• Directories | A to Z | Home

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Longtime college football rivals to meet in second Cereal Bowl

By Le Ann Finger '85
October 6, 2004

One of the nation's oldest rivalries in college football will continue on Saturday, Oct. 9, when St. Olaf and cross-town rival Carleton College compete in their annual contest. This year's event is the second annual Cereal Bowl, named in honor of Northfield cereal company Malt-O-Meal, which is donating cereal to all game attendees. The game, part of St. Olaf Homecoming and Family Weekend festivities, will begin at 1 p.m. on Manitou Field at St. Olaf.

"We're excited about the second Cereal Bowl game," said Malt-O-Meal CEO John Lettmann. "We've always tried to be a good neighbor in Northfield by supporting the community and the colleges."

Carleton won the first game against St. Olaf in 1919. Since then the series standings are nearly equal at 41 wins for St. Olaf, 39 for Carleton and one tie. The series has been interrupted only four times: for three years during World War II and for the 1991 Halloween blizzard, which dumped 25 inches of snow on the playing field.

The 84-year-old rivalry has fostered traditions. The winning team takes home "the Goat" (as in "we got your goat"), a wooden trophy created by a St. Olaf carpenter in 1931. The back of the trophy, currently at St. Olaf, shows the results of each game. Last year a new Cereal Bowl trophy was presented by Malt-O-Meal to St. Olaf president Christopher Thomforde, in honor of winning the innagural Cereal Bowl. Malt-O-Meal will continue to award the Cereal Bowl trophy to the president of the winning school.

Another annual tradition has fans marching to downtown Northfield, where they turn the eagle on the cityýs Civil War monument in Bridge Square to face the winning school.

This year's game will also feature a halftime tribute to seven St. Olaf alumni being inducted into the college's Athletic Hall of Fame.

"We're expecting a hard-hitting battle with Carleton this year," said St. Olaf head coach Chris Meidt. "Having Malt-O-Meal as a sponsor makes this game better by getting the community involved."

Malt-O-Meal moved to Northfield in 1927, eight years after being founded in Owatonna, Minn. A privately held company headquartered in Minneapolis, it is the fifth largest cereal manufacturer in the United States and the nation's fastest-growing cereal company.

CEREAL BOWL FACTS
Game History

• St. Olaf: 41 wins. Carleton: 39 wins. 1 tie.
• In 1918 the U.S. War Department, addressing the lack of male athletes during World War I, directed the two colleges to form a joint football team. This team lost its only game to the University of Minnesota (59-6).
• The team split into St. Olaf and Carleton in 1919. Carleton won the first match 15-7.
• Since 1919 the series has been interrupted only four times: three years during 1943-45 (World War II) and in 1991 due to 25 inches of snow during Halloween blizzard.
• The "Liter Bowl" of 1977 is the only NCAA-sanctioned metric football game ever played. The brainchild of Carleton chemistry professor Jerry Mohrig, the game attracted 10,000 fans plus Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and NBC TV. St. Olaf won 43-0.

• Four wins, six losses in 2003.
• Third season for head coach Chris Meidt.
• 48 returners, 39 first-year players.
• 15 returning starters: seven offense, eight defense.