2021 Bahamas Bowl

The 2021 Bahamas Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2021, at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. The seventh annual Bahamas Bowl, as well as the first to take place after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition, the game featured the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders of Conference USA and the Toledo Rockets of the Mid-American Conference. The game began at 12:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was the first of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season.

Both teams entered the game with similar records, as the Blue Raiders concluded their regular season with a 6–6 mark and the Rockets finished theirs with a record of 7–5. Each team made their second Bahamas Bowl appearance; Toledo made their 18th appearance in a bowl game, five more than Middle Tennessee's 13 total appearances. In previews of the contest, each team had been identified as having very different strengths. Middle Tennessee's defense earned praise, though their offense struggled throughout the season, and they were without quarterback Chase Cunningham after his injury in late October 2021. Toledo's rushing offense was widely regarded as their team's best quality, with the Rockets averaging nearly 200 rushing yards per game throughout the year.

The game began with an edge towards defense, as Nick Vattiato's six-yard touchdown pass to Yusuf Ali for Middle Tennessee was the only score of the first quarter. Both offenses showed up more in the second quarter; Toledo scored twice in two minutes to tie the game and then take the Rockets' first lead, though Middle Tennessee tied the contest again with nine minutes until halftime. A Toledo field goal gave the Rockets a three-point halftime lead, which they carried into the fourth quarter after the third quarter finished scoreless. Starting with the first play of the game's final period, Middle Tennessee started a streak of seventeen unanswered points. Despite a touchdown by Toledo with just over a minute remaining in the game, Middle Tennessee maintained the lead and won the game, 31–24.