2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
20th Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Idaho Vandals Colorado State Rams (8–4) (7–5) Sun Belt Mountain West 61 50 Head coach:  Paul Petrino Head coach:  Mike Bobo
1 2 3 4 Total Idaho 0 20 21 20 61 Colorado State 0 7 7 36 50
Date	December 22, 2016
Season	2016
Stadium	Albertsons Stadium
Location	Boise, Idaho
MVP	Matt Linehan Quarterback, Idaho[1]
Favorite	Colorado State by 14[2]
Referee	Tracy Jones (AAC)
Attendance	24,975
Payout	US$325,000[3]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Dave Neal (play-by-play) Matt Stinchcomb (analyst) Olivia Harlan (sideline) Paul Loeffler, Marty Cesario (ESPN Radio)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl  < 2015  2017 >

The 2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 22, 2016, at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The 20th annual edition of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the game featured the Idaho Vandals of the Sun Belt Conference and the Colorado State Rams of the Mountain West Conference. It was one of the 2016–17 bowl games that concluded the 2016 FBS football season. The game's title sponsor was the Idaho Potato Commission. The game began at 5:05 p.m. MST and was broadcast on ESPN College Football. Idaho defeated Colorado State by a score of 61–50.

Both teams entered with similar records: Idaho finished the regular season with an 8–4 mark, their first winning season under head coach Paul Petrino, while Colorado State came into the contest with a record of 7–5. Idaho made their third appearance in the game, and their third overall bowl game appearance, with their previous two in the Humanitarian Bowl, this game's predecessor. Colorado State made their 16th bowl game appearance, and their first in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Despite their lesser record, Colorado State entered the game as fourteen-point favorites, and were generally expected to win the contest behind the passing attack of Nick Stevens and their rushing game, led by Dalyn Dawkins.

The game started slowly, as turnovers and punts doomed the first quarter to a scoreless end. The first score of the game came 25 seconds into the second quarter, on a long pass from Stevens to Bisi Johnson, who would ultimately finish the game having broken the record for receiving yards in a bowl game. Idaho's offense responded to lead 20–7 at halftime, with Isaiah Saunders scoring twice on the ground. The second half of the game was the highest scoring half in bowl game history, as the teams combined to score 84 points during the third and fourth quarters. Idaho's lead grew to 34 on three different occasions, and the first drive of the fourth quarter not to end in a touchdown did not occur until three minutes before the end of the game. Trailing by 33 halfway through the final quarter, Colorado State ended the game on a streak of 22 unanswered points to cut the final margin of victory to 11.