Recapping the 2016 Camellia Bowl between the Appalachian State Mountaineers and Toledo Rockets from Montgomery.
The Mountaineers earned their second straight Camellia Bowl title with a thrilling 31-28 win over Toledo on Saturday night in Montgomery.
Appalachian State opened the scoring midway through the first quarter with a punishing 11-play, drive, capped off by a 16 yard fly sweep to wide receiver Deltron Hopkins. Toledo’s explosive offense took all of a minute and a half to respond, as a 58 yard pass from Logan Woodside to Corey Jones set up a quick Rockets touchdown.
Both defenses would tighten up until the six minute mark of the second quarter, when Marcus Cox put the Mountaineers up 14-7 on a 13 yard run to finish off a drive that started on the Appalachian State seven. Once again, the Rockets struck back quickly on a 26 yard touchdown run from Kareem Hunt to tie the game at halftime.
Despite giving up a late score to tie the game, Appalachian State had to be thrilled with holding the nation’s No. 8 team in total offense to 171 yards in the first half, but things would quickly open up after the break.
Appalachian State went back in front with 8:11 left in the third on quarterback Taylor Lamb’s 13 yard run on fourth and one. Hunt finally found some consistent running room on Toledo’s next drive, setting up a seven yard pass from Woodside to Cody Thompson to tie the game at 21 late in the third.
That didn’t last long, as Appalachian State’s special teams unit came up with a huge play on Darrynton Evans’ 94 yard kickoff return touchdown. Thompson reeled in a 58 yard pass three plays later leading to a short Hunt touchdown, setting up a thrilling fourth with the teams tied at 28.
After failing to execute a fake field goal earlier in the quarter, the Mountaineers went up 31-28 with under six minutes to go following a long run from Cox. Hunt then ripped off a series of long runs to put Toledo in a position to tie or take the lead, but the Rockets stalled inside the 10 and took a bizarre delay of game penalty on fourth and short before Jameson Vest missed the ensuing field goal.
Cox picked up a first down on the next play, allowing the Mountaineers to run out the clock and seal the 31-28 Camellia Bowl victory.
Three stars
3. John Law, LB, Appalachian State. Appeared constantly in the Toledo backfield, helping to bottle up Hunt in the first half and put plenty of pressure on Woodside to aid the secondary.
2. Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo. Overcame slow start to pile up 146 total yards and two touchdowns to keep Toledo competitive with Woodside struggling.
1. Taylor Lamb, QB, Appalachian State. Didn’t make much of an impact in the passing game, but reeled off nine rushes for 126 yards to pace the Mountaineers offense.
Highlights
Odds
Spread: Even
Moneyline: Appalachian State -110, Toledo -110
O/U: 60.5
The Mountaineers will be going for their second straight Camellia Bowl title, while Toledo will look for its third consecutive bowl win overall.