2025 Music City Bowl
| 2025 Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 27th Music City Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 30, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Nissan Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Luke Altmyer (QB, Illinois)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Tennessee by 2.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Riley Johnson (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 52,815 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), and Cole Cubelic (sideline reporter) (ESPN) Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst), and Stephanie Otey (sideline reporter) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2025 Music City Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2025, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The 27th annual Music City Bowl game began at approximately 4:30 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN.[2][3] It was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by the Liberty Mutual insurance company and was officially known as the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl.
The Illinois Fighting Illini from the Big Ten Conference defeated the Tennessee Volunteers from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) by a score of 30–28.[4]
Teams
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the bowl featured Illinois from the Big Ten Conference and Tennessee from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).[5] This was the first meeting of the Illinois and Tennessee football teams.[6]
Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois opened their season with five wins in their first six games, losing only to 19th-ranked Indiana, and were ranked as high as ninth. The Fighting Illini then lost back-to-back games; their record stood at 5–3 at the end of October. During November, Illinois won three of their four games, and entered the Music City Bowl with an 8–4 record.[7]
Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee compiled a regular-season record of 8–4, and were ranked each week. Each of their losses came to other ranked teams: Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt.[8] Following a loss in their final regular-season game, Tennessee entered the Music City Bowl unranked.
Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Illinois | 7 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 30 |
at Nissan Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee
- Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2025
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 34 °F (1 °C) • Wind: 7 mph (11 km/h) northwest
- Game attendance: 52,815
- Referee: Riley Johnson
- TV announcers (ESPN): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), and Cole Cubelic (sideline reporter)
- Box score
| Game information |
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Statistics
| Statistics | TENN | ILL |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 18 | 27 |
| Plays–yards | 55–278 | 73–417 |
| Rushes–yards | 37–157 | 39–221 |
| Passing yards | 121 | 196 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 14–18–0 | 20–34–0 |
| Time of possession | 24:14 | 35:46 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | Passing | Joey Aguilar | 14/18, 121 yards |
| Rushing | DeSean Bishop | 19 carries, 93 yards | |
| Receiving | Mike Matthews | 3 receptions, 43 yards | |
| Illinois | Passing | Luke Altmyer | 20/33, 196 yards, TD |
| Rushing | Aidan Laughery | 13 carries, 77 yards | |
| Receiving | Hudson Clement | 3 receptions, 48 yards |
References
- ^ Salers, Caleb (December 31, 2025). "Starkville native Altmyer crowned Music City Bowl MVP after leading Illinois to 30-28 win over Tennessee". Supertalk Mississippi. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
- ^ "Tennessee Vols to face Illinois in Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium". WZTV. 2025-12-29. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
- ^ "College Football Bowl Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Illinois beats Tennessee in the Music City Bowl to keep Big Ten undefeated this bowl season". Fox Sports. AP. December 30, 2025. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ^ Fornelli, Tom (December 30, 2025). "Tennessee vs. Illinois Prediction, Picks, Odds, Spread: Vols, Illini Conclude Season in Music City Bowl". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ^ "Illinois vs. Tennessee football series history". winsipedia.com. December 30, 2025.
- ^ "Illinois Fighting Illini". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
- ^ "Tennessee Volunteers". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
External links
- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com