LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University football is preparing for its first bowl game in program history. They were selected to compete in the America's Crossroads Bowl on Friday, December 1
st in Hammond, Indiana.
Game Information
America's Crossroads Bowl History
This year will be the fourth installment of the bowl game, but the first time in Hammond, Indiana. From 2019 through last year, the game was played in Hobart at Brickyard Stadium. This is one of four bowl games throughout the Division II level (Heritage Bowl, Live United Texarkana Bowl and the Florida Beach Bowl).
In order to be selected for the bowl game, you must be the top-placing team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) not qualifying for the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
The lone team from the GLVC to play in the bowl game so far has been Truman State and they are a perfect 3-0 after defeating Ohio Dominican, Hillsdale and Tiffin.
Series History
The two schools have never met before in their football history. With this being the second new opponent the Bearcats have on their schedule, the Eagles make opponent number 70 in the history of the program.
Conference Honors
For their efforts during the 2023 season, twelve Bearcats were recognized by the GLVC and earned postseason honors.
To read more about the GLVC honors, click the article
here.
Scouting the Bearcats
McKendree finished the year with a .500 record of 5-5 (4-2 GLVC) after ending on a five-game win streak. They began the season 0-5, but an overtime win at Upper Iowa on October 14
th sparked the momentum needed for the streak. Also, included in the win streak was the program's first-ever win over a nationally-ranked opponent in the University of Indianapolis on November 4
th. The last time the Bearcats won five in a row was at the end of the 2016 season, which helped them finish 8-3 (6-2 GLVC).
Quarterback
Caleb Fisher led the Bearcat passing attack throwing 159 completions on 258 attempts for 1,551 yards, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His two top targets were first-team all-conference
Yogi Flager, Jr. who caught 41 passes for 406 yards and five touchdowns. Right alongside Flager, was
Kendall Abdur-Rahman who caught 23 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Leading the ground game was
Eddie Clark who carried the ball 141 times for 545 yards and five scores.
Scouting the Eagles
Competing in the G-MAC, the Ashland University Eagles finished the year 8-3 (8-1 G-MAC) with a seven-game win streak. Their last and lone loss in conference play came on September 23
rd at Tiffin University by the score of 55-30.
Projected starting QB Trevor Bycznski was 184 for 303 passing for 2,289 yards, 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. He averaged 208 yards through the air per game. All-conference first wide receiver Dezmin Lyburtus was the top target with 66 catches for 780 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was also the Special Teams Player of the Year as he averaged 27.7 yards per return on 18 returns and one touchdown. Also earning first-team all-conference honors was running back Larry Martin with 903 yards on 167 carries and 13 touchdowns.
On defense, Jackson Myers led the Eagles with 71 tackles (44 solo), 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. He was also named first-team all-conference.
