TOLEDO, APPALACHIAN STATE MEET IN RAYCOM MEDIA CAMELLIA BOWL

MONTGOMERY – A pair of nine-win teams, Toledo and Appalachian State have accepted invitations to meet in the third annual Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, according to an announcement today by Executive Director Johnny Williams.

Toledo and Appalachian State will meet on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m. CT at the historic Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. The game will be televised by ESPN and also air on ESPN Radio. The Raycom Media Camellia Bowl will be the third of four bowl games to air on ESPN networks on the opening day of the college football bowl season.

Tickets to the third annual Raycom Media Camellia Bowl are on sale via the internetwww.espnevents.com/camellia-bowl/tickets/. Tickets are $30 for reserved seats and $20 for general admission seating.

“We are pleased to announce that Toledo and Appalachian State will play in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl,” Williams said. “We are excited to host Toledo, who won nine games and came within one win of the MAC Eastern Division title. We welcome Appalachian State back for a second straight year. They had a tremendous crowd last year and gave us a thrilling finish to a great game.”

The previous two Raycom Media Camellia Bowl games have been decided in the final minute. Appalachian State defeated Ohio University 31-29 in the 2015 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Zach Matics’ 23-yard field goal as time expired gave the Mountaineers a win. Bowling Green defeated South Alabama 33-28 in the inaugural Camellia Bowl in 2014. James Knapke’s 70-yard touchdown pass to Roger Lewis provided the winning margin with 1:04 left in the game.

Toledo (9-3, 6-2 MAC) finished second in the MAC Western Division behind undefeated Western Michigan, under first-year head coach Jason Candle. The Rockets are making their 16^th all-time bowl appearance and have posted a 10-5 all-time record. Toledo is making its third straight bowl appearance. Toledo is also playing its third bowl game in the state of Alabama, including a 45-13 win over UTEP in 2005 GMAC Bowl and 63-44 over Arkansas State in 2015 GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile.

Appalachian State (9-3, 7-1 Sun Belt) were the 2016 Sun Belt Conference co-champions along with Arkansas State, under fourth-year head coach Scott Satterfield. It marked ASU’s first conference championship at the FBS level. ASU won three national championships and 11 Southern Conference championships at the FCS level. ASU is playing in its second bowl game in school history and both have come at the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.

The Raycom Media Camellia Bowl will feature Toledo’s high-powered passing offense against Appalachian State’s stingy defense.

Toledo led the MAC in total offense (529.8), passing yards per game (329.1), passing efficiency (182.4) and yards per completion (14.5). Junior quarterback Logan Woodside leads the NCAA with 43 touchdown passes and ranked second nationally in pass efficiency (183.9). He also led the MAC in passing yards (3,882) and passing yards per game (323.5) this season.

Appalachian State defense leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks third nationally with 20 interceptions this season. ASU freshman defensive back Clifton Duck was second in the league and ninth in the NCAA with five interceptions this season. He had a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown in the win over Idaho. ASU also led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring defense (17.0) and pass efficiency (103.3).

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