2015 Bahamas Bowl

The 2015 Bahamas Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 24, 2015 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau in the Bahamas. The second edition of the Bahamas Bowl featured the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders of Conference USA against the Western Michigan Broncos of the Mid-American Conference. It began at noon EST and air on ESPN. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant chain, the game is officially known as the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.[4][5]

2015 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
2nd Bahamas Bowl
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Western Michigan Broncos
(7–5) (7–5)
C-USA MAC
31 45
Head coach: 
Rick Stockstill		 Head coach: 
P. J. Fleck
1234 Total
Middle Tennessee 17077 31
Western Michigan 170721 45
DateDecember 24, 2015
Season2015
StadiumThomas Robinson Stadium
LocationNassau, Bahamas
MVPOffensive: Western Michigan RB Jamauri Bogan[1]
Defensive: Western Michigan LB Grant DePalma[1]
FavoriteWestern Michigan by 2½[2]
RefereeBrandon Cruse (Mtn. West)[3]
Attendance13,123[3]
PayoutUS$TBD
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN/RedVoice, LLC.
AnnouncersSteve Levy, Mack Brown, Mark May, & Kaylee Hartung (ESPN)
Brian Hanni & Rob Best (RedVoice)

The game is best remembered as the Broncos' first bowl victory in school history.

Teams

The game featured the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders against the Western Michigan Broncos.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
See also: 2015 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

After finishing their regular season 7–5, bowl director Richard Giannini extended an invitation for the Blue Raiders to play in the game, which they accepted.[6]

This was the Blue Raiders' seventh bowl game (they are now 3–4 all-time in bowl games thus far) and their first since the 2013 Armed Forces Bowl, where they lost to Navy by a score of 24–6. It was also their third bowl game against a MAC opponent; the Blue Raiders likewise lost both previous meetings, losing in the 2006 Motor City Bowl to Central Michigan by a score of 31–14 and in the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl to the Miami (Ohio) by a score of 35–21.

Western Michigan Broncos
See also: 2015 Western Michigan Broncos football team

After finishing their regular season 7–5, bowl director Richard Giannini extended an invitation for the Broncos to play in the game, which they accepted.[7]

This was the Broncos' seventh bowl game, where they once again sought their first bowl victory in school history, having previously had an 0–6 all-time record in bowl games. It was also the Broncos' second consecutive bowl appearance (following the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, where they lost to Air Force by a score of 38–24), marking the first time in school history the Broncos have been to back-to-back bowls. In addition, it was the second time the Broncos have faced an opponent from Conference USA in a bowl game, having previously lost the 2008 Texas Bowl to the Rice Owls by a score of 38–14.

Game summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP MT WMU
1 13:43 5 75 1:17 MT Richie James 46-yard touchdown run, Cody Clark kick good 7 0
1 12:43 3 71 1:00 WMU Jamauri Bogan 62-yard touchdown run, Andrew Haldeman kick good 7 7
1 11:04 5 75 1:39 MT Richie James 44-yard touchdown reception from Brent Stockstill, Cody Clark kick good 14 7
1 3:23 6 28 2:32 WMU 47-yard field goal by Andrew Haldeman 14 10
1 1:04 6 69 2:19 MT 23-yard field goal by Cody Clark 17 10
1 0:03 2 85 1:01 WMU Corey Davis 80-yard touchdown reception from Zach Terrell, Andrew Haldeman kick good 17 17
3 12:03 6 69 2:57 WMU Jamauri Bogan 46-yard touchdown run, Andrew Haldeman kick good 17 24
3 0:18 2 32 0:28 MT Christian Collins 17-yard touchdown reception from Brent Stockstill, Cody Clark kick good 24 24
4 12:47 5 75 2:31 WMU Daniel Braverman 68-yard touchdown reception from Zach Terrell, Andrew Haldeman kick good 24 31
4 9:41 6 70 3:06 MT Richie James 29-yard touchdown reception from Brent Stockstill, Cody Clark kick good 31 31
4 6:12 6 82 3:29 WMU Jamauri Bogan 1-yard touchdown run, Andrew Haldeman kick good 31 38
4 5:00 2 4 0:47 WMU Jamauri Bogan 1-yard touchdown run, Andrew Haldeman kick good 31 45
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 45

Source: [3]

Statistics
Statistics[3]MTWMU
First downs1818
Plays–yards65–44268–613
Rushes–yards26–11541–282
Passing yards327331
Passing: Comp–Att–Int26–39–119–27–1
Time of possession25:1234:48

References
  1. Glon, Tim (December 24, 2015). "Bogan runs Western Michigan past Middle Tennessee 45-31 in 2015 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl". bahamasbowl.com. Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Communications. Retrieved December 26, 2015. Bogan was named the Offensive Player of the Game of the game for his efforts, while teammate Grant DePalma was named the game's Defensive Player of the Game.
  2. Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2015
  3. "2015 Bahamas Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  4. "Middle Tennessee accepts 2015 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl invitation". Bahamas Bowl. November 28, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  5. "Western Michigan accepts 2015 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl invitation". Bahamas Bowl. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  6. "Raiders Accept Bid to Popeyes Bahamas Bowl". GoBlueRaiders.com. Middle Tennessee State University. November 28, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  7. "Broncos Accept Invitation to Popeyes Bahamas Bowl". WMUBroncos.com. Western Michigan University. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
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