The BYU football team accepted its invitation to play in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl after its bowl-qualifying win over Southern Utah on Nov. 12.
The Cougars now know their opponent for the bowl: Former Mountain West Conference foe Wyoming.
“Our guys are excited to play in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “Wyoming is a well-coached team that just played for the Mountain West championship. Coach Bohl and the Cowboys have had an impressive season and Brian Hill is a great running back. We look forward to the game.”
Sitake led the Cougars to an 8-4 record through his first year at BYU, winning each of the last four games by an average 26 points. The Cougars’ four losses have come by a combined total of eight points.
“Obviously we want to go to a bowl game, we want to get a win there, so we know we’re going,” Sitake said. “It’s nice to be in San Diego, it’s going to be nice weather. We have a great fan base down there and a lot of fans that are willing to travel. So it’s one more opportunity to play together and one more opportunity to entertain our fans.”
BYU will play an 8-5 Wyoming team who lost in the Mountain West Conference Championship game to San Diego State. The Cowboys blew a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and ultimately fell 27-24 to the Aztecs.
BYU is 44-30-3 all time against the Cowboys, winning the last matchup 25-20 in 2010.
“It is a great opportunity to play an old rival in BYU,” Wyoming Athletic Director Tom Burman said. “For our fans, I know this match-up will be one they will be very excited about. As with past bowl games we’ve been involved with, we look forward to seeing a great number of our fans in San Diego on Dec. 21.”
Wyoming features a strong running game which helped earn key wins over Boise State and San Diego State this season. Running back Brian Hill had a great season for the Cowboys, scoring 21 touchdowns and rushing for 1,767 yards.
Sophomore quarterback Josh Allen broke out, throwing 26 touchdowns and 2,996 yards in his first season as a starter.
“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by our players and our coaches,” Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl said in a press release. “Having the Poinsettia Bowl select us to play in their game is a true honor and a great reward for our team. We are appreciative to the Poinsettia Bowl Committee for this opportunity to represent the state of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference.”
The last time BYU was in the Poinsettia Bowl, the Cougars took down San Diego State 23-6 behind two defensive touchdowns from Kyle Van Noy. BYU football will be looking to move to 2-0 in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
