The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BOTH participating teams in the 2019 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, the Charlotte 49ers and the Buffalo Bulls, arrived in the capital yesterday to begin a busy week of activities leading up to Friday’s matchup on the field.

The Bulls were the first to arrive at the Atlantis resort, and head coach Lance Leipold said the entire programme was eager to enjoy their time in the Bahamas with the main focus - a win on the field.

“It’s just so exciting to see the guys finally get an opportunity to see what this is all about, seeing the experiences that they are going to have, knowing that these are going to be memories of a lifetime - it’s very exciting. You can feel the energy on the bus coming here, you could even feel it when we met this morning as a team back in Buffalo, so it’s a very exciting time.

“This is what they were hoping for when we reached bowl eligibility, once we got that seventh win, we knew this would be a place we were selected to be a part of and we’re just looking forward to a great week.

Buffalo (7-5 overall, 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference) is led by Leipold, who is in his fifth season (30-32) with the Bulls and his 13th season as a college head coach (140-38 overall record at Buffalo and Wisconsin-Whitewater), including a 109-6 record and six NCAA Division III National Championships over his eight seasons at Whitewater. A six-time National Coach of the Year, Leipold reached 100 career victories faster than any other coach in NCAA history at any level.

The 2019 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl will be the second consecutive bowl game for the Bulls as Buffalo played in the 2018 Dollar General Bowl under Leipold’s direction.

He said his staff will find the balance between experiencing the Bahamas off the field while preparing for the game. “My family and I will try to squeeze some time in together, I’m a dolphin lover so I will try to make my way over there for a bit and get in the water, try to find a way to look around, try to make the most of it as best we can. I’m going to get a lot of enjoyment watching the guys experience things they haven’t had a chance to do and may never get a chance to do again,” he said, “I think that will make this trip very fulfilling at the early part of the week and then we can get focused to play against an excellent football team and make this game as exciting as it has been in previous years. It will be challenging, we’ll find out how well we do with that, especially with this destination, but as it gets closer to kickoff we get back to the normal things that we would.”

The 49ers arrived later in the afternoon and head coach Will Healy said his team will also seek to manage the time and focus on and off the field.

“Just spending time with my family, treating my staff and their families the right way and making sure they get a chance to live it up is very exciting for me,” he said, “This is my first bowl game so I don’t have all the answers. My deal is - when it’s time to lock in, let’s lock in; when it’s time to have fun lets get away from it and enjoy it. This trip is about this destination. Our guys are mature, we’ve got an older group that is locked in really well during the week. We’ll let them enjoy it and lock back on Wednesday and Thursday.”

Charlotte (7-5 overall, 5-3 in Conference USA play) will play in its inaugural bowl game in the seven-year football history of the program. Healy, who is in his first season with the 49ers and his fourth season as a college head coach (20-26 overall record at Charlotte and Austin Peay). Healy was the 2017 FCS Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award winner at Austin Peay as the Governors advanced to the NCAA FCS quarterfinals that season. Healy will be the first head coach to lead his team in the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl in his first season in charge.

“This is is the perfect destination, first bowl game in programme history and a dream trip, trip of a lifetime,”Healy said, “It’s a special place, I’ve been excited since I was here last time and we’re very excited to be here.”

Bowl season will begin in the Bahamas when the Bulls, (Mid-American Conference) and 49ers (Conference USA) faceoff Friday, December 20 at 2pm at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

Charlotte will play in its first bowl game in school history as the 49ers began play in 2013 and moved to the FBS level and C-USA membership in 2015.This will be the first meeting between Buffalo and Charlotte. Conference USA leads the all-time Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl series 3-2 over the MAC. Buffalo will participate in its fourth bowl game and second consecutive. The Bulls played in the Dollar General Bowl last season, the 2008 International Bowl and the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Buffalo becomes the second school to play in the last two FBS international bowl locations (Nassau, Bahamas and Toronto, Canada), joining Western Michigan (2007 International Bowl; 2015 Bahamas Bowl).

The Bulls come into the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl with victories in five of their last six games while the 49ers will enter the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl on five-game winning streak and seven victories overall – both school records.

Bulls defensive end, Taylor Riggins, said being in the Bahamas was a welcome change of pace after experiencing the recent weather in frigid Buffalo, New York.

“As a team we’re just really excited to be here, really excited to get away from that cold weather up in Buffalo. It’s been really bad roads, low 30s, snowing everyday so to be able to get down here in the sun and take off some clothes is incredible,” he said, “We worked so hard to get that 13th game and play another game for our seniors so they can leave on a high note. We want to make the most of this experience, a lot of these guys may never be able to do this again but its important to have fun and stay focused, at the end of the day we have a task at hand - at that’s a chance to get the first bowl victory in school history.”

Bulls tight end Zac Lefebvre echoed those sentiments: “I know there is a pretty cool water slide I’ll check that out but I’m just ready to explode. Everyone is just excited to be here, we couldn’t wait. It was coming down to Idaho and here, Buffalo is about 30 degrees right now so coming here is amazing.”

Charlotte wide receiver, Victor Tucker, said the Bahamas Bowl presents both an opportunity to bond and make school history.

“Everybody was surprised. There aren’t too many people on this team that have been to the Bahamas so everyone had the same reaction when we got here and we just want to have this experience and enjoy it all together. It’s great being able to be here and spend more time with my team before we head out for a break and we won’t be seeing each other for a while,” he said, “It’s exciting to be apart of the first bowl team, that’s something we have talked about collectively as a unit, making history for the school - and why not us? Why not be the first? That’s the mindset we had all season so we just want to keep it going. It’s been great because at first we didn’t see the results we wanted to see at the beginning of the season but to stay the course, stay persistent and see it pay off and the end of the year and be rewarded with a trip like this, it’s just fulfilling.”

Charlotte defensive end Tyriq Harris said the trip to the Bahamas is a personal dream come true.

“I’ve always dreamed about coming to the Bahamas, coming somewhere new and different. Just seeing the color of the water, how clear it was, how brand new it was really really neat,” he said, “I’m looking forward to just hanging out with my teammates, going to the beach, getting to explore and seeing what this place is like outside of football.”

The game will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl Radio Network as both teams vie for the Prime Minister’s Trophy.

The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl is the longest-running international bowl game in college football history, and in 2019, the game is the opening contest of the bowl season during college football’s 150th anniversary celebration.

The game will be sponsored for the second year by

Elk Grove Village, Illinois, using its business slogan – Makers Wanted. The Makers Wanted tagline serves as a call-to-action for Elk Grove Village’s thriving community and the thousands of businesses that are based there. It is home to the largest contiguous industrial park in the United States, featuring six square miles and 62 million square feet of inventory.

For more information on the 2019 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, visit MakersWantedBahamasBowl.com.

The game is one of 16 postseason bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.