| Game Name: | Bahamas Bowl |
| Subheader: | 4th Bahamas Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 22 |
| Year Game Played: | 2017 |
| Football Season: | 2017 |
| Stadium: | Thomas Robinson Stadium |
| City: | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Visitor School: | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Visitor Name Short: | UAB |
| Visitor Nickname: | Blazers |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | C-USA |
| Visitor Coach: | Bill Clark |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home School: | Ohio University |
| Home Name Short: | Ohio |
| Home Nickname: | Bobcats |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Home Conference: | MAC |
| Home Coach: | Frank Solich |
| Home 1Q: | 13 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 14 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | Dorian Brown (RB, Ohio) & Javon Hagan (FS, Ohio) |
| Referee: | Charles Lamertina (American) |
| Attendance: | 13,585[1] |
| Payout: | 200,000[2] |
| Us Network: | ESPN RedVoice, LLC |
| Us Announcers: | Steve Levy, Desmond Howard, Laura Rutledge |
The 2017 Bahamas Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 22, 2017, at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau in the Bahamas. The fourth annual Bahamas Bowl, it was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. It began at 12:30 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.
The game featured the Ohio Bobcats of the Mid-American Conference against the UAB Blazers of Conference USA.[3] Ohio beat UAB by a score of 41–6.
The game featured the UAB Blazers against the Ohio Bobcats and was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.[4]
See also: 2017 UAB Blazers football team and 2017 Conference USA football season.
2017 was the Blazers' first season back on the football field following a two-year hiatus (the program had originally been dropped, but massive public outcry led to its reinstatement a year later). After finishing their regular season 8–4, the Blazers accepted their invitation to the Bahamas Bowl.[5]
This was the first bowl game for UAB since the 2004 Hawaii Bowl where they lost to the Hawaii Warriors by a score of 59–40.
See also: 2017 Ohio Bobcats football team and 2017 Mid-American Conference football season.
After finishing their regular season 8–4, the Bobcats accepted their invitation to the Bahamas Bowl.[6]
This was Ohio's eighth bowl appearance in the last nine seasons, and their first appearance in the Bahamas Bowl.
| Statistics | UAB | Ohio |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 20 | 24 |
| Total offense, yards | 353 | 459 |
| Rushes-yards (net) | 25–99 | 32–249 |
| Passing yards (net) | 254 | 210 |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 24–45–0 | 14–22–0 |
| Time of Possession | 29:34 | 30:26 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAB | Passing | A.J. Erdely | 24/45, 254 yds |
| Rushing | 13 car, 37 yds | ||
| Receiving | Ronnie Turner Jr. | 4 rec, 67 yds | |
| Ohio | Passing | 12/18, 185 yds, 2 TD | |
| Rushing | Dorian Brown | 12 car, 152 yds, 4 TD | |
| Receiving | 4 rec, 106 yds, 1 TD |