The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders out-classed the Toledo Rockets in a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to hoist the 2021 Bahamas Bowl college football championship trophy at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on Friday.

After being interrupted by rain before the half, the Blue Raiders came back from a 17-14 deficit to overpower the Rockets on 17 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to clinch a 31-24 victory.

Offensive most valuable playerfreshman quarterback Nick Vattiato came through with 23-of- 35 passes for 270 yards and two scores.

Senior linebacker DQ Thomas was named the defensive MVP after he finished with a team-high eight tackles, 1.5 tackle for loss and a pass broken up.

Presenting the awards to Vattiato and Thomas were I. Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and Keith Bell, minister of labour and immigration.

Vattiato and Thomas’ joint MVP honours helped Middle Tennessee to avenge their 45-31 Bahamas Bowl defeat to Western Michigan in 2015. Toledo, on the other hand, fell to Florida International 35-32 in 2018.

Blue Raiders’ head coach Rick Stockstill, after receiving the Prime Minister’s Cup from Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, congratulated Toledo, who dropped to 7-6. But he said he was very proud of his Blue Raiders’ performance. “The toughness, the

guts, the competitiveness, the resilience, the mental toughness they showed today, was fun to watch,” Stockstill said of his Blue Raiders. “I told them at halftime that I believed in them and I believed they were made of the right stuff. They were made of the right stuff. We had some opportunities that got away from us in the first half and the score could have been a little bit different.”

Freshman quarterback Dequan Finn completed 18-of-39 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 83 yards and a third score to lead Toledo. Junior Bryant Koback ran 18 times for 126 yards.

Said Rockets’ head coach Jason Candle:

“In the third quarter there was a little bit of a lull. We didn’t make some of the tough plays, I thought, in the second half offensively.

“Too many penalties, self-inflicted, on both sides of the football. When that happens against a really good team… it caught up to us today.”

There were some memorable moments from the game, which was scoreless for the first 13 minutes and 30 seconds, the longest stretch to start one of the seven match-ups in Bahamas Bowl history.

Finn’s 90-yard touchdown pass to Matt Landers in the second quarter was the longest play in Bahamas Bowl history. It was also Toledo’s longest play of the year and a career-long rush for Finn.

Landers finished with 137 receiving yards, tied for the third-most in the game’s history.

Middle Tennessee set a new Bahamas Bowl record with eight pass breakups, led by three apiece from Quincy Riley and Teldrick Ross. The 13 combined punts are a new Bahamas Bowl record.

Previously, no team had punted more than five times in the game.

Today, both teams surpassed that mark - seven by Toledo and six by Middle Tennessee.

For the first time in Bahamas Bowl history, the team with more rushing yards lost the game.

The third quarter marked the third time a Bahamas Bowl quarter has been scoreless.

The 2021 game had an attendance of 13,596, the second-highest in Bahamas Bowl history.

For Stockstill, there was much jubilation for his team for all of the sacrifices they made in getting ready for this season from last August.

“I couldn’t care less about me, it’s never about me. It’s about these guys up here and the guys out on that field and in the locker room, because they bust their tail, they sacrifice…They keep answering the bell every time,” he said.

“The respect I have for this team, the respect that I have for them as players, as men, the appreciation and love I have for them, that’s what it’s all about. When they get that ring, it says Bahamas Bowl Champions. They’ll have that the rest of their life. I don’t need a ring. I let them have it, because they deserve it, and I’m happy for them.”

The victory was double sweet for Middle Tennessee, whose president Dr Sidney A McPhee is a Bahamian.

“He’s a bowl champion too. But I’m more proud of these guys here. The blood and guts that they put into this season, and the never give up, never quit attitude. A lot of times people want to give up on you but they never give up,” he said.

“I keep repeating myself, but they’re made of the right stuff. They’re great men, they’re going to be successful in life. What they put out on the field, especially these last two weeks, the offence did enough to win, but that defence is relentless.”

On the flip side of the coin, Candle said it was a bitter pill to swallow, losing another bowl game in the Bahamas.

“I think each game is individually different. Each game is. Obviously, we aren’t preparing to lose a bowl game.

“Obviously, there are things we didn’t do well today and that we probably did well in the other games, and vice-versa,” he said.

“Too many penalties today and too many mistakes and too many self-inflicted things, and we couldn’t overcome them.”

During half-time, Minister of Education Glenys Hanna-Martin joined Bahamas Bowl executives Richard Giannini and Lea Miller-Tooley in presenting 20 Bahamian school teachers with $500 from the College Football Playoff Foundation, through its’ primary platform, Extra Yard for Teachers.

The teachers were invited to submit an essay about what they would do with a $500 grant for classroom supplies and support.

Among the list of dignitaries on hand for the game was Miss Bahamas Universe Chantel O’Brian, who is still celebrating her historic top 10 finish at the recent Miss Universe pageant in Eilat, Israel.

O’Brian assisted in all of the awards presentations as well.