Idaho Wins the Potato Bowl. Well of Course.

Colorado State scored 36 points in the fourth quarter but Idaho held on to win 61-50 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at blue turfed Albertson’s Stadium in Boise. Idaho quarterback Matt Linehan was the game’s MVP, completing 21 of 31 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions. Colorado State QB Nick Stevens was 21 of 36 for a whopping 445 yards and five touchdowns, but he threw two interceptions. Idaho had 606 total yards, while Colorado had an even 600. Isaiah Saunders rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns for Idaho.

It’s actually the third time Idaho has won this bowl game; they previously won in 1997 and 2009. Back then, it was the Humanitarian Bowl. The current sponsor is the Idaho Potato Commission, which is a perfect fit for University of Idaho football–how could they lose a game with that name? But alas, Idaho’s days of participation in this bowl are limited. The school was an FCS team until changing to an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) Division I school in1996, but is scheduled to return to FCS status in 2018. We’ll see if they revisit that decision after this. Idaho finished the season with a record of 9-4.

In a semi related item, New Mexico beat Texas-San Antonio 23-20 in the New Mexico Bowl played in Albuquerque in the Lobos’ stadium on December 17th.