Being away from family during the holidays can be tough. Of course that pain is easier to deal with when you are enjoying the sun on the island of Hawaii. The Blue Raiders follow last year’s Bahamas Bowl with the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve this year.
According to Coach Stockstill it’s a benefit of playing in Conference USA:
This team has been bowl eligible every year, so this isn’t the first time for us. I know we’ll handle it. It’s a great opportunity for these players to be able to experience Hawaii. That’s one of the beauties of Conference USA – the bowl destinations. You have Ft. Lauderdale, you have New Orleans, you have Hawaii, you have the Bahamas and you have Dallas and New Mexico. There are a lot of great bowl destinations that are really family oriented.
Chance To Get Healthy
The best thing for the Blue Raiders is the extra time it will give QB Brent Stockstill to get healthy.
I think wherever we were going to go, I was going to try to do everything I could to get back, and this gives me an extra week. We’ll keep checking with the doctors. I’m going to do everything I can to try to get out there and play with the guys.-Brent Stockstill
Coach Stockstill also seemed optimistic:
It gives him another week. He’s had four weeks today since surgery, and we have three weeks now before we play. Obviously it helps him. A couple guys that we missed the last few games, I don’t know if that extra week would help them. I think if we played on the 17th, they would have been able to play also, but obviously an extra week in their rehab process will help them. I think the date is great, and hopefully we’ll have Brent back for it. We’re a different team when he is in there.
Hawaii No Pushover
Coach Stockstill seems confident in his guys being able to land another destination bowl game. For the Coach, he says he’ll enjoy it after if they lift the trophy. As for Hawaiian shirts, coach seemed to be less thrilled and hoped the Bowl officials let him stay to his game routine:
I have to find that out. I’ve done some research. I’m a pretty regular shirt kind of guy. I didn’t know if that was mandatory. I checked the coaches that coached in it last year, and they had on a polo. They did have a lei. Unless they absolutely make me wear the Hawaiian shirt tail out kind of thing, I’ll be wearing a regular polo with my hot jacket or sweatshirt depending on the temperature.
Hawaii was 6-7 in the tough Mountain West Conference. Their biggest win came over a 9 win Air Force team on the road.
Hawaii will throw the ball, they can put points on the board in bunches. It’s their #104 ranked defense that cost them games this year. This is gearing up to be a shootout in Prime Time on Christmas Eve on ESPN.
Conference USA sent a record 7 teams to bowl games this year.
Fans need to purchase tickets through the Middle Tennessee ticket office by calling 1-888-YES-MTSU or logging onto GoBlueRaiders.com.
Please Join Our FREE Newsletter!
