Camellia Bowl (2014–present)

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This article is about the current bowl game first played in December 2014. For the 1948 bowl game played in Lafayette, Louisiana, see Camellia Bowl (1948). For the college football playoff game, see Camellia Bowl (1961–80).
Camellia Bowl
TaxAct Camellia Bowl
Camelia Bowl TaxAct logo.png
StadiumCramton Bowl (25,000)
LocationMontgomery, Alabama
Operated2014–present
Conference tie-insMAC, Sun Belt
PayoutUS$300,000 (2019)[1]
Sponsors
Former names
  • Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (2014–2018)
  • Camellia Bowl (2019–2020)
2020 matchup
Buffalo vs. Marshall (Buffalo 17–10)
2021 matchup
Ball State vs. Georgia State
(Georgia State 51–20)

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.

Beginning with the 2021 edition, the bowl is sponsored by TaxAct, a tax preparation software company, and is officially known as the TaxAct Camellia Bowl.

Sponsorship[]

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[]

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 [a] notes

Source:[9]

MVPs[]

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.[10]

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

Source:[11][12]

Most appearances[]

Updated through the December 2021 edition (8 games, 16 total appearances).

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

Won (5): Bowling Green, Buffalo, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee
Lost (7): Ball State, Eastern Michigan, FIU, Marshall, Ohio, South Alabama, Toledo

Appearances by conference[]

Updated through the December 2021 edition (8 games, 16 total appearances).

Conference Record Appearances by season
Games W L Win pct. Won Lost
Sun Belt 7 5 2 .714 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 2014, 2017
MAC 6 2 4 .333 2014, 2020 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021
C-USA 3 1 2 .333 2017 2019, 2020

Game records[]

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:
Aubry Payne (Georgia State)
2021
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:
Aubry Payne (Georgia State)
2021
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 78 yds., James Knapke from Roger Lewis (Bowling Green) 2014
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)
2017
2020
Field goal 52 yds., Jose Borregales (FIU) 2019

Source:[13]

Media coverage[]

Television[]

Date Network Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Sideline reporters
2014 ESPN Dave LaMont Joey Galloway
2015 Dave Neal Anthony Becht
2016 John Congemi Lauren Sisler
2017 Andre Ware Olivia Dekker
2018 Mike Corey Rene Ingoglia Lauren Sisler
2019 Matt Stinchcomb
2020 Bill Roth Dustin Fox Lauren Sisler
2021 Hutson Mason

Radio[]

Date Network Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Sideline reporters
2014 ESPN Radio Jason Benetti Gene Chizik
2015 Marc Kestecher Cole Cubelic
2016 Mike Golic Jr.
2017 Brad Edwards
2018 Ben Hartsock
2019 Brad Edwards

Notes[]

  1. ^ Attendance for the December 2021 edition of the bowl was not reported.

References[]

  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 6, 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 MVP Trophy Named For Montgomery Native Bart Starr". camelliabowl.com. Camellia Bowl Media Relations. December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "Bayless Overcomes Adversity to win Bart Starr MVP Trophy". camelliabowl.com. December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  12. ^ @HustleBelt (December 25, 2020). "Kevin Marks wins Camellia Bowl MVP with 138 rushing yards and the game-winning TD" (Tweet). Retrieved December 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Allen, Barry (December 22, 2019). "Arkansas State Passes Camellia Bowl Test". camelliabowl.com. Camellia Bowl Media Relations. Retrieved December 24, 2019.

External links[]

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