(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Over the past decade, there have been plenty of mid-major schools that normally don’t get a ton of attention that have come up and given the big boys something to worry about. Two of those teams will meet up at the Poinsettia Bowl on December 23 in San Diego as the 8-4 Boise State Broncos face the 8-5 Northern Illinois Huskies. It is a great matchup of two schools that have had great success lately but each had a down year in 2015.
Boise State broke a two-game losing streak in their season finale with a 40-23 win over San Jose State. Brett Rypien threw for 2,976 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions during the regular season for the Broncos while getting a huge year out of Thomas Sperbeck at wide receiver. Sperbeck had 82 catches for 1,334 yards and eight touchdowns. Jeremy McNichols was also a monster on the ground with 1,244 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. Boise is averaging 488.8 yards per game and 37.8 points.
Northern Illinois lost their last two games including a 34-14 loss to Bowling Green in the MAC championship game. Drew Hare passed for 1,962 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions and looked the direction of Kenny Golladay quite a bit. Golladay had 71 catches for 1,122 yards and ten touchdowns during the regular season. Joel Bouagnon offset the pass game with 1,269 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. The Huskies averaged 33 points a game this season along with 426.6 yards of offense.
What time is the Poinsettia Bowl?
The Poinsettia Bowl will begin at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
What date and channel will the Poinsettia Bowl be on?
The Poinsettia Bowl will be played on Wednesday, December 23 and can be seen on ESPN.
