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Herd to face Buffalo in Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day

By David Walsh

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall won’t have much down time between its Conference USA championship football game defeat and bowl game against an opponent it knows firsthand.

The Thundering Herd will meet Mid-American Conference member Buffalo in the seventh annual Camellia Bowl scheduled Friday in Montgomery, Ala.

Marshall, the C-USA East Division champ, lost to West winner UAB, 22-13, last Friday at Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Kickoff will be at the historic Cramton Bowl at 2:30 p.m. ESPN will air the game live.

“The Camellia Bowl has a knack for down-to-the-wire finishes and we expect another great game from Buffalo and Marshall,” Johnny Williams, executive director of the Camellia Bowl, said in a bowl release. “I’d like to express my gratitude to ESPN Events, Montgomery County and the City of Montgomery for making this bowl season possible. We will host two bowl games in three days at the Cramton Bowl, and excited to be a part of this historic occasion.”

Buffalo lost to Ball State in the MAC Championship game last Friday.
Prior to the Camellia Bowl, the Montgomery Bowl will be played on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Memphis will meet C-USA member Florida Atlantic.

Marshall (7-2) and Buffalo (5-1) were Mid-American Conference rivals from 1999-2004. The teams have combined to win 10 MAC Eastern division titles. Marshall won six straight division titles in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Buffalo won four East division crowns in 2007, 2008, 2018 and 2020.

The teams have met eight times previously with six of those games coming in MAC play. Marshall has won all eight meetings. The teams have not played since a 48-14 win by the Thundering Herd on October 23, 2004. Marshall defeated Buffalo 10-8 in the first meeting between the two schools on October 12, 1963.

Both teams excelled on offense and defense this season. Marshall led the nation in scoring defense (12.6), was second in rushing defense (88.9 yards/game) and finished third in total defense (277.7). The Thundering Herd ranked second in the league in scoring offense (30.6) and third in total offense (407.2). 

Buffalo leads the country in rushing offense (309.5), ranks third in scoring offense (47.8) and ninth in total offense (509.0). In addition, the Bulls rank second in the MAC in scoring defense (23.8) and total defense (379.2).
Marshall is playing in its seventh bowl game in the last eight seasons. The Thundering Herd is 12-3 (.800) all-time in 15 bowl games. It’s the highest winning percentage nationally among teams with at least six bowl games.

Marshall is making its eighth bowl appearance under head coach Doc Holiday, who has compiled an 85-53 (.616) record in 10 seasons. Marshall had its 7-game bowl winning streak come to an end in 2019 with a 48-25 loss to UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl.

The first bowl game in school history took place in the 1997 Motor City Bowl. Marshall fell to Ole Miss 34-31. Marshall was also involved in the highest-scoring bowl game in NCAA history. The Thundering Herd, led by Byron Leftwich, rallied from a 30-point halftime deficit to defeat East Carolina, 64-61 in double overtime in the 2001 GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Buffalo captured the Eastern Division championship, its fourth in school history. The Bulls also won the East in 2007, 2008, 2018 and 2020.

The chief offensive threat for Buffalo is junior running back Jaret Patterson, who tied the NCAA record this season with eight rushing touchdowns in the 70-21 win over Kent State on Nov. 28. Patterson finished with 38 carries for 408 yards and eight touchdowns. The 408 yards are the most by an FBS player since Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine ran for an NCAA record 427 yards in the win over Kansas State in 2014. Patterson had 301 yards and four TDs the week prior against Bowling Green. For the season, Patterson has 141 carries for 1,072 yards and 19 touchdowns in six games.
Buffalo is playing in its fifth bowl game in school history, its third straight under coach Lance Leipold, who is 36-33 (.522) in six seasons.

Overall, he has compiled a

From 1939-2003, the Blue-Gray Football Classic was played at the Cramton Bowl. The inaugural game was played on January 1, 1939. The Classic was first played on Christmas Day in 1954 and became an annual Christmas Day tradition beginning in 1979.
The Camellia Bowl’s first six games decided by 25 total points. All six games were decided in the fourth quarter, with three games decided on the final play.

Marshall’s offense is led by quarterback Grant Wells and tailback Brenden Knox. In Friday’s title game, Wells had no completions in two-plus quarters and just four for the game. Knox has 887 yards and nine scores. On defense, the leader is linebacker Tavante Becktt, who leads C-USA in tackles per game (10.0) and tops the nation in fumbles recovered (4). 

 

CAMELLIA BOWL ALL-TIME RESULTS:
Bowling Green 33, South Alabama 28 (2014)
Appalachian State 31, Ohio 29 (2015)
Appalachian State 31, Toledo 28 (2016)
Middle Tennessee 35, Arkansas State 30 (2017)
Georgia Southern 23, Eastern Michigan 21 (2018)
Arkansas State 34, FIU 26 (2019    





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