Roger Lewis' 78-Yard TD Clinches Camellia Bowl Victory

Saturday, December 20

Montgomery, Ala.

9:15 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

8-6

South Alabama

6-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Alabama

Bowling Green

December 21, 2014 | Football

Box Score

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

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MONTGOMERY, Ala.—With 1:04 remaining in the game, quarterback James Knapke found freshman wide receiver Roger Lewis for a 78-yard touchdown to put the Bowling Green State University football team ahead for good, 33-28, over South Alabama in the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on Saturday night. With the victory Bowling Green finishes the 2014 season with an 8-6 record and their first win in a bowl game since the 2004 season.

"I wish I could take your TV camera into that locker room with me before I walked back over here (for postgame interviews) and let it run for about five minutes and hand you the tape, every time somebody wants to eliminate a bowl like this," Dino Babers said in response to a question about the new bowl. "To end the season with a bowl win and to end the season with an opportunity to play in a bowl is a fabulous gift to student-athletes."

With 1:20 to play in the game, South Alabama had taken the lead on a three-yard rush by running back Terrance Timmons, overcoming a 13-point deficit to take a 28-27 lead.

But, on the first play from scrimmage, Knapke would find Lewis deep down the middle of the field and the freshman would do the rest for his second game-winning touchdown reception of the season.

Knapke was named Bart Starr Most Valuable Player, passing for 368 yards and two touchdowns – both of which were to Lewis. Lewis finished with a team-high 137 yards receiving in the game, finishing his inaugural campaign with 1,093 receiving yards. He became just the seventh player in BGSU history to have a 1,000-yard season and was the first freshman to ever do so.

"What a story," Babers said. "How he (Knapke) started (playing in) the first game, finishing up the WKU game, started the VMI game, big win over Indiana. Takes us to a 5-2 record, then we have a little bit of a slide. Still win the East, still get to the MAC Championship Game, then we have a bowl game like this. Man, who would have ever thunk that his name would be underneath Bart Starr for the MVP of this bowl game in its inaugural year? That's an OMG right there."

The Bowling Green defense would come up with their second interception of the night on the ensuing drive to seal the victory for the Orange and Brown.

On the first drive of the night, Bowling Green would move the ball into South Alabama territory, but would face a 4th-and-2 from the USA 44 yard line. On the fourth down play, Knapke would drop back and find Lewis past his defender for a BGSU touchdown and 7-0 lead.

The Falcons would increase their lead to 14-0 later in the first quarter with a one-yard rush by Travis Greene, capping off a nine play, 93-yard drive for the score. The big play on the drive came on Gehrig Dieter's 53-yard reception from Knapke.

The Jaguars, playing in their program's first-ever bowl game, wouldn't fold. South Alabama would respond to Bowling Green's long scoring drive with a touchdown of their own, closing the lead to 14-7.

BGSU's Tyler Tate would add two field goals – of 39 and 22 yards – to give the Falcons a 20-7 lead going into the half. On Saturday night, Tate would score nine points, finishing with 114 points on the season – most by a kicker in BGSU school history for a single season.

After a punt to begin the second half, South Alabama would drive the field into the red zone. After a long run by quarterback Brandon Bridge, USA would fumble and Bowling Green's Kendall Montgomery would recover it and give the ball back to the Orange and Brown.

USA wouldn't fold, however, getting a defensive stop and scoring to make it 20-14 with 6:00 minutes to play in the third quarter on a Bridge 15-yard rush.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Jaguars would opt to kick short and linebacker Austin Valdez would make them pay with a kick return into Jaguar territory. The Falcons' offense would go 47 yards in five plays, capped by Greene's 17-yard touchdown scamper to extend Bowling Green's lead back out to two scores – at 27-14.

South Alabama would score 14 straight points in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but Knapke's bomb to Lewis would allow the Falcons to come out victorious in the Camellia Bowl. The win for the Falcons marked the first bowl win for the Mid-American Conference since the 2012 season.

The 2014 season finishes on a high note with the win, a season which was full of milestones for the Bowling Green State University football program:
*Eight wins for third straight season
*MAC East champions – back-to-back seasons
*MAC Championship Game appearance – back-to-back seasons for first time in school history
*First bowl win since 2004
*First win over Big Ten Conference opponent since 2007
*Winningest senior class – 31 career wins – since 2005

Notes

With his 44-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, Roger Lewis became the first freshman in school history to reach the 1,000 yard mark in school history, and just the seventh player in school history.
Tyler Tate's 39-yard field goal in the second quarter set a new school record for FGs made in a season, with 22 on the season. He surpasses Brian Leaver (1994) who made 21 field goals for the previous record. Tate also set a new school record for most points by a kicker in a single season with 114.
Gehrig Dieter set a new career-high for receiving yards in the game with 103 first-half yards
Travis Greene's 17-yard TD in the third quarter marked the ninth time in his career that he has had a multi-TD game and sixth time that he has had at least two rushing TDs in a game. It is the third player in BGSU bowl game history to have two rushing TDs in a game.
Lewis' 4^th-quarter TD reception was his second touchdown of the game and also his second-career game-winning touchdown.
The win in the 2014 Camellia Bowl marked Bowling Green's first bowl win since a 2004 GMAC Bowl win over Memphis in Mobile, Ala.
BGSU has now won eight-or-more games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002-04.
With a win, Bowling Green's senior class finished with 31 victories in their careers. They are the winningest senior class at BGSU since the 2005 senior class won 35 games.
All five of BGSU's offensive linemen started every game this season, one of just nine teams in FBS football to do that coming into Saturday..