Harvest Bowl

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Harvest Bowl (defunct)
StadiumVictory Stadium
LocationRoanoke, Virginia
Operated1958–1969
Conference tie-insNone
Sponsors
Junior League of Roanoke Valley

The Harvest Bowl was a college football game held at Victory Stadium in Roanoke, Virginia from 1958 to 1969. Despite its "bowl" designation, it was not a postseason game, but a regular season neutral-site contest featuring major college football programs from the state of Virginia. In addition to Virginia and Virginia Tech (then branded as VPI, after its official name, Virginia Polytechnic Institute), at the time these included William & Mary and VMI, which today compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Seven of the games included two of these four teams, while the other five featured one of them against an out-of-state rival. Five times in its twelve-year existence, the Harvest Bowl hosted the annual Virginia–Virginia Tech rivalry game. It never featured the VMI-Virginia Tech rivalry game, which at the time was played annually in Roanoke on Thanksgiving Day.

The Harvest Bowl served as Roanoke's counterpart to the more successful and longer-lasting Tobacco Bowl in Richmond, Virginia, and Oyster Bowl in Norfolk, Virginia, which were also regular season neutral-site games. The game served as the centerpiece of an annual festival weekend featuring a parade, the crowning of a bowl queen, and other community events. The Harvest Bowl was unique in its time as a men's intercollegiate athletic event run by a women's civic organization, the Junior League of Roanoke Valley.

The inaugural contest drew 24,836 fans to the 25,000-seat stadium,[1] and attendance remained strong as long as the game featured local favorite Virginia Tech. After the construction of Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, which opened in 1965 with a capacity of 35,000, Virginia Tech became less interested in playing neutral-site games in Roanoke, and the Harvest Bowl lost its biggest drawing card.

Ironically, the most memorable game did not involve Virginia Tech, nor was it remembered for the action on the field. The 1967 Harvest Bowl matchup of the South's two state-run military academies, VMI and The Citadel, included "a brief but action-filled fight early in the fourth quarter" after Citadel cadets hung a derogatory bedsheet banner behind the south end zone, and a contingent of VMI cadets left the home stand to tear it down. The two corps of cadets then "poured out of the stands and took turns throwing punches at each other," forcing a stoppage in the game. "Police finally restored order and the game was completed in an orderly fashion," with VMI winning in an upset, 22–11.[2]

Harvest Bowl attendance dwindled after 1965, and the final game in 1969 (even with Virginia Tech participating once again) drew just 6,000.[3] In announcing the demise of the bowl in February 1970, Junior League leaders cited "insufficient ticket sales" and "increased public apathy."[4] The twelve games combined netted $114,483 for the organization's charitable activities,[5] the equivalent of just over $1 million in today's currency.

Game results[edit]

Annual Date Winner Loser Ref.
1st October 11, 1958 VPI 22 Virginia 13 [6]
2nd October 3, 1959 VPI 20 William & Mary 14 [7]
3rd October 22, 1960 VPI 40 Virginia 6 [8]
4th October 21, 1961 VPI 20 Virginia 0 [9]
5th October 6, 1962 VPI 20 Virginia 15 [10]
6th October 5, 1963 VPI 10 Virginia 0 [11]
7th September 26, 1964 Wake Forest 38 VPI 21 [12]
8th September 18, 1965 VPI 12 Wake Forest 3 [13]
9th September 24, 1966 Georgia 43 VMI 7 [14]
10th October 14, 1967 VMI 22 The Citadel 11 [15]
11th October 11, 1968 West Virginia 14 VMI 7 [16]
12th November 1, 1969 VPI 48 William & Mary 7 [17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Junior League Clears $11,778 on Bowl Game". The World-News (Roanoke, Virginia). 17 November 1964. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Quay Leads VMI Over Citadel, 22-11". The Charlotte Observer. 15 October 1967. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Big Second Half Turns Game Into Rout". The Danville Register. 2 November 1969. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Football Called Off By League". The World-News (Roanoke, Virginia). 6 February 1970. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "A Capsule History". Roanoke Times. 17 October 1976. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "VPI Beats UVa 22-13 In First Harvest Bowl". Roanoke Times. 12 October 1958. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "VPI Beats William & Mary, 20-14, Before 19,000 in Harvest Bowl". Roanoke Times. 4 October 1959. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Alert Tech Wins Third Bowl Game". Roanoke Times. 23 October 1960. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Tech Harvests 20-0 Victory Over Virginia". Roanoke Times. 22 October 1961. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Tech 20-15 Winner in 5th Harvest Bowl". Roanoke Times. 7 October 1962. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Utz and Cranwell Score as Hokies Tip Virginia, 10-0". Roanoke Times. 6 October 1963. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Wake Forest Stuns Tech, 38-21". The World-News (Roanoke, Virginia). 27 September 1964. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Virginia Tech Harvest Bowl Reaper, 12-3". Roanoke Times. 19 September 1965. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "'Twas Wrong League For Spirited VMI". The World-News (Roanoke, Virginia). 26 September 1966. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "VMI wins Cadet dual by 22 to 11". The News and Observer. 15 October 1967. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "West Virginia nips stubborn VMI, 14–7". The Weirton Daily Times. 12 October 1968. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Big Second Half Turns Game Into Rout". The Danville Register. 2 November 1969. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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