2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

The game normally features conference tie-ins from the Mountain West Conference (MW) and the Mid-American Conference. However, the committee decided to invite in-state Idaho of the Sun Belt Conference instead of a MAC team from the Midwest. Idaho had previously won this bowl twice, in 1998 and 2009. MW representative Colorado State played in this bowl for the first time.

This was the eighth meeting between the schools, with Colorado State leading the all-time series 4–3.[4] The most recent meeting was six years earlier in 2010 on September 25; the Rams won in Fort Collins with a game-ending field goal, 36–34.[5][6][7] Idaho won the year before in Moscow, also by two points.[8][9]

With a temperature of 20 °F (−7 °C), the 2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl started at 5:05 pm MST (7:05 pm EST) and was broadcast by ESPN. Idaho kicked off to start the game and Rams returner Jake Schlager opened the game with a 46-yard return. After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Rams started their first drive at their own 40. They marched the ball down to the Idaho 21, where they failed to convert a 4th & 1. Idaho's first drive started at their own 21, but they stalled and went three-and-out, and CSU got the ball on their own 42. The Rams' second drive was cut short after two plays when Rams QB Nick Stevens's pass was intercepted over the middle by Jayshawn Jordan at the Idaho 41. The Vandals again went three-and-out and punted back to Colorado State, and the punt was downed at the CSU 40. CSU's third drive ended in a punt that rolled into the end zone, and the Vandals took over at their own 20. For the third time, Idaho went three-and-out, and Colorado State took the ball on their own 36 yard line. The Rams punted right back to Idaho and the Vandals took the ball on their own 25. This drive ended in a punt, and CSU took over on their own 16. The first quarter ended Idaho 0, Colorado State 0.

The Rams took over on their own 16 and drove to their own 48, where they threw a 52-yard touchdown pass for the first points of the game. They kicked off to Idaho and the Vandals started their fifth drive on their own 35. Idaho jumpstarted their offense with their first big play of the game, a 36-yard pass down to the CSU 2; they scored on the next play to pull within one after the extra point was missed. Idaho's kickoff resulted in a touchback, and the Rams got the football on the 25. A false start and two incompletions didn't help the offense, and CSU punted it right back to Idaho, who took over at their own 38. Yet again, the Vandals made a statement with a deep pass: this time a 33-yard pass, and again they scored on the next play. They took the lead on a 26-yard scamper from RB Isaiah Saunders, his second of the game. CSU returned the kickoff to the 27. After gaining one first down, the Rams punted again and Idaho started their seventh drive on their own 15. This drive featured 6 first downs (2 of which were fourth down conversions) and resulted in Idaho increasing their lead to 13 with yet another touchdown. Idaho squibbed the kickoff and CSU started the last drive of the second half on their own 17 with 14 seconds left. They ran one play and the clock expired. The game went to halftime with the score Idaho 20, Colorado State 7.

Idaho received the kick to open the second half; they started their drive on the 31. Idaho's offense came out ready to play as they marched the ball down the field and capped the drive with their fourth touchdown in their last four drives. Colorado State's first drive of the third quarter included a third down conversion, yet still ended in a punt, which was downed on the 21. Idaho's next drive was capped by yet another touchdown, upping their lead to 27. The Rams started their second drive of the second half on their own 39. Two incompletions and a sack later, Colorado State punted and Idaho took over on the 9. The Vandals would be forced to punt on this drive, but the punt was muffed and Idaho got the ball right back on the CSU 14. It took them just three more plays to punch it in and extend their lead to 34. The Rams' next possession finally saw something productive happen on offense: back-to-back long passes going for 47 and 24 yards that took them down to the Idaho 20. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty took the ball down to the 7, and two plays later the Rams found the end zone and snapped Idaho's streak of 41 unanswered points. The third quarter ended Idaho 41, Colorado State 14.

Idaho's offense didn't let up, though, as they scored within two minutes of the start of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 34. CSU responded, though, with a 72-yard touchdown pass on a blown coverage. Idaho responded with yet another long touchdown pass – this time Jordan Frysinger caught a long ball with one hand while being interfered with. Idaho went back up by 34 with 9:27 left in the game. On the first play of their next drive, the Rams found the end zone again on a long pass; a 60-yard touchdown pass made the score 55–28 with 9:06 left. Colorado State's onside kick was unsuccessful, and Idaho responded with yet another touchdown: an Isaiah Saunders 12-yard rush to make it 61–28 after the PAT was missed. Once again, Colorado State found the end zone; this time from 3 yards out on a pass play. Again, the onside kick was unsuccessful. The first drive of the fourth quarter not to result in a touchdown came with 3:12 to go when Idaho went three-and-out and was forced to punt back to CSU, who took over on their own 16. With 2:42 to play, Nick Stevens went for another long pass but was intercepted at the Idaho 20 by D.J. Hampton. Idaho went three-and-out and punted back to the Rams, who started their next drive of the game on the 43 and resulted in a 22-yard touchdown rush from CSU's Dalyn Dawkins, making the score 61–42. With just over a minute left in the game, Colorado State recovered their onside kick at the CSU 46 and gained 39 yards on the first play of that possession. The second play got them inside the five and 2 plays later they scored their fifth touchdown of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard rush by Izzy Matthews. The two-point conversion was good on a Stevens to Johnson pass, and the score was 61–50. CSU's next onside kick was recovered by Idaho, however, dashing any hopes of a Rams comeback.

The game ended Idaho 61, Colorado State 50, and Idaho became the 2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl champions.

In a postgame interview for ESPN Radio, Linehan was strongly critical of Idaho's decision to drop to FCS football, saying,[12]

We belong in FBS, period. That's what I believe, that's what everyone believes. We know we can compete, we belong here. No matter what anyone thinks, even our tone-deaf president. Maybe he doesn't think we belong here, but I think we belong here.