Central Michigan will face Wyoming in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 22. The game is set for a 4 p.m. ET kickoff.
The Chippewas won the final five games of the regular-season to gain bowl eligibility for the third consecutive year under coach John Bonamego.
Wyoming, a season removed from its Mountain West Conference title appearance, may not have its starting quarterback, Josh Allen, available as he's recovering from a throwing shoulder injury suffered on Nov. 11.
Here are 5 things to know about the Idaho Potato Bowl matchup:
1. Alluring QB Battle
This Friday will mark the second bowl game of senior quarterback Shane Morris' career. As a freshman, the former five-star recruit played his first collegiate game with Michigan at the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Morris threw for 196 yards with an interception before negating to a backup role the following three seasons until making the decision to transfer to Central Michigan.
This season, Morris has done everything asked, leading CMU to an 8-4 record and 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference. The fifth-year senior's stat line includes 407 attempted passes, 2,908 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Friday will be the 14th start of Morris' college career.
Opposite of Morris is a some-what recovered Josh Allen, the projected first-round pick in next year's NFL Draft. According to the Associated Press, the junior quarterback is nearing 100 percent.
Forced to miss the final two games of the season, Allen is practicing with the first-team offense and will play in the Idaho Potato Bowl if he's ready to go.
What Allen isn't trying to do is avoiding the bowl game all together. Oregon running back Royce Freeman is one of the latest names to do so in order to be ready health wise for the NFL.
2. Top Ranked Defense
Central Michigan finished the regular-season with an FBS leading 31 gained turnovers with 12 fumble recoveries and 19 interceptions. The latter of which is also good for second alongside Akron and Iowa, just one behind Lane Kiffin's Florida Atlantic program.
For defensive backs Josh Cox and Sean Bunting, they've combined for 11 interceptions. As the youngest in the secondary, Bunting's rise didn't occur until the ninth game of the season at Western Michigan, grabbing his first pick.
Afterwards, the sophomore got two more against Eastern Michigan and then one each against Northern Illinois and Kent State. Cox, according to CMU's athletic communications department, became the first to gain six in a single-season since 1988.
Bunting would go on to be named to the first-team All-MAC defensive team by Pro Football Focus.
The other big name in the secondary, Amari Coleman, had 42 total tackles, four tackles for a loss, three interceptions, and seven passes deflected this season. The senior also accepted an invitation the 2018 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl this past Monday.
3. Postseason Struggles
Central Michigan has been to third consecutive bowl games under coach John Bonamego, losing the previous two at the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl against Minnesota and last season's drubbing to Tulsa in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl.
Since 2006, when the Detroit based game in Ford Field was named the Motor City Bowl, the Chippewas have earned postseason status in 10 of the last 12 years.
The most recent win occurred in 2012 during Dan Enos' third season as coach, winning the final three games of the regular-season to surpass Western Kentucky, 21-14, at the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
Meanwhile, for Wyoming, the Idaho Potato Bowl will be its 15th bowl game since 1951.
But from 2004, the number of appearances totals to five, going 2-2 during the span, including two straight wins in 2004 and 2009 at the Las Vegas Bowl and New Mexico Bowl, respectively.
Last season's loss in the Poinsettia Bowl to Brigham Young marked coach Craig Bohl's first time playing past the month of November after leaving FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. Bonamego and Bohl have yet to coach against each other in a game.
4. Senior Sendoff
Besides Morris, who won the 2016 Citrus Bowl as a backup quarterback with Michigan, the remaining group of CMU's senior class have yet to win a bowl game.
That includes defensive end Joe Ostman, one of two Chippewa players to earn 2017 first-team All-MAC honors, posting 12 sacks on the season which ties for first nationally with NIU's Sutton Smith.
Being a firth-year senior, Ostman is one of the few on the team who've played out west as Central Michigan lost to UNLV by 10 back on Sept. 14, 2013. The Chippewas haven't been back in that area of the country since, which makes the Idaho Potato Bowl that more intriguing.
The inclement cold weather in Boise will also be something new for CMU, being that the previous three bowl games took place under a dome or in tropical tempratures.
5. Overwhelming MAC Precence
From 2009-15, the MAC was represented in the Idaho Potato Bowl, with Akron being the latest, going 23-21 over Utah State for Terry Bowden's first bowl win as head coach of the Zips.
Western Michigan, Buffalo, Toledo, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green and Ohio round out the other six, combing for a 2-4 record. The biggest blowout win was in 2010 when the Huskies claimed a 23-point margin of victory against Fresno State.
The Rockets, facing the last Western Athletic Conference champion before the league disbanded football in USU, lost 41-15 as the Aggies claimed their first bowl win in 19 years.
2009 was the only time a MAC program didn't square off with a Mountain West Conference opponent as Bowling Green went down 43-42 to Idaho of the Sun Belt Conference. In 2016, Idaho won again, scoring 61 points on Colorado State.
