It’s the second meeting all-time between the Western Athletic Conference’s Utah State Aggies and the Mid-American Conference’s Ohio Bobcats when they face off Saturday afternoon in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on the blue turf in Boise. USU opened as a 2-point favorite on Bovada’s NCAA football betting odds.
 
Utah State (7-5) closed the season with five straight wins to finish second in the WAC and has won seven games for the first time since 1993. Perhaps the Aggies’ most notable game was a season-opening 42-38 loss at defending national champion Auburn, when USU allowed two Tigers touchdowns in the final 2:07 to blow a 10-point lead and what would have been arguably the school’s biggest-ever win.
 
USU is led by running back Robert Turbin, the WAC Player of the Year. Turbin this season rushed for a career-high 1,416 yards and 19 TDs while playing in and starting every game a year removed from a torn ACL. The Aggies finished the season No. 6 in the nation in rushing.
 
Ohio University (9-4) was the MAC East champion and ended the regular season also on a five-game winning streak. But that was ended in the MAC Championship Game as the Bobcats blew a 20-0 halftime lead against Northern Illinois, which kicked the winning field goal as time expired. Ohio is led by quarterback Tyler Tettleton, who broke 12 school single-season records this year and ranks 20th nationally with 26 touchdown passes.
 
This is the seventh bowl all-time for USU but first since 1997. It’s the Bobcats' third straight bowl appearance. Utah State and Ohio played back in 1994 in Athens, Ohio, a 5-0 USU win. Ohio opened the season with a 44-24 win at New Mexico State on Sept. 3, the lone common opponent between the Aggies and Bobcats. USU ended the regular season with a 24-21 win at NMSU.
 
THE STAGE IS SET: Bet the bowls now at Bovada!