Win or lose, Central Michigan and Western Kentucky will be participating in history as they play in the inaugural Bahamas Bowl, the first bowl game being played outside the United States in almost 78 years. The game played outside the states was in 1937 when Auburn and Villanova played in the Bacardi Bowl in Cuba. Now as both teams sit at 7-5 on the year, they would like to not only participate in history, but also get the win to finish the season.
Western Kentucky will rely on their offense which currently ranks third in the FBS in passing yards as they average 365.0 per game. They also rank sixth in the league in total offense with 525.3 yards per game. Quarterback Brandon Doughty leads the way who has 4,344 yards on the season for 44 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His season has gone relatively unnoticed, but he leads the FBS ranking above Marcus Mariota who has just won the Heisman trophy.
However, their passing game is not all that Western Kentucky pushes heavily. Their run game is also deadly behind Leon Allen who ranks 13th with 1,490 yards on the season. He averages 5.8 yards per carry for 12 touchdowns on the season.
Central Michigan has been out of the bowl game appearances since 2012 when they played the Hilltoppers while getting the 24-21 win. The team has not been active since losing to Western Michigan on Nov. 22. That ended their three game win streak and might be hurting their momentum heading into the bowl game. Western Kentucky might not have the big stats on offense like Central Michigan, but they have a unit ready to compete.
The Chippewas have running back Thomas Rawls who has 1,103 yards on the season despite missing three games Wide receiver Titus Davis has topped off his college career having getting eight touchdowns in each of his four seasons with the team. Central Michigan is certainly playing at a slight disadvantage in terms of statistics, but are ready to get competitive for one more game to get the win.
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