Camellia Bowl Notebook Posted December 23, 2023 By Barry Allen The Game: Final Score: Northern Illinois 21, Arkansas State 19 Weather: Sunny skies; 62 degrees; calm wind Coin Toss: Arkansas State won the toss and deferred to second half General Notes: Northern Illinois defeated Arkansas State 21-19 in the 10th annual Camellia Bowl Nine of the 10 Camellia Bowls have been one-score games Northern Illinois made its first appearance in the Camellia Bowl The Mid-American Conference (MAC) has won the last two Camellia Bowls Buffalo defeated Georgia Southern last year The MAC has won three of the last four Camellia Bowl games MAC teams are now 4-4 in eight Camellia Bowl appearances Arkansas State is 1-2 in its three Camellia Bowl appearances The Red Wolves lost to Middle Tennessee (2017) and defeated FIU (2019) Sun Belt teams are now 4-5 in nine Camellia Bowl appearances Northern Illinois QB Rocky Lombardi was named the Bart Starr MVP Lombardi accounted for 221 yards and two TDs in the win He completed 18-of-29 passes for 200 yards and one TD He also added 21 rushing yards, including a 6-yard TD run Lombardi complete a pass to nine different receivers Lombardi is the fifth QB to win the Bart Starr MVP award NIU had a 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the win over ASU RB Antario Brown had 25 carries for 132 yards for the Huskies The 25 carries are the third-most in Camellia Bowl history The 132 rushing yards are the fourth-most in bowl history WR Grayson Barnes caught five passes for 105 yards The nine catches tie for the fourth most in the Camellia Bowl Barnes recorded the 12th 100-yard receiving game in Camellia Bowl history Northern Illinois and Arkansas State played the highest scoring first half in Camellia Bowl history The Huskies (21) and Red Wolves (13) combined for 34 first-half points The first half also featured three turnovers (2 by NIU; 1 ASU) and one missed FG (NIU) There was only one punt (NIU) in the first half Middle Tennessee and Arkansas State held the previous record with 31 combined points in 2017 Northern Illinois set the Camellia Bowl record with 40:25 time of possession The Huskies held the ball for 8+ minutes in all four quarters NIU had the ball for 12:02 in the first quarter and 10:29 in the third quarter Northern Illinois became the first team in Cameliia Bowl history to score on the game’s opening drive NIU took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards (10 plays) in 5:51 to take a 7-0 lead NIU QB Rocky Lombardi capped the drive with an 18-yard TD pass to Grayson Barnes Lombardi was 5-of-6 (.833) for 79 yards and one TD on the drive Barnes caught three passes for 65 yards and one TD on the opening possession Northern Illinois scored the second special teams TD in Camellia Bowl history The Huskies executed fake field goal on fourth and four from the ASU 32-yard line Junior holder Tom Foley flipped the ball to sophomore kicker Kanon Woodill, who raced 32 yards untouched for the TD It was NIU’s first fake FG for the TD since 2012 Appalachian State had the only other special teams TD in Camellia Bowl history Darrynton Evans had a 94-yard kickoff return TD for the Mountaineers in 2016 Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor accounted for 299 yards and two TDs He completed 16-of-30 passes for 260 yards with two TDs and one interception He was also the team’s leading rusher with 13 carries for 49 yards Arkansas State WR Corey Rucker was the leading receiver Rucker caught five passes for 105 yards and 2 TDs The 2 TDs tied the Camellia Bowl record held by four other players