The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (8-5) and Appalachian State Mountaineers (10-2) will meet in the 2018 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Saturday, December 15.
Appalachian State has yet to find a permanent coach after former head coach Scott Satterfield accepted the same position at Louisville two weeks ago. Satterfield went 51-24 (36-4 Sun Belt) during six seasons at App State, which included four consecutive bowl appearances.
Defensive line coach Mark Ivey will serve as the Mountaineers' interim head coach for the bowl game. Ivey, an App State alum, has been part of the coaching staff for seven years but has never previously worked as a head coach.
MTSU's head coach Rick Stockstill led the Blue Raiders to their eighth postseason appearance in 2018, which included falling two points short of UAB in the Conference USA Championship Game on Dec. 1.
Stockstill's son, quarterback Brent Stockstill, was named the Conference USA's Most Valuable Player in 2018, recording 3,214 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while averaging a career-best 70.4 completion percentage and 7.4 yards per attempt. The younger Stockstill has thrown for more than 300 yards four times times season, which included a season-best 396-yard, five-touchdown performance against Tennessee Martin in Week 2.
Stockstill threw two interceptions during the Conference USA Championship Game two weeks ago, which was his first game with multiple interceptions in 2018. The redshirt junior has only thrown eight interceptions on 427 pass attempts.
However, Appalachian State is expected to be his toughest defensive test yet. Safety Desmond Franklin is tied for a Sun Belt-best with four interceptions, which ranks 13th among FBS players. The Mountaineers currently have 15 interceptions as a team, which ranks No. 14 overall in the nation.
Here's the info you need to know for tonight's game.
Event: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Date: Saturday, Dec. 15
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome -- New Orleans, Louisiana
Start time: 9:00 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN
Live stream: fuboTV (free trial available) and WatchESPN
Odds: Appalacian State -7.0, 48.0 via Bovada
Prediction:
Elton Hayes, Athlon Sports: Appalachian State 28, Middle Tennessee 24
"The New Orleans Bowl marks Middle Tennessee's fourth consecutive postseason trip, and a victory would give the Blue Raiders back-to-back bowl wins for the first time in program history. But in the end, the Sun Belt champs have too much talent for the Conference USA runners-up to overcome."
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