By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Boy, can he run — and RUN is in his last name. And, he has given us many a thrill on the gridiron these last five years.
All-Conference running back Camerun Peoples announced on Nov. 29 via Twitter that he is foregoing another year of collegiate eligibility and making himself available to the NFL Draft next spring.
Peoples’ short message on the Twitter post read, “Watch me Turn my Dreams to Reality. 6 out.” The No. 6, of course, referring to his jersey number.
Below the short message was a letter addressed to “AppNation.”
“What a journey it’s been. From the first day I stepped foot in this amazing town of Boone I knew this was the place I wanted to be! You took me in with open arms and treated me like family. You’ve cheered me on when I’ve been my best and supported me at my worst! To all the fans of App Nation, I am extremely grateful for all the love you’ve shown.
“Playing in that Black and Gold means the world! God blessed me with the opportunity and showed me that with hard work and patience, anything can be achieved! Thanks to all the coaches who gave me a chance! To my teammates, I will forever cherish all the moments we’ve shared, all of the victories, all of the laughs, even the moments where things didn’t go our way! I love every single one of y’all like a brother.
“Special thanks to Adam Turner, Reggie Hunt, Pastor Solomon, Dr. Coop, and Rob Carlisle guiding me both mentally and spiritually. I’ll forever be grateful for all the help.
“To my family, I love y’all forever! Thank you for all of the guidance, love and support that you’ve given me all of my life. All I’ve ever wanted to do is make y’all proud. Y’all would give y’all last just to make sure I’m okay. It’s time for me to return the favor!
With that being said, I’m excited to announce that I am declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft! Go App!”
And his signature is affixed to the bottom of the graphic.
Various career notes and statistics, courtesy of App State Sports:
Career entering 2022: Reese’s Senior Bowl selection in 2022 … In 36 career games (15 starts), totaled 2,830 rushing yards, 33 rushing TDs, nine 100-yard games and a school-record 6.22 yards-per-carry average (topping the previous record of 6.13 from Jalin Moore, with a minimum of 300 career attempts) … With 2,830 career rushing yards, finished 10th in program history (and fourth among App State players who competed in the FBS era) … Capped a 1,124-yard rushing season in 2020 with 317 yards and five touchdowns in the Myrtle Beach Bowl — a performance that set NCAA’s single-game bowl record for rushing yards, broke the school record for single-game rushing yards, tied the NCAA bowl record for rushing TDs and tied the school record for rushing touchdowns … Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award candidate in 2020 after scoring a 63-yard TD as a (redshirting) true freshman in 2018 bowl win but suffering a torn ACL in his right knee on a 17-yard run in the 2019 opener … Tied for seventh in school history (with Jalin Moore) with 33 career rushing TDs.
2022: Appeared in nine games and made six starts … Rushed for 593 yards on 101 attempts (5.9 average) and five TDs … Had three 100-yard games, with 168 yards (with two TDs on 23 rushes) against Georgia State, 112 yards (on 19 attempts) at Texas A&M and 102 yards (with a 73-yard TD) on four carries against The Citadel … Had a 48-yard run on the final drive to help clinch the win at No. 6 Texas A&M … Helped tie UNC game with 38-yard touchdown run … In the Georgia State win, after returning from a non-football injury that sidelined him against Texas State, scored on runs of 16 and 7 yards as App State rushed for 404 yards … Also scored a touchdown against JMU and topped 75 yards against Troy … Caught six passes for 43 yards … Preseason watch lists for the Doak Walker Award and East-West Shrine Bowl.
2021: All-Sun Belt second team from the league and first team from PFF College … Played in 12 of 14 games and made four starts (first four games) at running back … Finished season with 926 rushing yards (No. 3 in Sun Belt) and 14 rushing touchdowns (No. 1 in the Sun Belt) on 166 attempts … Ranked No. 3 in the Sun Belt at 77.2 rushing yards a game … Had 100-yard games against ECU (100), Arkansas State (116) and WKU (101) to go along with 75-plus yards against Miami (95), Elon (80), Marshall (78), ULM (82) and South Alabama (90) … Scored three first-half touchdowns in the win against Marshall and had two-TD games against ECU, Elon Coastal Carolina and ULM … After missing two straight games, returned to lineup against Coastal Carolina and scored twice, including on a 43-yard run that tied the game late in the third quarter of a 30-27 victory … Preseason watch lists for the Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award.
2020: Rushed for 1,124 yards (No. 1 in Sun Belt, No. 10 nationally) and 12 touchdowns (T-No. 1 in Sun Belt) in 11 games (five starts), with an average of 6.7 yards per carry, by ending season with a school-record and NCAA bowl-record 317 rushing yards (on just 22 attempts) in the 56-28 win against North Texas in the Myrtle Beach Bowl … Five rushing touchdowns tied the all-time bowl record held by six other players, including Barry Sanders, and tied the school record also held by John Settle (vs. Davidson in 1986) … Beat records previously held by Armanti Edwards (313 yards set in the 2007 FCS semifinals vs. Richmond) and Georgia Tech’s P.J. Daniels (bowl-record 307 yards in the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl) … In this millennium, only FBS player to rush for more than 300 yards and score five rushing TDs on less than 25 carries … Tied Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson for the FBS lead in rushes of 50 or more yards (five) in 2020 and led the nation with four rushes of 60-plus yards … Second-team All-Sun Belt from the league and first team by Phil Steele … Led Sun Belt in rushing yards per game (102.2) and finished 237 yards ahead of the Sun Belt’s No. 2 rusher … Had three runs of at least 62 yards (non-scoring run of 76, plus TDs of 64 and 62) against North Texas … Made the first start of his career at Coastal Carolina in App State’s eighth game and started the final five games of the season after being the third back to get a carry in the 2020 opener … Totaled 758 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in five starts to end the season … Helped App State extend its streak to an FBS-best nine straight years with a 1,000-yard back even though he entered the bowl needing 193 yards to reach that milestone … Watch List for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award as he returned from an injury to open the 2019 season … In first career start at Coastal Carolina, had 27 rushes for 178 yards (170 by halftime) before having a 63-yard TD run on his second carry of a 10-rush, 95-yard game against Troy … Rushed for 99 yards with a TD against Louisiana in the home final and added 69 yards at Georgia Southern in the regular-season finale … Missed the Campbell game but saw an increased workload as the season progressed due to injuries involving senior Marcus Williams Jr. and junior Daetrich Harrington … Tied Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson for the FBS lead in rushes of 50 or more yards (five) in 2020 and led the nation with four rushes of 60-plus yards … In this millennium, only FBS player to rush for more than 300 yards and score five rushing TDs on less than 25 carries.
2019: Played in one game, rushing three times for 23 yards and suffering a season-ending knee injury at the end of a 17-yard run in the opener against ETSU … In the preseason, named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year by Lindy’s.
2018: Officially a redshirt season after appearing in three games as a true freshman running back … Totaled 17 carries for 164 yards (9.6 average) and two touchdowns in appearances against Gardner-Webb, Texas State and Middle Tennessee in the New Orleans Bowl … Scored on a 63-yard run in the New Orleans Bowl and posted his first career touchdown on a 9-yard run at Texas State … Finished with nine carries for 53 yards against Gardner-Webb, five carries for 42 yards against Texas State and three carries for 69 yards against Middle Tennessee … Had the third-longest run of the season by a Sun Belt true freshman.
High School: Rushed for 1,672 yards and 21 touchdowns on 230 carries as a senior. Also had one punt return for a touchdown, one kickoff return for a touchdown, three catches for 45 yards and 2,082 all-purpose yards … A three-year starter who played for coach Kris Herron … Rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff win before Central closed an 8-4 season with a second-round loss the following weekend … Had a game with 326 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries as a senior … Rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports.
Personal: Born Sept. 14, 1999 … Son of Revish Bardwell Peoples and Lakenya Cosby.
