Also, head over here for the fully updated bowl season calendar as it fills in, from the New Orleans Bowl through the Rose Bowl. We’ll also add picks, scores, and more to that calendar over time.
2016 Camellia Bowl Appalachian State vs. Toledo: Date, time, location and everything to know
The bowl game played in Alabama is just a couple years old.
Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images
The Camellia Bowl came onto college football’s postseason scene in 2014, and it announced itself by way of a wild fourth quarter in its inaugural game between Bowling Green and South Alabama.
Last year’s game was another tight one between Appalachian State and Ohio, and now we’re left hoping for another batch of exciting football in the 2016 version of the game. It’s got a lot to live up to, even though the game’s been around for just two attempts at fun so far.
The Camellia Bowl will have to compete with tons of postseason action for viewers’ eyeballs. It’s set for Dec. 17, a date that features five other bowls. Its sponsor is Raycom Media, and the game tie-ins come from the MAC and Sun Belt. Here’s to hoping for some more offense and another furious finish.
Interested in checking this out? Here’s just about everything you could want to know about this year’s game and the Camellia Bowl’s brief modern history:
Date and time: Dec. 17, 5:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN
Location: Montgomery, Ala.
Stadium: Cramton, Ala.
Last year’s score: Appalachian State 31, Ohio 29
Last year’s attendance: 21,395
Teams with the most all-time appearances: App State, Ohio, Bowling Green and South Alabama have all played once.
Appalachian State (9-3, 7-1 in Sun Belt)
Meet your Sun Belt co-champions, along with Arkansas State. The program that announced its existence nine years ago by shocking Michigan at the Big House has firmly entrenched itself as a solid FBS program. In their third year in the Sun Belt, Scott Satterfield’s Mountaineers didn’t net a huge out-of-conference win, but they threatened Tennessee in Knoxville and then cruised through the Sun Belt for a second year in a row.
App State’s strength is in its defense, which ranks near the top of the country both by points per game and advanced metrics like S&P+. The Mountaineers get beat up a little bit on the ground, but they play great pass defense and defend well in their own red zone. Miami and Akron (!) hit up the ‘Eers for a bunch of points early in the season, but the D’s been great in October and November. It’s not an easy group to score on.
The offense is up-and-down but generally fine (and not much more than fine). Junior quarterback Taylor Lamb had a strong year, and the running game has stayed north of five yards per carry. It’s an efficient offense, but not one that’ll wow you with an assortment of big plays. The ‘Eers are best at grinding things out, and they could do that again.
Toledo (9-3, 6-2 in MAC)
Toledo entered the 2016 season searching for an opportunity to play in a MAC title game for the first time since 2004. Things were looking like they could turn out that way for the Rockets, but a loss to Ohio in late October ruined those chances. Western Michigan’s undefeated record in the MAC West allowed the Broncos to clinch the division and take the championship berth the Rockets had coveted.
Rockets quarterback Logan Woodside has been lighting it up for Toledo’s offense all season long, leading the country through the end of the regular season with 43 touchdown passes. The passing attack -- paired with over 1,000-yard rusher Kareem Hunt -- makes the Rockets’ offense pretty dangerous, putting up 39 points per game, which ranks inside the top 20 in the country.
Given that this is head coach Joseph Candle’s first season as the head man at Toledo, the Rockets are off to a great start with the Candle era underway.
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