The Camellia Bowl was televised by
ESPN, with a commentary team of
Drew Carter,
Aaron Murray, and
Lauren Sisler. The Buffalo radio broadcast crew of Paul Peck and Josh Whetzel were unable to leave Buffalo because of the snowstorm. They were replaced on short notice by J.T. Crabtree and Pat Greenwood, the University of South Alabama radio broadcast crew. The game's officiating crew, representing the
American Athletic Conference, was led by referee Luke Richmond and umpire Joe Pennucci. The Eagles started the second quarter with an incomplete pass but followed that up with three consecutive passes for gains of 15, 26, and 22 yards, which each earned first downs and reached the Buffalo 7-yard-line. They weren't able to punch the ball in from short distance and settled for a 23-yard field goal to open the game's scoring. Buffalo responded with a score of their own: after reaching the Georgia Southern 45-yard-line, Snyder completed a pass to Quian Williams for 13 yards before passing to Justin Marshall for a 32-yard touchdown, giving the Bulls the lead. The ensuing McNulty kickoff was a touchback, and OJ Arnold began the Eagles' drive with a 29-yard rush followed by Vantrease passes for 19 and 17 yards, which reached the Buffalo 10-yard-line. The Georgia Southern offense was again unable to find the
end zone, and settled for another short field goal to narrow the deficit to one point. The Bulls got the ball back with just under six minutes to play and gained a first down on their first play; several plays later Snyder passed to Williams for a 36-yard gain to advance to the Georgia Southern 17-yard-line. Five plays later, the Bulls lengthened their lead with a 5-yard rush by Ahmed. Georgia Southern's last possession of the half began with 45 seconds remaining; the Eagles were able to advance to their own 49-yard-line before the end of the half.
Second half Georgia Southern got off to a good start in the second half as they forced a
fumble on the first play from scrimmage to get possession immediately, and followed that up with a 79-yard touchdown pass and a successful
two-point conversion to tie the game only 26 seconds into the third quarter. Buffalo's second drive went better than their first, as an unnecessary roughness penalty moved them forwards 15 yards on their first play and they crossed midfield two plays later. A pair of Snyder passes totaling 20 yards got them to the Georgia Southern 29-yard-line, and after finding themselves unable to pick up another first down, the Bulls brought on McNulty to try a 33-yard field goal, which he made. The Bulls got the ball back quickly as their defense forced a fumble of their own with Jalen McNair recovering the ball on the Georgia Southern 18-yard-line. They gained a first down but stalled after facing 1st & Goal on the 2-yard-line and kicked another short field goal, which McNulty made. Trailing by six points, the Eagles gained two first downs in their first three plays with Vantrease passing to Marcus Sanders Jr. and Beau Johnson. Vantrease picked up another first down on the ground several plays later but then threw three incomplete passes and the Eagles punted. Their defense was able to hold Buffalo to a similar result, as a holding penalty set them back and a delay of game penalty forced them to punt on 4th & 6. The kick was downed at the Georgia Southern 2-yard-line, and the Eagles took over with 1:28 to play. They earned a first down via a personal foul called against Buffalo, and Arnold carried the ball three times to close out the quarter. The Eagles began the fourth quarter with 1st & 10 from their own 42-yard-line, and Vantrease threw two incomplete passes to start the quarter before being intercepted by Dylan Powell at the Georgia Southern 27-yard-line; the interception was returned to the Georgia Southern 40-yard-line. Buffalo was able to take advantage of this miscue and did so with nine consecutive run plays, all of which were to Ahmed. The Bulls gained three first downs in the process before Ahmed was stopped at the 1-yard-line on 3rd & Goal and McNulty came on to attempt a 20-yard field goal, which he made to extend Buffalo's lead to nine points. Vantrease completed passes to Arnold and Hood at the beginning of Georgia Southern's ensuing possession, and Arnold's carry for 11 yards picked up a first down for the Eagles. They faced 4th & 7 shortly afterwards, but converted with a 42-yard pass from Vantrease to Johnson, which reached the Buffalo 19-yard-line. A 13-yard pass to Mcafee several plays later put the Eagles in the end zone, and Alex Raynor's extra point pulled Georgia Southern within two points. The Eagles opted to kick it deep to the Bulls, rather than attempting an
onside kick, and Buffalo took over at their own 25-yard-line. The converted a third down with a 9-yard pass from Snyder to Marshall, and Ahmed ran three times after that for a total of ten yards, the last carry of which earned another first down. From there, the Bulls
took a knee to run out the rest of the clock and finish the game as 23–21 winners.
Scoring summary ==Statistics==