Most of the action happened early and late in Saturday’s 75th annual Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile.

Both the American and National teams scored touchdowns on their first possessions on a beautiful day at sold-out Hancock Whitney Stadium, but all the scoring after that came on three Joshua Karty field goals. That gave the National a 16-7 victory, its fourth straight since the old North-South format was scrapped prior to the 2021 Senior Bowl.

National team defensive back Chau Smith-Wade helped seal the game with a pair of interceptions, including one he returned 83 yards to set up a field goal.

“It’s been a game week for me,” Smith-Wade said. “People say the game doesn’t matter, the scouts are leaving (after Thursday’s practice), but this is a fan game. I really wanted to be able to put on for the Mobile fans, too. They came out to watch us, too.”

Quarterback Spencer Rattler of South Carolina guided the only scoring drive of the day for the American team in the first quarter, a methodical 75-yard, 7-play drive that included some tough running by Emani Bailey of TCU. Rattler hit Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint of Georgia for the touchdown from 29 yards out, putting the American up 7-0 with 10:46 left in the first after the extra point from Alabama’s Will Reichard.

The National matched that with a touchdown of its own, set up by a 23-yard run from Troy’s Kimani Vidal — who ended up with 26 yards on six carries. The touchdown came on a 1-yard pass from Bo Nix of Oregon to tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford of Minnesota, making the score 7-7 with 1:53 left in the first.

Rattler and Nix each played only the first quarter. Rattler completed all four of his passes for 65 yards and the touchdown, while Nix — a former Pinson Valley High School star who began his college career at Auburn — went 4-for-5 for 21 yards and the scoring pass.

Rattler was named the Senior Bowl’s overall Most Valuable Player, while Georgia cornerback Tykee Smith (three pass breakups) was American team player of the game. Smith-Wade was National team player of the game.

“We put in a lot of hard work in as a team this week,” Rattler said. “I told the guys, you know, this (MVP award) isn’t just for me, it’s for the American squad. We fought out there, but came up short. I had a great week, knew a lot of these guys, played against a lot of these guys. It was good to get together.”

Both teams missed opportunities to take the lead late in the first half on field-goal attempts. Reichard’s 57-yard try hit the right upright, then Karty (of Stanford) pushed a 32-yarder wide right.

The final minute of the half also featured back-to-back turnovers, a fumble recovery by Michigan’s Jaylen Harrell for the National and an interception by Louisville’s Jarvis Brownlee for the American. Brownlee’s pick ruined a National team drive that started at the American 20, and sent the teams to halftime tied at 7-7.

Karty was responsible for the only points of the third quarter, connecting on field goals of 37 and 52 yards to give the National team a 13-7 lead heading in the final 15 minutes. Smith-Wade made the play of the game in the final two minutes, diving to intercept a long pass by Tennessee’s Joe Milton at his own 16, then scrambling to his feet and racing all the way the American 1-yard line.

That set up Karty’s 19-yard field goal to set the final score with 1:15 left. Karty ended up 3-for-4 on field goals and 1-for-1 on extra points, accounting for 10 of 16 National team points.

Smith-Wade added another interception in the closing moments (this one off Tulane’s Michael Pratt). He also finished with three tackles and a pass breakup, but his acrobatic interception and long return was the play many will remember from this Senior Bowl.

“I had my eyes on the quarterback and was able to see (the receiver) running an inside fade and I just helped my nickel out on that, just playing reactive ball and I went to go get it,” Smith-Wade said. “… It’s not college anymore where you’re down, you’ve got to be down by contact now. So I got up, I started to celebrate a little bit and my teammates were like, ‘go, go, go.’ So I just cut it on, I cut the field and … took it to the pylon.

“… I talked to a few guys after and they said that I was in (the end zone) on the replay. I’m gonna count it as a pick six, by the way.”

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Michael Penix of Washington was an apparently healthy scratch on Saturday, leaving the National team with only Nix and Sam Hartman of Notre Dame at quarterback. Hartman played the final three quarters, going 7-for-25 for 69 yards and an interception.

Bailey had an excellent game in defeat for the American team, totaling 53 yards on 10 carries and catching four passes for 34 yards. Fellow running back Cody Schrader of Missouri added five receptions for 54 yards, but managed just 12 yards on seven attempts rushing.

Four American team quarterbacks combined to go 18-for-33 for 196 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions. Outside of Rattler’s perfect effort, Milton was 9-for-13 for 80 yards and two interceptions, Pratt was 4-for-10 for 40 yards and an interception and South Alabama’s Carter Bradley was 1-for-6 for 6 yards.

The National team won despite having nearly 20 players pull out of the Senior Bowl either due to nagging injuries or undisclosed reasons, leaving them with not only just two quarterbacks, but three healthy receivers. National team head coach Jeff Ulbrich — also the New York Jets’ defensive coordinator — said his team did an excellent job of adapting to the numbers disparity on Saturday.

“It was a monster,” Ulbrich said. “We had to figure out what running backs had flex that could go into the slot. We were really fortunate that we had three tight ends that we really liked, so … we just put more tight ends on the field. But it was challenging for sure, between not only injuries but guys pulling out.”

The Senior Bowl honored its 75th anniversary team at halftime, a group comprised of those who have played in the NFL since 1998 (a separate 50th anniversary team was chosen in 1999). Among those college and NFL legends in attendance Saturday were Shaun Alexander and Cornelius Bennett (Alabama), Terrell Owens (Alexander City native), Thurman Thomas, Aeneas Williams, Hines Ward, Kevin Mawae, Torry Holt, Joe Staley, Patrick Willis and LeRoy Butler.

Senior Bowl officials reported Friday night that all 25,000 seats at Hancock Whitney Stadium had been sold, the game’s first sellout since 2010 at 40,000-seat Ladd-Peebles Stadium (when Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was among the featured players). The Senior Bowl moved onto the South Alabama campus in 2021, and nearly every seat was filled at one point or another during Saturday’s game.