Salute to Veterans Bowl
| 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 | |
| South Alabama vs. Western Michigan (South Alabama 30–23) | |
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.
Sponsorship
[edit]The 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 | South Alabama | 30 | Western Michigan | 23 | 12,021 |
MVPs
[edit]The 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 |
| 2024 | Jeremiah Webb | South Alabama | WR |
Most appearances
[edit]Updated through the December 2024 edition (11 games, 22 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 | |
| South Alabama | 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, Toledo, Western Michigan
Appearances by conference
[edit]Updated through the December 2024 edition (11 games, 22 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Appearances by season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost | |
| Sun Belt | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024 | 2014, 2017, 2022, 2023 |
| MAC | 9 | 4 | 5 | .444 | 2014, 2020, 2022, 2023 | 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2024 |
| 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 | 537, South Alabama vs. Western Michigan | 2024 |
| 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 | 182, Jeremiah Webb (South Alabama) | 2024 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 2, multiple players—most recently: Jeremiah Webb (South Alabama) |
2024 |
| 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 | 182, Jeremiah Webb (South Alabama) | 2024 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 2, multiple players—most recently: Jeremiah Webb (South Alabama) |
2024 |
| 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 | 50 yds., Bishop Davenport (South Alabama) | 2024 |
| 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 Webb having 182 yards (all receiving).
Media coverage
[edit]The 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.
- ^ "Webb's Record-Setting Night Earns MVP Honors". salutetoveteransbowl.com. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
- ^ "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.