NASHVILLE,Tenn. – Purdue from the Big Ten will play Tennessee from the Southeastern Conference in the 24th edition of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. CST inside Nissan Stadium in downtown Nashville, bowl representatives announced on Sunday.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. The will be Purdue’s first appearance in the Bowl since 2018 and Tennessee’s first since 2016. This will mark the first meeting between the schools since 1979 and first SEC/Big Ten matchup since 2018 when Auburn defeated Purdue.
“On behalf of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl board of directors, our staff and our volunteers, we look forward to hosting Purdue and Tennessee in Nashville on Dec. 30,” Scott Ramsey, President & CEO of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, said. “After an unprecedented year in 2020 we look forward to welcoming Purdue and Tennessee’s fanbases back to Nashville’s holiday tradition this year.”
Purdue went 8-4 overall during the regular season and posted a 6-3 conference record finishing fourth in the Big Ten West. The Boilermakers had massive wins over then No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Michigan State. Quarterback Aiden O’Connell led all passers with 3,178 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight touchdowns. Wide receiver David Bell earned Big Ten Receiver of the Year honors after posting 1,286 andsix touchdowns in 2021.
The Boilermakers are led by head coach Jeff Brohm, who will be making his second appearance in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. He is in his fifth season with Purdue and has gone 27-29 overall. Tennessee posted a 7-5 overall record in 2021 while finishing third in the SEC East. The Volunteers went 3-1 over their final four games with a marquee win over then No. 18 Kentucky. After taking over as the starting quarterback, Hendon Hooker led all passers with 2,567 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Hooker was also Tennessee’s second-leading rusher (561 yards, 5 TD’s) behind running back Jabari Small (612 rushing yards, eight touchdowns).
The Volunteers are led by first-year head coach Josh Heupel. Heupel took over headcoach at Tennessee after a successful three-season stint at the University of Central Florida. He is 35-14 as a head coach.
Established in 1998, the TransPerfect Music City Bowl has transformed the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day into one of the city’s busiest times of the year for tourism and has become Nashville’s holiday tradition.
Since its inception, the Bowl has produced over $350 million in direct economic impact to Nashville.
For more information on this year’s game, visit MusicCityBowl.com.
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Tickets
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster online at MusicCityBowl.com/ticket-information.
Bowl Media Contact
Aldo Amato, Director of Public Relations,Marketing & Communications, (615) 743-3124 or aamato@nashvillesports.com
About the TransPerfect Music City Bowl
TheTransPerfect City Bowl (501(c)(3) non-profit organization) is an annualpost-season collegiate bowl featuring the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences. Since its inception, the bowl has produced over $350 million in direct economic impact. Distributed nationally to millions of viewers and listeners on ESPN and ESPN Radio, the bowl is Nashville’s holiday tradition. For more information, call the Bowl office at 615-743-3130 or visit the Bowl online at MusicCityBowl.com.