Las Vegas Bowl: #24 Boise State v. Washington

Who will WIN this matchup?

#24 Boise State Broncos (12-1)

Washington Huskies (7-5)

Current odds:

#24 Boise State Broncos: (+145)

Washington Huskies: (-165)

• The line for this game is Washington by 3.5 points.

• Chris Peterson’s final game as Washington’s coach comes in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 21 against an opponent he’d rather not face in Boise State. Peterson went 92-12 in eight seasons as the Broncos’ coach before parlaying his success into the gig at Washington and he recently announced his resignation from the Huskies after six seasons. “Obviously, personally speaking, there’s a lot of other teams that I would have probably liked to be playing for this last time,” Peterson said at a press conference. “But it is what it is. It’s interesting sometimes how these things work out.”

• Broncos coach Bryan Harsin wasn’t so thrilled about the matchup either as he goes up against the coach he worked with for 10 years, including five with Peterson as the head man. “There is an obvious storyline in this game,” Harsin said in a press conference. “The most important thing that we all have to consider is to not overshadow the players that are actually going to play in the game, which is going to be the shame if the story continues to be not about the game.” Harsin and Peterson have met once as head coaches with the Broncos prevailing 16-13 in 2015 in Peterson’s much-anticipated return to Boise.

• Boise State, which won its final six games, is playing in a bowl game for the 18th straight season – the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. Washington has its own impressive streak of 10 straight bowl appearances, best currently among Pac-12 programs. The schools met in the 2012 Las Vegas Bowl when Peterson guided the Broncos to a 28-26 victory over the Huskies, then coached by Steve Sarkisian.

• The Broncos turned to senior quarterback Jaylon Henderson in mid-November and he has been superb with 10 touchdown passes against two interceptions while adding two rushing scores during four starts. Freshman running back George Holani is 21 yards away from a 1,000-yard season while senior wideout John Hightower (48 receptions) is 77 yards shy of reaching 1,000 on the receiving end. Junior pass rusher Curtis Weaver has 13.5 sacks – fifth-most in the nation – and holds the Mountain West career mark of 34 while senior safety Kekoa Nawahine has starred on the back end with three interceptions.

• Junior quarterback Jacob Eason could opt for the NFL draft after the game – senior offensive tackle Trey Adams and junior tight end Hunter Bryant are skipping the game to protect against injury – and has passed for 2,922 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions during his first season as a college starter since 2016 at Georgia. Junior running back Salvon Ahmed has 1,000 yards on the ground and has produced four 100-yard outings. Junior free safety Elijah Molden has a team-best 70 tackles and his three interceptions are tied with freshman cornerback Cameron Williams for the team lead while sophomore outside linebacker Joe Tryon has racked up a team-high eight sacks.