Buffalo Bulls vs. Marshall Thundering Herd
Friday, Dec. 25 -- 2:30 p.m. ET
Cramton Bowl -- Montgomery, AL
ESPN
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Friday's Camellia Bowl matchup will bring together a pair of talented teams with a several similarities
The Buffalo Bulls feature one of the best rushing attacks in all of college football. Riding that running game, Buffalo won eight of its last nine games dating back to last season. With the run, UB earned a Mid-American Conference Eastern Division title. However, West Division champ Ball State prevailed in the MAC title game.
Marshall, meanwhile, won seven straight games and captured a Conference USA East Division championship. Like Buffalo, MU was surprised in the conference championship game as Alabama-Birmingham knocked off the Herd.
Both teams were ranked nationally during the season and both look to end the season on a positive
Here is more on the Christmas Day matchup:
THE SERIES: Friday’s game is the 10th lifetime meeting between the two schools, with Marshall holding a decisive 8-1 advantage. They last played on October 23, 2004 in Huntington -- a 48-14 MU victory. UB’s only win in the series was their inaugural meeting in 1959, 37-12. During a stretch from 1999-2004, both schools were MAC members, but Marshall left to join Conference USA in 2005.
BUFFALO BULLS (5-1)
>> The Bulls won the Eastern Division Championship for the second time in the last three years but were surprised by the Ball State Cardinals 38-28 in the 2020 Rocket Mortgage MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit.
>> UB had a 14-7 first quarter lead before the Cardinals scored in five straight possessions, which included a recovered fumble returned for a touchdown. After BSU built a 38-21 lead, the Bulls scored a touchdown to close to 38-28 with 1:16 remaining. It was too little, too late as UB suffered its second straight MAC title game loss.
>> Junior RB Kevin Marks had 93 yards on nine carries and that fourth quarter touchdown.
>> Fellow junior, QB Kyle Van Trease, completed 29-of-42 passes for 365 yards with a touchdown and an interception. WR Antonio Nunn caught 13 passes for 182 yards.
>> One key was junior RB Jaret Patterson was injured during the first half and played sparingly after intermission. He finished with just 47 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.
>> The Buffalo defense had four sacks, an interception, eight tackles for loss, a forced fumble and three pass breakups.
THE 2020 SEASON:
>> The Bulls were picked by the media in the pre-season MAC poll to win the Eastern Division, while the coaches had them second. UB opened 2020 campaign with a 49-30 road win at Northern Illinois, then followed with a home win over Miami (42-10) in a battle of the two teams, in the pre-season polls, Buffalo also posted victories over Bowling Green (42-17), Kent State (70-41) and Akron (56-7). UB's game at Ohio was cancelled due to Coronavirus issues within the Bobcats program.
>> Buffalo won the Eastern Division for the second time in the last three seasons and the third time since joining the MAC. UB had won eight straight games dating back to last season and finished 5-0 in MAC play for the first time in program history. Ball State ended Buffalo's run with a victory in the MAC Championship game.
>> In their six games of 2020, the Bulls have averaged 47.8 points and 590.0 yards offensively.
>> The Blue and White defense has allowed 23.8 points average and 379.2 yards.
>> Head Coach Lance Leipold is completing his sixth season at UB and has a 36-33 record with the Bulls. He is 146-39 overall record after a stellar coaching career at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater.
>> Over the past two plus seasons, Buffalo's running game has been the best in the MAC. Running back Jaret Patterson has shined this year with 1,072 total yards and 19 touchdowns (both lead the MAC). He was the only MAC running back to surpass 1000 yards this season. Patterson injured his knee against the Cardinals, but should be available against Marshall.
>> Quarterback Kyle Van Trease is 11-3 overall as a starter and has completed 80-of-127 passes for 1,186 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He passed for a career high 365 yards and a touchdown against BSU
>> Antonio Nunn leads the receiving corps with 38 catches for 535 yards and two touchdowns
>> The offensive line allowed its first sack of 2020 in the MAC Championship Game. The offense has scored points on UB's initial drive of the game five times (all touchdowns). Buffalo is converting 46.8 percent (31-of-66) on third down (second in the conference). The Bulls have been good on 22-of-26 inside the red zone (all of them touchdowns).
>> The defense registered 16 sacks over the five games. UB has allowed the opposition just 33 percent on third down -- good for second in the MAC. The Bulls have five interceptions
>> Junior LB James Patterson leads the team in total tackles with 43 (23 solo), while senior DE Malcolm Koonce leads with 6.5 sacks. He has accepted an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile
>> In its history, UB has a 6-8 record against the current teams of Conference USA
MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD (7-2):
>> Marshall fell to the Blazers of UAB 22-13 in the Conference USA Championship game. UAB held a 9-0 lead at halftime, only to see the Herd score a touchdown in the third quarter to close the deficit to two points, 9-7. UAB, however, got a pair of field goals early in the fourth quarter and then scored on a 71-yard pass completion to put the game out of reach.
>> Against UAB, Marshall was held to just 268 yards of total offense -- their lowest total of the season. Junior RB Brenden Knox had 67 yards on 17 carries. Redshirt freshman QB Grant Willis completed just 8-of-23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Senior WR Arth Henry had three receptions for 18 yards. The defense allowed a season high 468 yards and eight third-down conversions. Senior S Nazareth Johnson had 13 total tackles (four solo).
THE 2020 SEASON: Marshall opened its campaign with a 59-0 home win over FCS member Eastern Kentucky. That started a seven game winning streak which elevated them into the national polls for three week. They were 6-1 at home which included victories over Appalachian State, Florida Atlantic, and Middle Tennessee., The Herd had only two road games winning at Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech
>> Head Coach Doc Holliday is completing his 11th season as head coach of the Herd and has an 88-53 record.
>> Marshall offensively is averaging 30.6 points and 407.2 total yards along with converting 47 percent of their third down opportunites
>> Brenden Knox leads the ground attack with 887 yards and has scored nine touchdowns
>> Grant Wells has completed 152-of-250 passes fopr 1977 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions
>> Carey Gammage leads the receivers with 21 catches for 321 yards and four scores
>> The Thundering Herd defensive has allowed just 12.6 points and 2,77.7 yards in their nine games. MU has allowed only 88.9 yards rushing -- one of the best in the Football Bowl Subdivision
>> Javonte Barrett leads the defense with 90 total tackles (31 solo)
>> During their undefeated run, Marshall was in the national polls for three consecutive weeks
>> In their history Marshall has a 168-105-6 record against the current teams in the MAC
BOWL GAME HISTORY
>> BUFFALO – This is the Bulls third consecutive bowl appearance and fifth in school history. The Bulls have a 1-3 mark in bowl games, with their first ever, D I-A/FBS win coming last year defeating Charlotte (C-USA) at the Bahama Bowl in Nassau 31-9
>> MARSHALL-The game with Buffalo is Marshall’s 16th Bowl Appearance since they joined Division I-A/FBS and its seventh in the last eight years. Last year, they played at the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa Bay and saw their seven-game bowl winning streak end with a loss to Central Florida, 48-25
CAMELLIA BOWL HISTORY
>> Friday’s game is the seventh Camellia Bowl. All have been played at the renovated Cramton Bowl, the long-time site of the Blue-Gray All-Star Football Classic
>> Buffalo is the fifth MAC school to play in the game (Bowling Green-2014, Ohio-2015, Toledo-2016, and Eastern Michigan-2018) the conference has a comblned 1-3 record (BGSU the lone MAC win over South Alabama).