The 2005 Music City Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played between the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

of the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

and the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Virginia was invited from the ACC, as the SEC did not have enough

bowl-eligible Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...

teams to fill all the bowl slots designated for the conference. Sponsored by

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and

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

, 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 Bryan Cupito (born June 29, 1984) is a former American football player. He was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers for three years, from 2004 to 2006. He graduated from McNicholas High School in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2002 bef ...

to wide receiver

Justin Valentine Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

. Bryan Cupito found tight end

Ernie Wheelright Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c ...

for a 44-yard touchdown pass and a 14–0 Minnesota lead.

Marques Hagans Marques Hagans (born December 29, 1982) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia. Hagans was also a member of the Kansas C ...

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 Jared is a given name of Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Jared (יֶרֶד) was the sixth in the ten pre-flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Mahalaleel and the father of Enoch, ...

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 Wali Sultan Lundy (born September 8, 1983) is a rapper and former American football running back who played for the National Football League. Lundy was drafted in round six, pick 1 of the 2006 NFL Draft after playing college football at the Univer ...

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 Fontel Mines (born February 26, 1985) is an American football coach and former tight end. He is currently the wide receivers coach and offensive recruiting coordinator for Virginia Tech. He previously was the tight end coach for the Old Dominion ...

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.

References

External links

USA Today game summary

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

Music City Bowl Minnesota Golden Gophers football bowl games Virginia Cavaliers football bowl games December 2005 sports events in the United States 2005 in sports in Tennessee {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub