| Game Name: | Camellia Bowl |
| Subheader: | 8th Camellia Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | TaxAct |
| Date Game Played: | December 25 |
| Year Game Played: | 2021 |
| Football Season: | 2021 |
| Stadium: | Cramton Bowl |
| City: | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Visitor School: | Georgia State University |
| Visitor Name Short: | Georgia State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Panthers |
| Visitor Record: | 7–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | Sun Belt |
| Visitor Coach: | Shawn Elliott |
| Visitor 1Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 28 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 3 |
| Home School: | Ball State University |
| Home Name Short: | Ball State |
| Home Nickname: | Cardinals |
| Home Record: | 6–6 |
| Home Conference: | MAC |
| Home Coach: | Mike Neu |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 6 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Mvp: | Darren Grainger (QB, Georgia State) |
| Odds: | Georgia State by 4.5 |
| Referee: | Kevin Vicknair (C-USA)[1] |
| Attendance: | 7,345[2] |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Hutson Mason (analyst), and Abby Labar (sideline) |
| Intl Network: | ESPN Brazil |
| Intl Announcers: | Matheus Pinheiro (play-by-play) and Weinny Eirado (analyst) |
| Game Link: | Salute to Veterans Bowl |
The 2021 Camellia Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 25, 2021, at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The eighth edition of the Camellia Bowl, the game featured the Georgia State Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference and the Ball State Cardinals of the Mid-American Conference. The game began at 1:30 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN.[3] It was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Sponsored by tax preparation software company TaxAct, the game was known as the TaxAct Camellia Bowl.
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game was played between teams from the Sun Belt Conference and Mid-American Conference (MAC).
This was the third meeting between Georgia State and Ball State; entering the game, the all-time series was tied at 1–1.[4]
See main article: 2021 Georgia State Panthers football team.
See main article: 2021 Ball State Cardinals football team.
| Statistic | GSU | BSU | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 21 | 22 | |
| First downs rushing | 13 | 4 | |
| First downs passing | 7 | 14 | |
| First downs penalty | 1 | 4 | |
| Third down efficiency | 6–11 | 8–18 | |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0–0 | 1–3 | |
| Total plays–net yards | 62–464 | 81–367 | |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 41–259 | 35–74 | |
| Yards per rush | 6.3 | 2.1 | |
| Yards passing | 205 | 293 | |
| Pass completions–attempts | 17–21 | 27–46 | |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 1 | |
| Punt returns–total yards | 0–0 | 1–(−3) | |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 0–0 | 6–137 | |
| Punts–average yardage | 2–37.5 | 3–40.0 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 0–0 | 3–1 | |
| Penalties–yards | 7–85 | 3–32 | |
| Time of possession | 26:46 | 33:14 |
| Panthers passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15–19 | 203 | 3–0 | |||
| Mikele Colasurdo | 2–2 | 2 | 0–0 | ||
| Panthers rushing | |||||
| Darren Grainger | 11 | 122 | 1 | ||
| Tucker Gregg | 16 | 54 | 0 | ||
| Jaymest Williams | 8 | 49 | 0 | ||
| Antoine Lane | 3 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Marcus Carroll | 1 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Cornelius McCoy | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Panthers receiving | |||||
| Aubry Payne | 8 | 109 | 2 | ||
| Robert Lewis | 2 | 30 | 1 | ||
| Terrance Dixon | 1 | 24 | 0 | ||
| Cornelius McCoy | 1 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Ja'Cyais Credle | 1 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Sam Pinckney | 1 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Jamari Thrash | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Donavon Grier | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Cardinals passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27–46 | 293 | 1–1 | |||
| Cardinals rushing | |||||
| 15 | 62 | 0 | |||
| Jayshon Jackson | 4 | 12 | 0 | ||
| Rico Barfield | 3 | 12 | 0 | ||
| Will Jones | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Donny Marcus | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Drew Plitt | 9 | −19 | 1 | ||
| Cardinals receiving | |||||
| Jayshon Jackson | 12 | 146 | 1 | ||
| Yo'Heinz Tyler | 5 | 52 | 0 | ||
| Carson Steele | 3 | 40 | 0 | ||
| Trevor Hohlt | 4 | 37 | 0 | ||
| Hassan Littles | 1 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Will Jones | 2 | 7 | 0 | ||