The 2016 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl is one of eight bowl games where both teams have at least nine wins and that makes for must-see-TV on the opening day of the bowl season. The others are Las Vegas Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl.
The Camellia Bowl is rated No. 6 in the list of Top 10 Bowl Games to Watch, according to Sports Illustrated. The Camellia Bowl rated No. 12 among the 40 bowls by the USA Today.
“The Sun Belt co-champion Mountaineers take on the high-flying Rockets, who came within a game of playing for the MAC title in this opening-day treat. Leading the way for Toledo is veteran QB Logan Woodside, who has 43 TD passes this season with the help of an explosive receiving corps. ASU QB Taylor Lamb isn’t quite as prolific but directs a solid ground attack that has helped them to a possession-time edge of nearly eight minutes per game,” according to USA Today.
NCAA’S TOP RUSHERS SQUARE OFF:
Two of the NCAA’s top three active career rushers will meet in the 2016 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.
Appalachian State senior running back Marcus Cox is the NCAA’s second leading active rusher with 4,960 career yards. Toledo’s Kareem Hunt is the third leading active rusher with 4,825 career yards.
Cox needs 128 rushing yards in the Camellia Bowl for his fourth straight 1,000-yard season for the Mountaineers. He has 879 career rushing attempts for 4,960 yards and 51 touchdowns in 44 career games at ASU.
Hunt needs 24 rushing yards to become the Rockets all-time leading rusher. He has 760 career rushing attempts for 4,825 yards and 42 touchdowns in 42 games.
“I have been fortunate to coach some really good players, some guys who live for that opportunity,” Toledo head coach Jason Candle said. “There are a lot of guys on this team like that, they really are. Kareem is not exception to that. He has had a storied career. He has a chance to go over 5,000 yards in his career, that is doing some work at running back. In today’s football you get hit a lot. It’s a beating on your body. He stayed healthy all year and stayed the course. I am really proud of his growth and development.”
Cox and Hunt have combined for 9,785 yards and 93 touchdowns.
NCAA ACTIVE RUSHING LEADERS
Player, School Career Yards
Donnel Pumphrey, SD State 6,290
Marcus Cox, Appalachian State 4,960
Kareem Hunt, Toledo 4,825
De’Angelo Henderson, Coastal Carolina 4,635
Dalvin Cook, Florida State 4,319
APP STATE WINTER HOME:
The Mountaineers are playing their fourth game in the state of Alabama, including back-to-back Camellia Bowl games, in the past 372 calendar days. ASU faces Toledo on Saturday at the Cramton Bowl and suffered a 28-24 loss at Troy back on Nov. 12.
App State played at South Alabama on Dec. 5, 2015 and made it first-ever bowl appearance with a 31-29 win over Ohio in last year’s Camellia Bowl.
Satterfield was asked on Friday he was considering a winter home in the capital city.
“I might move here (if someone would buy me a house). It’s third time in a year we have been down here. We are pretty used to coming down here. This is probably the closest venue for our fans to see us in a bowl game. We have a lot of alumni in the Atlanta area, which is not that far to come over here.
“It a pretty good trip for our fans to come here and hopefully they will pack it out like they did last year. We fed off those fans throughout that game, especially when we started making that second half comeback. That was huge for us. Hopefully, we will have more of our App fans here this year.”
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