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The Colorado State Rams, under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Bobo, have accepted an invitation to play in the 20th edition of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 22 in Boise, Idaho. CSU, with a record of 7-5 (5-3 in Mountain West play) will face Sun Belt Conference foe Idaho (8-4; 6-2), with kickoff scheduled for 5 p.m. MST at Albertsons Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN and broadcast nationally by ESPN Radio, as well as over the CSU Rams Radio Network by Learfield.
Colorado State closed the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning four of its last five games, and five of its last seven, to secure its fourth consecutive bowl invitation — the second-longest streak of postseason play in school history. The Rams played in five consecutive bowl games from 1999-2003. This will be CSU’s first appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which began in 1997 as the Humanitarian Bowl.
Bobo is the first head coach in CSU football history to lead the Rams to bowl games in each of his first two seasons, and Colorado State is one of just three Mountain West programs to play in a bowl game in each of the last four seasons, joining Boise State and San Diego State.
“Our football team has consistently improved throughout this season by the way they have worked and learned to compete, and I believe we are playing our best football late in the season,” Bobo said. “We are appreciative of this invitation to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and I’m excited for this football team to have one more chance to play together, to keep improving and finish the season on a high note.”
The Rams, behind five All-Mountain West honorees, closed the regular season with a win over 10-3 MW champion San Diego State (63-31) on the road following a win over 8-4 New Mexico (49-31) in the final game at Hughes Stadium. CSU is averaging 47.4 points and 520.6 yards per game over the last five games and has outscored opponents by a combined 172-62 in the first half over that stretch.
Colorado State leads the all-time series with Idaho 4-3. The teams last met in 2010 when the Rams defeated the Vandals 36-34 in Fort Collins.