The twelfth and final edition of the Poinsettia Bowl featured the BYU Cougars against the Wyoming Cowboys.
[10] After their 37–7 victory over Southern Utah (which improved their record to 6–4 and made them bowl-eligible), bowl director Ted Tollner (who, incidentally, served as quarterbacks coach at BYU for the 1981 season) extended an invitation for the Cougars to play in the game, which they accepted.
The Wyoming Cowboys became bowl eligible with an upset 30–28 win over the then-13th ranked Boise State Broncos.
The 2016 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl kicked off at 6:10 PT (9:10 ET)[13] in the driving rain and was broadcast on ESPN.
It took 2 plays for BYU to find the end zone for the first points of the game; QB Tanner Mangum scrambled for the 3-yard touchdown rush.
BYU's second turnover came on their next drive when a Tanner Mangum pass was intercepted by Wyoming's Andrew Wingard.
BYU's first drive of the second half saw them reach the red zone in five plays after starting at their own 43; the drive was capped by a touchdown pass that was batted around four times by both offensive and defensive players and eventually caught by BYU's Tanner Balderree in the back of the end zone.
With 1:59 left in the 3rd, BYU defender Micah Hannemann was disqualified after getting called on a targeting penalty.
The Cowboys' first drive of the fourth quarter started on their own 24, included four first downs, and resulted in a Wyoming touchdown.