Camellia Bowl (2014–present)

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Camellia Bowl
StadiumCramton Bowl (25,000)
LocationMontgomery, Alabama
Operated2014–present
Conference tie-insMAC, Sun Belt, C-USA (alternate)
PayoutUS$300,000 (2019)[1]
Sponsors
Former names
  • Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (2014–2018)
  • Camellia Bowl (2019–2020)
  • TaxAct Camellia Bowl (2021)
2022 matchup
Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo
(Buffalo 23–21)
2023 matchup
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
(Northern Illinois 21–19)

The Camellia Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned FBS college football bowl game played in Montgomery, Alabama, at the Cramton Bowl.[2][3] The game features teams from the Sun Belt Conference and the Mid-American Conference (MAC).[2][3] The bowl game was announced in August 2013 and first played in December 2014. The game is owned and managed by ESPN Events and is named after the camellia, which is the state flower of Alabama.

Sponsorship[edit]

The bowl was sponsored at its inception by Raycom Media, a major owner of television stations in the southeastern United States with heavy involvement in college sports broadcasting, and was officially known as the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.[4] In June 2018, Gray Television announced its intent to acquire Raycom[5][6] The acquisition was completed in January 2019,[7] and the 2019 and 2020 editions of the bowl were played without a title sponsor.

On November 24, 2021, TaxAct was named as the new title sponsor of both the Camellia Bowl and the Texas Bowl.[8]

Game results[edit]

Date Winning Team Losing Team Attendance Notes
December 20, 2014 Bowling Green 33 South Alabama 28 20,256 notes
December 19, 2015 Appalachian State 31 Ohio 29 21,395 notes
December 17, 2016 Appalachian State 31 Toledo 28 20,300 notes
December 16, 2017 Middle Tennessee 35 Arkansas State 30 20,612 notes
December 15, 2018 Georgia Southern 23 Eastern Michigan 21 17,710 notes
December 21, 2019 Arkansas State 34 FIU 26 16,209 notes
December 25, 2020 Buffalo 17 Marshall 10 2,512 notes
December 25, 2021 Georgia State 51 Ball State 20 7,345 notes
December 27, 2022 Buffalo 23 Georgia Southern 21 15,322 notes
December 23, 2023 Northern Illinois 21 Arkansas State 19 11,310 notes

Source:[9][10]

MVPs[edit]

The bowl's MVP receives the Bart Starr Most Valuable Player Award; Starr was born and raised in Montgomery, where the Camellia Bowl is played.[11]

Year MVP Team Position
2014 James Knapke Bowling Green QB
2015 Marcus Cox Appalachian State RB
2016 Taylor Lamb Appalachian State QB
2017 Darius Harris Middle Tennessee OLB
2018 Shai Werts Georgia Southern QB
2019 Omar Bayless Arkansas State WR
2020 Kevin Marks Buffalo RB
2021 Darren Grainger Georgia State QB
2022 Justin Marshall Buffalo WR
2023 Rocky Lombardi Northern Illinois QB

Source:[12][13][14]

Most appearances[edit]

Updated through the December 2023 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances
Rank Team Appearances Record
1 Arkansas State 3 1–2
2 Appalachian State 2 2–0
Buffalo 2 2–0
Georgia Southern 2 1–1
Teams with a single appearance

Won (4): Bowling Green, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee, Northern Illinois
Lost (7): Ball State, Eastern Michigan, FIU, Marshall, Ohio, South Alabama, Toledo

Appearances by conference[edit]

Updated through the December 2023 edition (10 games, 20 total appearances).

Conference Record Appearances by season
Games W L Win pct. Won Lost
Sun Belt 9 5 4 .556 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 2014, 2017, 2022, 2023
MAC 8 4 4 .500 2014, 2020, 2022, 2023 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021
C-USA 3 1 2 .333 2017 2019, 2020

Game records[edit]

Team Record, Team vs. Opponent Year
Most points scored (one team) 51, Georgia State vs. Ball State 2021
Most points scored (losing team) 30, Arkansas State vs. Middle Tennessee 2017
Most points scored (both teams) 71, Georgia State vs. Ball State 2021
Fewest points allowed 10, Marshall vs. Buffalo 2020
Largest margin of victory 31, Georgia State vs. Ball State 2021
Total yards 525, Arkansas State vs. FIU 2019
Rushing yards 331, Georgia Southern vs. Eastern Michigan 2018
Passing yards 393, Arkansas State vs. FIU 2019
First downs 31, Arkansas State vs. FIU 2019
Fewest yards allowed 248, Marshall vs. Buffalo 2020
Fewest rushing yards allowed 74, Ball State vs. Georgia State 2021
Fewest passing yards allowed 33, Eastern Michigan vs. Georgia Southern 2018
Individual Record, Player, Team Year
All-purpose yards 180, Omar Bayless (Arkansas State) 2019
Touchdowns (all-purpose) 2, multiple players—most recently:
Corey Rucker (Arkansas State)

2023
Rushing yards 162, Marcus Cox (Appalachian State) 2015
Rushing touchdowns 2, multiple players—most recently:
Shai Werts (Georgia Southern)

2018
Passing yards 393, Layne Hatcher (Arkansas State) 2019
Passing touchdowns 4, Layne Hatcher (Arkansas State) 2019
Receiving yards 180, Omar Bayless (Arkansas State) 2019
Receiving touchdowns 2, multiple players—most recently:
Corey Rucker (Georgia State)

2023
Tackles 18, Maleki Harris (South Alabama) 2014
Sacks 2, shared by:
Bryan Thomas (Bowling Green)
Eric Black (Buffalo)
Jamil Muhammad (Georgia State)

2014
2020
2021
Interceptions 2, BJ Edmonds (Arkansas State) 2017
Long Plays Record, Player, Team Year
Touchdown run 45 yds., Terelle West (Middle Tennessee) 2017
Touchdown pass 79 yds., Joshua Thompson from Kyle Vantrease (Georgia Southern) 2022
Kickoff return 94 yds., Darrynton Evans (Appalachian State) 2016
Punt return 25 yds., Corey Jones (Toledo) 2016
Interception return 55 yds., Antavious Lane (Georgia State) 2021
Fumble return 54 yds., D. J. Sanders (Middle Tennessee) 2017
Punt 61 yds., shared by:
Cody Grace (Arkansas State)
Robert LeFevre (Marshall)
Anthony Venneri (Buffalo)

2017
2020
2022
Field goal 52 yds., José Borregales (FIU) 2019

† For all-purpose yardage, the bowl's record book lists Murray's 179 yards (76 receiving, 103 kickoff return) despite Bayless having 180 yards (all receiving).

Source:[15][16]

Media coverage[edit]

Television[edit]

Date Network Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Sideline reporters
2014 ESPN Dave LaMont Joey Galloway Paul Carcaterra
2015 Dave Neal Anthony Becht
2016 Eamon McAnaney John Congemi Lauren Sisler
2017 Taylor Zarzour Andre Ware Olivia Dekker
2018 Mike Corey Rene Ingoglia Lauren Sisler
2019 Taylor Zarzour Matt Stinchcomb Alyssa Lang
2020 Bill Roth Dustin Fox Lauren Sisler
2021 Roy Philpott Hutson Mason Abby Labar
2022 Drew Carter Aaron Murray Lauren Sisler
2023 Courtney Lyle Hutson Mason Ashley Stroehlein

Radio[edit]

Date Network Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Sideline reporters
2014 ESPN Radio Jason Benetti Gene Chizik Niki Noto
2015 Marc Kestecher Cole Cubelic Dawn Davenport
2016 John Brickley Mike Golic Jr.
2017 Brad Edwards
2018 Jay Alter Ben Hartsock
2019 Kevin Winter Brad Edwards
2022 Bowl Season Radio JD Byars Chad Pilcher
2023 ESPN Radio Mike Couzens Aaron Murray

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Poe, Janita (August 19, 2013). "Montgomery unveils Alabama's 3rd college bowl, inaugural game set for December 2014". AL.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  3. ^ a b McMurphy, Brett (August 19, 2013). "Bowl created for MAC, Sun Belt". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  4. ^ "2014 Event Sponsors". ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  5. ^ Hufford, Austen (2018-06-25). "Gray TV to Buy Raycom in $3.65 Billion Deal". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  6. ^ Hayes, Dade (2018-06-25). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  7. ^ "Gray Completes Acquisitions for Raycom Media and Related Transactions", Gray Television, 2 January 2019, Retrieved 2 January 2019
  8. ^ "TaxAct® Named Title Sponsor of Texas and Camellia Bowl Games as Part of a Multi-Event College Football Agreement with ESPN Events". bowlseason.com. November 24, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  9. ^ "Camellia Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
  10. ^ "Camellia Bowl Results". camelliabowl.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  11. ^ "Camellia Bowl MVP Trophy Named For Montgomery Native Bart Starr". camelliabowl.com. Camellia Bowl Media Relations. December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "Bart Star MVP Award". camelliabowl.com. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  13. ^ @UBFootball (December 27, 2022). "Camellia Bowl MVP @JusMarshall!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ @NIUAthletics (December 23, 2023). "RECAP: Offense, defense and special teams combine as NIU earns Camellia Bowl win, 21-19, over Arkansas State. Rocky Lombardi named Bart Starr MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "Camellia Bowl Records" (PDF). camelliabowl.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  16. ^ Allen, Barry (December 22, 2019). "Arkansas State Passes Camellia Bowl Test". camelliabowl.com. Camellia Bowl Media Relations. Retrieved December 24, 2019.

External links[edit]