The 2026 Duke's Mayo Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2026, at Bank of America Stadium located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 24th annual Duke's Mayo Bowl began at approximately 8:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.[2][3] It was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. The game's title sponsor was Duke's Mayonnaise.
| 2026 Duke's Mayo Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 24th Duke's Mayo Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Bank of America Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Charlotte, North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Robby Ashford (QB, Wake Forest)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Mississippi State by 3.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Greg Blum (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 29,328 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Paul Carcaterra (sideline) (ESPN) Mike Couzens (play-by-play), Max Starks (analyst), and Marilyn Payne (sideline) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) defeated Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), 43–29.[4]
Teams
editThe game featured Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The teams had one prior meeting, a win by Mississippi State in the 2011 Music City Bowl.[5]
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
editWake Forest compiled an 8–4 record during the regular season, losing (in overtime) to one ranked team, Georgia Tech, and defeating one ranked team, Virginia.[6] This marked a considerable turnaround from their 2024 campaign, where the Demon Deacons went 4-8. In the prior offseason, Wake Forest hired former Washington State head coach Jake Dickert as their next head coach.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
editMississippi State won their first four games, including a four-point win over ranked Arizona State, but then lost seven of their eight remaining games.[7] Five defeats were to ranked teams—Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas, Georgia, and Ole Miss. With a 5–7 record, the Bulldogs were not bowl eligible, but received a invitation due to some bowl-eligible teams opting out.[8]
Game summary
edit| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest | 15 | 0 | 15 | 13 | 43 |
| Mississippi State | 6 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 29 |
at Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, North Carolina
- Date: Friday, January 2, 2026
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 57 °F (14 °C) • Wind: 6 mph (9.7 km/h) northeast
- Game attendance: 29,328
- Referee: Gregory Blum
- TV announcers (ESPN): Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Paul Carcaterra (sideline)
- Box score
Statistics
edit| Statistics | WF | MSST |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 23 | 20 |
| Plays–yards | 68/451 | 69/408 |
| Rushes–yards | 35/148 | 42/114 |
| Passing yards | 303 | 294 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 20/33/1 | 16/27/0 |
| Time of possession | 31:35 | 28:25 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest | Passing | Robby Ashford | 20/33, 303 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Ty Clark III | 17 carries, 91 yards | |
| Receiving | Carlos Hernandez | 6 receptions, 73 yards | |
| Mississippi State | Passing | Kamario Taylor | 13/22, 241 yards, 1 TD |
| Rushing | Kamario Taylor | 18 carries, 63 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Brenen Thompson | 4 receptions, 106 yards |
References
edit- ↑ Beasley, Lauren (January 3, 2025). "Former Gamecock QB finds redemption with Duke's Mayo Bowl MVP performance". garnetandcocky.com. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
- ↑ "2025-26 College Football Playoff schedule, dates, TV channel, sites". NCAA.com. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ↑ "College Football Bowl Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ↑ "Robby Ashford Leads Wake Forest Past Mississippi State 43-29 in Duke's Mayo Bowl". CBS Sports. Associated Press. January 3, 2026. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- ↑ "Wake Forest vs. Mississippi State football series history games list". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Wake Forest Demon Deacons". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Mississippi State Bulldogs". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ Olson, Eric (December 7, 2025). "Bowl Officials Seek 5-7 Teams to Fill In After Irish, Iowa St, Kansas St Say They're Done for Year". AP News. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
External links
edit- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com