0–1	0	0–0
Boilermakers rushing
	Car	Yds	TD
Zander Horvath	17	58	0
King Doerue	10	45	0
Jackson Anthrop	2	2	0
Deion Burks	1	−3	0
Aidan O'Connell	3	−9	0
Boilermakers receiving
	Rec	Yds	TD
Broc Thompson	7	217	2
Payne Durham	5	85	2
Jackson Anthrop	5	74	0
T.J. Sheffield	3	61	1
Deion Burks	1	26	0
Garrett Miller	1	25	0
Dylan Downing	1	21	0
Zander Horvath	2	21	0
Collin Sullivan	1	4	0