Pop-Tarts Bowl Fun Facts: Iowa State-Miami. High-scoring ‘Canes, high-fructose corn syrup

1. These two teams have never met. Not even briefly.

2. Miami leads the FBS in scoring with 43.1 points per game, in passing yardage with 362.5 per game, in fourth-quarter points with 14.5 per game, and in third-down conversion rate with 56.5 percent.

3. Entering bowl season, Iowa State was the nation’s only team with two 1,000-yard receivers. Jayden Higgins has 1,183 yards, Jaylin Noel 1,077.

4. Higgins is from South Miami and hosts a youth football camp there.

5. Miami is 20-25 in bowls, Iowa State 5-13.

6. Had either team won its most recent game, it would have participated in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

7. The Pop-Tarts Bowl began as the Blockbuster Bowl before it was the Carquest Bowl, the MicronPC Bowl, the MicronPC.com Bowl, the Tangerine Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl, the Russell Athletic Bowl, the Camping World Bowl and the Cheez-It Bowl.

8. The winning team in this game gets to eat the giant Pop-Tarts mascot. Seriously.

9. Iowa State’s next game will be against Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 23. Miami’s next game will be against Notre Dame in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Aug. 30.

10. The University of Miami isn’t located in Miami. It’s in Coral Gables.

11. Iowa State is second in the nation in fewest penalty yards per game. Miami is 122nd.

12. The Hurricanes average 2.0 punts, fewer than any team except Army.

13. Miami quarterback Cam Ward previously played for Incarnate Word and Washington State. He has 155 career touchdown passes and 17,997 passing yards.

14. The lowest passing yardage in Ward’s career was in his only bowl appearance, 138 yards for Washington State against Fresno State in the 2022 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.

15. The highest passing yardage in Cyclone quarterback Rocco Becht’s career was in his only bowl appearance, 446 yards in last year’s Liberty Bowl.

16. Miami’s Mario Cristobal was the first Cuban-American to become an FBS head coach when he got the Florida International job in 2006. He played offensive tackle for Jimmy Johnson at Miami.

17. Miami’s population is 57.8 percent foreign-born. Ames’ is not.

18. The original four Pop-Tarts flavors were strawberry, blueberry, apple currant and brown sugar cinnamon.

19. Pop-Tarts have three types of sugar: Refined white sugar, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup.

20. In 2022, the obesity rate in the United States was 40.3 percent based on age-adjusted data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.