WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The University of Toledo hopes Friday will be its only delay of game at the Boca Raton Bowl.
The Rockets were nearly 90 minutes late departing Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport, but once airborne, their 2-hour, 38-minute flight was uneventful.
“Our guys are excited about the opportunity. I know from being here in the past what the hospitality of this place is,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said during a press conference at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium. “Football is an important deal here and anytime you can have a bowl game where football is a priority, it makes for a great experience.”
UT’s National Airlines Airbus A-330 landed at Palm Beach International Airport at 3:52 p.m, the Rockets’ first touchdown of the week. Six coach buses whisked the travel party, which included players, coaches, support staff, and families, to the team’s headquarters at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center.
A few dozen representatives from the Boca Raton Bowl, Toledo fans, and a local band greeted the Rockets as they walked down the stairs to the tarmac. Former President Donald Trump’s Boeing 757 was parked about 100 feet away.
Liberty arrived 32 minutes after Toledo.
“We’re just grateful to be here,” Liberty interim coach Josh Aldridge said. “Obviously, we’re playing a tremendous opponent. Being an independent school, we play teams from a lot of different conferences. The opportunity to play the champion of the MAC is a big deal to our guys. We’ve had a great season, arguably the two biggest wins in program history. We’re just trying to finish on a high note.”
Toledo (8-5) and Liberty (8-4) play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at FAU Stadium on ESPN. UT previously played in the Boca Raton Bowl in 2015, defeating No. 24-ranked Temple in Candle’s first game as head coach.
The Rockets and Flames each rank in the top 35 nationally in total defense and pass defense.
“This morning on a radio show they asked if I was expecting a defensive battle, and I said, ‘You know, I’ve said that before, so the score will probably end up being 50-45,’” Boca Raton Bowl executive director Doug Mosley said.
Despite being in just its fifth season at the FBS level, Liberty is playing in its fourth consecutive bowl game — and the Flames have a perfect 3-0 record. All three wins came under Hugh Freeze, who left last month to be the head coach at Auburn.
Aldridge, Liberty’s defensive coordinator, is the man in charge of extending the winning streak to four.
“Every team obviously has goals at the beginning of the season,” Aldridge said. “We don’t have the opportunity to play for a conference championship. This essentially is that. We’re always talking about how we want to go to bowl games and win them. We’ve won three in a row. It doesn’t change since we have an interim head coach. That’s still our goal for this season.”
Temperatures are forecasted to be in the high 70s through next Tuesday’s game, although there is the possibility of rain. UT’s schedule includes a beach party, a luncheon, a community service event at a local hospital, and a pep rally.
On Friday, there was a welcome party at the team hotel.
The Rockets are practicing at Boca Raton High School, where they’ll put the finishing touches on preparation for what they hope is an exclamation mark to end the 2022 season.
“Going into the summer, we all said this group was going to be special,” quarterback Dequan Finn said.
This is UT’s 20th bowl game and the eighth in the past decade. The Rockets will finish without a losing record for the 13th straight year, a stretch only matched by five programs: Alabama, Louisiana State, Oklahoma State, Boise State, and San Diego State. (Oklahoma and Wisconsin can make it seven if they win their bowl games to finish 7-6.)
Toledo has an all-time bowl record of 11-8, a ledger Candle wants to improve.
“Any time you have a chance to play a competitive football game in late November or December, it’s an opportunity your kids should look forward to,” he said. “We have a bunch of great seniors that we’d like to send out on a high note, and I know [Aldridge] feels the same way. This should be a great game, a competitive one that we’re going to do our best to get a ‘W.’”
First Published December 17, 2022, 1:52 a.m.
