No hot Potato: Boise game goes down as one of coldest bowls of all time, again

The 22 degree kickoff temperature for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Thursday tied for the sixth coldest bowl game of all time with the 1999 Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, according to research by the Coloradoan newspaper.

The coldest bowl game of all time was the 1958 Bluegrass Bowl at 12 degrees.

The coldest bowl game in Boise history was the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl at 20 degrees.

The temperature Thursday when the game ended just before 9 p.m. was 15 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Idaho beat Colorado State 61-50.

BLUE TURF PROVES TOUGH OPPONENT FOR BOTH TEAMS

The toughest defender in the 111-point explosion proved to be the iconic blue turf at Albertsons Stadium.

Both Idaho and Colorado State players battled the slippery conditions all night. With ice frozen in between the blades of the field turf, and wherever there was paint, receivers found themselves all alone, running backs saw lanes spring open and anyone who thought of celebrating in the end zone quickly found himself on his backside.

“The field was not in great shape, but it was the same field they were playing on,” Colorado State coach Mike Bobo said. “I thought it was in our heads a little bit. The No. 1 thing we do is don’t make excuses. And we were worried about the turf a little bit too much instead of playing ball.”

KICKER HAS RARE MISSES

One constant for Idaho the past four years has been Austin Rehkow, a senior who pulls the rare double duty as punter and kicker.

The NFL prospect entered the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 35-for-35 on PATs this season, but he pulled his first PAT attempt and missed another late in the second half.

Rehkow missed three PATs in his career before the game, finishing his time as a Vandal 135-of-140 on extra points.

Rehkow averaged 42.6 yards a punt during the regular season, and 34.7 on Thursday.

RECORDS BY THE NUMBERS

▪ 0: Points for both teams in the first quarter, a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl first.

▪ 36: Points for Colorado State in the fourth quarter, a record for all bowl games.

▪ 61: Points scored by Idaho, breaking the previous Famous Idaho Potato Bowl record of 52 set by Georgia Tech in 2004. Colorado State’s 50 points are third in the bowl’s history.

▪ 84: Points in the second half, the most in any half in a bowl game in college football history.

▪ 111: Combined points between Idaho and Colorado State, breaking the previous Famous Idaho Potato Bowl record of 85 set by Idaho and Bowling Green in 2009.

▪ 445: Passing yards for Colorado State quarterback Nick Stevens, breaking the previous Famous Idaho Potato Bowl record of 387 by Bowling Green’s Tyler Sheehan in 2009.

▪ 606: Yards of offense for Idaho, breaking the previous bowl game record of 582 by Utah State in 2012. Colorado State also broke the record with 600 yards.

▪ 265/3: Colorado State wide receiver Olabis Johnson caught seven passes for 265 yards to set a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl record. Teammate Michael Gallup tied the bowl record with three touchdown catches.

This story was originally published December 23, 2016 at 12:33 AM with the headline "No hot Potato: Boise game goes down as one of coldest bowls of all time, again."