It’s bowl season in the college football world. All of those silly games with the silly titles and silly mascots are back.
Enter the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which will be played on Boise State’s Smurf Turf between Northern Illinois and Fresno State. These two programs might not be the powerhouses at the top of the college football world, but there’s still plenty for both sides to play for here.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL TURNOVER:
- 2024 college football coach firings and changes
- A running list of college football players skipping 2024-25 bowl games
- Tracking the biggest names to enter the college football transfer portal after the 2024 season
For Northern Illinois, the Huskies will look to bookend their season successfully. The team started this year off by beating an eventual CFP team in Notre Dame. Now, Thomas Hammock’s squad will look to close things out with a bowl win over Fresno State. If he can pull it off, that’d be back-to-back bowl game wins for NIU’s head coach for the first time in his coaching career.
On the other side, Fresno State has won three straight bowl games since 2021 and will look to make it a fourth here. But it’ll have to happen under a coach with an uncertain future. Tim Skipper has been the team’s interim head coach since Jeff Tedford stepped away last season. Despite the positive vibes around Skipper’s tenure, the team has hired Matt Entz as its next head coach. This game will be a big one for the interim head coach’s resume as he looks for another job.