Saturday, September 01, 2012

Eureka vs. Knox: The first Abraham Lincoln Bowl will be held today, UPDATE: Eureka sets new NCAA passing record

Today is the first Saturday of the college football season. Also, the first bowl game will be played this afternoon. Sort of. The inaugural Abraham Lincoln Bowl will be held in Galesburg, Illinois as Knox College hosts Eureka College.

It's not really a bowl, it's more like a Big 10 style trophy game. And there will be a trophy, a bronze bust of a young Honest Abe that was donated by Jim Edgar, a former Republican governor of Illinois.

And as long as we are on the subject of Republicans, Eureka's best-known alumnus is Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, who was a member of the football team, his brother Neil was a teammate.

The schools have ties to Lincoln. Eureka and Knox were founded by abolitionists in the 1850s. Galesburg hosted a Lincoln-Douglas debate and the Railsplitter spoke at Eureka in 1856.

Galesburg has Reagan connections too. Dutch lived there for a year as a boy. Nancy Reagan's father, Loyal Davis, was born in Galesburg and the future first lady often visited her grandparents there.

Eureka College, 2011
As for the game: Knox was 0-10 last year--the Prairie Fire have lost 14 straight games. Eureka had a 4-6 record in 2011, but the Red Devils have lost 17 straight road contests against non-conference foes.

Something has to give.

Oh, when will the Ronald Reagan Bowl be played?

UPDATE September 2: Wow, something really did give. Eureka won the game, 62-55. And Red Devil quarterback Sam Durley passed for 736 yards, which is a new all-levels NCAA record.

Eureka of course brings home the Abraham Lincoln Bowl trophy. Lincoln--and Reagan--are smiling in Heaven this morning.

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