After missing out on bowl games last season, Buffalo and Georgia Southern are back in the postseason and preparing to square off in the Camellia Bowl on Tuesday. Both teams won close games in the final week of the regular season to reach bowl eligibility and will be looking to build on recent track records of success in bowl action.
Buffalo won bowl games in 2019 and 2020 — its first two bowl victories in program history — under now-Kansas coach Lance Leipold and can make it three bowl victories in four years as second-year coach Maurice Linguist looks for his first bowl win.
Georgia Southern made a splash this season under first-year coach Clay Helton. The former USC coach guided the Eagles to wins at Nebraska and over James Madison when the Dukes were ranked in the AP Top 25. Though an 0-3 start to November derailed some of the program’s momentum, it was still a good bounce-back campaign for the Eagles after a 3-9 season in 2021. Before last season, Georgia Southern had been to three straight bowls with victories in 2018 and 2020.
Though this is just the ninth edition of the Camellia Bowl, the game has developed a reputation for high drama. The first seven games in the bowl’s history were decided by a touchdown or less until Georgia State trounced Ball State 51-20 in last year’s edition.
How to watch the Camellia Bowl live
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 27 | Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Cramton Bowl — Montgomery, Alabama
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
Buffalo vs. Georgia Southern: Need to know
Vantrease’s reunion: Only Western Kentucky and Mississippi State have attempted more passes this season than Georgia Southern, which aired it out 564 times during the regular season. The Eagles rank No. 4 nationally in passing offense at 327 yards per game and are No. 19 in total offense at 467.8 years per game. The engine of the passing attack is quarterback Kyle Vantrease, a sixth-year senior who spent his first five years at Buffalo, appearing in 35 games and throwing for 25 touchdowns. In Georgia Southern’s pass-happy attack this year, he’s thrown for 25 more.
Tackling machine: Buffalo counters Georgia Southern’s high-powered offense with a defense that features one of the nation’s top tacklers. Linebacker Shaun Dolac leads the nation with solo tackles at 90 and has been credited with 134 total stops on the season. The former walk-on also has 12.5 tackles for loss, 4.5…
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