football
BOONE, N.C. — App State goes bowling again. This time, the program’s first postseason trip to Orlando, Florida, for the Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl on Saturday, December 16th.
The Mountaineers, the Sun Belt Conference East champions, will play MAC champion Miami (Ohio) at UCF’s FBC Mortgage Stadium at 3:30 p.m. The game, which will be televised by ABC, will be the first football game between App State (8-5) and the Redhawks (11-2).
“Orlando is a great destination for the App State football team and our passionate Mountaineer fan base,” said App State Director of Athletics Doug Gillin. “We would like to thank Alan Gooch and his team for the invitation. We are excited to represent Appalachian State University and the Sun Belt Conference at the Cure Bowl.”
“Excited to play against Miami (Ohio State) in the Cure Bowl,” App State head coach said. Sean Clark Said. “Our team kept digging all season. We overcame adversity and won the Sun Belt East. We went to Orlando and represented our university and one of the best conferences in America. I’m proud to be able to go there.”
Information regarding ticket availability will be finalized within the next few days.
The first Cure Bowl was held in 2015, and the game spotlights the fight against breast cancer. By the time the 2022 games are complete, the Orlando Sports Foundation has donated more than his $4.1 million to cancer research.
After making its FBS debut in 2014, App State set a record by earning a bowl berth in each of its first seven seasons eligible for the postseason. The Mountaineers also made history by winning their first six bowl games, winning in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
The Mountaineers finished the regular season with five straight wins, and in the Sun Belt Championship Game against Troy, they led 21-17 entering the fourth quarter but lost 49-23. Joey Aguilar He set a school record for total passing yards on the season with 3,546 yards and tied for third in the nation with 33 touchdown passes.
After starting the streak with a 48-38 win over Southern Miss, the Mountaineers’ defense allowed just 15.3 points per 60 minutes and completed eight passes, all bowl-bound, over the final four games of the regular season. won against the team.
App State started a record-breaking bowl winning streak with three wins over MAC teams, including wins over Ohio and Toledo in the 2015 and 2016 Camellia Bowls and again against Toledo in the 2017 Dollar General Bowl. I counted.
The RedHawks, coached by Chuck Martin, opened the season with a 38-3 loss to the Miami Hurricanes and improved to 7-1 in league play, with their only loss coming against Toledo (21-17). . One of the highlights of the regular season was a 31-24 overtime victory over Big 12 newcomer Cincinnati, and Miami came back to beat Toledo 23-14 in the MAC title game.
Rashad Amos leads Miami’s offense this season with 895 yards and 13 touchdowns, and the defense ranks seventh in the nation in allowing 16.2 points per game. The RedHawks are allowing just 197.2 passing yards per game.
Orlando joins Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans, Conway and Boca Raton as cities selected to host the App State bowl game. FBC Mortgage Stadium opened in 2007 and has a capacity of approximately 45,000 people.