2011-2012
College Football Season
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Preview

The Humanitarian Bowl gets a new sponsor and a new name. It also gets two of the least-storied football programs in the FBS, when it comes to bowl games, as Ohio and Utah State each make just their 6th bowl appearance.

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is the middle game of an ESPN triple-header on the opening day of the 2011 bowl season, sandwiched between the New Mexico and New Orleans bowls.

The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. EST kick-off in Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.

This should actually be a good game for the beginning of a bowl season as both schools experienced five-game winning streaks during the regular season and finished second in their respective conferences.

Ohio, 9-4 and winners of the MAC East title, lost to Northern Illinois in the conference championship game, 23-20. The offense is led by senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton, who broke 12 Bobcats single season records this year and ranks 20th nationally with 26 touchdown passes. This will be the Bobcats’ third-straight bowl appearance.

Head coach Frank Solich said, "For the past two years, this has one of the premier bowl games for the Mid-American Conference. I couldn’t be happier for our team and our 17 seniors, who have given so much to this program."

Utah State (7-5) finished the year with five straight victories and brings the nation’s sixth-ranked rushing attack into Bronco Stadium, led by junior running back Robert Turbin.

The Aggies faced a tough out-of-conference schedule and lost narrowly to two national powers, Auburn and BYU.

Utah State’s last bowl appearance was in 1997 vs. Cincinnati in the same venue, the formerly-named Humanitarian Bowl. Overall, this will be the Aggies sixth bowl appearance in the program’s history.

"We’re delighted that Ohio and Utah State will be the match-up in our Bowl," said Kevin McDonald, Executive Director, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. "Both teams have well-coached, resurgent programs with powerful offenses so the fans are sure to see a competitive and entertaining game on the blue turf in Boise."

This will be only the second all-time meeting between Utah State and Ohio, with the teams playing each other on Sept. 17, 1994, at Athens, Ohio, and USU winning, 5-0 (yes, 5-0).

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is the second game of the entire bowl calendar and the only one in its timeslot. The Bowl will be telecast nationally on ESPN and broadcast on ESPN Radio. Five of the previous seven games have been decided on the last drive, with an average score of 38-25 over the past 14 years.

The Congrove Computer Rankings suggest this will be the most-closely contested game of the bowl season with Utah State forecasted to win by a scant 0.11 points.