The 2023 Camellia Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 23, 2023, at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The 10th annual Camellia Bowl featured the Arkansas State Red Wolves from the Sun Belt Conference and the Northern Illinois Huskies from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The game began at approximately 11:00 a.m. CST and was aired on ESPN.[4][5] The Camellia Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season.
| 2023 Camellia Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 10th Camellia Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 23, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cramton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Montgomery, Alabama | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Rocky Lombardi (QB, Northern Illinois)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Arkansas State by 1.5[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Kevin Randall (AAC)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 11,310 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Courtney Lyle (play-by-play), Hutson Mason (analyst), and Ashley Stroehlein (sideline) (ESPN) Mike Couzens (play-by-play) and Aaron Murray (analyst) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN Deportes and ESPN Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | ESPN Brazil: Conrado Giulietti (play-by-play) and Weinny Eirado (analyst) | ||||||||||||||||||
Teams
editConsistent with conference tie-ins, the bowl featured teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Sun Belt Conference.
This was the ninth meeting between Arkansas State and Northern Illinois; entering the game, the Huskies led the all-time series 7–1, with the Red Wolves' lone victory coming in 1995. This was the second time that Arkansas State and Northern Illinois played each other in a bowl game, following the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl which saw the Huskies defeat the Red Wolves by a score of 38–20.[6]
Arkansas State Red Wolves
editArkansas State entered the game with a 6–6 record (4–4 in the Sun Belt), tied for second in the Sun Belt's West Division.
The Red Wolves started their season with losses to Oklahoma and Memphis, losing by an aggregate score of 110–3.[7] They won their next three gams, and went on to become bowl eligible with a 77–31 rout against Texas State in their final home game of the season. This was the 11th bowl appearance in Arkansas State program history, and their third Camellia Bowl—they previously lost the 2017 edition and won the 2019 edition.
Northern Illinois Huskies
editThe Huskies entered the game with a 6–6 record (5–3 in the MAC), finishing second in their conference's West Division. After losing four of their first five games, the team recovered to win five of their final seven games.
This was Northern Illinois' first appearance in the Camellia Bowl.
Game summary
edit| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas State | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 |
| Northern Illinois | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
at Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, Alabama
- Date: Saturday, December 23, 2023
- Game time: 11:00 a.m. CST
- Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 61 °F (16 °C) • Wind: 3 mph (4.8 km/h) SW
- Game attendance: 11,310
- Referee: Kevin Randall
- TV announcers (ESPN): Courtney Lyle (play-by-play), Hutson Mason (analyst), and Ashley Stroehlein (sideline)
- Box score
| Game information |
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No scoring
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Statistics
edit| Statistics | ASU | NIU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 18 | 26 |
| Plays–yards | 57–351 | 72–421 |
| Rushes–yards | 27–101 | 42–189 |
| Passing yards | 250 | 232 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 16–30–1 | 19–30–2 |
| Time of possession | 19:39 | 40:21 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas State | Passing | Jaylen Raynor | 16/30, 250 yards, 2 TD, INT |
| Rushing | Jaylen Raynor | 13 carries, 49 yards | |
| Receiving | Corey Rucker | 5 receptions, 107 yards, 2 TD | |
| Northern Illinois | Passing | Rocky Lombardi | 18/29, 200 yards, TD, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Antario Brown | 25 carries, 132 yards | |
| Receiving | Grayson Barnes | 5 receptions, 105 yards, TD |
References
edit- ^ @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.
- ^ Parks, James (December 11, 2023). "College football bowl schedule, game odds, point spreads for 2023-24". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Austro, Ben (December 3, 2023). "2023-24 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- ^ Straka, Dean. "2023-24 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Lewis, Barry. "2023-24 College Football Bowl Schedule, Dates, Times Announced". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ "Winsipedia – Arkansas State Red Wolves vs. Northern Illinois Huskies". Winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Arkansas State Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
External links
edit- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com