Potato Bowl will feature San Jose State vs. Eastern Michigan

(Idaho Statesman) — Despite being a Mountain West Conference foe of Boise State’s, San Jose State does not make a lot of trips to the blue turf of Albertsons Stadium.

They will be in Boise in a couple of weeks, even though the Broncos won’t be the opponent.

The Spartans accepted a bid to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Sunday and will face Eastern Michigan. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m. Mountain time on Tuesday, Dec. 20. Tickets are available at famousidahopotatobowl.com or through the Boise State ticket office, and the game will be televised on ESPN.

San Jose State (7-4) went 5-3 in Mountain West play this season and finished tied for second with San Diego State in the West Division.

“Boise is a great town, and we’re excited to take our team there. We’re playing an incredible opponent, and I think it’s going to be a great show for everyone to watch,” Spartans coach Brent Brennan said in a press release.

Brennan has led a bit of a resurgence at San Jose State, which is playing in a bowl for the second time in three years — and that’s happened only one other time in program history, in the late 1980s.

The Spartans last played Boise State in the 2020 Mountain West championship game, defeating the Broncos 34-20 in Las Vegas. They went on to play in the Arizona Bowl that year, losing to Ball State.

San Jose State last visited The Blue for a game in 2016; Boise State won 45-31.

Eastern Michigan (8-4, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) enters the game coming off of three straight wins. The Eagles tied for the MAC West Division title with Toledo, but the Rockets were in the MAC championship game by virtue of their head-to-head win.

Both programs are making their first appearance in the Potato Bowl.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring San Jose State and Eastern Michigan to Boise,” said Danielle Brazil, the bowl game’s executive director, in a release. “We know our community will embrace these student-athletes and provide unmatched hospitality — like we have for the last 25 years. This will be a great matchup for our fans and a true celebration of college football in Boise.”

San Jose State is led by quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, a second-team all-Mountain West selection who threw for a league-leading 2,885 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. His favorite target is receiver Elijah Cooks, who was first-team all-conference after catching 63 passes for 983 yards and 10 touchdowns.

But the Spartans have stars on defense as well — including Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Viliami Fehoko — and had three players earn first-team honors: Fehoko and Cade Hall on the line, and linebacker Kyle Harmon, who led the team with 94 tackles. Fehoko led the league with 18.5 tackles for loss and Hall added 12, and Fehoko had 9 sacks and Hall 7.5.

San Jose State led the Mountain West with 36 sacks.

Eastern Michigan has its own defensive star in end Jose Ramirez, the MAC Defensive MVP after recording 19.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. Both he and Fehoko are finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award. On offense, the Eagles lean heavily on running back Samson Evans, who rushed for 1,084 yards and 13 TDs this season.

Eastern Michigan will be playing in its fifth bowl game in seven seasons under head coach Chris Creighton.

“Our team is excited to represent our conference once again on a national level, and to play on the field together as a team one more time this season,” Creighton said. “I am so proud of everything these guys have done to represent this university; this opportunity is well-deserved. We know we will face a great opponent that presents a tough challenge, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”