After winning a share of the Mountain West championship with Fresno State this weekend, the San Diego State football team has more to cheer about.
On Monday, the Aztecs accepted an invitation to play in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20 at Qualcomm Stadium against rival Brigham Young. The game will be televised on ESPN.
This will be the first meeting between former conference foes since BYU left the MW in 2010 and 36th meeting overall. The Aztecs have lost five consecutive games to the Cougars.
SDSU is coming off a 42-28 win at Wyoming, which gave the Aztecs their seventh consecutive victory and first MW title since 1998. SDSU is currently 9-3 on the season and 7-1 in conference play.
BYU has been independent since leaving the MW and is 7-5 on the season. BYU is contracted with the Poinsettia Bowl as long as it is bowl eligible and not invited to a Bowl Championship Series game. BYU officially accepted its bid on Nov. 10.
For the first time in school history, the Aztecs will appear in a third consecutive bowl game. In 2010, SDSU competed in the Poinsettia Bowl, defeating Navy 35-14 for the school’s first bowl win since 1969. The game, which was played in front of a record crowd of 48,049 fans, had individual records set by running back Ronnie Hillman (28 attempts, 228 rushing yards) and wide receiver Vincent Brown (165 receiving yards). Last season at the New Orleans Bowl, SDSU was defeated by Louisiana-Lafayette, 32-30, on a last-second field goal.
“I think we’re pretty excited around here about things that have happened over the last few weeks,” SDSU head coach Rocky Long said. “(We’re) pretty excited about going to the bowl game. I think that all of us, I know the staff and a lot of the players, are happy to be staying here because there’s no better place to be.”
Tickets for the public will go on sale on Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m. and can be purchased through GoAztecs.com, on the phone by calling 619-283-7378 or by visiting the Aztec Ticket Office at Qualcomm Stadium’s Window E between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“It’s just good to be rewarded with a bowl game after our success this season,” senior cornerback Leon McFadden said. “We’re all excited about being able to play in Qualcomm Stadium in front of San Diego County. We set out what we wanted to do; that’s win the conference championship. We did that and now the bowl game’s just a reward for us at the end of the season.”
