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Appalachian State, Toledo meet for first time in Camellia Bowl (Dec 17, 2016)
Appalachian State and Toledo will meet for the first time when they clash in the Raymon Media Camellia Bowl on Saturday in Montgomery, Ala., but the two coaches are not strangers.
Mountaineers coach Scott Satterfield spent a season as Toledo's passing game coordinator before moving on Florida International and then to Appalachian State. Toledo coach Jason Candle was the Rockets wide receivers coach while Satterfield was on the Toledo staff.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Toledo and how they play the game," Satterfield said. "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.
"Jason has done an outstanding job taking over there."
Candle reciprocated.
"I certainly have a lot of respect for Scott and what he has been able to do with that football program," he said. "I think it's really cool."
The Rockets (9-3) and Mountaineers (9-3) will kick off at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, with ESPN airing the action.
The Rockets will be making their 16th bowl appearance overall and sixth in the last seven years, but Candle considers the postseason anything but routine.
"At Toledo, we don't take these opportunities very lightly," he said. "In 2013, we were 7-5 and did not get invited to a bowl game."
There wasn't much in the way of doubt this time around. The Rockets reached bowl eligibility with their sixth win (31-17 over Central Michigan) on Oct. 22 and added three more wins before losing to undefeated Western Michigan 55-35 in the season finale.
Junior quarterback Logan Woodside led an offensive surge by throwing an FBS-high 43 touchdown passes and setting a school record in passing yardage with 3,882, completing 69.1 percent of his attempts.
"Logan has had a tremendous season," Candle said, citing his quarterback's work ethic. "He's a gym rat in the old-school sense."
Wide receivers Corey Jones and Cody Thompson combined for 119 catches and tight end Michael Roberts had 43. Running back Kareem Hunt topped off a 1,300-yard rushing season with 200 yards against Western Michigan, his 27th career triple-digit rushing game.
Appalachian State, which beat Ohio 31-29 in last year's Camellia Bowl, will counter Toledo's prolific passing game with a defense that has allowed only 10 touchdown passes and ranks No. 3 nationally in interceptions with 20, five by freshman cornerback Clifton Duck.
The Mountaineers have a two-pronged rushing game with Jalin Moore leading with 1,367 yards and veteran Marcus Cox, who missed four games to injury, adding 847. Cox is the nation's No. 2 active rusher with 4,960 yards. No. 3 is Toledo's Hunt with 4,825.
