By Colin McGuigan

Fresno State (6-6, 4-3 MW) vs Northern Illinois (7-5, 4-4 MAC)
Monday, December 23, 2024 | 11:30 a.m. PT | ESPN | Albertsons Stadium (36,363) | Boise, Idaho

Fresno State Bowl Guide
NIU Game Notes

TICKETS – BUY NOW

MEDIA COVERAGE
TV – ESPN
    Play-by-Play – Lowell Galindo
    Analyst – Fozzy Whittaker
    Sideline – Tori Petry

Radio – Bulldog Sports Network
Play-by-Play – Paul Loeffler
Analyst – Pat Hill
Sideline – Cam Worrell

Radio – Bowl Season Radio
Play-by-Play – Scott Garrard
Analyst – Hans Olsen
Sideline – Tim Murray

Social Media: Twitter: @FresnoStateFB | Instagram:@fresno_state_football | Facebook: FresnoStateFootball | YouTube: FresnoStateAthletics
Live Stats: BulldogsLive.com

QUICK LOOK

• Fresno State looks for its sixth straight bowl win at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
• Fresno State makes its return to Boise for a bowl game for the first time since 2010, also against NIU.
• With a win in the bowl game, Fresno State will have its fourth-straight winning season, its longest since a four-season streak from 2007-10 (excluding the 3-3 COVID season).
• With the setting of the Idaho Potato Bowl being the blue turf at the home of Boise State, Fresno State is no stranger to playing on The Blue. The Bulldogs have won two of their last four trips to The Blue, both Mountain West Championship wins over Boise State.
• Although his first trip to Boise as a Bulldog, senior safety Dean Clark has played in the Idaho Potato Bowl having appeared in the 2021 game when he was at Kent State. Clark had a career-best 13 tackles against Wyoming in that game.
• Fresno State had 11 players earn All-Mountain West honors this season with three first team honorees in WR Mac Dalena, CB Cam Lockridge and LB Tuasivi Nomura.
• For the fourth time since 2020, Fresno State has a new head coach leading its football program. On December 4, 2024, Matt Entz was named the 23rd head coach in Bulldog football history. Entz is the program’s fourth head coach in the last five years, and third in the last six months.
• Although Entz was hired as head coach before the bowl game, interim head coach Tim Skipper and the staff from the 2024 season will coach the Bulldogs in the bowl game.
• As of Friday, December 13, Fresno State has had 15 players enter the transfer portal including seven starters.
• Due to starting QB Mikey Keene entering the portal, the Bulldogs are left with five quarterbacks on the roster with a combined eight career pass attempts between Joshua Wood and Jayden Mandal. No quarterback currently with the Bulldog program has started a game at the collegiate level.
• At this point in the season, Fresno State has had 13 different players earn their first career start. With several starters hitting the portal, there are expected to be new first-time starters in different positions in the bowl game.
• This season, the Bulldogs have had 35 different players start at one point on the year.
• Fresno State did not lose starters at the following positions: running back, tight end, safety, defensive end, linebacker, kicker and punter.
• Seniors Mac Dalena (WR) and Malachi Langley (LB) have appeared in 58 consecutive games as Bulldogs. That is the fifth-longest streak of games played by players at one school in the FBS. For Dalena, that is every game of his collegiate career.
• Fresno State has three players who have played in four games this season to utilize a redshirt, but can play in the game without forefitting that redshirt eligibility. Those players are WR Chedon James, OL Jacob Spomer and DL Ezra Christensen.
• Fresno State has had seven one-score games in 2024, and is 2-5 in those games. Seven one-score games are the third most from around the FBS, and the second most in the Mountain West behind Nevada with eight.
• True freshman running back Bryson Donelson has been one to keep an eye on in the offense as the season has gone on. Donelson has 62 carries for 380 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first freshman RB to have a 100-yard performance for the Bulldogs since 2017. He was the MW Freshman of the Week on Nov. 25.

ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• Fresno State and NIU will meet for the sixth time in program history.
• It is the second time these teams will meet in a bowl game, with the last meeting between the schools being in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. NIU defeated Fresno State 40-17 in the last meeting.
• NIU leads the all-time series with Fresno State 3-2.
• In addition to the 2010 bowl game victory for NIU, the Huskies won at Fresno State in 1973 (24-15) and defeated the 24th-ranked Bulldogs 73-18 on Oct. 6, 1990, in DeKalb.
• FS claimed victories over NIU in 1991 (55-7) and won the first game ever played between the teams, 9-6, in 1972.
• In the last meeting between the teams, current Fresno State interim head coach Tim Skipper in his fifth season as the Bulldogs’ linebackers coach during his first tenure on staff.
• Current New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr was a sophomore on that 2010 team.
• Current Fresno State team doctor Zak Hill was a junior defensive back on the 2010 team.
• Fresno State was coached by Pat Hill in its last game against NIU. Hill is now Fresno State’s analyst for the football radio broadcasts.

COURTESY FRESNO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Huskies are headed to Boise, Idaho and the blue turf of Boise State’s Albertson Stadium for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where NIU will take on Fresno State of the Mountain West Conference on Monday, December 23, 2024. The game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.

NIU, which closed out the regular season 7-5 overall, 4-4 in the Mid-American Conference, will make its 13th bowl appearance in the last 17 seasons, its 16th as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team and plays in a bowl for the 21st time in school history. Fresno State finished 6-6 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference.

“We are excited for the 2024 Huskies to add to NIU Football’s bowl tradition by making our second appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise,” said NIU Vice President/Director of Athletics and Recreation Sean T. Frazier. “Having the opportunity to play a quality Mountain West Conference opponent on the iconic blue turf at Boise State and experience a new region of the country will be a fantastic experience for our student-athletes, staff and fans.”

NIU, with a roster that included 30 seniors, was the talk of the college football world after its 16-14 win over then fifth-ranked Notre Dame on September 7, the first win over a Top 5 team in school and in Mid-American Conference history.  The Huskies relied on one of the top defenses in school history to earn bowl eligibility for the second straight season with three wins in their last four games as four of the Huskies’ five losses came by a total of 19 points. NIU ranks in the Top 15 in the country in six defensive categories, including fifth in the nation in total defense and second in third down conversion percentage defense.

Fresno State finished fourth in the 12-team Mountain West Conference with a 4-3 record and reached bowl eligibility for the fourth straight season with a 6-6 record under interim head coach Tim Skipper. Matt Entz, a two-time FCS national championship winning head coach at North Dakota State who spent the 2024 season as linebackers coach and assistant head coach for defense at USC, was named the Bulldogs’ head coach on December 4. FS is playing in the Boise bowl game for the fourth time.

“We are extremely excited to have an opportunity to go to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and play a strong Mountain West opponent in Fresno State,” said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock, who wraps up his sixth season at NIU in Boise.  “There is no such thing as a bad bowl and I have heard nothing but great things about Boise and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. What a great reward for the hard work and dedication the players and coaches have put in all year long.  We love the date of the game, which gives us time to develop our younger players during these bowl practices and then allows everyone to enjoy the holidays. Playing a team we haven’t seen before [during my tenure] is always exciting and Fresno State will present a great challenge. Our players and staff are determined to do everything we can to bring a bowl trophy home for the second year in a row.”

The Huskies and Bulldogs play in Boise for the second time as the teams last met in the 2010 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (then known as the Humanitarian Bowl) on December 18, 2010, with NIU claiming a 40-17 win behind quarterback and game MVP Chandler Harnish, running back Chad Spann and defensive end Jake Coffman.

NIU leads the all-time series with Fresno State 3-2. In addition to the 2010 bowl game victory, the Huskies won at Fresno State in 1973 (24-15) and defeated the 24th-ranked Bulldogs 73-18 on Oct. 6, 1990, in DeKalb. FS claimed victories over NIU in 1991 (55-7) and won the first game ever played between the teams, 9-6, in 1972.

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which is being played for the 28th time in 2024, is the longest-running cold weather bowl game in college football and celebrates the spirit of winter, football and potatoes in the beautiful Idaho mountains. The Mountain West has been represented in nine of the last 11 games, while the MAC has earned a spot in the game in 11 of the last 14 years. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is one of 17 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

Tickets for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl are priced between $20-$80. Click here or go to niuhuskies.com/IDPotatoBowl to purchase tickets in NIU’s allotment.

Priority-based tickets are available at the $65 and $70 price points and will be allocated based first on 2024 Huskie Athletic Fund giving level and then priority points within that level. Contact the Huskie Athletic Fund with questions about your annual giving level or priority points rank at 815-753-1923 or email [email protected].

To increase your giving level, please contact the Huskie Athletic Fund or go to www.HuskieAthleticFund.com and click on the Give Now button.

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COURTESY NORTHERN ILLINOIS ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS