Nevada: 2020 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Champions

Boise, Idaho – The Famous Idaho® Potato Bowl (FIPB) has become one of the most anticipated college football games of the season. From helping to launch the careers of NFL great like Josh Allen and BYU’s Zack Wilson who threw 18 for 18 in 2018 beginning his historic rise as a must watch quarterback, to the French Fry bath tradition that has been recognized by Yahoo! Sports “as one of the best traditions in all of sports,” the FIPB is exciting, unpredictable and entertaining.

Just seconds before the Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Tulane Green Wave (38-27) at the 24th Annual Famous Idaho® Potato Bowl, the pumped-up players doused head coach Jay Norvell with Idaho® potato fries and Gatorade. However, when the fries landed on the playing surface the Wolf Pack were penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Green Wave took advantage and ran for a 65-yard touchdown. It wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the game but it surely generated headlines. And, it’s 2020 so nothing surprises us. 

“With so many changes and cancellations surrounding college sports, we are more than grateful the Famous Idaho® Potato Bowl could be played this year on the blue turf in Albertsons stadium. Even though fans weren’t allowed, millions of folks around the country who tuned into ESPN radio and/or television were treated to an exciting game between two very talented teams,” explained Frank Muir, President & CEO, Idaho Potato Commission (IPC). “Both the Wolf Pack and Green Wave should be extremely proud of themselves. Playing football at this high level is a huge accomplishment especially during this very unpredictable time of our lives.”  

The IPC’s sponsorship rate was reduced since fans were not allowed in the stadium and all the pre-game festivities were cancelled. Despite a restrictive environment due to COVID-19, it was still clear to the game’s 2+ million ESPN viewers and ESPN radio listeners who the naming sponsor was. The IPC logo, the “Grown in Idaho®” seal and a cut-out of Spuddy Buddy, the IPC’s mascot, were visible throughout most of the game. Additionally, the IPC received nine ESPN television and radio ads and multiple mentions by the sportscasters.

Those who watched the commercials were treated to the debut of a social media video starring BYU alum, pro-football player and Idaho native, Taysom Hill proudly promoting Idaho® potatoes. 

About the Idaho Potato Commission

Established in 1937, the Idaho Potato Commission is a state agency that is responsible for promoting and protecting the famous “Grown in Idaho®” seal, a federally registered trademark that assures consumers they are purchasing genuine, top-quality Idaho® potatoes. Idaho’s growing season of warm days and cool nights, ample mountain-fed irrigation and rich volcanic soil, give Idaho® potatoes their unique texture, taste and dependable performance. These ideal growing conditions are what differentiate Idaho® potatoes from potatoes grown in other states. For more information, visit www.idahopotato.com.

Nevada: 2018 Arizona Bowl Champions

TUCSON, Ariz. -- As Nevada quarterback Ty Gangi worked through his progressions, Reagan Roberson slipped out into the left flat unnoticed.

Gangi flipped the ball out to his tight end and Arkansas State's defense quickly converged. Roberson shed the first would-be tackler like he was brushing off a bug, made a beeline for the corner of the end zone, diving across the line just before two more defenders could stop him.

Following more than three quarters of offensive ineptitude, the Wolf Pack found their offensive rhythm at just the right time, beating Arkansas State 16-13 on Saturday in the Arizona Bowl on Roberson's 11-yard overtime catch-and-run.

"They took some things away and we had to go to the tight end more," said Gangi, who threw for 200 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-34 passing with two interceptions. "I gave him a chance and he made a great play for me, broke a tackle and dove into the end zone for the winner."

Nevada (8-5) looked as if it would never get the chance. The Wolf Pack struggled against Arkansas State's stout defensive front, barely eking out 100 yards of total offense for three quarters.

Nevada stayed in it with a bend-don't-break defense and found a rhythm with a couple of big plays in the fourth quarter. Devonte Lee put the Wolf Pack up 10-7 on a 1-yard run with 1:06 left and, after the Red Wolves tied it with Blake Grupe's last-play field goal, Roberson sent them racing onto the field with his bulldozing touchdown.

"This is right up there at the top as far as guys fighting and believing in each other," Nevada second-year coach Jay Norvell said.

Arkansas State (8-5) needed a little more belief -- at least in the red zone.

The Red Wolves made five trips inside Nevada's 20 and came away with seven points. Arkansas State had two turnovers in the end zone and twice failed to convert on fourth down, including once on a trick play.

Throw in a blocked field goal and another short one badly missed by Grupe, the Red Wolves head into the offseason wondering what if after racking up 499 total yards and coming away with 13 points.

"We've had a struggle with that for a long time," Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson said. "You can blame on whatever you want to, at the end of the day we just didn't get it done."

Arkansas State's Warren Wand ran for 140 yards and Justice Hansen threw for 275 yards, but also had three interceptions -- two in the end zone -- after throwing six during the regular season.

The Red Wolvers' miscues in the red zone allowed Nevada to still be within 7-3 at halftime despite managing 72 total yards.

"We believed in the plan and if you continue to work, good things will happen," Novell said. "Just amazing."

BIG PICTURE

Nevada's offense came to life at just the right time to avoid ending the season with a loss to rival UNLV and a disappointing bowl performance.

Arkansas State will lament its lost offensive opportunities all offseason.

INJURED WOLVES

Arkansas State lost two of its best players by early in the third quarter.

Defensive end Ronheen Bingham, who led the Red Wolves with nine regular-season sacks, had to be helped from the field with a serious left leg injury in the first quarter. On the first play of the third quarter, defensive back Justin Clifton went down with an injury.

"It was tough seeing two of our best defensive players go down," Red Wolves safety B.J. Edmonds said. "We still played well after that, but who knows what could have happened."

SCHOLARSHIP TIME

Nevada receiver Ben Putman had two of the game's biggest plays, catching a pair of 44-yard passes from Gangi -- one on a flea flicker, the other to set up Lee's 1-yard score late in regulation.

A walk-on, Putman finished with four catches and a game-high 144 yards. After the game, Norvell rewarded the junior with a scholarship.

"I didn't know who he was three months ago," Norvell said. "All he does is compete.."

UP NEXT

Arkansas State: Hansen is a senior, so the Red Wolves will need a new QB next season. They also have 14 players on their two-deep roster who are seniors.

Nevada: The Wolf Pack also will be searching for a new QB with Gangi in his final year of eligibility. They also have 14 seniors on the two-deep roster, most of their skill players on offense should be back.

Nevada: 2016-17 Mountain West Men's Basketball Champions

LAS VEGAS -- Nevada is king of college basketball in the Silver State.

Jordan Caroline had 23 points and 10 rebounds as Nevada beat Colorado State 79-71 on Saturday in the Mountain West Conference championship game to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 10 years.

The top-seeded Wolf Pack (28-6) claimed the league's automatic bid and took home their first conference tournament title since 2006, when they were in the Western Athletic Conference. They received an at-large invitation to the NCAAs the following season.

A decade later, Nevada has finally punched its ticket to return -- three days after the worst season in UNLV history ended.

"It's a great feeling winning it anywhere, knowing we have an automatic bid to go to the Dance," Caroline said when asked about winning the tournament inside the Thomas and Mack Center, UNLV's home arena. "I wanted to help my team any way I could to get to the tournament. Not just scoring -- any way I could."

Caroline was chosen tournament MVP after compiling 55 points and 28 rebounds in three games.

Gian Clavell scored 30 points for No. 2 seed Colorado State, which was seeking its first Mountain West title since 2003. Prentiss Nixon added 23 points, and Emmanuel Omogbo had 10.

After squandering a 16-point lead and allowing the Rams to tie the game midway through the second half, Nevada used an 11-3 run during a five-minute stretch to build another cushion while Colorado State (23-11) missed eight consecutive field goal attempts.

The Rams pulled to 66-65 when J.D. Paige hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 left, but they never managed to tie the score again.

"At halftime we talked to the team and we all discussed -- we knew that they weren't going to go away, that they would compete and make a run," Nevada coach Eric Musselman said. "They're tough-minded and can compete. I'm proud of the way we defended and rebounded, especially when we struggled to score at times and they went on their scoring run."

Marcus Marshall added 21 points and was 12 of 15 from the free throw line down the stretch for Nevada, which went to the line 35 times to 11 for Colorado State.

Nevada got 25 of its 39 points in the second half from the foul line.

At the start, Nevada scored the first nine points en route to building a 16-point advantage with balanced scoring across the board.

The Wolf Pack, who shot 9 of 24 (79 percent) from the field in the second half of their semifinal win over Fresno State, carried the momentum into the championship game, hitting 58 percent (19 of 33) from the floor in the first half.

Caroline found his stroke early against the Rams, making his first four attempts. As a team, the Wolf Pack hit nine of their first 14 shots from the field while building a 19-10 lead.

The Rams put together a mini-run of their own and cut the deficit to four at the 8:02 mark. But Nevada's depth was too much, as it outscored Colorado State 25-17 to close the half and head into the locker room with a 44-32 lead.

"This is a special group that I will always remember," Rams coach Larry Eustachy said. "I can't speak for Gian or Emmanuel, but I don't think we want to stop playing. I think we want to keep this group together as long as we can. I would assume we're in the NIT, and we're anxious to see what happens there, and how far we can advance."

It marked the eighth time the top two seeds met for the Mountain West title. The second seed won the previous seven matchups.

BIG PICTURE

Colorado State: Clavell surpassed 1,000 career points. He came into the game needing 11 to reach the milestone.

Nevada: After struggling through their worst first half of the season, scoring a mere 21 points on 23 percent shooting in a semifinal win over Fresno State, the Wolf Pack have shot 42 of 79 (53 percent) from the field, including 15 of 47 (41 percent) from 3-point range, in their last three halves of basketball.

THE CODE TO THE DANCE

Musselman said a security code for the door to the room where team meetings are held has been the same since the first meeting of the season: 3-12-17. "Because that's the day of Selection Sunday," he said. "And it's been that way for 11 months, basically, where every time they walk in that locker room they had to put that code in. ... This was our goal from Day One."

RICE'S SWEET RETURN


Nevada assistant coach Dave Rice brings an NCAA Tournament pedigree to the bench for the Wolf Pack. Rice was fired by rival UNLV last season -- three games into conference play -- but was hired by Musselman last April. Rice, a member of UNLV's 1990 national championship team, took the Runnin' Rebels to the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons as coach, but did not make the postseason in his last two.

UP NEXT

Colorado State: The Rams might be on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament. If they don't, they expect to receive an NIT bid.

Nevada: Will find out Sunday where it is headed in the NCAA Tournament.

Nevada Wolf Pack: 2016 College Basketball Invitational Champions

RENO, Nev. -- Nevada's Tyron Criswell has won several individual awards since he started playing basketball in his youth.

But it took until his last college basketball game to win his first team championship after Nevada's 85-82 win against Morehead State in the ninth College Basketball Invitational on Friday night.

"It feels good to win an individual award, but when you win a big one with your team it feels so much better, especially when you know you're team's been through so much," said Criswell, who scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Nevada freshman Cameron Oliver added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Lyonell Gains led Morehead State with 17 points, shooting 8 of 13 from the field.

Winning the clinching game of the best-of-three series wasn't easy for Nevada.

Morehead State's Xavier Moon nearly tied the game with a last-second half-court shot in overtime that bounced off the rim.

"With the half-court shot, from my vantage point, I said, `Here we go: double overtime," Nevada coach Eric Musselman said.

Criswell helped erase Morehead State's lead and put Nevada (24-14) in position to win with 13 seconds left in overtime.

After Nevada guard D.J. Fenner's pass to guard Lindsey Drew was deflected under the basket, Criswell grabbed the loose ball and made a layup to put the Wolf Pack up 83-82.

On the Eagles' next possession, DeJuan Marrero missed a layup and Fenner grabbed the rebound. He converted both free throws before Moon's last-second shot missed and the game ended.

"Mission accomplished: send our seniors out the right way," Musselman said. "For our freshman (they) can sit back and think about all the experience they got ... to springboard us into next year ... all those guys got better obviously with all these extra games and extra time together. Even myself, I know I'll be a better coach coming back next year getting these extra games."

Nevada's ability to get to the free-throw line was vital. The Wolf Pack shot 37.5 percent from the field, but converted 39 of 45 shots from the line. Morehead State (23-14) shot 46.7 percent from the field, but only converted on 6 of 13 free throws.

Nevada's crowd of 9,043, far surpassing the season average (6,416), proved important for the Wolf Pack as it did throughout the CBI tournament. Home teams were 13-3 in the tournament.

Nevada led by as many as 12 points with 15:06 left in regulation, but Morehead State rallied.

"That's what we did all year," Morehead State coach Sean Woods said. "We don't stop playing. We are going to play until the final buzzer and that's what we did tonight."

With six seconds left in regulation and the Eagles down two points, Marrero went to the free-throw line and banked his first shot off the glass. He made the second free throw.

Oliver missed a 3-pointer to win the game in regulation.

Nevada Wolf Pack: 2015 Arizona Bowl Champions

The Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Colorado State Rams 28-23 in the inaugural Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Tuesday night. It was a gritty, grinded it out performance by the Wolf Pack as they leaned on an explosive rushing attack and a solid defensive performance to give them their first bowl victory since defeating Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl back in 2010.

Nevada running back James Butler was named offensive MVP of the Arizona Bowl as he ran for 189 yards and scored two touchdowns while Wolf Pack defensive end Ian Seau was named defensive MVP as he recorded five tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a pass break up and forced a fumble tonight in Seau's final game as a member of the Wolf Pack. Seau got the action started in the first quarter of the game when he sacked Rams quarterback Nick Stevens causing him to fumble the ball which was recovered by Wolf Pack defensive end Rykeem Aytes and ten plays later, Nevada capitalized on that turnover when Brett Zuso kicked a 19-yard field to give the Wolf Pack a 3-0 lead.

The Rams took the lead in the second quarter when Stevens scored on a one-yard touchdown run and after the extra point, Colorado State took a 7-6 lead. After the score, the Wolf Pack answered back quickly when James Butler scored on a 77-yard touchdown run to give Nevada a 13-7 lead. After the Rams scored on a Wyatt Brown field goal to make it 13-10 Nevada, the Rams kicked the ball off to the Wolf Pack's Elijah Mitchell and he took it 96 yards for the touchdown to give the Wolf Pack a 19-10 lead after Zuso missed the PAT. The Rams were able to tack on another field goal before the half to cut the Nevada lead to 19-13.

In the second half with Nevada up 22-13, Colorado State went on a 12 play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped off with a nine-yard touchdown run by Jasen Oden Jr., to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 22-20. In the fourth quarter, the Rams took the lead when Brown connected on a 38-yard field to give Colorado State a 23-22 lead. Nevada got the ball back with 3:40 left in the game and scored on an eight play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by James Butler as the Wolf Pack retook the lead 28-23. The Rams had one final chance to retake the lead late in the game and despite having no timeouts, the Rams were able to orchestrated a quick hitting drive that got them in scoring range. But in the final seconds of the game, Stevens connected with Jordon Vaden but Vaden could not get out of bounds as time expired.

With the bowl win, Nevada ends their up and down season on a high note by going 7-6 and gained some much needed momentum headed into the offseason as Brian Polian and his Wolf Pack look to improve on their consistency and hopefully become a factor in the Mountain West in 2016.