Utah State to face Kent State in Frisco Bowl
The Aggies are bound for the Frisco Bowl it was announced Sunday afternoon. There in the plains of northeastern Texas, Utah State will take on MAC runner-up Kent State in the third iteration of the bowl game, this edition taking place on Friday, December 20.
Following a 7-5 regular season that saw Utah State record its second straight winning season on the gridiron, the Aggies will have a chance to record its 14th eight-win season in team history and fifth since 1974. One of the current 13 eight-win campaigns came with head coach Gary Andersen at the helm, the 11-2 WAC champion 2012 squad. Were Utah State to win its final game, Andersen would become the fifth head coach with multiple eight-win seasons at USU. Matt Wells has the most such seasons with three.
Twice these two teams have met in the past thanks to a home-and-home series in the mid-1970s when Utah State was an Independent. Kent State won the first meeting 27-16 in 1973 and the following 1974 season the Aggies got revenge with a 27-24 victory.
Quick glance for USU (7-5) against Kent State (6-6) in the Frisco Bowl
– USU's never been in the Frisco Bowl (3-year old bowl)
– All-time, USU is 1-1 vs Kent State (last mtg 1974)
– Kent State has never won a bowl (0-2, last app 2012)
– Utah State is 5-7 in bowls, 4-2 in last 6.— Jason Walker (@thejwalk67) December 8, 2019
Kent State will enter the bowl game with a 6-6 overall record under second-year head coach Sean Lewis. It’s the first time since 2012 that the Golden Flashers have qualified for a bowl and just third in its school history. Kent State has never won a bowl game and are 0-2 all-time in the postseason.
Utah State has gone to a bowl game eight times in the last nine years. The team is 4-3 in those bowl games, 1-1 with Andersen at the helm.
Both years where USU went to a bowl game in the first Andersen era, 2011 and 2012, it was a trip to Idaho for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The 2011 appearance became the first bowl berth for the Aggies in nearly 15 years — since the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl (a precursor name for the Potato Bowl). Utah State lost in the 2011 game 24-23 to Ohio, but in 2012 Utah State recorded its then-largest margin of victory in a postseason contest — a 41-15 win over Toledo.
Last season, USU ended the year with a 52-13 blowout victory over North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
For the second year in a row, the Frisco Bowl will feature a team from the Mountain West. Utah State will hope to do better than its predecessor as San Diego State were shut out by Ohio 27-0 in 2018.