Kalani Sitake Goes Full Send on Pop-Tart After BYU’s Bowl Win - and the Internet Can’t Get Enough
After a gritty 25-21 comeback win over Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake didn’t just celebrate - he devoured the moment. Literally.
Moments after the final whistle, Sitake marched over to the now-iconic toaster-shaped Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy, pulled out a fresh pastry, and inhaled it in one bite. No hesitation.
No crumbs left behind. Just pure, unfiltered celebration.
It was the kind of spontaneous, joy-fueled moment that college football lives for - and the internet ate it up just as fast.
Sitake’s One-Bite Wonder Becomes Instant Classic
The clip of Sitake’s Pop-Tart demolition spread like wildfire. One second he’s holding the trophy, the next he’s channeling his inner competitive eater and making that Pop-Tart disappear like a fourth-quarter lead in a shootout.
The viral moment racked up hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms, with fans, media, and even a few legends of the eating world chiming in. ESPN’s Ryan McGee summed up the vibe best: “We should all attack every aspect of our lives the way Kalani Sitake attacks a Pop-Tart.”
Hard to argue with that.
“Joey Chestnut-Mode”: The Comparisons Roll In
Naturally, when someone consumes a pastry with that much intensity, the name Joey Chestnut is going to come up - and it did. Quickly.
Bleacher Report joked that Sitake went “Joey Chestnut style” on the Pop-Tart. The Athletic joined the chorus. And fans across the internet started floating the idea of Sitake as a future dark horse in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
“He Chestnutted that thing,” one user wrote - a phrase that might just stick around longer than anyone expected.
Even Chestnut himself got wind of Sitake’s performance. When 247 Sports’ Jeff Hansen tagged the 17-time hot dog champ in a tweet asking if he’d visit BYU, Chestnut responded with high praise: “The man is a beast!!! And that trophy is next level.”
When Joey Jaws calls you a beast, you’ve officially made it.
A Pop-Tart Showdown? Probably Not.
As fun as it is to imagine Sitake and Chestnut going head-to-head in a Pop-Tart duel, don’t hold your breath.
While Chestnut has conquered just about every food challenge imaginable - including 100 Pop-Tarts in 30 minutes during a 2020 livestream - he’s not exactly eager to return to the toaster pastry gauntlet.
“It was terrible,” he admitted in an interview that year. “They got super dry, it tore up my mouth, it took me longer. It was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be.”
That’s coming from a guy who’s eaten 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes, 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, and 121 Twinkies in six minutes. If Pop-Tarts broke Joey Chestnut, maybe Sitake’s one-bite stunt is even more impressive than we thought.
More Than a Meme: A Moment That Captures the Spirit of Bowl Season
Sitake’s Pop-Tart moment wasn’t just a viral clip - it was a snapshot of what makes college football so special. The stakes are high, the emotions are raw, and sometimes, the trophy is edible.
For BYU, the win capped off a strong season and added another signature victory to Sitake’s résumé. For fans, it was a reminder that bowl season isn’t just about rankings or draft stock - it’s about moments. And sometimes, those moments come wrapped in foil and frosting.
So here’s to Kalani Sitake, who coached his team to a comeback win, grabbed the trophy, and then took a bite out of victory - literally.
And if Joey Chestnut ever wants a rematch with the toaster trophy, he knows where to find him.