Idaho Potato Bowl Preview:
The bowl game will take place in Boise, Idaho in Albertsons Stadium on the renowned blue “smurf turf”. The Eastern Michigan Eagles (8-4) head into Boise red hot winning four of their last five games while the San Jose State Spartans (7-4) have looked a little shaky as of late dropping two of their last three games. The two schools have squared off only once before in the 1987 California Bowl with Eastern Michigan coming out on top.
San Jose St:
Head Coach Brent Brennan has seemed to steer this program in the right direction since his inaugural 2017 season, making it to two bowl games in the last three years. This year, the Spartans will make their 12th bowl game appearance in school history hoping to improve their all time bowl record to 8-4. San Jose St is led by a stifling defense who are top 10 in the nation for TFLs and sacks per game, so don’t expect for this game to be a high scoring shootout.
Eastern Michigan:
EMU hasn’t exactly had the best track record when it comes to bowl games. However, the Eagles had their first eight win season since 1987, the same year they won their sole bowl victory against guess who? San Jose State. The Eagles just missed their shot at going to the MAC championship, finishing second in their division only behind Toledo despite having the same record in conference (5-3). Now they seek to claim the highly revered trophy of potatoes.
Players to watch:
Jose Ramirez, DL, Sr., Eastern Michigan
– Mid American Conference Defensive Player of the Year
– 2nd in nation with 12 sacks
– 4th in nation with 19.5 TFLs
Viliami Fehoko, DL, Jr., San Jose St.
– Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year
– Leads MWC with 18.5 TFLs
– 2nd in MWC with 9 sacks
Sidy Sow, OL, Sr., Eastern Michigan
– 2022 First Team All MAC
– 3 time All MAC selections in career
– EMU all time leader in games played
Elijah Cooks, WR, Sr., San Jose St.
– All Mountain West First Team
– 1st in MWC with 10 TDs
– 3rd in MWC with 983 receiving yards
Kyle Harmon, LB, Sr., San Jose St.
– 2022 All Mountain West First Team
– 3 Time ALL MWC first team selections in career
– Led team with 94 tackles
Samson Evans, RB, Sr., Eastern Michigan
– 2nd Team ALL MAC
– 1,084 rushing yards and 13 TDs
– Holds record for most all time rushing touchdowns in EMU history
TPsportz expert Predictions:
Trenton: 29-23 San Jose St
Pudge: 24-21 Eastern Michigan
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