Saturday, Dec. 17
3:30 p.m. ET
Sam Boyd Statdium
(35,500/DURAPlay)
Whitney, Nev.

Television
ABC
Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer and Kaylee Hartung

Houston Radio
KPRC-AM 950 (flagship)

 

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THE GAME
The Las Vegas Bowl matchup between Houston and San Diego State will be the third meeting between those schools … Houston has won both prior matchups, played in a home-and-home series in 1972 and 1973 … The Las Vegas Bowl normally features teams from the Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences, but Houston stepped in this year due to a shortage of available Pac-12 teams … Houston’s appearance will mark the first time an American Athletic Conference school plays in the Las Vegas Bowl …  The game is played at Sam Boyd Stadium, which is the home stadium for UNLV during the regular season .


LAS VEGAS BOWL RESULTS (0-0)
12-18-92    Bowling Green 35, Nevada 34
12-17-93    Utah State 42, Ball State 33
12-15-94    UNLV 52, Central Michigan 24
12-14-95    Toledo 40, Nevada 37 (ot)
12-18-96    Nevada 18, Ball State 15
12-20-97    Oregon 41, Air Force 13
12-19-98    North Carolina 20, San Diego State 13
12-18-99    Utah 17, Fresno State 16
12-21-00    UNLV 31, Arkansas 14
12-25-01    Utah 10, USC 6
12-25-02    UCLA 27, New Mexico 13
12-24-03    Oregon State 55, New Mexico 14
12-23-04    Wyoming 24, UCLA 21
12-22-05    California 35, Brigham Young 28
12-21-06    Brigham Young 38, Oregon 8
12-22-07    Brigham Young 17, UCLA 16
12-20-08    Arizona 31, Brigham Young 21
12-22-09    Brigham Young 44, Oregon State 20
12-22-10    Boise State 26, Utah 3
12-22-11    Boise State 56, Arizona State 24
12-22-12    Boise State 28, Washington 26
12-21-13    USC 45, Fresno State 20
12-20-14    Utah 45, Colorado State 10
12-19-15    Utah 35, Brigham Young 28
 

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rv/rv HOUSTON
9-3, 5-3 American

Head Coach
Major Applewhite (Texas ’02)
0-0, first season

NOTES
Houston looks to register a third consecutive bowl victory for the first time in program history as the Cougars play in the Las Vegas Bowl for the first time … The Cougars will make their 10th bowl appearance in the last 12 years and will play in a bowl for the fourth straight year … The Cougars have gone 22-4 in the last two years, trailing only Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State nationally in total wins in that span … The Cougars have named Major Applewhite as their new head coach after Tom Herman stepped down after the regular season to take a similar position at Texas … Applewhite, who had been offensive coordinator at Houston since 2015 and who spent seven years as an assistant at Texas, will make his head coaching debut in the Las Vegas Bowl … Houston, which opened the season with a victory against then-No. 3 Oklahoma, is the only team nationally with two wins against opponents ranked in the top three … The Cougars rank third the nation in rushing defense (97.9 ypg) and 14th in total defense (325.0 ypg) … DE Ed Oliver, the 2016 American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, has been chosen as a First Team All-America selection by Sporting News, USA Today and Sports Illustrated …  Oliver, who was one of two unanimous choices to the American Athletic Conference First Team, has 61 tackles, 5.0 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, seven quarterback hurries and nine pass breakups as a true freshman … QB Greg Ward Jr. has completed 294 of 435 passes (67.6 percent) for 3,328 yards and 22 touchdowns with nine interceptions … Ward, who  also has nine rushing TDs, is 27-5 as Houston’s starting quarterback … Ward ranks fourth among FBS players in completions per game (26.7) and is fourth in total offense (349.6  ypg) … WR Linell Bonner leads the team with 93 catches for 1,076 yards and three TDs, while WR Chance Allen has a team-high six touchdown catches among his 56 receptions this season … LB Steven Taylor has a team-high 72 tackles with 8.5 sacks, 11.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception … CB Howard Wilson leads the team with five interceptions and 14 passes defended … The Cougars have averaged 3.08 sacks per game, which ranks 12th nationally.

 

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rv/rv SAN DIEGO STATE
10-3, 6-2 Mountain West

Head Coach
Rocky Long (New Mexico ’74)
53-26, sixth season at San Diego State
117-95, 17th season as collegiate head coach

NOTES
San Diego State won the Mountain West championship for the second straight year after the Aztecs defeated Wyoming Dec. 3 … San Diego State has won three Mountain West titles under coach Rocky Long, including a share of the 2012 championship … The Aztecs have won at least seven games in each of the six years of Long’s tenure and have hit double digits in wins in back-to-back seasons … San Diego State has won 21 conference titles in program history and is making its seventh straight appearance in a bowl game … A win against Houston would give the Aztecs 11 victories and would tie the program record … San Diego State is making its second appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl; the Aztecs fell to North Carolina, 20-13, in 1998 … The standout for San Diego State is RB Donnel Pumphrey, who was named as a Walter Camp First Team All-America selection and was a second-team choice by Sporting News … Pumphrey, the back-to-back Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, has rushed for 2,018 yards and 16 touchdowns on 330 carries this season and has a team-high 26 receptions for 205 yards … Pumphrey’s rushing total ranks second among NCAA FBS players, while his career total of 6,290 rushing yards trails only Texas’ Ricky Williams on the NCAA all-time chart …  Pumphrey led a San Diego State sweep of the Mountain West’s postseason honors as CB Damontae Kazee was a repeat selection as the league’s defensive player of the year, while RB Rashad Penny was tabbed as the special teams player of the year … The Aztecs had seven players named to the Mountain West First Team as OG Nico Siragusa, DE Alex Barrett, LB Calvin Munson and K John Baron II joined Pumphrey, Kazee and Penny… Munson leads the team with 108 tackles to go with 3.5 sacks and 10.0 tackles for loss, while Barrett has team highs with 6.5 sacks and 11.0 tackles for loss … QB Christian Chapman has completed 143 of 237 passes for 1,866 yards and 19 touchdowns with six interceptions … WR Mikah Holder has 26 receptions for a team-high 569 yards with five touchdowns … San Diego State competes in the American Athletic Conference as an affiliate member in women’s rowing.