Strawberry Pop-Tarts Revived, Miami Players Struggle. Bowl game was delivered

In what was truly the best promotion game of the postseason, Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl once again provided some memorable moments before the second half between Miami and Iowa State began.

Defense was obviously optional in the first 30 minutes of the game, as Iowa State and Miami had 2:23 left in the first half and were tied 28-28. As for the atmosphere off the field, we experienced just about it all in Orlando at Camping World Stadium.

As for the postseason’s most valuable mascot, the resurrection of last year’s Strawberry Pop-Tart was probably the craziest thing we saw before one of the mascots was toasted alive in the postgame ceremony for the winning team to eat.

But yes, there was a memorial to the Strawberry Pop-Tart, which was brutally roasted alive after the game last year for Kansas State players to devour in the postgame celebration. Luckily for the Pop-Tarts family, the strawberry once thought lost forever made a surprise appearance in the first half of Game 2024.

They even forced the three Pop-Tarts who were to be toasted alive to trot onto the field to begin the selection process.

I mean, how can you not be entertained by everything happening on the field this afternoon? Aside from the fact that this was an offensive showcase for both teams and the game ended tied 28-28 in the second quarter, there may not be a better marketing group in college football outside of the Pop-Tarts Bowl game.

We even had Miami players fighting on the sidelines

Just when you thought edible mascots would be the focus of the first half, Miami’s defensive players decided they wanted in on the fun.

After conceding multiple touchdowns against Iowa State, the Hurricanes were left quite frustrated on the sideline as the tension eventually grew and some shoving and hand throwing occurred.

If there was something missing in this game, it was certainly the defense. But it’s bowl season, so that doesn’t matter at this point.

As for entertainment off the field, we saw a resurgence of the Pop-Tarts, the over/under hit with 9:28 remaining in the 2nd quarter, and one unfortunate mascot mentally preparing to be lowered into a toaster for amusement to become the winning team to eat.

Yes, there is no other postseason bowl game that offers this kind of entertainment.