The 2025 Bahamas Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 4, 2025, at Thomas Robinson Stadium located in Nassau, Bahamas.[3] The 10th annual Bahamas Bowl game featured Buffalo and Liberty. The game began at approximately 11:00 a.m. EST and aired on ESPN2. The Bahamas Bowl was one of the final 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season, and was the final team-competitive bowl game not part of the College Football Playoff (CFP).
| 2025 Bahamas Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 10th Bahamas Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 4, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Thomas Robinson Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Nassau, Bahamas | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Offense: Al-Jay Henderson (RB, Buffalo) Defense: Red Murdock (LB, Buffalo)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Buffalo by 3.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Darryl DeBerry (AAC)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 4,610 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Matt Schumacker (play-by-play), Dustin Fox (analyst) and Coley Harvey (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
Teams
editConsistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured the Buffalo Bulls from Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Liberty Flames from the Conference USA (C-USA).[4] The teams had previously met three times, between 1998 and 2023, with Liberty winning each of those games.[5]
Buffalo Bulls
editBuffalo compiled an 8–4 regular season record (6–2 in MAC play). After playing to a 4–4 record through eight games, the Bulls concluded their schedule with four consecutive wins. Buffalo faced two ranked FBS teams, losing to Missouri while defeating Northern Illinois.
Liberty Flames
editLiberty posted an overall record of 8–3 in regular-season games (5–3 in C-USA play). The Flames had one game canceled, against Appalachian State, due to Hurricane Helene. Liberty began their season with five consecutive wins, then went 3–3 in their final six games. The Flames did not face any ranked opponents.
Liberty's starting quarterback, Kaidon Salter, and running back, Quinton Cooley, both opted out of the game. Salter had committed to play at Colorado in 2025 and Cooley chose to focus on preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft.[6]
Game summary
edit| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | 6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 26 |
| Liberty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
at Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas
- Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025
- Game time: 11:02 a.m. EST
- Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 73 °F (23 °C) • Wind: 14 mph (23 km/h) north
- Game attendance: 4,610
- Referee: Darryl DeBerry
- TV announcers (ESPN2): Matt Schumacker (play-by-play), Dustin Fox (analyst) and Coley Harvey (sideline)
- Box score
| Game information |
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Statistics
edit| Statistics | BUF | LIB |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 18 | 11 |
| Plays–yards | 75–359 | 56–242 |
| Rushes–yards | 56–222 | 35–162 |
| Passing yards | 137 | 80 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 9–19–0 | 6–21–1 |
| Time of possession | 37:01 | 22:59 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | Passing | C. J. Ogbonna | 9/19, 137 yards |
| Rushing | Al-Jay Henderson | 21 carries, 199 yards, TD | |
| Receiving | Victor Snow | 4 receptions, 41 yards | |
| Liberty | Passing | Nate Hampton | 2/9, 40 yards, TD, INT |
| Rushing | Billy Lucas | 3 carries, 57 yards | |
| Receiving | Reese Smith | 1 reception, 36 yards, TD |
References
edit- ^ @10thYearSeniors (January 4, 2025). "The Buffalo Bulls are your 2025 Bahamas Bowl Champions" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Austro, Ben (December 9, 2024). "2024-25 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
- ^ Kelley, Kevin. "College football bowl schedule for 2024-25 season released". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ DiTullio, Joe (December 28, 2024). "2025 Bahamas Bowl Preview". thegamehaus.com. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
- ^ "Buffalo Bulls vs. Liberty Flames football series history games list". winsipedia.com. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
- ^ Londergan, Joe (4 January 2025). "Buffalo Blows Out Depleted Liberty 26-7 in Bahamas Bowl Win". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
External links
edit- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com