The Wyoming Cowboy Football team continued to practice this week in preparation for their first-ever appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.  The Cowboys will fly to Boise, Idaho, on Monday, Dec. 18 as bowl events begin on Monday for both Wyoming and its opponent, the Central Michigan Chippewas.  The 21st Annual Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be played on Friday, Dec. 22 at Albertsons Stadium on the Boise State campus.  The game will kick off at 2 p.m., M.T.  Tickets are available for purchase online through the University of Wyoming Athletics Ticket Office at www.GoWyo.com/tickets, by calling (307) 766-7220 or by stopping by the ticket office on the west side of the Arena-Auditorium.

Wyoming earned its way to its second straight bowl appearance by finishing second in the Mountain West's Mountain Division, posting a 7-5 overall record and a 5-3 conference mark.  Central Michigan finished second in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference, with an 8-4 overall record and a 6-2 MAC record.  
    
Building a Consistent Winner
The focus of Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl and his staff since taking over the Wyoming program has been to build a program that consistently competes for postseason appearances and competes for conference championships.  This season, the Cowboys remained in contention for the Mountain West Conference title up until the second to last weekend of the regular season.  UW finished the season in second place in the Mountain Division behind eventual conference champion Boise State.  A year ago, the Cowboys hosted the Mountain West Conference Championship Game before losing a three-point, 24-27, game to San Diego State.  The Cowboys went on to earn a trip to the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl in 2016.

Pokes Continue to Emerge As One of the Top Teams in the Mountain West
Over the past two seasons, Wyoming has won 8 of 10 games against its fellow Mountain West Mountain Division opponents.  The Pokes 8-2 record within the division over the past two seasons ties with Boise State's 8-2 divisional mark for the top spot.  UW went 4-1 against division opponents in both 2016 and '17.  The Cowboys have swept the season series versus Air Force, Colorado State and Utah State the past two seasons.  Wyoming defeated New Mexico in Laramie in 2017, while suffering its only loss within the division in 2016 in Albuquerque.  Wyoming defeated Boise State in Laramie in 2016 and led the Broncos in Boise by a score of 14-10 entering the fourth quarter of this season's meeting before losing 14-24 to the eventual conference champion Broncos.  Wyoming captured the 2016 Mountain Division title and finished second to Boise State this season.

Wyoming and Central Michigan are the Nation's Top Takeaway Artists  
This year's Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features the nation's top two teams in terms of takeaways.  Wyoming forced 30 opponent turnovers in 2017 to tie for No. 2 in the nation with Miami (Fla.) and Memphis, while Central Michigan forced 31 opponent turnovers to rank No. 1.

About the Central Michigan Chippewas
Central Michigan is appearing in its fourth consecutive bowl game, and is coached by John Bonamego, who is in his third season coaching his alma mater.  Bonamego graduated from CMU in 1987.  Prior to taking over as head coach of the Chippewas in 2015, he was an assistant coach in the NFL from 1999-2001.

Two of CMU's top players are senior cornerback Amari Coleman and defensive end Joe Ostman.  Coleman was selected First Team All-MAC for the second consecutive year in 2017.  Ostman also earned First Team All-MAC this season, and is one of the leading sack men in the nation.  

The Chippewas won their last five games this season, after beginning the season with a 3-4 record.

Dominating Defense Plays Big Role in Wyoming's 2017 Success
Wyoming's success in 2017 has been due in large part to a dominating defensive unit.  The Cowboys ranked No. 13 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents only 17.8 points per game, and ranked No. 21 in the nation in total defense, giving up only 332.8 yards per game.  The Wyoming defense held five opponents to 14 points or less in 2017.  In a four-game stretch starting in late October through mid-November, the Pokes held all four of their opponents to 14 or fewer points (New Mexico – 3 points, Colorado State – 13, Air Force 14 and Fresno State 13).  That was the first time a Wyoming team had held opponents to that few points for four games in a row since 1969.  UW has been particularly effective at defending opponents' passing attacks.  The Pokes have allowed opponents only 160.7 passing yards per game, which ranks No. 5 in the NCAA.

Opportunistic Offense
Not only has the Cowboy defense generated 30 turnovers, but the Wyoming offense has converted those turnovers into points.  The UW offense scored on 17 possessions immediately following a takeaway and generated 99 points on those 17 possessions.  That equated to 37 percent of Wyoming's total points scored this season of 268.

The Wyoming offense has been one of the most effective in the nation once entering the red zone.  In the 30 times UW has entered the red zone, the Cowboys have scored on 29 of those 30 opportunities to rank No. 3 in the nation.

And when it came down to scoring in key situations, the Pokes' offense created three game-winning scoring drives late in games.  The Cowboy offense scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime vs. Hawai'i, scored a fourth-quarter winning TD at Utah State and scored the game-winner in the fourth quarter versus Colorado State.

The offense also did an outstanding job of protecting the ball, committing only 14 turnovers all season to rank No. 25 in the nation in that category, and helped the Cowboys rank No. 1 in the country in turnover margin.

Coverage of the 2017 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
This year's Famous  Idaho Potato Bowl will be televised live on ESPN, beginning at 2 p.m., M.T. on Friday, Dec. 22.  The Cowboys Sports Network will broadcast the game on radio, beginning with the pregame show one hour before kickoff.