Utah State football: Aggies game day

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Utah State vs. Ohio

Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

Bronco Stadium (33,500)

FieldTurf, Boise, Idaho

TV: ESPN

Radio: 610 AM, 97.5 FM

The stakes

For Ohio ... Ohio is looking for its first bowl victory in school history. With head coach Frank Solich at the helm, Ohio is making its fourth bowl appearance in the last five years. The Bobcats fell in the 2007 GMAC Bowl to Southern Mississippi 28-7; the 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl to Marshall, 21-17; and last season's New Orleans Bowl to Troy, 48-21.

For Utah State ... the Aggies are looking for their first bowl victory since defeating Ball State 42-33 in the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl, which happened exactly 18 years ago today. The Aggies are looking for a repeat of the 1993 season, which also started with a 2-5 record before five straight wins to end the season. With a victory Utah State will claim its first eight-win season since 1974 and only their 10th season with eight or more wins in the 119 years of Utah State football.

The trends

For Ohio ... the Bobcats were riding a five-game winning streak prior to falling to Northern Illinois on a field goal as time expired in the MAC championship game. This is Ohio's third straight season to end with a bowl appearance.

For Utah State ... The Aggies, not for the faint of heart, have won five straight games all by seven points or less. Four of those five victories came with Utah State scoring a game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to play in regulation or in overtime.

Player to watch

Utah State running back Robert Turbin ... The junior already owns school records in career total touchdowns and total scoring for a season and a career. With one more rushing touchdown he will break a tie with Abu Wilson for the career rushing TD record and needs to add just 120 more rushing yards to his 1,416 season total to break Demario Brown's single-season school rushing record.

Key matchup

Ohio's Tyler Tettleton vs. Utah State's defense ... The sophomore quarterback set 12 team records this season throwing for 3,086 yards and 26 TDs while running for another 627 yards and nine touchdowns. Slowing down Tettleton will go a long way toward thwarting the Bobcat attack.

Next up

The off-season

Utah State schedule

Date Opponent Time (TV)/result

Sept. 3 at Auburn L, 42-38

Sept. 10 vs. Weber State W, 54-147

Sept. 24 vs. Colorado State L, 35-34 (OT)

Sept 30 vs. BYU L, 27-24

Oct. 8 vs. Wyoming W, 63-19

Oct. 15 at Fresno State L, 31-21

Oct. 22 vs. Louisiana Tech L, 24-17

Nov. 5 at Hawaii W, 35-31

Nov. 12 vs. San Jose State W, 34-33

Nov. 19 at Idaho W, 49-42 (OT)

Nov. 26 vs. Nevada W, 21-17

Dec. 3 vs. New Mexico State W, 24-21

Dec. 17 vs. Ohio 3:30 P.M. (ESPN)

— By Kraig Williams