Bulls are 2022 Camellia Bowl champions

For the second time in three years, the UB football team hoisted the Camellia Bowl trophy over its heads as bowl champions, defeating Georgia Southern, 23-21, on Dec. 27 in the Cramton Bowl. An undermanned Bulls squad had reserve players step up all day to help UB win its third bowl in program history.

Players like Clevester Hines, who before this week was a wide receiver, was forced to start at cornerback and finished with seven tackles and three pass breakups. He helped the Bulls slow down a pass-happy, high-powered Georgia Southern offense. On the offensive side of the ball, running back Tajay Ahmed was pressed into action due to injuries and responded by rushing for a career-high 98 yards and a touchdown.

While several new faces stepped up, the usual, reliable players paced the Bulls, especially early. Wide receiver Justin Marshall had 11 catches for 127 yards, both career highs, and scored UB’s first touchdown of the game en route to being named the bowl’s Most Valuable Player.

Marshall was the favorite target of quarterback Cole Snyder, who threw for 265 yards and a score. He became just the third quarterback in program history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. Snyder also connected with Quian Williams five times for 100 yards.

Buffalo took a 14-6 lead late in the first half on a short touchdown run by Ahmed.

Georgia Southern responded early in the second half by quickly tying the game on a long touchdown pass. However, the Bulls answered with consecutive Alex McNulty field goals to take a 20-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Dylan Powell came up with his first career interception to set up UB at the Georgia Southern 40-yard line. The Bulls were able to drive down the field and McNulty hit a chip shot to extend the UB lead to nine. It was McNulty’s third field goal of the game and 49th of his career, breaking the program’s all-time record.

The Eagles scored a touchdown with 3:38 left to cut the UB advantage to two points. However, the Bulls were able to get two key first downs and Georgia Southern never got the ball back.

Linebacker Shaun Dolac led the UB defense with 13 tackles and added a forced fumble that was recovered by Jalen McNair to set up a UB field goal. Fellow linebacker James Patterson, making his 56th and final career start for the Bulls, had eight tackles, including a tackle for loss.
 
It was the third straight bowl win for the Bulls, who won the 2019 Bahamas Bowl and 2020 Camellia Bowl.