The 2025 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features the 6-6 Washington State Cougars and the 6-6 Utah State. Here is the 2025 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Preview.
Washington State won six games to make their second-straight bowl game. They defeated three bowl-eligible teams this season: San Diego State, Toledo and Louisiana Tech. Their only loss of the season to a team that didn’t make a bowl game was to Oregon State, whom they played twice. Head coach Jimmy Rogers accepted the Iowa State job and will not be coaching in this game.
The Cougars score 21.6 points per game, which ties them for 108th in the country. They pass for 197 yards (ranked 98th) and rush for 117.6 yards (ranked 113th) per game.
Zevi Eckhaus has been the starting quarterback for the Cougars this season, following in Cam Ward and John Mateer’s footsteps. He passed for 1,760 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions on 63.5 percent completion. Two receivers have done the majority of receiving production for the Cougars. Joshua Meredith leads the team with 639 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Tony Freeman has also been solid this season, catching 51 passes for 557 yards and three touchdowns. No other receiver has over 200 yards this year.
Three players have over 200 rushing yards on the season. Kirby Vorhees leads the team with 576 rushing yards and he found the endzone five times. Ekhaus has used his legs decently, rushing for 337 yards and eight touchdowns. Angel Johnson provided some depth at the position with 226 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, the Cougars concede 20.2 points per game, tying them for 26th in the FBS. They allow 130.6 rushing yards (ranked 39th) and 172.8 yards (ranked 14th) per game. Parker McKenna paces the team with 83 total tackles. Isaac Terrell has done a good job of getting after the quarterback with seven sacks. Tucker Large has made plays on the ball from the secondary with five passes defended.
The Aggies won six games to make their first bowl game since 2023. They defeated just one bowl-eligible team this year: Fresno State. All six of their losses were to teams that qualified for a bowl game: Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Hawai’i, New Mexico, UNLV and Boise State.
Utah State scores 31.8 points per game, which ties them for 36th in the FBS. They pass for 251.4 yards (ranked 44th) and rush for 171.3 yards (ranked 54th) per game.
Bryson Barnes, the former Utah quarterback, has been leading the Aggies this season. He has passed for 2,687 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions on 60.3 percent completion. Five pass-catchers have at least 200 receiving yards on the season. Braden Pegan leads the team with 60 catches for 926 yards and five touchdowns. Brady Boyd has also been impressive, with 42 receptions for 644 yards and seven touchdowns.
Three players have the majority of the rushing production for Utah State. Barnes leads the team in rushing from the quarterback position with 733 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. The lead back has been Miles Davis, who has rushed for 730 yards and eight touchdowns. Javen Jacobs has pitched in with 405 yards and five touchdowns.
The Aggies’ defense allows 28.3 points per game, ranking 89th in the nation. They give up 175.1 rushing yards (ranked 98th) and 249.3 passing yards (ranked 115th) per game. John Miller has shown great pursuit with his team-high 109 total tackles. He also leads the team with 7.5 sacks. Noah Avinger has been superb in the secondary with 10 passes defended and three interceptions.
Washington State’s defense is a bit stronger than Utah State’s. That will be the difference in this game. Washington State should be able to move the ball decently enough and losing their head coach won’t have much of an impact if the defense steps up.
Washington State Cougars 17 Utah State Aggies 14
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