Five things to know before Arkansas State takes on Northern Illinois in the Camellia Bowl
The Camellia Bowl will be played in Montgomery on Saturday, Dec. 23 as Arkansas State will take on Northern Illinois in the 10th edition of the annual bowl game.
This will be Arkansas State's third appearance in the Camellia Bowl, as they defeated Florida International 34-26 in the 2019 edition and lost to Middle Tennessee State 35-30 in 2017. NIU, meanwhile, will be making its first trip to Montgomery since the bowl's inception. The Red Wolves and Huskies last squared off in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, which NIU won 38-20, their most recent bowl victory.
Here are five things to know before the Camellia Bowl this weekend:
When and where is the Camellia Bowl?
The Camellia Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday and will be played at the Cramton Bowl. The game will be televised on ESPN's main channel, as well as on ESPN+ and FuboTV.
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Arkansas State's Jones back in Alabama
Arkansas State coach Butch Jones will return to the state of Alabama, albeit miles away from his previous job in Tuscaloosa. After head coaching stints at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee, Jones joined Alabama as an offensive analyst for two years and served as a special assistant to Nick Saban for another.
Jones was hired as the Red Wolves coach in 2021 and is seeking his first bowl victory with the team. After five wins combined in 2021 and 2022, Jones and his team turned things around this year to get Arkansas State back to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019.
Northern Illinois' Hammock seeks first bowl victory with his alma mater
Thomas Hammock is looking to win his first bowl game as the head coach of NIU. Hammock played running back for the Huskies from 1999-2002, rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a sophomore and junior before medically retiring his senior year. He served as the running backs coach for NIU, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Baltimore Ravens before returning to his alma mater.
The fifth-year coach was named the MAC Coach of the Year in 2021 after NIU won the conference championship, but the Huskies lost that year's Cure Bowl to Coastal Carolina in a 47-41 offensive shootout.
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Freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor leads the way for Arkansas State
Jaylen Raynor began the 2023 season as the Red Wolves' third-string quarterback. He was named the starter after three games, and he never looked back.
Raynor threw for 2,293 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 331 yards and five touchdowns as a runner in 10 games as a starter. For his efforts, Raynor was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year.
Expect Northern Illinois to lean on the run game
Hammock's background as a running back has certainly influenced his coaching philosophy. The Huskies have rushed for 2,146 yards this season, averaging 178.8 rushing yards per game. In an era of college football defined by high-octane passing offenses, the Huskies are committed to the run.
Their rushing game is led by first-team All-MAC running back Antario Brown, who ran for 1,164 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging an impressive 6.2 yards per carry. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi is also a threat to score with his legs, as he is second on the team with six rushing touchdowns.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Camellia Bowl: five things to know about Arkansas State vs. NIU
