2020 CAMELLIA BOWL POST-GAME NOTES

 

Photos: Buffalo Trophy Presentation, Buffalo Wins 2020 Camellia Bowl

Photo Credits: Marvin Gentry

 

THE GAME:

• Buffalo 17, Marshall 10 (Final)
• Final Records: Buffalo (6-1); Marshall (7-3)
• Weather: Sunny skies; 40 degrees; WIND: 12 mph (NW)
• The 40 degrees is the coldest kickoff temperature in Camellia Bowl history
• The 2017 Middle Tennessee-Arkansas State game was 46 degrees at kickoff
• Game Captains: Sheldon Evans (Marshall) and Taylor Riggins (Buffalo)
• Marshall won the toss; deferred to second half

CAMELLIA BOWL HISTORY:

• Buffalo defeated Marshall 17-10 in the seventh annual Camellia Bowl. All seven games have been decided by a total of 32 points and all seven games are one-score games. Buffalo running back Kevin Marks scored on a 2-yard run with 1:09 left in the game to give the Bulls the win. The 2020 Camellia Bowl marked the fourth time the winning score occurred in the final two minutes. Appalachian State (2015) and Georgia Southern (2018) won with walk-off field goals. Bowling Green (2014) and Buffalo (2020) had last-minute, game-winning touchdown drives.

CAMELLIA BOWL RESULTS:

Date                       Result                                                                    Attendance         TV

Dec. 20, 2014      Bowling Green 33, South Alabama 28          20,256                   ESPN

Dec. 19, 2015      Appalachian State 31, Ohio 29                        21,395                   ESPN

Dec. 17, 2016      Appalachian State 31, Toledo 28                    20,300                   ESPN

Dec. 16, 2017      Middle Tennessee 35, Arkansas St. 30         20,612                   ESPN

Dec. 15, 2018      Georgia Southern 23, E. Michigan 21           17,710                   ESPN

Dec. 21, 2019      Arkansas St. 34, FIU 26                                     16,209                   ESPN

Dec. 25, 2020      Buffalo 17, Marshall 17                                    2,512                     ESPN

KEVIN MARKS NAMED BART STARR MVP:

• Buffalo running back Kevin Marks was named the Bart Starr MVP following his team’s 17-10 win over Marshall. Marks had a Camellia Bowl record 35 rushing attempts for 138 yards and one touchdown. He broke the previous rushing attempts record set by Appalachian State’s Marcus Cox in 2015. Cox had 24 rushing attempts on the win over Ohio. Marks scored the game-winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:09 left in the game. He also had a 6-yard reception in the win. Marks was responsible for 36 of the Bulls 70 total plays (51.4 percent) and 144 of the Bulls 295 total yards (48.8 percent).

BART STARR MVP WINNERS:

Roger Lewis, Bowling Green (2014)

Marcus Cox, Appalachian State (2015)

Taylor Lamb, Appalachian State (2016)

Darrius Harris, Middle Tennessee (2017)

Shai Werts, Georgia Southern (2018)

Omar Bayless, Arkansas State (2019)

Kevin Marks, Buffalo (2020)

CHRISTMAS DAY BOWL GAMES:

• The 2020 Camellia Bowl marks 29^th college football bowl game played on Christmas Day. The Camellia Bowl is the first Christmas Day bowl game to be played east of the Mississippi River. The Christmas Day bowl game was the 1922 San Diego East-West Christmas Classic. West Virginia defeated Gonzaga, 21-13, in front of 15,000 fans at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. The 2020 Camellia Bowl is the first Christmas Day bowl game since the 2003 Aloha Bowl when Hawaii defeated Houston 54-48 in triple-overtime. The Cramton Bowl hosted the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic on Christmas Day at total of 25 times, including 1954, 1965 and 1979-2001.

CHRISTMAS DAY BOWL RESULTS

1922 San Diego                   West Virginia 21, Gonzaga 13 (San Diego East-West Christmas Classic)

1976 Fiesta Bowl                Oklahoma 41, Wyoming 7

1978 Fiesta Bowl                Arkansas 10, UCLA 10

1978 Peach Bowl                Purdue 41, Georgia Tech 21

1979 Fiesta Bowl                Pittsburgh 16, Arizona 10

1982 Sun Bowl                     North Carolina 26, Texas 10

1982 Aloha Bowl                 Washington 21, Maryland 20

1986 Sun Bowl                     Alabama 28, Washington 6

1987 Sun Bowl                     Oklahoma State 35, West Virginia 33

1987 Aloha Bowl                 UCLA 20, Florida 16

1988 Aloha Bowl                 Washington State 24, Houston 22

1989 Aloha Bowl                 Michigan State 33, Hawaii 13

1990 Aloha Bowl                 Syracuse 28, Arizona 0

1991 Aloha Bowl                 Georgia Tech 18, Stanford 17

1992 Aloha Bowl                 Kansas 23, BYU 20

1993 Aloha Bowl                 Colorado 41, Fresno State 30

1994 Aloha Bowl                 Boston College 12, Kansas State 7

1995 Aloha Bowl                 Kansas 51, UCLA 30

1996 Aloha Bowl                 Navy 42, Cal 38

1997 Aloha Bowl                 Washington State 51, Michigan State 23

1998 Aloha Bowl                 Colorado 51, Oregon 43

1998 Oahu Classic              Air Force 45, Washington 21

1999 Aloha Bowl                 Wake Forest 23, Arizona State

2000 Aloha Bowl                 Boston College 31, Arizona State 17

2001 Las Vegas Bowl        Utah 10, USC 6

2002 Las Vegas Bowl        UCLA 27, New Mexico 13

2002 Hawaii Bowl              Tulane 35, Hawaii 28

2003 Hawaii Bowl              Hawaii 54, Houston 48 (3OT)

2020 Camellia Bowl           Marshall vs. Buffalo

OPENING DRIVE:

• The 2020 Camellia Bowl marks the seventh straight year that a team failed to score on the opening drive of the game. Buffalo took the opening kickoff and marched 56-yards in 11 plays (5:00 TOP) before sophomore kicker Alex McNulty missed a 34-yard field goal.

FIRST PLAY FROM SCRIMMAGE:

• Buffalo running back Kevin Marks had a 22-yard run on the first play of the game. It was the longest opening play in Camellia Bowl history by 16 yards. The previous long was a 6-yard run by FIU running back Anthony Jones against Arkansas State in 2019.

SCORELESS FIRST QUARTER:

• Marshall and Buffalo played the first scoreless first quarter in Camellia Bowl history. Only three times previously had a team failed to score in the first quarter. The list includes: Ohio (2013), Eastern Michigan (2018) and FIU (2019).

FIELD GOAL A FIRST:

• Coming into the Camellia Bowl, Buffalo was the only FBS team to have gone through the NCAA season without a field goal. Alex McNulty, who was a perfect 40 of 40 on extra points, missed a first-quarter attempt from 34 yards. Later, faced with a longer attempt, the Bulls elected to keep the offense in on fourth down and five, failing to convert. With 5:33 remaining in the first half, McNulty gave the Bulls their first points in four attempts this season, booting a 25-yard field goal from the right hash mark for a 10-0 lead.

PENALTY FREE FIRST QURTER:

• Only two Camellia Bowl games ever made it through the first quarter without a penalty. In 2018, Eastern Michigan and Georgia Southern also played a penalty-free first quarter, but Eastern Michigan was penalized at the start of the second quarter for illegal procedure, making the 2020 game the longest without a flag.

LEFEVRE TIES CAMELLIA BOWL RECORD FOR LONGEST PUNT:

• Marshall punter Robert Lefevre tied the Camellia Bowl record with a 61-yard punt in the third quarter. He matched the record held Cody Grace (Arkansas State) in 2017. Lefevre punted five times for a 46.6 average for the Herd.

OPTING OUT:

• The Camellia Bowl lost a little offensive punch as three Marshall players opted out of the game and Buffalo’s heralded rusher, Jaret Patterson, stood on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury suffered the week before in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game. The Thundering Herd’s losses included a trio of starters — right tackle Josh Ball, tailback Brenden Knox and linebacker Tavante Beckett, the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year.