The Salute to Veterans Bowl (formerly the Camellia Bowl)[a] 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 bowl has tie-ins with the Sun Belt Conference and the Mid-American Conference (MAC).[2][3] The game was announced in August 2013 and was first played in December 2014. It is owned and managed by ESPN Events.
| Salute to Veterans Bowl | |
|---|---|
| IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl | |
 | |
| Stadium | Cramton Bowl (25,000) |
| Location | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Operated | 2014–present |
| Conference tie-ins | MAC, Sun Belt, C-USA (alternate) |
| Payout | US$300,000 (2019)[1] |
| Sponsors | |
| |
| Former names | |
| |
| 2023 matchup | |
| Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois (Northern Illinois 21–19) | |
| 2024 matchup | |
| (December 14, 2024) | |
Sponsorship
editThe 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]
On October 15, 2024, Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc. (IS4S)—a Huntsville, Alabama-based government and military contractor—was announced as the new sponsor of the game, renaming it the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl.[9]
Game results
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| Date | Game name | Winning team | Losing team | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 20, 2014 | Camellia Bowl | Bowling Green | 33 | South Alabama | 28 | 20,256 |
| December 19, 2015 | Camellia Bowl | Appalachian State | 31 | Ohio | 29 | 21,395 |
| December 17, 2016 | Camellia Bowl | Appalachian State | 31 | Toledo | 28 | 20,300 |
| December 16, 2017 | Camellia Bowl | Middle Tennessee | 35 | Arkansas State | 30 | 20,612 |
| December 15, 2018 | Camellia Bowl | Georgia Southern | 23 | Eastern Michigan | 21 | 17,710 |
| December 21, 2019 | Camellia Bowl | Arkansas State | 34 | FIU | 26 | 16,209 |
| December 25, 2020 | Camellia Bowl | Buffalo | 17 | Marshall | 10 | 2,512 |
| December 25, 2021 | Camellia Bowl | Georgia State | 51 | Ball State | 20 | 7,345 |
| December 27, 2022 | Camellia Bowl | Buffalo | 23 | Georgia Southern | 21 | 15,322 |
| December 23, 2023 | Camellia Bowl | Northern Illinois | 21 | Arkansas State | 19 | 11,310 |
| December 14, 2024 | Salute to Veterans Bowl | TBD | ||||
MVPs
editThe bowl's MVP receives the Bart Starr Most Valuable Player Award; Starr was born and raised in Montgomery, where the game is played.[12]
| 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 |
Most appearances
editUpdated 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
editUpdated 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).
Media coverage
editThe bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception.
Notes
edit- ^ For earlier games also known as the Camellia Bowl, see Camellia Bowl (disambiguation).
References
edit- ^ "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b McMurphy, Brett (August 19, 2013). "Bowl created for MAC, Sun Belt". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- ^ "2014 Event Sponsors". ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (2018-06-25). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
- ^ "Gray Completes Acquisitions for Raycom Media and Related Transactions", Gray Television, 2 January 2019, Retrieved 2 January 2019
- ^ "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.
- ^ Stephenson, Creg (2024-10-15). "Montgomery's bowl game gets new name, title sponsor". al. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ "Camellia Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
- ^ "Camellia Bowl Results". camelliabowl.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
- ^ "Camellia Bowl MVP Trophy Named For Montgomery Native Bart Starr". camelliabowl.com. Camellia Bowl Media Relations. December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- ^ "Bart Star MVP Award". camelliabowl.com. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ @UBFootball (December 27, 2022). "Camellia Bowl MVP @JusMarshall!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ @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.
- ^ "Camellia Bowl Records" (PDF). camelliabowl.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
- ^ Allen, Barry (December 22, 2019). "Arkansas State Passes Camellia Bowl Test". camelliabowl.com. Camellia Bowl Media Relations. Retrieved December 24, 2019.