The Brigham Young University and Wyoming football teams are scheduled to arrive in San Diego Saturday to begin four days of preparation and activities leading up to Wednesday’s 12th annual Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Brigham Young team had been scheduled to arrive Friday, but its arrival was delayed because of inclement weather, according to Mark Sawyer, the director of sales & marketing of the San Diego Bowl Game Association, which operates the Poinsettia Bowl and the other bowl game played at Qualcomm Stadium, the Holiday Bowl.
The Cougars will stay at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego and practice at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. The Cowboys will stay at downtown’s Marriott Marquis Marina and practice at Mesa College in Clairemont.
The teams will make separate visits to the San Diego Zoo on Sunday, will simultaneously visit SeaWorld on Monday, and will make a joint visit to the USS Midway Museum on Tuesday for the annual team luncheon.
The Gaslamp March will be held Monday at a new location, Horton Plaza Park, with marching bands and spirit squads from both universities. Brigham Young had accepted an invitation in 2013 to play in the 2016 and 2018 Poinsettia Bowls if it was bowl-eligible and not selected to participate in the College Football Playoff.
The Cougars (8-4) will enter the Poinsettia Bowl on a four-game winning streak. Brigham Young went 7-1 after starting the season 1-3. Cougars starting quarterback Taysom Hill will miss the game due to a left elbow strain suffered in a 28-10 victory over Utah State on Nov. 26. Hill won 23 games as a starting quarterback and accounted for 9,744 yards of total offense, fourth in school history.
Wyoming (8-5) won the Mountain West Conference’s Mountain Division, but lost the championship game to San Diego State, 27-24, Dec. 3. The Cowboys started the season 2-2, won their next five games, then lost three of four.
Five of Wyoming’s games have been decided by three points or fewer. The Cowboys are 2-3 in those games.
— City News Service
