BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…December 21, 2018, five years ago today:
BYU’s Zach Wilson completes the most passes without a miss in the history of college bowl games as the Cougars blast past Western Michigan 49-18 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Wilson, who a little over a year earlier had been a Boise State commit, went 18-for-18 for 317 yards and four touchdowns. Everything Wilson touched turned to gold. In fact, he could have had a pair of interceptions had tight end Matt Bushman not twice snatched the ball away from WMU defenders.
BYU, wearing all-blue uniforms on the blue turf, rallied from a 10-7 halftime deficit to secure a winning season—and win in Boise for the first time. Wilson was a pedestrian 8-for-8 in the first half for 95 yards at the break, but he went off in the second half. The win was at least some consolation for Wilson after the Cougars lost 21-16 to the Broncos in Albertsons Stadium in early November. In that game, with the ball on the Boise State two-yard line on the final play of the game, the future New York Jet was sacked by Tyson Maeva and Scale Igiehon to end it.
The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ended with Eagle High grad Tanner Mangum taking the final snaps of his college career on the field where he played his first Optimist Football game. We all imagined what was to come for Mangum when he began his BYU career in 2015 with a Hail Mary touchdown to beat Nebraska—then duplicated the feat a week later to shock his hometown team, Boise State. But his career was derailed by various injuries over the years, and he finished as the backup to Wilson.
If Mangum was having trouble dealing with that kind of ending, he certainly didn’t show it. “In Little League football, when I was 8 years old, the opening game was a scrimmage on the blue turf,” he said in the Deseret News during bowl week. “It’s come full circle. It’s good to be home in a place that I love, Boise, and close to family. It’s fitting that I get to finish (in Boise). I’m just looking forward to finishing strong and finish on a high note.” Well, on the final throw of his career, Mangum hit Dylan Collie on a 41-yard strike to the WMU one-yard line. (The Cougars ran in their final touchdown on the next play.)
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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