It took four years, but Terry Bowden was able to guide Akron football to the postseason. Now he’ll have to get past Utah State in the 2015 Potato Bowl to bring the Zips’ first-ever bowl win back to Ohio.
Watch the Akron vs. Utah State Potato Bowl online: Time, TV schedule, live stream, 3 things to know
Can Akron bring home their first bowl win in school history? Or will a favored Utah State team hold serve in Idaho?
Nick Cammett-USA TODAY Sports
Akron’s football futility has been an encyclopedia of ineffectiveness since the team rejoined Division I-A (now FBS) in 1987. They’ve only been to one other bowl in school history, a 38-31 loss to Memphis in the 2005 Motor City Bowl. In the 10 intervening years before 2015’s successful campaign, the Zips went a combined 30-78. Needless to say, Tuesday’s postseason appearance is a big deal for Akron’s players, staff and fans.
They’ll face a tough test in Boise. Utah State was just 6-6 this season, but all six of those losses came to bowl-eligible teams. It wasn’t as though their victories were over Division I dregs, either. Half of them came against programs with six wins or more. A triumph over Akron will give the Aggies the chance to secure their fifth-straight winning season.
They’ll have to dial up the offensive firepower that carried them to 52 points against Boise State if they want to crack a tightly wound Zips defense. Akron has allowed only 21.5 points per game this season and is riding high after a season finale shutout against Kent State. Can their top-20 defense hold tough to bring a bowl trophy home to a dusty shelf that’s been waiting three decades to be filled?
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: Dec. 22, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. Mark Neely and Mike Bellotti will have the call.
Radio: Utah State, Akron
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Utah State is favored by 6.5 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Mountain West Connection (for Utah State fans) and Hustle Belt (for Akron fans).
Three big things to know
1. Utah State’s defense broke in Aggie losses to San Diego State, where they gave up 48 points, and BYU (51 points). However, they’ll have an easier path to cross on Tuesday when they face an Akron team that was held to just 7.6 points per game in five showdowns against bowl eligible teams this season. The Zips lost all five of those games.
2. The Aggies' quarterback situation seems to be in a perpetual state of flux, and that won't change in Idaho. Chuckie Keeton passed for 27 touchdowns back in 2012, but injuries and inconsistency have prevented the fifth-year senior from replicating that 3,300-yard passing season. He'll share snaps with Kent Myers, who threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns in a close loss to Air Force but then sustained a shoulder injury in the team's next game. Myers has been listed as questionable for the game, but it appears as though he'll be back for the season finale.
3. The S&P+ prediction likes Utah State even more than the oddsmakers. That advanced statistics model gives the Aggies a 29-21 edge thanks in part to a sloppy Akron offense that fails to crack the top 100 in several categories.
* * *
SB Nation presents: All 40 college football bowl games, sung in a song
See More:
