Toledo vs Middle Tennessee: Bahamas Bowl Prediction, Game Preview
Toledo vs Middle Tennessee: Bahamas Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch
Toledo vs Middle Tennessee: Bahamas Bowl How To Watch
Date: Friday, December 17
Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
Venue: Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas
Network: ESPN, Live stream on ESPN+
Records: Middle Tennessee (6-6), Toledo (7-5)
CFN Predictions | 2021-2022 Bowl Schedule
Toledo vs Middle Tennessee Bahamas Bowl Preview
– It wasn’t the season Toledo was hoping for. It came into the year with enough talent to win the MAC Championship, but after a rough start it got hot late with three straight wins to close things out thanks to the league’s best defense and an offense that scored 49 points in three of its last four games.
– A strange team, Toledo got flagged more than anyone in America, but it made up for the mistakes by leading the nation with the fewest turnovers. The small things mattered – four of the five losses were by three points or fewer. Now the team that gave the ball up less than anyone faces the team that led the nation in takeaways.
– Middle Tennessee sputtered early, but turned things around in the middle of the season. Just as it looked like it was about to make a move, it lost star QB Chase Cunningham for the season before the final month.
– The Blue Raider offense picked it up with a decent balance, the defense kept taking the ball away, and the two wins in the final three games – including a clutch performance at Florida Atlantic to get bowl eligible – were enough to get here.
Why Toledo, Middle Tennessee Will Win
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
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Why Toledo Will Win The Bahamas Bowl
The running game is rocking and rolling.
The Rockets might have only had a middle of the pack ground attack in the run-happy MAC, but they still averaged close to 200 yards per game, hitting the mark seven times including in each of the last four games.
Get to 220 yards on the ground, win the game.
The Middle Tennessee run defense was solid over the back half of the season, but that’s because it didn’t deal with anyone who could grind it out. Virginia Tech, Charlotte, and Liberty all ran for over 200 yards on the Blue Raiders, and they all won.
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Why Middle Tennessee Will Win The Bahamas Bowl
Yeah, Toledo was great over the last part of the season. You’d be fantastic, too, if you faced Bowling Green, Ohio, and Akron.
It’s not exactly the SEC West that Toledo was pushing through. Now it has to deal with a Middle Tennessee defense that generates a whole lot of pressure.
The pass rush is okay, but it’s the constant push into the backfield that starts to screw teams up. The defense was okay overall, but it’s fantastic at generating tackles for loss. Toledo’s offensive line might be great for the ground game, but it gives up way too many sacks and big plays in the backfield.
The key will be patience. The offense might not be consistent enough against the Rocket D, and the O doesn’t give the ball away, but this team has a strange way of imploding at weird times.
Toledo vs Middle Tennessee Bowl Preview
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
Bahamas Bowl Top Players To Know
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Toledo vs Middle Tennessee: Bahamas Bowl, What’s Going To Happen
Here’s Middle Tennessee’s issue. It has to come up with takeaways to win. That’s what it does.
The defense forces turnovers, the offense capitalizes off of the mistakes, and everything tends to work out just fine. However, again, Toledo leads the nation with the fewest turnovers, giving it up just six times. That’s going to matter here.
The combination of Rocket running game and the caretaking of the ball should be enough to pull off the program’s first bowl win since 2015 and the first in the Jason Candle era.
Bahamas Bowl: Toledo vs Middle Tennessee Prediction, Lines
Toledo 34, Middle Tennessee 20
Line: Toledo -10, o/u: 52
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5
Must See Rating: 3
5: Die Hard (as a Christmas movie)
1: A Very Boy Band Holiday
Toledo vs Middle Tennessee Bowl Preview
Why Toledo, Middle Tennessee Will Win
Bahamas Bowl Top Players To Know
CFN Predictions | 2021-2022 Bowl Schedule
Bahamas Bowl History
2020 Cancelled
Dec. 22, 2019 Buffalo 31, Charlotte 9
Dec. 21, 2018 FIU 35, Toledo 32
Dec. 22, 2017 Ohio 41, UAB 6
Dec. 23, 2016 Old Dominion 24, Eastern Michigan 20
Dec. 24, 2015 Western Michigan 45, Middle Tennessee 31
Dec. 24, 2014 Western Kentucky 49, Central Michigan 48
CFN Predictions | 2021-2022 Bowl Schedule
Bowl Season Players To Watch & Know
