Middle Tennessee St, Toledo kick off bowl season in Bahamas

Bahamas Bowl: Middle Tennessee State (6-6) against Toledo (7-5), Dec. 17, 12:00 p.m. Eastern (ESPN).

Line: Toledo by 10, according to FanDuel Sportsbook (https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/ncaaf).

Series record: First meeting.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

It’s the opener of the 2021 college bowl season, with Middle Tennessee State and Toledo making their first trips to a bowl game since 2018.

KEY MATCHUP

Redshirt freshman quarterback Dequan Finn and the Toledo offense against the Middle Tennessee State defense that leads the nation in turnovers (31), defensive touchdowns (6) and fumbles recovered (15). Finn is 125 of 209 passing, including 16 TDs and one interception. Toledo has the fewest turnovers (six) and interceptions thrown (two) nationally.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Middle Tennessee State: Freshman quarterback Nick Vattiato completed 66 of 93 (71 percent) of his passes over his last three games. His completion rate of 67.6 percent for the year would rank fourth all-time in school history for a single-season.

Toledo: Running back Bryant Koback ran for 135 yards against Akron in the regular-season finale to pick up his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game. He is fourth all-time at Toledo with 3,900 career rushing yards, including 1,274 this year. Kareem Hunt (2013-16), with 4,945 yards, holds the school record,

FACTS & FIGURES

The Bahamas Bowl is the longest-running international bowl game in college football history, making its debut in 2014. … It is the second time both Middle Tennessee State (2015) and Toledo (2018) will be appearing in the Bahamas Bowl. … Middle Tennessee State senior Reed Blankenship holds the career school mark with 415 tackles. … Toledo has scored 182 points in its last four games, for an average of 45.5 a game. … Middle Tennessee State freshman Quincy Riley, who has played in just eight games, has five interceptions. … Toledo cornerback Samuel Womack has 15 pass breakups, which is third in the country. He has 40 overall, the most in Toledo history.

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