Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018
CAMELLIA BOWL GAME NOTES:
- Georgia Southern defeated Eastern Michigan 23-21 in the fifth annual Camellia Bowl
- The five Camellia Bowl games have been decided by 17 total points
- The Georgia Southern-Eastern Michigan game was the lowest scoring game in bowl history
- The two-point margin tied the closest margin in bowl history
- Appalachian State defeated Ohio 31-29 (last second FG) in 2015
- Georgia Southern redshirt junior place kicker Tyler Bass hit the game-winning 40-yard FG as time expired
- It was the second game-winning FG in Camellia Bowl history
- Appalachian State’s Zach Matics 23-yard FG in the final play gave ASU 31-29 win over Ohio in 2015
- Bass accounted for 11 of the Eagles 23 points in the win over Eastern Michigan
- He set the Camellia Bowl record with three made field goals
- Bass also set the Camellia Bowl record with a 50-yard FG in the final play of the first half
CAMELLIA BOWL MVP:
- Georgia Southern QB Shai Werts was named the Bart Starr Most Valuable Player
- Werts accounted for 112 total yards and two TDs in the win over Eastern Michigan
- He ran the ball 16 times for 79 yards and two touchdowns
- Werts had a 26-yard TD run in the second quarter that capped a 15-play, 95-yard scoring drive
- He added a 2-yard TD run later in the quarter as GS regained the lead, 14-7
- Werts added a 29-run on fourth-and-10 in the final minute that led to game-winning FG
- Werts completed 4-of-7 passes for 33 yards
- He completed a 13-yard pass to Malik Murray on third-and-12 to extend first scoring drive
CAMELLIA BOWL MILESTONES:
- Georgia Southern set the Camellia Bowl record with 58 rushing attempts
- Georgia Southern 301 rushing yards are second-most in bowl history
- Georgia Southern PK Tyler Bass set Camellia Bowl record for kickers with 11 points
- Georgia Southern RB Wesley Fields had 23 rushing attempts for 107 yards in the win over EMU
- Fields 23 rushing attempts are the second most in bowl history
- Georgia Southern QB Shai Werts had 16 rushing attempts for 79 yards and two TDs
- He tied the Camellia Bowl record with two rushing TDs (26 yard TD; 5 yard TD)
- Eastern Michigan QB Mike Glass completed 17-of-25 passes for 204 yards and three TDs
- He tied the Camellia Bowl record with three TD passes
- Glass completed a 75-yard TD pass to Arthur Jackson in the first play of the third quarter
- It was the second-longest TD pass in Camellia Bowl history
- Bowling Green (James Knapke to Roger Lewis) holds the record with a 78-yard TD pass in the inaugural game in 2014
- It was the third-longest scoring play in Camellia Bowl history
- Appalachian State (Darryton Evans) had a 94-yard kickoff return in 2016
EASTERN MICHIGAN NOTES:
- Eastern Michigan finished the season with 7-6 record
- EMU is now 1-2 all-time in bowl games
- The Eagles only bowl win was a 30-27 win over San Jose State in the 1987 California Bowl
- EMU receiver Arthur Jackson caught three passes for 86 yards and two TDs in the loss
- Jackson hauled in a 75-yard TD reception on the first play of the third quarter
- He pulled down the go-ahead 5-yard TD reception on fourth down late in the game
- Eastern Michigan finished with 301 total yards; third-lowest total of the season
- The Eagles had 235 vs. Army and 242 yards vs. Northern Illinois (EMU lost all three games)
- Eastern Michigan had a season-high 26 pass attempts in the loss to Georgia Southern
GEORGIA SOUTHERN NOTES:
- Georgia Southern closes out the season with a 10-3 record
- It’s the first 10-win season since the school moved to FBS in 2014
- Georgia Southern had an 8-game improvement from last season
- The Eagles posted a 2-10 record in 2016
- Georgia Southern did not thrown an interception in 117 attempts this season
- GS is believed to be the first team in FBS history to complete a season without an interception
- Temple (1977) and Alabama (1981) threw only interception to hold the previous record in a season
- Georgia Southern improved to 2-0 all-time in bowl games
- GS defeated Bowling Green 58-27 in the 2015 GoDaddy.com Bowl
- Georgia Southern had 58 rushing attempts for 301 yards (5.7 yards per carry)
- The 58 rushing attempts set a Camellia Bowl record
- GS recorded its sixth 300-yard rushing game of the season
CAMELLIA BOWL PREGAME NOTES:
- The official kickoff time was 4:40 p.m. (CT)
- The game time temperature was 55 degrees with rain (first rain in Camellia Bowl history)
- Eastern Michigan won the toss and deferred to the second half
CAMELLIA BOWL FIRST QUARTER NOTES:
- Georgia Southern outgained Eastern Michigan 102-30 in the first quarter
- The teams combined for 22 running plays in the first quarter
- Georgia Southern had 17 running plays and one pass in the first quarter
- Georgia Southern opened the game with 14 straight running plays
- The lone pass attempt was a 13-yard completion (Shai Werts to Malik Murray) on third-and-12
- Eastern Michigan had five running plays and two pass attempts
- The first touchdown drive by Georgia Southern was the longest in bowl history in terms of plays and time
- The Eagles used a 15-play, 95-yard drive that took 9:01 of the clock
- GS quarterback Shai Watts capped the drive with a 26-yard TD run on third-and-one
- The 95-yard drive was the second longest in bowl history; fourth TD drive of 90+ yards
- It was Georgia Southern’s longest drive (plays, yards and time) of the 2018 season
CAMELLIA BOWL SECOND QUARTER NOTES:
- Georgia Southern outgained EMU 128-60 in the second quarter
- GS outgained EMU 230-90 in the first half
- GS had the ball for over 20 minutes in the first half (20:29)
- Eastern Michigan Matthew Sexton blocked a punt on the opening possession of the second quarter
- It was the first blocked kick of any kind in Camellia Bowl history
- The blocked punt gave the EMU a first down at midfield and led to first TD of the game
- The offense responded with a 6-play, 50-yard drive to tie the game at 7-7
- EMU quarterback Mike Glass completed his first seven passes (53 yards; TD)
- His first incompletion came with 2:54 left in the first half
- Georgia Southern place kicker Tyler Bass made a 50-yard FG on the final play of the second quarter
- The 50-yard FG was the longest in Camellia Bowl history
CAMELLIA BOWL THIRD QUARTER NOTES:
- Eastern Michigan outgained Georgia Southern 128-39 in the third quarter
- Eastern Michigan scored on the first play of the second half
- Glass threw a 75-yard TD pass to Arthur Jackson as EMU cut the lead to 17-14
- The 75-yard TD pass was the second-longest TD pass in Camellia Bowl history
- Bowling Green (James Knapke to Roger Lewis) holds the record with a 78-yard TD pass in the inaugural game in 2014
- EMU’s 75-yard TD pass was the third-longest scoring play in Camellia Bowl history
- Appalachian State (Darryton Evans) had a 94-yard kickoff return in 2016
CAMELLIA BOWL FOURTH QUARTER NOTES:
- The lead changed hands twice in the final four minutes
- Eastern Michigan took its only lead of the game with 3:33 left on the clock
- Glass fired a 5-yard TD pass to Jackson to cap a 16-play, 75-yard drive
- The TD pass came on fourth-and-four from the GS 5-yard line and gave EMU a 21-20 lead
- Georgia Southern answered with a game-winning drive, capped by Bass’ 40-yard FG as time expired
- The Eagles drove 52 yards in nine plays for the winning score
- Werts converted a fourth-and-10 form the GS 41 yard line to set up game-winning FG
