BOISE, Idaho — The 23rd edition of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features the Nevada Wolfpack and the Ohio Bobcats, which will kick off on Jan. 3, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. at Albertsons Stadium.
The matchup between the Wolfpack and Bobcats is the first time ever that the two teams have ever played each other.
This is the third Potato Bowl for Nevada (7-5, 4-4 Mountain West) and their first since 2008 when the Boise-based bowl was known as the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl. They lost to Maryland, 42-35, that year.
For Ohio (6-6, 5-3 Mid-American Conference), this is their second trip to the City of Trees for the Potato Bowl, as they beat Utah State in 2011 in a 24-23 thriller. This year, the Bobcats had to win their final two games of the regular season to become bowl eligible.
Bobcats head coach Frank Solich is excited to be back in Boise for the Potato Bowl after his experience in 2011.
"The experience that our players have had there, our families have had there, I think these guys (the players) are excited to go," he said. "They know that former players really liked the bowl and to top it all off, we had a really good bowl win, so it was nothing but positiveness about it."
TALE OF THE TAPE
Looking back at the regular season, the Bobcats' best win of the season was a 21-20 overtime win against 8-5 Buffalo. Ohio's largest margin of victory of the season as a 52-3 win over the Akron Zips - who went 0-12. Ohio only has two wins over teams with a winning record and one of their other wins was over Rhode Island of the FCS. The Bobcats also lost four games by three or fewer points.
Coach Solich, who has been the Bobcats' head coach since 2003, is hoping that the team finishes the season strong after an inconsistent year.
"I think everybody associated with our program is excited about the fact that we're able to play another game, we're on a roll," he said. "We were playing really well at the end of the season, played well in the middle of the season for some of it, but not well enough obviously to get the number of wins and get into the MAC championship game that we wanted, so that part of it became a little tough on us. Certainly, as we got to the point of where our players just showed up for practice and practiced hard and loved the way they were committed to finishing the season out and have them finish the season out in the manner in which they did, I think we're all excited about another game."
For Nevada, they enter the Potato Bowl without three of their defensive starters - junior defensive back Austin Arnold, senior defensive back Daniel Brown, and senior defensive tackle Huasia Sekona - after they were suspended for their roles in a brawl at the end of their game against rival UNLV. The suspensions effective end the colligate careers for Sekona and Brown.
Arnold, Sewell, and Brown make up half of Nevada's top six tacklers this season.
Jay Norvell, the Wolfpack's third-year head coach, and the team had a rocky season in 2019, even before the brawl at the end of the UNLV game. To start the season, Nevada beat Purdue (4-8) with a walk-off field goal but followed that up with a 77-6 blowout loss to Oregon. Other than a win over a Power 5 team, Wolfpack's best win was a 17-13 win over 10-3 San Diego State, which was their only win over a team with a winning record.
Nevada hasn't been a juggernaut on offense as they average 21.3 points per game and their largest margin of victory was a 37-21 win against a 1-11 UTEP. In Nevada's five losses this season, the average margin of defeat was by 40.8 points.
Regardless of the matchup, Nevada head coach Jay Norvell is excited to be in a bowl game and play a team with a style of play that they don't see often.
"It's different, it's kinda solid, old school, physical football," he said. "A little different style than we play in our conference and that's what great about bowl games is that its contrasting styles, its people from different regions and parts of the country. We're excited, we wanna go show our Nevada brand of football, we wanna represent the state, the university, in a great way and we're really excited to do that."
GAME INFORMATION
Nevada Wolfpack vs. Ohio Bobcats
- Friday, January 3
- Albertsons Stadium, Boise
- Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. MT
ON TV
The game will be televised on ESPN, which can be found on the following channels:
- Sparklight (formerly Cable One): Channel 133 / 1133 (HD)
- DirecTV: Channel 206
- Dish Network: Channel 140
- Cox: Channel 32 / 1032 (HD)
STREAMING
The game will stream live on the WatchESPN app, available in Apple and Android app stores. The service is only available to subscribers of participating cable and satellite television providers (including Cable One, Dish Network, and DirecTV).
TICKETS
Tickets are available on the bowl's website. Fans can also buy tickets through the Nevada and Ohio websites to support their team’s athletic programs, and ensure they sit with like-minded fans. Individual tickets range in price from $20 to $75. Premium ticket packages are available. For more package information contact the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl office at (208) 424-1011.
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BOWL WEEK EVENTS
The teams will arrive in Boise on Monday, Dec. 30 and will be treated to fun activities leading up to the game.
Then there is the always-popular Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Mash Bash. Fans are invited to the event, which will feature a showdown of teams' bands and cheerleaders. The Mash Bash will take place on Thursday, Jan. 2 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Grove Plaza.
FAN FEST
Fans with tickets are invited to attend the annual Fan Fest pregame event from 11 a.m to 2:30 p.m. This year fans will be treated to free food and drinks with French fries provided by Simplot.
Participants can check out military equipment, enjoy live music, take photos with the Famous Idaho Potato Truck, and take part in the FitOne Family Field day in the Caven-Williams Sports Complex.
A Battle of the Bands is also scheduled for noon on game day.
PARKING & SHUTTLES
Parking in any of the university's parking garages is free with the donation of one canned food item. Click here to view a campus map. Shuttles to and from the stadium will run two hours before kickoff and after the game. Here are the locations for the shuttles:
- 6th & Grove (Bardenay)
- 8th & Main
- 8th between Idaho & Bannock (Red Feather/Bittercreek)
- 8th & Broad (Solid Grill & Bar)
- River Street between 12th & Ash (Payette Brewing)
