Full Game Book

NASSAU, Bahamas - Middle Tennessee (7-6) opened bowl season with an impressive 31-24 win in the Bahamas Bowl over MAC foe Toledo (7-6) on Friday. The Blue Raiders used a 17-0 run in the second half to turn a 17-14 halftime deficit into a 31-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter, and held on to capture Conference USA's first bowl win of 2021.

The Middle Tennessee defense, which entered play having forced an NCAA-best 31 turnovers forced one in the win, but did a wonderful job on Friday limiting the Toledo offensive attack. LB DQ Thomas recorded a team-high eight tackles, 1.5 for loss, broke up a pass and had a quarterback hurry in the win for the Blue Raiders. Middle Tennessee held Toledo QB Dequan Finn to 18-39 passing for 212 yards, intecepted him once and sacked him twice.

Freshman QB Nicholas Vattiato completed 23-35 passes for 270 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions, while WR Jarrin Pierce hauled in four catches for 114 yards and a score, a 59-yard touchdown with 6:24 to go in the final frame. WR Yusuf Ali had a team-high nine receptions, including the game’s opening touchdown. QB Mike DiLiello also factored in for the Blue Raiders, and his 17-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the fourth quarter put Middle Tennessee in front 21-17, and the Blue Raiders never looked back.

Conference USA has a four-game bowl slate on Saturday, which kicks off at 10 a.m. CT on ESPN with the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, as East Division champion WKU (8-5) takes on Appalachian State (10-3). UTEP (7-5) then takes on Mountain West foe Fresno State (9-3) in the PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque at 1:15 p.m. CT on ESPN. UAB (8-4) is in Shreveport to battle No. 13 BYU (10-2) in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC. Finally, the nightcap pits Marshall (7-5) against No. 23 Louisiana (12-1) in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl from the Caesars Superdome on ESPN at 8:15 p.m. CT.