It’s a battle of the dogs in Boise, as NIU travels out West to take on Fresno State.
The Northern Illinois Huskies (7-5, 4-4 MAC) have received their bowl assignment, traveling to idyllic Boise, Idaho to take on the Fresno State Bulldogs in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Monday, December 23rd. The Northern Star’s Skyler Kisellus was first to report via Twitter on Saturday night, with Action Network’s Brett McMurphy confirming on Sunday afternoon.
The game, which is set to take place on Boise State’s campus at Albertson’s Stadium, will be a rematch of the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl, which was also played in Boise.
The Huskies found themselves the darlings of the college football landscape with a hard-earned upset against Notre Dame in Week 2, briefly securing a #25 ranking in the Associated Press poll for two weeks before being summarily upset by the Buffalo Bulls at home in an overtime contest.
NIU’s season was ultimately defined by taking on losses they couldn’t survive, following up a 17-7 win against Bowling Green (which ultimately shut the latter out of a trip to Detroit) with two one-possession losses against Toledo and Ball State, essentially taking NIU out of MAC title contention in late October.
Despite the down year, the Huskies did show some muster, taking their three hardest opponents (Notre Dame, North Carolina State and Bowling Green) to one-score games and coming out 2-1. On their day, NIU can compete with anyone, and look to win their second bowl game in four attempts under head coach Thomas Hammock.
The Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6, 4-3 Mountain West) are in a state of transition, recently hiring USC assistant coach Matt Entz— formerly of FCS giant North Dakota State— as their new head coach.
Interim head coach Tim Skipper, a former assistant coach under Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain, has led the team as an interim since Jeff Tedford stepped down, compiling a 7-6 (4-3 MWC) overall record over two seasons.
Fresno State lost most of their marquee games, with a 30-10 loss to then #9 Michigan to open the season, a 59-10 loss to 23rd-ranked UNLV and a 25-17 loss to Washington State early in the season before taking UCLA to within a possession on the last week of the season. They also took some questionable losses to two 5-7 teams in Hawai’i and Air Force.
Despite the losses, Fresno State still posted some impressive victories as well, blanking New Mexico State 48-0, plucking four interceptions in a 33-10 nationally-televised win over San Jose State and a 38-21 victory over New Mexico where they forced three turnovers.
The Bulldogs are right in the middle of the Mountain West for scoring offense and defense, ranking sixth in the 12-team conference in both categories, and also sit around the middle on special teams. They possess one of the conference’s best rushing defenses, giving up an average of 137.6 yards per game (third in MWC), and a top-five passing attack in the MWC (245.1 yards per game; 19 touchdowns, 13 interceptions.)
Kickoff is scheduled for Monday, December 23rd, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time (12:30 p.m. local.) ESPN will provide the coverage.