Big Bill Love Remembers U of E Football

I was driving home on Walnut street today on a perfect Saturday afternoon when I thought I heard a marching band accompanied by  sounds of a crowd, referee whistles and a PA announcer. Maybe it was just because it was great football weather and I was passing Arad McCutchan Stadium and missing college football here in Evansville. No college football has been played here in 22 years since All American Sean Bennett led the 1997 Aces, but I wish it was. The first game for Evansville College was played in 1898. They only had one loss that year but only played one game. The first full season was 1911 and the Evansville College team had a few good years just after WWII. The 1946 team won the first bowl game for the college when they defeated Northern Illinois in the Hoosier Bowl. In 1949 it was another bowl victory in the Refrigerator Bowl over Hillsdale College.

There were some good years in 1974 and '75 and a 7-2 record in 1992. But in 1997 the non-scholarship football program ended at Evansville. Will football ever come back for those of us that would love to spend  fall Saturday afternoons at the stadium? In 2012 the Board of Trustees voted on reviving the program as division 1 but the proposal was defeated. I sure would love to see the crowds, marching bands and football back at McCutchan Stadium again.

How about you?