KENT STATE vs WYOMING
Albertson’s Stadium – Boise, Idaho
ESPN
By game time, it will have been almost three weeks since Kent State fell in the MAC Championship game. After the initial disappointment of such a setback, its only natural for coaches and players to seek another chance to shine. Hence, the Flashes have no doubt been looking forward to meeting Wyoming Tuesday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Of course, KSU was a slight favorite in the MAC title game. This time, the Flashes are slight underdogs. Wyoming already owns two wins over MAC teams this year, knocking off Northern Illinois and Ball State in Weeks Two and Three. That was part of a season-opening four-game win streak. Four straight losses followed and the team split its final four games.
By EVAN MEYER
The 2021 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will feature teams from the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference for the ninth time in the event’s history.
Kent State, winners of four of its last six games, captured a MAC East Division title for the first time since 2012. The Wyoming Cowboys rebounded from a 2-4 season in 2020 defeating MWC Champion Utah State to earn bowl eligibility for the fourth time in the last five years.
Here is a look at the two teams as they battle on the blue turf at Boise State University.
THE SERIES:
• The game is the first ever meeting between the two schools.
• Kent State has a 4-6 lifetime record against the current teams in the Mountain West Conference, with their last being a 2019 Frisco Bowl triumph over Utah State, 51-41.
• Wyoming is 10-6 lifetime against the MAC including a pair of wins this season against Northern Illinois (50-43) and Ball State (45-12) .
WYOMING COWBOYS (6-6):
• Wyoming started its 125th season of football strongly, going 4-0 in their non-conference play. When Mountain West play began, the Cowboys lost four consecutive games before righting their ship with a victory over arch-rival Colorado State and then secured their bowl eligibility with a 44-17 win at Utah State (a team that upset nationally ranked San Diego State in the MWC Championship Game). UW then lost its regular season finale at home to Hawaii, 38-14.
• The Cowboys have averaged 23.2 points and 360.8 yards offensively this season.
• Wyoming's main offensive cog is junior RB Xazavian Halladay. He has rushed for 984 yards (needing 16 for his second 1,000 yard rushing season) and tallied four touchdowns. He also has 23 receptions for 233 yards. In the win over the Aggies, Halladay surpassed the 3,000 yard rushing plateau in his career (3,195 yards) -- just the second in UW football history. He has four 100-yard rushing games this season and was selected as a second-team all-MWC running back.
• UW has used two quarterbacks in 2021. Sophomore Levi Williams currently tops the depth chart. He has completed 57.8 percent of his passes (63-of-109) for 863 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He also has rushed for 282 yards and a score, going for 116 yards in the victory over Colorado State.
• The ‘Cowboys' top receiver is Isiah Neylor. The sophomore has 39 receptions for 791 yards and 11 touchdowns and has a pair of 100-yard receiving games.
• The defense is allowing 22.5 points and 346 total yards per game. It has registered 20 sacks and 12 interceptions.
• LB Chad Muma has 129 total tackles (80 solo), three interceptions, a sack, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick. He was a semifinalist this season for the Butkus Award, as well as the Bednarik Award.
• Craig Bohl is completing his eighth season as the ‘Pokes head coach. He owns a 44-50 record at the school. He is taking Wyoming to its fourth bowl game in his tenure. Bohl is 4-1 against the Mid-American Conference.
• Bohl came to Laramie from North Dakota State, where he led the Bison to three Football Championship Subdivision titles in 11 seasons (148-80 record). While there, he notched four wins over FBS schools, including Kansas State and Minnesota. His teams also fashioned aa 24-game winning streak before Bohl came to Laramie in 2004, succeeding Dave Christansen.
• Bohl played defensive back at Nebraska for Tom Osborn and began his coaching career with the Cornhuskers in 1981.
• Wyoming has had a rich football history. It is a charter member of the Mountain West Conference (1999) and was one of the anchors in the old Western Athletic Conference (from 1962-98).
• Some top Wyoming players include Jim Kiick (Miami Dolphins), Mark Smolinski (1968-AFL New York Jets), Tom Wilkinson (CFL-Edmonton Eskimos), Ken Fantetti (Detroit Lions), Jay Novacek (Dallas Cowboys), and Malcolm Floyd (San Diego Chargers).
• Past Cowboys coaches include Bob Devaney (Nebraska), Fred Akers (Texas), Pat Dye (Auburn), Bill Lewis (Georgia Tech), Dennis Erickson (Miami, Washington State and Seattle Seahawks), Joe Tiller (Purdue) and longtime NFL assistant coach Fritz Shurmur.
• Wyoming has nine players on current NFL rosters including Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), Marcus Epps (Philadelphia Eagles), and Logan Wilson (Cincinnati Bengals).
• Their home stadium, War Memorial Stadium, sits at 7,220 foot above sea level --
the highest in all of college football.
• Famous Alumni including U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, the late Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, legendary broadcaster the late Curt Gowdy (who played basketball and tennis), former Cleveland Cavaliers player Larry Nance Jr., and former U.S. Senator Allan Simpson.
KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES: (7-6):
• The Golden Flashes fell to the Northern Illinois Huskies 41-23 on Saturday December 4th in the 2021 Rocket Mortgage MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit.
It was a game that the Huskies led from the start as they built a 17-0 halftime lead and extended that to 24-3 in the third quarter.
KSU scored its first points in the third stanza when QB Dustin Crum connected with t WR Nykeim Johnson on a 17-yard touchdown pass. However NIU put the game away in the fourth quarter with a pair of short touchdown runs.
• Junior QB Collin Schlee replaced Crum in the fourth frame and engineered two scores on a four-yard touchdown run and then on the final play hit WR Luke Floriea from seven yards out.
• If one play turned the entire game for the Flashes, it was their second offensive play when Crum hit freshman WR Dante Cephas for an apparent 75 yard touchdown. However KSU was penalized for an ineligible man downfield. The Flashes never recovered.
• RB Xavier Williams led the ground attack with 93 yards on eight carries. Crum was just 11-of-21 passing for 128 yards, the touchdown pass to Johnson and two interceptions. Cephas again had another solid game with seven catches for 108 yards.
• The KSU defense was led by AJ Musolino, who had 15 total tackles (three solo). He was one of four defenders who registered 10 or more total stops in the game.
• KSU secured its first MAC Eastern Division crown since 2012 with a 48-47 win over Miami in overtime on November 27th at Dix Stadium. A 38-0 victory at rival Akron secured bowl eligibility for the second time in the last three seasons.
• The loss to NIU was just the second in the last six games for the Golden Flashes, who were making their second trip to the MAC Championship game. The other was 2012 also losing to Northern Illinois in double overtime 44-37.
• With a victory over Wyoming, the Flashes will have three consecutive winning seasons the first since 1972-74. Don James was the head coach and had players such as Gary Pinkel, Nick Saban, and a linebacker by the name of Jack Lambert.
• In 2021 non-conference action, KSU played three tough non-conference opponents including three bowl eligible teams (Texas A&M who beat Alabama facing Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl, Iowa the B1G West Division champions to play Kentucky in the Florida Citrus Bowl, and Maryland) along with a victory over FCS member VMI.
• KSU's super-uptempo offense has been a juggernaut in 2021. In their 13 games they have scored 424 points (second most in school history), averaging 32.6 points per game. In addition, The Flashes have amassed 6,251 yards -- a school record.
• The offense has gone over 400 yards nine times (including its last seven games) and over 600 yards four times (including 642 in the win over Miami). KSU scored on its first drive of the game eight times in 2021.
• The ground game is averaging 243.3 yards (first in the MAC). Cooper leads the attack with 1,080 yards -- second best in the conference. He has had six 100-yard games and scored 11 touchdowns. He is the first KSU running back to rush for over 1,000 yards since Dri Archer in 2012 (1,482). The 11 scores and 1,170 all-purpose yards are the most since Archer had 16 in that 2012 season. Was named second team All-MAC RB
• Crum is the man at the controls -- both with his arm and legs. He was named First team All-MAC quarterback for the second consecutive season and won the Vern Smith Award for leadership. He has completed 64.2 percent if his passes (228-of-355) for 2,922 yards a single-season record with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Crum needs just 78 yards to reach 3,000 yards in a season.
• Crum also has 633 yards rushing with 11 touchdowns (tied with Cooper for the team lead). In addition, he has five 300-yard passing games is second in total offense at 273.5 yards per game. His 14.4.9 passer rating is an all-time school high and was named MAC East Offensive player of the week four times this season.
• Cephas leads receivers with 78 catches for 1,124 yards -- only the second KSU receiver to have 1,000 receiving yards (Eugene Baker did it twice) and owns the most receptions since Baker’s 103 in 1997. Cephas was named First team All-MAC at wide receiver. He has posted five 100-yard receiving games, including 102 in the title game against NIU. The eight touchdown receptions are the most since Isiah McKoy in 2019.
• The defense is allowing 35 points and 467 yards per game in 2021. KSU has recorded 20 sacks and 16 interceptions.
• DB Dean Clark leads the Flashes with 103 total tackles (71 solo). His 103 stops is the most by a KSU defensive back since Nate Holley in 2016 (111). Clark led the team in tackles in four games.
• DB Elvis Hines was named first team All-MAC defensive back. Was sixth in tackles with 61 (43 solo) and had 13 passes defended (three interceptions and 10 pass breakups as well as a forced fumble.
• PK Andrew Glass leads in scoring with 102 points, becoming just the sixth player overall and third KSU kicker to reach the century mark in points (the others being Freddy Cortez and Matthew Trickett).
• Glass was named All-MAC third team place kicker. He has made 12 of his last 13 field goal attempts (the lone miss was blocked against Miami). Glass is just the sixth player in KSU history to score 100 points in a season. His 45 points after touchdowns is the sixth best single-season in school history.
• With the Wyoming game being the final of his KSU career, Crum has 7,133 passing yards (third all-time behind Josh Cribbs and Spencer Keith). His 51 touchdown passes is second behind Jose Davis (57). He has completed 67.1 percent of his passes (559-of-837) with just 12 interceptions, As a runner, he has carried the ball 464 times for 2,001 yards and 23 touchdowns.
• Crum has completed 559 passes (third all-time). His 837 attempts is fifth all-time, and he has 8,308 total yards in 1,301 total plays -- both also third in both categories.
• Head Coach Sean Lewis is 19-24 overall (15-13 in MAC play). Is 1-0 against the Mountain West Conference (the win over Utah State in the Frisco Bowl in 2019). First game against Wyoming and head coach Craig Bohl. Before the 2021 season was given a five-year contract extension.
KSU & WYOMING BOWL GAME HISTORY:
WYOMING
The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be the Cowboys 17th in bowl appearance in their history and their second trip to Boise . They defeated Central Michigan in 2017, 34-17). They have an 8-8 lifetime bowl record, winning their last two.
KENT STATE
The Golden Flashes will be making their fifth bowl appearance in school history and second in the last three years. They have a 1-4 bowl record, winning their first ever bowl game in 2019 by defeating Utah State in the 2019 Frisco Bowl. QB Dustin Crum was the Most Valuable Player, completing 21-of-26 passes for 289 yards and two touchdown, as well as rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL HISTORY:
The game will the 25th in its history. It began in 1997 as the Humanitarian Bowl. The game has had the Famous Idaho Potato monicker since 2011, with the all the games having been played at Albertson’s Stadium. Kent State is the ninth different MAC team to play in the game. MAC teams have gone 4-6 in the event, with the last victory coming in 2020 when Ohio defeated Nevada 30-21.