The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MIDDLE Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill said despite the fact that their Blue Raiders players are immersed in their final exams this week, they are really excited about making the trip here next week to compete in the seventh Bahamas Bowl college football game against the Toledo Rockets.

Stockstill said that while his coaching staff has been busy with their recruitment process, the players have been practicing since last week and can‘t wait to make the trip here this weekend in preparation for the game at noon on Friday, December 17, at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

“We are really excited, our players are energised, they are excited about attending this game and playing a really good Toledo football game,” Stockstill said during a media session via Skype yesterday.

The Blue Raiders will represent Conference USA in their ninth bowl game of the FBS (I-A) era and the 13th bowl game in school history.

However, this will be the second trip to the Bahamas for Middle Tennessee, having made their first bowl appearance in 2015 when they fell to Western Michigan, 45-31.

The game will air nationally on ESPN and be broadcast on Bowl Season Radio. Both teams will be competing for The Prime Minister’s Trophy, awarded to the winner of the contest, which will see the first time that the two teams will clash against each other.

Wirth the logistics and everything surrounding COVID-19, Stockstill said his Blue Raiders have a pretty good feel of what to expect when they arrive. He noted that they are looking forward to their stay at Atlantis before it’s down to business at the stadium.

The Blue Raiders are coming in with a 6-6 win-loss record, having won four of their last six, much of which Stockstill attributes to their abilities to overcome all of the adversities that they faced during the regular season.

“We went through four quarterbacks, who had injuries and some other things,” he said. “We never really found a rhythm, at least a rhythm offensively. We were 3-4 after the Virginia Tech game and we had about 13 players out for those two weeks because of injuries and some other health issues.

“That hurt us a little bit. Sounds like an excuse, but it’s not, it’s a fact. We just played a little bit better defensively. We had our continuity within our offence and injury standpoint. Those last five games at the end, we played a little bit better than we played the middle five.”

Comparing this year’s team to the one that represented Middle Tennessee in 2015, Stockstill said the previous team threw the ball a lot more, racking up over 4,000 yards that year. That’s the big difference offensively.

And defensively, he said this year’s team is much more mature than the previous team and although they are not as explosive, if they can run the ball a little better than they have been doing, they should have a great game.

Toledo looking to

launch a rocket

Jason Candle, the head coach for Toledo, said after making their debut here in 2018, they are eager to take on this unique chance to once again experience the hospitality that they enjoyed from the Bahamian people, even though the final outcome of their games was not what they anticipated.

“What a fantastic week we had and we look forward to try and duplicate that and have another great week with this football team here,” said Candle in his press session from Salem, Ohio.

The Rockets, representing the Mid-American Conference, will come to the Bahamas having won four of their last five games, which according to Candle, showed Toledo’s resilience. They finished the season at 7-5, which according to Candle, was a major reason why they feel they will have a great game here next week. “Three conference losses by a total of eight points, I think when those things happen, you have a couple of choices,” Candle said. “You can fold and go one way or you rally together and go a totally different direction.

“Our staff did a good job, making sure we stayed the course and our leaders did a good job of doing what they say they will do and they brought this football team through some tough moments.”

With the bowl game coming so early, especially when teams are in their recruitment mode, Candle said it has been a major adjustment trying to juggle the preparation of getting the team ready to come to the Bahamas at the same time. “We’ll be crazy after everything everybody’s been through over the last year and-a-half to take anything for granted,” Candle said in reference to COVID-19, bringing all sporting bodies to a standstill before some protocols were put in place to resume activities. “We’re not going to take this opportunity lightly. We’re going to treat this and respect this opportunity in great detail and we’re going to go down (to the Bahamas) and put our best foot forward and try to win the football game.”

According to Chris Pika, the Bahamas Bowl director of communications, both teams will arrive in the Bahamas on Monday. They will engage in a press conference on Wednesday at noon and the big game will follow at noon on Friday, which will be free of charge to all Bahamians in attendance.