The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders out of Conference USA against Western Michigan Broncos from the Mid-American Conference in the second version of the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, scheduled for noon Thursday at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

While both teams come into the game with identical 7-5 win-loss records, they’ve been in town since Sunday and over the past two days have alternated their workouts at both the TAR Stadium and the Roscow Davies Developmental Centre at the soccer pitch at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

For both coaches - veteran Rick Stockstill of the Raiders and newcomer PJ Fleck of the Broncos - it will come down to who makes the best adjustment to their new environment playing outside of the United States for the first time.

“The hospitality for the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl has been great, the people of the Bahamas have been fantastic. The players have enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed it and the families of the players have enjoyed it. It’s just going to be a phenomenal experience for these kids,” said Stockstill, who is now in his 20th season with a cumulative record of 64-60 and their fifth bowl experience.

Stockstill, a two-time conference coach of the year, said his players are now in game mode and although they have a few players with some nicks and nacks, they have a squad that will be prepared to contend for the title.

“Look for this team to play hard and put on a great effort,” said Stockstill of his Raiders, who have been 2-4 on the road this season. “We’re excited and enthusiastic about playing in this game and representing Conference USA and Middle Tennessee in a positive way.”

Fleck, in his third year with the Broncos, said they’ve gotten a lot of work done since they got into town and now they are eager to put everything that they have been doing in practice over the last three weeks into the game situation.

“This is basically our 12-13th practice and the kids have been working hard,” he stated. “We have been able to separate the fun from the practice and so we are really proud of these guys. I know they are looking forward to playing on Christmas Eve.”

The Broncos, winners of the 2015 MAC West title, will be playing in their second straight Bowl game after Fleck was able to step in and turn their dismal programme around.

“Our players have adapted very well to the island life,” said Fleck of his Broncos, who are even at 3-3 on the road. “We want to make sure that they don’t adapt to the island life too much, but we’ve had a lot of fun. The Bahamian public has been amazing to us and we’re just so thankful to be here.”

As for the game, Fleck assured the fans that they will be coming out to play extremely hard.

“We are extremely sound, very disciplined and they love each other,” he said. “So you will see a true team and a family. That is what I am most proud of with these guys. When I came in, we were the worst team in football, but we have been in two back-to-back bowl games and so we’ve come a long way and you will see a team out there that will be having a lot of fun.”

Also on Tuesday, some of the players from both teams interacted with the residents of the Ranfurly Homes for Children and they joined with USA Football to put on a clinic for local youth football players. With one day to go, the coaches are fine tuning their players and getting ready for the Christmas Eve kick-off.

Both coaches are hoping that they will leave just as much of an impression on the game as Western Kentucky did with their come-from-behind 49-48 sneaker victory over Central Michigan on a hail mary play that ended up being one of the top plays of the week on ESPN and nominated for the ESPY’s Play of the Year award.