The slogan for the TaxAct Camellia Bowl is "History Made Here," and the Georgia State Panthers did their part with a dominating 51-20 victory over Ball State on Christmas Day at the Cramton Bowl. The Panthers made history with their second-straight bowl win and their school-record eighth victory of the season.
"Christmas is the Happiest Day of the Year, and it certainly was for us today," head coach Shawn Elliott said after leading his Panthers to their third bowl win in his fifth season at the helm.
"I think we finished Christmas Day with one of the best presents we could have ever asked for and that's a commanding, dominating win," Elliott continued.
Quarterback Darren Grainger was named the Bart Starr Most Valuable Player after accounting for four touchdowns. The junior from Conway, S.C., completed 15-of-19 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a career-high 122 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown run.
Sixth-year senior tight end Aubry Payne had career high eighth receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and the Georgia State defense also scored twice—another first in program history—on Javon Denis' 37-yard fumble return and Antavious Lane's 55-yard interception return.
Leading 20-13 at the half, Georgia State blew the game open with 31 straight points, including 28 in the third quarter, for their fourth straight win and seventh in the last eight games. The Panthers also won back-to-back bowl games for the first time.
"We'd never won eight games, never won back-to-back bowl games. I say this a lot ... anytime you do something for the first time, do you know what that feels like?" Elliott said. "Every single player and coach in that locker room just did something that had not been done before at Georgia State."
Trailing 7-0 early, Georgia State got on the board with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Grainger's 18-yard TD pass to Payne to tie the game at 7-all with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Three plays later, the GSU defense came up with its first huge play of the day as Jamil Muhammad forced Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt to fumble, and Denis scooped up the loose ball and raced 37-yards for the end zone to give the Panthers a 17-14 lead.
Muhammad is credited with a sack on the play, his second of the day and Georgia State's school-record 36th of the season.
Super senior Noel Ruiz added two field goals to give the Panthers a 20-13 lead at the half.
Georgia State opened the second half with another scoring drive, moving 75 yards on eight plays as Grainger hit Robert Lewis from 10-yards out for the score. Lewis' first career touchdown gave the Panthers a 27-13 advantage three minutes into the third quarter.
Grainger then broke the game open with a 34-yard touchdown run and then a 16-yard TD pass to Payne, putting the Panthers up 41-13 late in the third quarter. Payne's second touchdown catch of the game was the 13th of his career to pass teammate Roger Carter for the GSU record for a tight end.
On the final play of the quarter, Lane grabbed his school-record fifth interception of the season and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown and a commanding 48-13 lead.
Ruiz, celebrating his birthday on Christmas Day, added a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter for 51 points, Georgia State's highest total in a bowl game.
Grainger's 122-yard effort on the ground put him over the 1,000-yard mark for his career, including his time at Furman.
