2021 Orange Bowl (January)

2021 Capital One Orange Bowl
2021 Capital One Orange Bowl
87th Orange Bowl
Texas A&M Aggies	North Carolina Tar Heels
(8–1)	(8–3)
SEC	ACC
41	27
Head coach: ; Jimbo Fisher	Head coach: ; Mack Brown
Date	January 2, 2021
Season	2020
Stadium	Hard Rock Stadium
Location	Miami Gardens, Florida
MVP	De’Von Achane (RB, Texas A&M)
Favorite	Texas A&M by 6
National anthem	Reina Obzay
Referee	Larry Smith (Big Ten)
Attendance	13,737
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN and ESPN Radio
Announcers	ESPN: Bob Wischusen (play-by-play); Dan Orlovsky (analyst); Katie George (sideline); ESPN Radio: Sean Kelley and Barrett Jones
Orange Bowl
< 2019	2021 (Dec.) >

The 2021 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2021, with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.^[4] It was the 87th edition of the Orange Bowl, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. Sponsored by bank holding company Capital One, the game was officially known as the Capital One Orange Bowl.

Teams

As one of the New Year's Six bowl games, the participants of the game were determined by the College Football Playoff selection committee. The committee matched No. 5^[a] Texas A&M of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) against No. 13^[a] North Carolina of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).^[5] The programs had not previously met.^[6]

Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M entered the bowl with an 8–1 record, all in SEC games. Their only loss of the season was to Alabama, a 52–24 defeat. The Aggies defeated one ranked team during the season, Florida, by a score of 41–38. Texas A&M had appeared in one previous Orange Bowl, the 1944 edition.

North Carolina Tar Heels

North Carolina entered the bowl with an 8–3 record, 7–3 in ACC play. The Tar Heels' losses were to Florida State, Virginia, and ranked Notre Dame. North Carolina defeated three ranked teams during the season: Virginia Tech, NC State, and Miami (FL). This was the first appearance by the Tar Heels in an Orange Bowl.

Game summary

2021 Capital One Orange Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Aggies	7	10	0	24	41
No. 13 Tar Heels	3	10	7	7	27

at Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, Florida

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021
Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Referee: Larry Smith
TV announcers (ESPN): Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dan Orlovsky (analyst), and Katie George (sideline)
ESPN game summary

Game information

First quarter

(9:11) TAMU — Isaiah Spiller 9 yard rush, Seth Small kick (Drive: 7 plays, 28 yards, 3:31; Texas A&M 7–0)
(4:31) UNC — Grayson Atkins 29 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 63 yards, 4:40; Texas A&M 7–3)

Second quarter

(11:09) UNC — Grayson Atkins 32 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 36 yards, 5:48; Texas A&M 7–6)
(7:40) TAMU — Seth Small 25 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 68 yards, 3:29; Texas A&M 10–6)
(4:56) UNC — Dazz Newsome 28 yard pass from Sam Howell, Grayson Atkins kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:44; North Carolina 13–10)
(0:20) TAMU — Isaiah Spiller 3 yard rush, Seth Small kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:36; Texas A&M 17–13)

Third quarter

(8:01) UNC — Josh Downs 10 yard pass from Sam Howell, Grayson Atkins kick (Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 3:25; North Carolina 20–17)

Fourth quarter

(14:02) TAMU — Seth Small 23 yard field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 74 yards, 5:31; Tied 20–20)
(13:51) UNC — Josh Downs 75 yard pass from Sam Howell, Grayson Atkins kick (Drive: 1 plays, 75 yards, 0:11; North Carolina 27–20)
(10:11) TAMU — Kellen Mond 4 yard rush, Seth Small kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:40; Tied 27–27)
(3:44) TAMU — De’Von Achane 76 yard rush, Seth Small kick (Drive: 3 plays, 87 yards, 1:23; Texas A&M 34–27)
(1:34) TAMU — De’Von Achane 1 yard rush, Seth Small kick (Drive: 3 plays, 34 yards, 0:50; Texas A&M 41–27)

Statistics

Statistics	TAMU	UNC
First downs	19	18
Plays–yards	61–457	65–324
Rushes–yards	35–225	34–90
Passing yards	232	234
Passing: comp–att–int	16–26–0	18–31–1
Time of possession	32:13	27:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas A&M	Passing	Kellen Mond	16-for-26, 232 yards
	Rushing	De’Von Achane	140 yards on 12 carries, 2 TD
	Receiving	Ainias Smith	125 yards on 6 receptions
North Carolina	Passing	Sam Howell	18-for-31, 234 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	British Brooks	53 yards on 15 carries
	Receiving	Josh Downs	91 yards on 4 receptions, 2 TD

Notes

^ ^a ^b Per final CFP Rankings released on December 20.

References

^ @TXMileSplit (January 2, 2021). "2019 UIL 5A 200m champ Devon Achane of FB Marshall helped Texas A&M win the Orange Bowl tonight with 2 TDS helping him win MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved January 2, 2021 – via Twitter.
^ "College football bowl betting lines released". 247Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
^ Austro, Ben (December 23, 2020). "2020-21 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
^ "College Football Bowl Schedule | 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
^ Khan Jr., Sam (December 23, 2020). "Orange Bowl preview: Key players and matchups for Texas A&M-North Carolina". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
^ "Texas A&M Aggies vs. North Carolina Tar Heels football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

External links

Official website
Game statistics at statbroadcast.com

[rank-5] Per final CFP Rankings released on December 20.

[1] @TXMileSplit (January 2, 2021). "2019 UIL 5A 200m champ Devon Achane of FB Marshall helped Texas A&M win the Orange Bowl tonight with 2 TDS helping him win MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved January 2, 2021 – via Twitter.

[2] "College football bowl betting lines released". 247Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2020.

[3] Austro, Ben (December 23, 2020). "2020-21 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved January 2, 2021.

[4] "College Football Bowl Schedule | 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved October 2, 2020.

[6] Khan Jr., Sam (December 23, 2020). "Orange Bowl preview: Key players and matchups for Texas A&M-North Carolina". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

[7] "Texas A&M Aggies vs. North Carolina Tar Heels football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

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v t e 2020–21 NCAA football bowl game season
Myrtle Beach (Dec. 21) Famous Idaho Potato (Dec. 22) Boca Raton (Dec. 22) New Orleans (Dec. 23) Montgomery (Dec. 23) New Mexico (Dec. 24) Camellia (Dec. 25) Cure (Dec. 26) First Responder (Dec. 26) LendingTree (Dec. 26) Cheez-It (Dec. 29) Alamo (Dec. 29) Duke's Mayo (Dec. 30) Cotton (Dec. 30) Armed Forces (Dec. 31) Liberty (Dec. 31) Arizona (Dec. 31) Peach (Jan. 1) Citrus (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 2) Outback (Jan. 2) Fiesta (Jan. 2) Orange (Jan. 2)
College Football Playoff games: Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) National Championship Game (Jan. 11)
All-Star Games Senior Bowl (Jan. 30) Hula Bowl (Jan. 31)

v t e Orange Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Miami Orange Bowl Hard Rock Stadium College Football Playoff New Year's Six Broadcasters Atlantic Coast Conference Big Ten Conference Southeastern Conference Notre Dame
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 (January) 1996 (December) 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 (January) 2014 (December) 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 (January) 2021 (December) 2022 2023 2025
Notes	The game was also the national title game (Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series) in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2005. There was an Orange Bowl in January and December in 1996, 2014, and 2021. The 2015, 2018, and 2021 (December) editions were College Football Playoff semifinals.