How a group of FIU students made the Camellia Bowl about more than just a football game
For a group of students, spending more than 10 hours on a bus to make the nearly 700-mile trip from Miami to Montgomery was justified by more than just watching their FIU Panthers play a game. The university bused about 60 students to Alabama ahead of the Camellia Bowl to take part in the Civil Rights Public History Fellowship at various historic sites across the city.
The trip concluded with watching FIU play the Arkansas Red Wolves on Saturday, but Friday was filled with stops around the area to learn about the important role the town played in the civil rights movement.
“Our president Mark Rosenberg did something that I don’t think I’ve ever heard of on any bowl game in my entire career,” coach Butch Davis said Friday at his pregame press conference at the Cramton Bowl. “If they came, today they were going to do the tour of the Rosa Parks Museum, they were going to write a paper, there was going to be a couple of lectures to them and they were going to get college credit for attending, and I thought that was a brilliant idea on his part to help significantly making an impact on the trip here.”
The students’ itinerary first took them to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. worked as a pastor and the location where the Montgomery bus boycotts were planned. They also went to the Rosa Parks Museum, the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
As a team, the Panthers also visited the Rosa Parks Museum on Thursday as part of the Camellia Bowl’s itinerary.
“At FIU we know that the best learning experiences are lived experiences,” Rosenberg said in a statement Thursday. “We are leveraging our participation in the Camellia Bowl to provide a learning experience to our students that brings the history, public spaces and significance of Montgomery to life. We are grateful for the support and collaboration of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, and Camellia Bowl organizers in this learning endeavor.”
Nation’s leading receiver strikes quickly
Arkansas State wide receiver Omar Bayless entered the Camellia Bowl with the second most receiving yards in the country. He was at the center of the Panthers’ defensive game plan because he’s always at the center of the Red Wolves’ on offense.
It didn’t take long for him to become the leading receiver in the nation, though. Bayless caught three passes for 27 yards on Arkansas State’s first drive, capping the 80-play march with a 4-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Layne Hatcher.
The touchdown catch gave Bayless exactly 1,500 yards for the season — 2 yards more than LSU Tigers All-American wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
While Bayless wasn’t recognized as a first-team All-American for his season, the receiver was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year this year. He’s only the second wideout to ever win Sun Belt Player of the Year honors, joining T.Y. Hilton, who won the award for the Panthers in 2010 when FIU was still in the conference.
FIU’s leading receiver ejected
The Panthers had to finish their final game of the 2019 season without their leading receiver.
Tony Gaiter IV was ejected midway through the third quarter after being assessed with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, although it wasn’t clear what the wide receiver did to earn the penalty. The ejection came on a play which was originally ruled as a fumble by running back Anthony Jones. The call was overturned, but not until after Gaiter was ejected for his involvement in the post-play pile-up.
Gaiter had one catch for 15 yards before he was ejected. The senior finished his final college season with 50 catches for 622 yards and four touchdowns.
This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 7:45 PM.
