With the 2015 NCAA Football Regular Season finalized, the 2015-16 Bowl Season is upon with some 40 Bowl Games. This Saturday the 19th of December we have some Bowl Games with team that many have not even heard about before. One that we preview is the 2015 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl with the 8-4 Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference) playing the 10-2 Appalachian State Mountaineers (Sun Belt Conference) with the game being played at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama with the kick-off scheduled for 5:35 PM ET and seen on ESPN TV.
The Ohio Bobcats come to this Bowl with momentum going with them, while the Mountaineers have played very well throughout the 2015 season. The fans are anxious to see who takes the Title for the Camellia Bowl!
If you’re a fan of the 8-4 Ohio Bobcats and Bet on College football, the betting odds for this game has the Appalachian State Mountaineers favored at -7 ½ with the Over/under at 54 and -310 on the Money Line, while the underdog Ohio Bobcats are at +7 ½ and -255 on the ML. The team started the season at 5-1 then lost 3 games before winning their last 3 games. Bet the Camellia Bowl today.
They made the post season with that 3 game win streak and an impressive win over Northern Illinois the MAC powerhouse, otherwise they would not be in this Bowl game.
The team’s strong point is their defense against the run that in only 2 games this season has they allowed opponents to rush for more than 200 yards. Their leader is star LB Q. Poling who this season has 4 sacks and 3 interceptions. He also has force several fumbles this season, and they need his presence to halt the Mountaineers RB M. Cox.
Yes the defense has played well, but their offense has struggled, especially at QB. Their starting QB D. Vick but has been bothered with a ankle injury during the season and back-up QB J. Sprague has also had shoulder injuries taunting him. Vick had 2 300 yard games and 10 touchdowns this season with 6 interceptions, while Sprague has 7 touchdowns on the season with 1 interception.
If you follow the 10-2 Appalachian State Mountaineers, the team had no problem changing to the Sun Belt Conference last season, and was determined to play in an FBS Bowl this season. Then they wanted to get a Bowl Bid and did that by winning 10 games this season, and their 2 losses were Arkansas State and No. 1 Clemson, and ended the season as the only team in the Sun Belt that was undefeated in conference play.
Appalachian State has a solid defense similar to their opponent Ohio, and possibly better. The rank at the top for red zone defense and have a 62 % conversion rate and rank 28th for run defense related to the yardage they allow opponents each game. Their QB T. Lamb who won the Sun Belt Freshman of the year honors. He is a threat to the opposing team defenses as this season he passed for 29 touchdowns and 2,202 yards with 8 interceptions for the season to date, and in his running game he scored 4 touchdowns and rushed for over 355 yards to date.
But fans wonder if the Bobcats will focus more on the Mountaineers RB M. Cox whom has 10 touchdowns this season and 1,262 rushing yards, with 2 of the touchdowns being via the pass reception. This season he had 7 games that he rushed for 100 yards or more, and missed 1 game this season.
Thus if QB Lamb and RB Cox turn it on in this game, if will be difficult for the Bobcats to overcome that powerful combination on offense.
The sportsbook prediction for this Bowl game is that the Mountaineers prove to be too much for the Bobcats and win this game 41-29.