Georgia Southern QB Kyle Vantrease to face his former team in college football bowl game
For the fifth time in eight years of eligibility, Georgia Southern is headed to an FBS bowl game, as announced Sunday afternoon. Georgia Southern will meet Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference in the Camellia Bowl at noon ET on Tuesday, Dec. 27 in Montgomery, Alabama (ESPN).
“We are extremely excited to be a part of this year’s bowl season,” GS first-year head coach Clay Helton said in a press release. “We would like to thank the Camellia Bowl and the great city of Montgomery for this wonderful invitation. Congratulations to the Buffalo football team on a terrific season. This is sure to be an exciting matchup and we look forward to getting started with preparation.”
It's the second trip to the Historic Cramton Bowl in Montgomery for the Eagles, who defeated Eastern Michigan 23-21 in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on Dec. 15, 2018.
The Camellia Bowl marks the first football meeting between GS and Buffalo. Both teams are 6-6 after qualifying for bowls in their final outing.
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There's a built-in storyline: Eagles starting quarterback Kyle Vantrease was a three-year starter for the Bulls before transferring in January to Statesboro. Vantrease, a sixth-year player, has broken many of the GS program's passing records in his lone season with the Eagles.
More local connections:
Brandon Bailey, in his first season as Buffalo's defensive coordinator and safeties coach, graduated cum laude from Georgia Southern in May 2016, where he received his bachelor's degree in health and physical education. In 2017, he served as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Richmond Hill High School in Bryan County.
Buffalo's senior defensive quality control coach Nate Baker previously worked at Savannah State, where he was the co-offensive coordinator/tackles and tight ends coach from 2019-21.
Baker began his coaching career at Georgia Southern in 2008 as an undergraduate analyst for running backs, quarterbacks, offensive linemen and cornerbacks. From 2013-15, Baker was the offensive graduate assistant at Georgia Southern.
Buffalo linebackers coach Kevin Corless spent two seasons at Georgia Southern. In 2012, he guided the linebackers and then served as co-defensive coordinator with Jack Curtin in 2013. The 2012 squad advanced to the FCS national semifinals and the 2013 team beat Florida but was not eligible for postseason play as the Eagles made the jump to FBS.
The bowl game triggered bonuses for the Georgia Southern coaching staff. Helton will receive $25,000 in addition to his $700,000 base salary for his first year (November 2021 to Dec. 31, 2022).
Offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis and defensive coordinator Will Harris, for example, are each earning $235,000 in base salary in their first seasons coaching in Statesboro. They each receive $5,000 for the team going to a bowl game, and would earn another $5,000 if the Eagles defeat the Bulls.
“I would like to thank the Camellia Bowl for the invitation to play in the postseason,” said Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko. “We are excited to extend our season by playing Buffalo in Montgomery as our seniors have earned a chance to line up and wear the blue and white one last time. Our 2018 win in the Camellia Bowl was one to remember, and I know our fans look forward to traveling to Montgomery and supporting our team.”
Georgia Southern has previous bowl victories in the GoDaddy Bowl (2015), Camellia Bowl (2018) and New Orleans Bowl (2020) and appeared in the 2019 Cure Bowl.
The Sun Belt Conference, following its expansion this summer to a 14-team football league, set an league record with GS and six other teams participating in bowls — tied for the most among non-autonomy conferences and trailing only the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12.
For more information on the bowl, visit the Camellia Bowl website: www.https://www.camelliabowl.com/.
Georgia Southern's FBS bowl history
Dec. 23, 2015 — beat Bowling Green 58-27 in GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Final record: 9-4.
Dec. 15, 2018 — beat Eastern Michigan 23-21 in Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. Final record: 10-3.
Dec. 21, 2019 — lost to Liberty 23-16 in FBC Mortgage Cure Bow in Orlando, Florida. Final record: 7-6.
Dec. 23, 2020 — beat Louisiana Tech 38-3 in R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Final record: 8-5.
Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern football to play Camellia Bowl vs Buffalo
