The Charlotte 49ers are headed to The Bahamas for the first bowl in school history

Charlotte 49ers first-year coach Will Healy has said the goal for his program is not to play in a bowl, but to win a bowl.

Healy’s team gets a chance to do just that when the 49ers play in the first postseason game in program history, facing Buffalo in the Bahamas Bowl.

The 49ers (7-5), who have won five straight games, will face the Bulls (7-5) at 2 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau. Buffalo went 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference and has won five of its past six.

“As proud as we are to be in this position after five consecutive wins, we aren’t satisfied,” Healy said in a statement. “We’ve been saying for weeks that our goal is to win a bowl game, not just to qualify for one. So we’ll have to work hard in the coming weeks to prepare for an excellent Buffalo team. But we are so excited to have this challenge and an opportunity to share a bowl experience together.”

Charlotte completed its regular season with a 38-22 victory Saturday at Old Dominion.

The 49ers will face a Buffalo team that is strong on both sides of the ball. The Bulls lead the MAC in rushing offense (254.2 yards per game) and allow a league-low 293.1 yards per contest.

“We are extremely excited to earn an invitation to the Bahamas Bowl,” Buffalo coach Lance Leipold said in a statement. “Our past conference participants have raved about the experience and hospitality and our program is thrilled for this opportunity. Coach Healy and his staff have done a tremendous job at Charlotte and we are looking forward to the challenge of playing his team.”

Buffalo, which finished its regular season Saturday with a 49-7 victory against Bowling Green, has a standout running back in Jaret Patterson, who has rushed for 1,626 yards and 17 touchdowns. Receiver Antonio Nunn has 44 catches for 634 yards and five touchdowns.

The Bulls’ defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks 38 times, led by ends Taylor Riggins (eight) and Ledarius Mack and Malcolm Koonce (seven each).

“This is really special for our university,” 49ers athletics director Mike Hill said. “Considering the origins of the program here, in just seven seasons to do this. The kids have worked so hard and gone through a lot.”

The 49ers are one of as many as eight Conference USA teams that could receive bowl invitations. Alabama-Birmingham and Florida Atlantic will play for the league championship this Saturday.

This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 1:23 PM.