CAMELLIA BOWL NOTES: Auburn loss bit Panthers twice; A Christmas return for local fans
COMPILED by BARRY ALLEN and GRAHAM DUNN
Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott was asked about the Panthers’ early-season loss to the Auburn Tigers during a recent press conference.
His answer may have been somewhat of a surprise, considering how close his team came to pulling the upset.
“We played our hearts out against Auburn on that Saturday (Sept. 25),” he said. “When you play a team like Auburn in the SEC, you want to defeat that football team. We did everything in our power to defeat them and we didn’t do it.
“By us not doing that, it took away from us the following week when we opened up conference play against Appalachian State.”
The Panthers entered Jordan-Hare Stadium as a 27.5-point favorite but held a 12-point lead at halftime and was still holding the advantage late in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers finally pulled ahead in the final minute of the game and added a late “pick 6” to pad the score for a 34-24 win.
The game may have come down to a controversial call when Auburn’s John Shenker’s diving catch was ruled complete, although replay appeared to show the ball being trapped on the ground. The replay official ruled the play would stand. Auburn scored four plays later to take the lead for good.
Elliott did not comment on the ruling but did provide the outcome’s affect for his team the next week in the conference opener.
“There was a little call in that Auburn game that didn’t go our way and sometimes you have to move on as quickly as possible and we didn’t move on as quickly as we should have,” he said. “It probably got us in that Appalachian State game.”
Georgia State would lose just once more during the season to eventual Sun Belt champion Louisiana Lafayette;
Ball State coach having déjà vu this week
Mike Neu took over as head coach at Ball State in 2016 after spending two years as the quarterback coach for the New Orleans Saints.
He opened his head-coaching career with the Cardinals against Georgia State in the Georgia State. The Cardinals handed him a win to start his tenure.
Ironically, he also finished his time with the Saints in the Georgia Dome against the Atlanta Falcons.
“I couldn’t believe my first game was against Georgia State and here we are again,” Neu said.
Even though Saturday will is just the third meeting between the two schools (his second), Neu has watched the Panthers and their coach from a distance.
“I have a ton of respect for how Georgia State plays the game,” Neu said. “Physicality. Toughness. Effort. As a head coach, I would want someone to meet me at midfield before the game and after the ball game is over to tell me I love the way your guys play.
“Coach Elliott has done an unbelievable job. Nobody has any idea on how hard of a job it is to get to three consecutive bowl games and four out of the last five. That’s a great conference, Sun Belt…. Lot of respect for the way they play the game. But we are here to win. We will have a great experience here. “
Camellia Bowl foes have common opponent
Ball State and Georgia State have one common opponent this season – Army.
The Cardinals defeated the Black Knights 29-16 in Muncie on Oct. 2. Georgia State lost to Army 43-10 in the season opener in Atlanta on Sept. 4.
Ball State held Army to 279 total yards, including 213 rushing yards, and forced two turnovers in the win. Justin Hall set the tone when he returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for the first touchdown of the season. BSU quarterback Drew Pitt threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Army scored touchdowns on its first three possessions it the win over Georgia State. The Black Knights ran for 258 yards and four touchdowns. GSU managed only 177 total yards and had two turnovers in the loss.
Elliott does not believe that game will have any bearing on the TaxAct Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day.
“That game was long ago,” Elliott said. “We are much different team than we were the first game of the season. We don’t take a lot away from it.”
GSU defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach Nate Fuqua and Army defensive coordinator Nate Woody were on the same staff at Wofford from 2005-12. Fuqua was the outside linebackers and later replaced Woody as defensive coordinator.
“Of course, our defenses are similar,” Elliott added. “Army’s defensive coordinator and our defensive coordinator worked together. I’m sure they got a little more out of it than we did.”
Lights, Camera, MAC-tion
The Mid-American Conference set a record with eight programs that accepted bowl invitations for the 2021 bowl season. The eight bowl invitations tops the Conference mark of seven set in 2012 and 2015.
Toledo (Bahamas Bowl), Northern Illinois (Tailgreeter Cure Bowl), Eastern Michigan (Lending Tree Bowl), Kent State (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl), Miami-Ohio (Frisco Football Classic) have completed their games.
Ball State (Camellia Bowl), Western Michigan (Quick Lane Bowl), and Central Michigan (Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl) will represent the MAC in the next week.
Before Miami’s win over North Texas earlier in the week, the MAC had started the post season 0-4.
“I’ve always felt strongly that to the MAC doesn’t get all the credit that it deserves,” Neu said. “I feel as a program, we are battle tested. We face a great opponent every single week. It’s proven from top to bottom in our conference that anybody can beat anybody on a given weekend or weeknight, whenever that game is. It was helpful to us to prepare for a game like this. We are playing an excellent opponent in Georgia State, but we feel like we’ve been battle tested all year against some great opponents. This is the next opportunity.”
This marks the sixth time in MAC history that six or more programs have received a bowl invitation (2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021) in a single season. This also marks the 13th time in MAC history to have five or more programs receive a bowl invitation (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021) in a single-season.
Christmas Day at Cramton Bowl
This is the second consecutive year the Camellia Bowl will be held on Christmas following Buffalo’s win over Marshall last season.
Prior to 2020, the last time a game was played at Cramton Bowl on Christmas was 2000 when the Gray All-Stars defeated the Blue, 40-37 in front of an announced crowd of 17,500.
The game would be played one more time in Montgomery but was held on Dec. 23 the following year before moving to Troy for the final time in 2003.
The Blue-Gray Classic became a permanent fixture on Christmas in 1979 and was nationally televised each year. With a traditional kickoff at 11:30 a.m. local time, it became a ratings success for the networks and a well-attended game, averaging 18,000 each year.
Last year’s Camellia Bowl was the first college game played on Christmas Day since 2003. Prior to last year’s game, the Hawaii Bowl was held on the holiday in 2002 and 2003.
Ball State has Blue-Gray connections
Ball State has a connection to the Blue-Gray All-Star Game played many years ago on Christmas Day at Cramton Bowl.
Three formers Cardinals players played in the annual all-star game in the 1990s.
Place kicker Kenny Stucker (1991), defensive back Blaine Bishop (1992) and place kicker Brent Lockliear (1997) all represented the Cardinals in Montgomery.
Bishop was all-conference safety at Ball State and three-time All-Pro with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans. His son, Chayce, is a redshirt freshman cornerback on this year’s BSU football team.