| Game Name: | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 15 |
| Year Game Played: | 2012 |
| Football Season: | 2012 |
| Stadium: | Bronco Stadium |
| City: | Boise, Idaho |
| Visitor School: | University of Toledo |
| Visitor Name Short: | Toledo |
| Visitor Nickname: | Rockets |
| Visitor Record: | 9–3 |
| Visitor Coach: | Matt Campbell |
| Visitor Conference: | MAC |
| Visitor 1Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 9 |
| Home School: | Utah State University |
| Home Name Short: | Utah State |
| Home Nickname: | Aggies |
| Home Record: | 10–2 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 18 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 20 |
| Home Rank Bcs: | 22 |
| Home Coach: | Gary Andersen |
| Home Conference: | WAC |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 28 |
| Odds: | Utah St. by 10[1] |
| Mvp: | Bernard Reedy Toledo Wide Receiver Kerwynn Williams Utah State Running Back |
| Referee: | Eddie Shelton (MWC) |
| Attendance: | 29,243 |
| Payout: | 650,000 |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Tom Hart (Play-by-play) Mike Bellotti (Analyst) Quint Kessenich (Sideline) |
The 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 15, 2012 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho in the United States. The sixteenth edition of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl began at 2:30 p.m. MST and aired on ESPN. It featured the Toledo Rockets from the Mid-American Conference against the Western Athletic Conference champion Utah State Aggies, and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Rockets accepted their invitation after earning a 9–2 record in the regular season, while the Aggies accepted theirs after earning a 10–2 record. Utah State won the game 41–15.[2]
Since 2001, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl has given an automatic bid to a team from the Western Athletic Conference. However, this was the final year of the bid, as the WAC ceased sponsorship of football following the season. Coincidentally, the WAC's bid was given after the Big West Conference (whose champion had the automatic bid) ceased sponsoring football following the 2000 game.
The Mid-American Conference has held their automatic bid since 2010, following the Toronto-based International Bowl ceasing operations.
This was the first meeting between these two teams.
See main article: 2012 Toledo Rockets football team. In one of the more successful seasons in the conference's history, the Rockets were one of the MAC's more successful teams, finishing with a 6–2 conference record, good for a tie for second place in the West Division (though losing the tiebreaker to the Ball State Cardinals). After the season, the Rockets accepted their invitation to the 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.[3]
This would be the Rockets' first Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
See main article: 2012 Utah State Aggies football team. The Aggies came off of one of their most successful seasons in school history, finishing 6–0 in WAC play and winning the conference's final outright championship. In fact, the Aggies' only two losses of the season by a margin of no more than three points (to the Wisconsin Badgers by a score of 16–14 and their Old Wagon Wheel rivals the BYU Cougars by a score of 6–3). After defeating the Idaho Vandals to finish their regular season record at 10–2 (winning ten games for the first time in school history), the Aggies accepted the fourth invitation of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season to the 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.[4]
This would be the Aggies' third Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, following the inaugural 1997 game against the Cincinnati Bearcats as well as the 2011 game against the Ohio Bobcats, both of which the Aggies lost. It would also be the Aggies' final game as a member of the WAC before they moved to the Mountain West Conference in 2013.
| Statistics | Toledo | Utah State |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 18 | 22 |
| Total offense, plays - yards | 76-315 | 62-582 |
| Rushes-yards (net) | 37-142 | 31-353 |
| Passing yards (net) | 173 | 229 |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 19-39-173 | 21-31-229 |
| Time of Possession | 35:55 | 24:05 |