2005 Music City Bowl

2005 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone
8th Music City Bowl
LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee, hosted the Music City Bowl.
Virginia Cavaliers Minnesota Golden Gophers (6–5) (7–4) ACC Big Ten 34 31 Head coach:  Al Groh Head coach:  Glen Mason AP Coaches BCS NR NR 22
1 2 3 4 Total Virginia 7 3 14 10 34 Minnesota 14 7 3 7 31
Date	December 30, 2005
Season	2005
Stadium	LP Field
Location	Nashville, Tennessee
MVP	QB Marques Hagans, Virginia
Favorite	Minnesota by 7 1/2
Referee	Bill Athan (WAC) [1]
Attendance	40,519 [1]
Payout	US$780,000 per team [2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Dave Pasch, Rod Gilmore, Trevor Matich, and Stacey Dales
Music City Bowl  < 2004   2006 >

The 2005 Music City Bowl was a college football bowl game played between the Virginia Cavaliers of the ACC and the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten. Virginia was invited from the ACC, as the SEC did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the bowl slots designated for the conference. Sponsored by Gaylord Hotels and Bridgestone, it was officially named the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone.

Game overview

Minnesota opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryan Cupito to wide receiver Justin Valentine. Bryan Cupito found tight end Ernie Wheelright for a 44-yard touchdown pass and a 14–0 Minnesota lead. Marques Hagans threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Deyon Williams to get UVA within 7, 14–7. That accounted for the first quarter scoring. In the second quarter, Cupito found wide receiver Jared Ellerson for a 57-yard touchdown pass and a 21–7 Minnesota lead. With no time left in the half, Virginia kicker Connor Hughes kicked a 32-yard field goal to get UVA to 21–10. Opening the third quarter, Wali Lundy scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to make the score 21–17. Minnesota's Joel Monroe kicked a 39-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 24–17 advantage. With 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Marques Hagans found Fontel Mines for a 2-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 24. In the fourth quarter, Bryan Cupito threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jared Ellerson to give the Gophers a 31–24 lead. Wali Lundy tied it a 31, with a 2-yard touchdown run. With 1:08 left in the game, Connor Hughes kicked the game-winning 39 yard field goal to make the final score 34–31. ^[3]

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 20, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
2. "NCAA.com â€" The Official Website of NCAA Championships | NCAA.com". Ncaafootball.com. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
3. "Music City Bowl: Virginia/Minnesota". wfmynews2.com. December 30, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2024.

External links

• USA Today game summary