The 1997 Humanitarian Bowl was the inaugural edition of the bowl game now known as the

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, previously the Humanitarian Bowl (1997–2003, 2007–2010) and the MPC Computers Bowl (2004–2006), is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 1997 at Albertson ...

. It featured the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

and the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

of the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacifi ...

. This was Cincinnati's first bowl game in 46 years and first bowl win since 1949. Kickoff was at 1:30 pm MST and it was televised by

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

Game summary

*Cincinnati – Bonner 14 yard pass from Plummer (Judge kick, 4:03) *Cincinnati – Bonner 14 yard pass from Kenner (Judge kick, 14:12) *Cincinnati – Smith 1 yard run (Judge kick, 8:30) *Cincinnati – Plummer 15 yard run (Judge kick, 8:39) *Utah State – Smith 75 yard pass from Sauk (Bohn kick, 7:31) *Cincinnati – O. Smith 7 yard run (Judge kick, 2:28) *Utah State – Blue 3 yard run (Bohn kick failed, 0:29) *Utah State – Passey 10 yard fumble return (Sauk pass failed, 14:18) Favored Cincinnati took a 7–0 lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass from

Chad Plummer Chad J. Plummer (born November 30, 1975) is a former American and Canadian football wide receiver in the National Football League and Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He als ...

to Cornelius Bonner. They led on a scoring pass from Deontey Kenner to Bonner. Lendon Smith scored on a 1-yard touchdown run as Cincinnati took a halftime lead. In the third quarter, Plummer scored on a 15-yard touchdown run making the score Utah State got on the board with a 75-yard touchdown pass from

Matthew Sauk Matthew Sauk (born March 15, 1976) is an arena football coach and former quarterback. He played college football at Utah State, was an af2 quarterback from 2001 to 2005, and an AFL quarterback from 2002 to 2008. He has been a football coach si ...

to Steve Smith. Cincinnati answered with a 7-yard Orlando Smith touchdown run making the score Utah State scored on a 3-yard touchdown run making the score at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Utah State's Brent Passey scored on a 10-yard fumble return making the final score

References

External links

Game recap at USAToday.com
{{Utah State Aggies bowl game navbox Humanitarian Bowl Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Cincinnati Bearcats football bowl games Utah State Aggies football bowl games December 1997 sports events in the United States 1997 in sports in Idaho