# 2023 Cure Bowl

The 2023 Cure Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 16, 2023, at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The ninth annual Cure Bowl, the game featured the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Sun Belt Conference and the Miami RedHawks of the Mid-American Conference. The game began at approximately 3:30 p.m. EST and was aired on ABC. The Cure Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by the Avocados from Mexico marketing organization, and was officially known as the Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl.

## Teams

Consistent on conference tie-ins, the game featured the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Sun Belt Conference and the Miami RedHawks of the Mid-American Conference.
This was the first time Appalachian State and Miami played each other, as well as the first time either played in the Cure Bowl.

### Appalachian State

The Mountaineers started the season 2–2, losing in two overtimes to a ranked North Carolina squad as well as to Wyoming on a last-second interception thrown by Joey Aguilar. After Week 7, the Mountaineers sat at just 3–4 and faced the prospect of missing a bowl game for the second straight season. However, App State managed to rally and win their final five regular season games, including an overtime win over then-undefeated James Madison with College GameDay in attendance. Thanks to James Madison's postseason ineligibility due to NCAA transfer rules for programs moving from FCS to FBS, the Mountaineers earned a berth in the Sun Belt Championship, where they lost to Troy, 49–23. The Mountaineers entered the bowl with a record of 8–5.

### Miami

After opening the season with a 38–3 loss at the hands of Miami (FL), the RedHawks rattled off six straight wins, including a 31–24 overtime victory over Cincinnati as a two-touchdown underdog. Their win streak was ended at home against Toledo, where they lost, 21–17. The RedHawks won their next four games to close out the regular season, and clinched the MAC East division title with a 23–10 win over Buffalo. This set up a rematch with Toledo in the MAC Championship, where backup quarterback Aveon Smith led the RedHawks to a victory, 23–14, securing the 2023 MAC conference title for Miami. The RedHawks entered the bowl with a record of 11–2.

## Game summary

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miami | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Appalachian State | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
at FBC Mortgage Stadium • Orlando, Florida
* Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Heavy rain • Temperature: 68 °F (20 °C)
* Game attendance: 11,121
* Referee: Rory Bernard
* TV announcers (ABC): Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Robert Griffin III (analyst), and Kris Budden (sideline)
* Box score

### Statistics

| Statistics | MIA | APP |
| First downs | 11 | 22 |
| Plays–yards | 52–227 | 73–388 |
| Rushes–yards | 42–183 | 41–177 |
| Passing yards | 44 | 211 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 6–10–0 | 18–32–1 |
| Time of possession | 28:21 | 31:39 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Miami | Passing | Maddox Kopp | 1/2, 28 yards |
| Miami | Rushing | Rashad Amos | 33 carries, 180 yards, TD |
| Miami | Receiving | Gage Larvadain | 4 receptions, 36 yards |
| Appalachian State | Passing | Joey Aguilar | 18/32, 211 yards, INT |
| Appalachian State | Rushing | Anderson Castle | 20 carries, 119 yards |
| Appalachian State | Receiving | Kaedin Robinson | 8 receptions, 118 yards |