Camellia Bowl 2016: Appalachian State vs. Toledo TV Schedule, Time and Odds
The 2016 Camellia Bowl classifies as a war of wills between teams with opposing strengths when the Appalachian State Mountaineers and Toledo Rockets meet for the first time.
Toledo, 9-3, makes its headway through the air and boasts some of the best numbers in the country. Head coach Jason Candle coached on Toledo's sidelines with current Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield, adding a layer of intrigue to the matchup.
Not that it needed any—the Mountaineers, also 9-3, tout one of the nation's best pass defenses and a ball-control offense capable of keeping the Rockets off the field.
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An afternoon game in a five-game slate to kick off bowl season, this isn't the one to skip. Here is everything to know.
Camellia Bowl 2016
Date: Saturday
Time (ET): 5:30 p.m.
Location: Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Watch: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Over/Under: 59.5
Spread: Toledo (-1)
Team Injury Reports
| Shaedon Meadors | WR | Probable |
| Beau Nunn | OL | Probably |
| Terrence Upshaw | RB | Out for season |
| Andrew Davis | WR | Out for season |
| Neru N'Shaka | WR | Out for season |
| Jaylen Coleman | LB | Out for season |
Injury reports courtesy of USA Today.
No-Fly Zone
The Mountaineers have made it to their second consecutive Camellia Bowl (they beat Ohio last year) in large part thanks to a superb pass defense.
Over 12 games, their pass defense has allowed 10 touchdowns passes and recorded 20 interceptions.
Appalachian State's most notable game came in Week 1, a near-upset of then-No. 9 Tennessee, 20-13. The defense held Joshua Dobbs to one touchdown and an interception with just 192 yards through the air. The Mountaineers' rushing attack, hostile environment or not, ran for 184 yards and a score while averaging 4.3 yards per carry.
Now would be a good time to talk about that rushing attack. Lead back Jalin Moore has 1,367 yards and 10 touchdowns on a 6.2 per-carry average. Flanking him is Marcus Cox at 872, eight and 6.4, respectively.
This rushing attack is what the Mountaineers will look to employ while they hope the defense can contain a prolific aerial assault from Toledo. The fact this approach almost pulled off an upset of an SEC heavyweight is one of the many reasons the odds out of Las Vegas bill this as a close contest.
Ruling the Air
It's easy to admire what the Rockets have accomplished through the air this year.
Junior quarterback Logan Woodside put on an epic performance, completing 69.1 percent of his passes with 43 touchdowns to nine interceptions. As Jordan Strack of WTOL-11 illustrated, Woodside made plenty of history:
Not that anyone should consider Toledo a team based in finesse—Satterfield certainly doesn't.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Toledo and how they play the game," Satterfield said, according to Stats LLC (via ESPN.com). "Having been there in 2009, it is a similar program to what we have at Appalachian State, a blue-collar program. Their guys play hard and physical."
Indeed, the Rockets held seven opponents to 20 or fewer points this year, and lead back Kareem Hunt bulldozed his way to 1,355 yards and eight touchdowns on 240 attempts.
From the looks of it, if the bowl game calls for it, the Rockets can adapt and grind to good success. Such an approach will only be necessary, though, if the Mountaineers can manage to slow Woodside—he threw at least three touchdowns in every game this year.
Prediction
This looks like a 50-50 game where one or two plays will determine the outcome.
As good as Woodside has been this year, it should concern the Rockets just how great the Mountaineers looked against Tennessee. The pass defense proved itself capable of stunting a top-tier program, and the rushing attack, undersized or not, bullied the Volunteers on the ground.
When it comes to picking this game, hinging hopes on Woodside in cold weather at a neutral site isn't the best idea. He's thrown four interceptions over his past three games and now faces arguably the best defense he has encountered all season.
In a grind-it-out affair, look for the Mountaineers to ride the ground game to a win.
Prediction: Appalachian State 28, Toledo 24
Statistics courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified. All betting information courtesy of OddsShark.
Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.
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