MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama will play Bowling Green in the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, with the matchup set Sunday. The game will kick off at 8:15 p.m. Central on Saturday, Dec. 20, at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.
The game will be the first bowl appearance in South Alabama football history. The Jaguars learned last week that they had been selected for the Camellia Bowl, and their opponent was finalized Sunday following the conclusion of the conference championship games.
Scouting the Falcons
Bowling Green enters the game with a 7-6 record. The Falcons won the Mid-American Conference East Division for the second straight season but lost the MAC Championship Game to Northern Illinois 51-17 on Friday. The loss was Bowling Green’s third straight.
The Camellia Bowl will be the Falcons’ third consecutive bowl appearance. Bowling Green has lost its previous four bowl games.
“Obviously we don’t know that much about them, we’ll be looking at film here real soon, but I know traditionally they’ve been a real good program and we have a lot of respect for Bowling Green,” South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said.
South Alabama’s Season
South Alabama is 6-6 in its second season as a full member of the Football Bowl Subdivision and has been bowl eligible in both of those seasons. The Jaguars tied for fourth place in the Sun Belt Conference.
South Alabama enters bowl preparations on a two-game losing streak after a road loss at South Carolina and a 42-40 home loss to Navy.
Practice Plan
Jones and his staff had scheduled a practice for Wednesday in anticipation of a bowl invitation. After learning Tuesday that the Jaguars had been selected, the team added three days of practice last week.
Without a confirmed opponent, those sessions centered on fundamentals and on giving repetitions to younger players. With Bowling Green now set, the staff can begin game-specific preparation.
Bowl Officials Welcome the Matchup
Camellia Bowl executive director Johnny Williams said organizers were pleased with the pairing.
“We’re excited,” Williams said. “We’ve got the No. 2 team in the MAC coming; they played in the championship game. They didn’t get the results they wanted, but they’re a high-quality team. They beat Indiana this year and Indiana beat Missouri.”
Williams noted that Bowling Green has “tradition” and “a great fan following,” and that the Falcons have played in a bowl game in Mobile in the past. He acknowledged that the selection process “got a little hairy” but said he expects “a very, very entertaining game.”
Williams said the arrival of South Alabama has generated interest in Montgomery, with hotel rooms beginning to fill and strong activity on social media.
“The alumni base of South Alabama lives north of them, you can’t go south, and so we’re real excited to have South Alabama in this game,” Williams said. “To have a team from Alabama in our inaugural game, you can’t ask for much better.”
Future Series Already Scheduled
South Alabama and Bowling Green have a home-and-home series scheduled for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
“Mission: Montgomery” Ticket Push
Since the bowl announcement Wednesday, South Alabama has made ticket sales its top priority under the slogan “Mission: Montgomery.”
Director of athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann emphasized in remarks Wednesday that strong ticket sales and attendance are important, noting that future bowl selection committees will consider the turnout for this game when evaluating the Jaguars.
“We need to make sure that we have a strong presence in the city of Montgomery and at Cramton Bowl that night,” Erdmann said.
Ticket sales exceeded the university’s expectations Thursday, the first day tickets were available to season ticket holders and Jaguar Athletic Fund donors. Monday is the final day of that exclusive sales window. Tickets go on sale to the general public Tuesday through the South Alabama athletics website.
Update: Ticket Sales Strong Ahead of Public Sale
South Alabama sold about 80 percent of its original Camellia Bowl ticket allotment in the first three days of sales, according to a report Monday by the USA Vanguard, the university’s student newspaper. Those sales were limited to season ticket holders and Jaguar Athletic Fund donors.
Tickets go on sale to the general public Tuesday. Fans are being encouraged to buy through the USA Ticket Office so that their purchases count toward South Alabama’s allotment, a figure bowl committees consider in future selections.
South Alabama students with a valid ID can receive free tickets, along with free bus transportation to and from the game. For other fans, the USA National Alumni Association is arranging round-trip bus service from Mobile and Baldwin counties to Montgomery for $30 per person.
