Marcus Fuqua was a freshman the last time the University at Buffalo football team left the country for a bowl game.
Somehow, the grad student safety and Bulls graduate lucked out over the next five years. He was selected to the Associated Press All-America third team in 2022. He appeared in three bowl games, including the 2019 Bahamas Bowl.
He and the Bulls return to the tropics next month when UB (8-4) faces Liberty (8-3) in the Bahamas Bowl at 11 a.m. Jan. 4 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau. The Bulls beat Charlotte, 31-9, in 2019.
“Just go have fun,” Fuqua said. “But it’s a football game and at the end of the day you have to be focused, locked in. The most focused team is going to be the one that wins. We’re going to be in the Bahamas, we’re looking to have a good time, to have a good trip, but you have to be locked in.
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Pete Lembo’s first season as UB coach will end with the Bulls’ seventh bowl appearance since becoming a Football Bowl Subdivision program in 1999.
The Bahamas Bowl returns to Nassau after the 2023 game was played at Jerry Richardson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and temporarily renamed the Famous Toastery Bowl due to renovations at Thomas Robinson Stadium. Western Kentucky defeated Old Dominion, 38-35, in 2023.
The Bulls knew something was up Thursday morning when they were told to leave their phones in the locker room for a team meeting. That’s when they discovered the destination of their bowl.
In a video posted to UB football social media, UB players initially thought they would be traveling to Arizona for the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. Then, Lembo showed the Bulls a video from the Bahamas Bowl.
“It’s going to mean a lot, especially for this program,” UB linebacker Shaun Dolac said. “Also for the guys that have been here and the staff that has been here, so it’s going to be a great feeling to go out there, have fun, but our job is to get the win. this is what we are going to prepare for.
UB has 15 practices between the end of the regular season — a 43-7 win Nov. 26 against Kent State — and the Bahamas Bowl.
“It’s kind of like another spring ball for us,” Fuqua said. “We have a whole month and we train several times a week, so a lot of the younger guys can do a lot of reps and the older guys can still do some too. But just being able to stay locked in the whole time and treat it like we have a game coming up.
What you need to know about Freedom
The Flames play in Conference USA but could be without a fraction of their roster by the new year and won’t have a starting quarterback for the Bahamas Bowl. They may not have their current coach either.
Quarterback Kaidon Salter announced Monday that he will enter the transfer portal after four seasons with the Flames, and Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell told reporters in Lynchburg, Va., that players who enter in the transfer portal will not play in the Bahamas Bowl. Salter is one of 11 Liberty players Thursday morning heading into the gate, which officially opens Monday.
Salter was the 2023 Conference USA MVP and threw for 1,886 yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions this season. He also rushed for 579 yards and seven touchdowns.
Chadwell, who coached Coastal Carolina against UB in 2021 and 2022, has been mentioned as a candidate for the UCF coaching opening, but said earlier this week that these reports were “erroneous”.
Three things to watch out for at the Bahamas Bowl
1. Henderson’s productivity as a running back: Al-Jay Henderson has cemented his place as UB’s leading rusher and enters the bowl game with 959 yards and eight touchdowns on 183 carries. He is on pace to become UB’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Dylan McDuffie, who totaled 1,049 yards on 206 carries in 2021.
Henderson is averaging 117.7 yards on 20.6 carries in UB’s final seven regular season games, including a career-best 185 yards on 30 carries against Kent State, and attributes his increase in production to his confidence in the offensive line as well as just getting reps. – he only had 39 carries in UB’s first five games.
2. Lack of pass defense productivity: UB’s pass defense has allowed 258.9 yards per game in its 12 games. The Bulls began the week ranked 11th in the 12-team Mid-American Conference and 121st out of 134 teams in the country.
The Bulls only gave up 102 passing yards against Kent State, but that was an anomaly. In its previous three games, UB had allowed at least 331 passing yards, including a season-high 378 on Nov. 2 at Akron.
3. Who will stay and who will go? The first window of the football transfer portal opens on Monday. Players who intend to transfer to another program for 2025 have 20 days to enter their name into the portal between Monday and December 28.
UB will have a new long snapper for the bowl game as Byron Floyd announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday. More UB players could enter the portal, which also happened in 2022. Players may also decide to retire from bowls in order to prepare for professional football. UB will also be without a special teams coordinator after UB confirmed Tuesday that Tyler Hancock is no longer with the program.
UB bowl history
This will be UB’s seventh bowl game and eighth bowl-eligible season since the program moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 1999:
2008: International Bowl, Toronto. Lost to Connecticut, 38-20.
2013: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Boise, Idaho. Lost to San Diego State, 49-24.
2017: Finished 6-6 but did not reach the bowl field due to a 6-6 team surplus and only 78 bowl bids available that year.
2018: Dollar General Bowl, Mobile, Ala. Lost to Troy, 42-32.
2019: Bahamas Bowl. Beat Charlotte, 31-9.
2020: Camellia Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama. Beat Marshall, 17-10.
2022: Camellia Bowl. Beat Georgia Southern, 23-21.
2024: Bahamas Bowl vs. Liberty, 11 a.m., January 4.
