Page 18 - Aruba Today
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SPORTSThursday 24 December 2015
Bahamas Bowl tional championship-type
Continued from Page 17 football team, and that’s
“We faced a lot of good what we are working on
offensive teams this sea-
son, and some games making it.”
have been 27-24 and oth-
ers have been higher scor- Here are some things to
ing.”
Both teams head into the watch when Middle Ten-
game with plenty of mo-
mentum.Middle Tennes- nessee faces Western
see has won four straight
and has allowed just seven Michigan in the Bahamas
points in each of its last two
games. Western Michigan Bowl.
is coming off a 35-30 road
victory over a Toledo team --STOCKSTILL SEEKING RE-
that was ranked 24th at
the time, giving the Bron- CORDS: Middle Tennessee
cos their first win over a Top
25 team in school history. redshirt freshman quarter-
The Broncos now are seek-
ing their first bowl triumph back Brent Stockstill, the
ever. They’ve dropped
each of their previous six son of the Blue Raiders’
bowl matchups, including
a 38-24 loss to Air Force in coach, has a chance to
last season’s Famous Idaho
Potato Bowl. set some FBS freshman re-
“It would be the next step,”
Western Michigan coach cords Wednesday.
P.J. Fleck said. “That’s all
it really is, the next step Stockstill has thrown for
for this to become a tradi-
3,678 yards, 379 shy of the
FBS freshman record set
by Florida State’s Jameis
Winston in 2013. He also Illinois defensive back Taylor Barton (3) pursues Middle Tennessee wide receiver Ed Batties (80)
during an NCAA football game in Champaign, Ill. The inaugural Bahamas Bowl last season fea-
has 301 completions and tured a combined 12 touchdown passes and a stunning three-lateral, 75-yard score as time ex-
pired before Western Kentucky escaped with a 49-48 victory over Central Michigan. Thursday’s
needs 20 more to tie the matchup between Middle Tennessee and Western Michigan, features two of the nation’s most
prolific receiving tandems.
freshman record set by
(AP Photo/Bradley Leeb)
Kentucky’s Jared Lorenzen
in 2000.
--CONTROLLING THE
CLOCK: Western Michigan time of possession, behind egory. Kevin Byard has 19 Michigan redshirt freshman
career interceptions to Jamauri Bogan has rushed
thrives on its ability to keep only Stanford. match Boise State’s Dar- for 836 yards and 12 touch-
ian Thompson for the most downs while averaging 5.8
its offense on the field. The --BALL-HAWKING BLUE among all FBS active play- yards per carry, numbers
ers. that made him the MAC
Broncos have possessed RAIDERS: Middle Tennessee -BOGAN’S BURSTS: Western freshman of the year.q
the ball for 34 ½ minutes has picked off 16 passes
per game to rank second and is tied for 15th among
among all FBS teams in all FBS teams in that cat-
