NASSAU, Bahamas — Amid the palm trees, balmy weather, beautiful beaches, and a stay at the sprawling Atlantis resort, the University of Toledo football team had its first practice in the Bahamas on Tuesday morning.
After arriving in the Bahamas late Monday afternoon, Toledo has settled in ahead of Friday’s Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl game against Florida International.
While the trip offers plenty in the form of entertainment, the Toledo coaching staff and players have the approach that this is a business trip.
Toledo has lost its past two bowl appearances, with the 2016 and 2017 season ending in losses to Appalachian State at the Camellia Bowl and the Dollar General Bowl, respectively.
“It’s business first,” UT senior defensive end Tuzar Skipper said. “We’re not here on vacation, this is a business trip. We haven’t won a bowl game since I’ve been here, and this is going on my third year. We want to go out with a victory. We have a salty taste in our mouth last year after the bowl game. We don’t want that to repeat itself. They say history repeats itself, but we don’t want it to repeat itself this time.”
Toledo will try to balance having fun and enjoying themselves in a beautiful setting with coming out and having a good performance in the game on Friday.
“We have always had the mentality that this is a business trip,” UT junior offensive lineman Bryce Harris said. “We can have fun and enjoy ourselves and live it up a little bit, but at the end of the day we just need to stay in the film room and stay hydrated and stay in shape.”
Toledo coach Jason Candle said his team understands what they have come here to accomplish and, while there are plenty of potential distractions, it is not much different to those back home.
“We can’t get caught up in everything we have to do at home,” Candle said. “We’re in a resort with a casino and there are a thousand things to do, but there are also those things to do in the States and in Ohio. I think you try to really focus on spending some quality time with your teammates at a quality resort and a quality place. Our guys know what is at stake and what they need to do.”
The first practice was at a youth soccer field near Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium where the game will be played.
While bowl practices in Toledo had to be held inside at the Fetterman Training Center because of the cold weather, Tuesday’s practice was a chance to be back outside.
“The first practice was hot if I had to say it in one word,” Harris said. “It was fun being out here in the heat. We’ve been stuck indoors in every practice we had leading up to the bowl game. Us having the ability to come outside and have a practice feels good.”
“It was very interesting and pretty cool,” Skipper said. “It was my first practice outside of the States. I’m looking up at the sky and I’m seeing palm trees. In Ohio, you don’t see that, so I’ll take what I can get.”
After coming up short in the past two bowl games, including a 34-0 loss last year to Appalachian State, Skipper says the team can improve in its preparation.
“I feel like we did prepare, but we didn’t prepare to the best of our abilities,” Skipper said. “I feel like once we are locked in and zoned in, then I think our preparation will be up there and going through the roof.”
Candle said the bowl game gives a chance for young players to develop with added practice and game reps, but he hopes it will end up sending the team’s seniors out on a high note.
“With the same mindset, you still want to send you senior class out the right way,” Candle said. “Their last time in the Midnight Blue and Gold should be a memorable one. When they get a chance to go home for break and interact with their family members, it should be all positive about their bowl experience, and that finishes with getting a win.”
First Published December 18, 2018, 6:55 p.m.
