The Oyster Bowl is an annual regular season college football game played in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The game has featured match-ups between high schools, NCAA Division III teams, and NCAA Division I teams. The current rendition of the game serves as an in-conference matchup for the Old Dominion Monarchs. It is sponsored by the Chesapeake, Virginia-based Khedive Temple of the Shriners, which includes a portion of the revenue going to children's charity.
As a major college neutral-site contest in Norfolk, Virginia from 1948 to 1995, the Oyster Bowl served as the region's counterpart to the Tobacco Bowl in Richmond, Virginia (1949–1982), and the short-lived Harvest Bowl in Roanoke, Virginia (1958–1969), which were also regular season neutral-site games.
History During the first incarnation of the Oyster Bowl, the game was held at Foreman Field in Norfolk, Virginia. The inaugural contest, held in 1946, featured two high school teams, the local Granby Comets and the Clifton Mustangs of Clifton, New Jersey. After a one-year break, the game was resumed in 1948 as a major college football contest, and was played continuously until 1995, when it was discontinued for financial reasons.Peggy Haile, Pages from Norfolk's Past , Norfolk Public Library, retrieved January 31, 2009.20th Century History , The City of Norfolk, VA, retrieved January 31, 2009. The series of games from 1946 to 1995 generated more than $3 million for the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
Many well known players participated in the Oyster Bowl during the time it featured Division I teams. These include Ernie Davis of Syracuse, Bruce Smith of Virginia Tech, Roger Staubach of Navy, Fran Tarkenton of Georgia, and Randy White of Maryland.Oyster Bowl Information, Newport News Apprentice School, November 13, 2008, retrieved February 1, 2009. The 1977 game between East Carolina and William & Mary featured an incident well-publicized at the time, in which former East Carolina head coach Jim Johnson, attending the game as a sideline spectator, tackled a William & Mary player about to score the game-winning touchdown.
In 1999, after a hiatus of three years, the Oyster Bowl was revived and relocated to Joseph S. Darling Memorial Stadium in nearby Hampton, Virginia, as a match-up between Division III college teams.Keith McMillan, Around the Nation, D3 Football, November 9, 2001, retrieved January 31, 2009. Three of the six games in Hampton featured the Apprentice School from nearby Newport News, Virginia. In 2005 the Oyster Bowl moved to Newport News as an annual home game for the Apprentice School.
In 2011, the Oyster Bowl returned to a renovated Foreman Field (now known as S.B. Ballard Stadium) as an annual home game for Division I Old Dominion University (ODU). Recent visiting teams have been conference rivals of ODU from Conference USA (through 2021) and the Sun Belt Conference (2022 to the present).
Game results YearSiteWinning teamLosing teamReference1946 Norfolk, VirginiaGranby High School6Clifton High School0 1947 No game held 1948 Norfolk, VirginiaWilliam & Mary 31 VMI0 1949 Norfolk, VirginiaNC State 14 VPI13 1950 Norfolk, VirginiaWilliam & Mary 34 NC State0 1951 Norfolk, VirginiaDuke 55 VPI 6 1952 Norfolk, VirginiaSouth Carolina 21 Virginia 14 1953 Norfolk, VirginiaDuke 48 Virginia 6 1954 Norfolk, VirginiaNavy 40 Duke 7 1955 Norfolk, VirginiaNorth Carolina 32 South Carolina 14 1956 Norfolk, VirginiaPittsburgh 27 Duke 14 1957 Norfolk, VirginiaNavy 27 Georgia 14 1958 Norfolk, VirginiaTulane 14 Navy 6 1959 Norfolk, VirginiaSyracuse 32 Navy 6 1960 Norfolk, VirginiaNavy 26 SMU 7 1961 Norfolk, VirginiaDuke 30 Navy 9 1962 Norfolk, VirginiaNavy 32 Pittsburgh 9 1963 Norfolk, VirginiaNavy 21 VMI 12 *1964 Norfolk, Virginia Maryland 10 North Carolina 9 1965 Norfolk, Virginia William & Mary 3 Southern Miss 0 *1966 Norfolk, VirginiaSouthern Miss 7 NC State 6 1967 Norfolk, VirginiaDuke 35 Navy 16 1968 Norfolk, VirginiaDuke 30 Maryland 28 1969 Norfolk, VirginiaVPI 48 Duke 12 1970 Norfolk, VirginiaNC State 7 Maryland 0 1971 Norfolk, VirginiaClemson 3 Duke 0 *1972 Norfolk, VirginiaDuke 17 Navy 16 *1973 Norfolk, VirginiaMaryland 30 Duke 10 1974 Norfolk, VirginiaMaryland 56 Duke 13 1975 Norfolk, VirginiaVirginia Tech 24 William & Mary 7 1976 Norfolk, VirginiaVMI 13 Virginia 7 1977 Norfolk, VirginiaWilliam & Mary 21 East Carolina 17 *1978 Norfolk, VirginiaEast Carolina 21 Richmond 14 1979 Norfolk, VirginiaNavy 24 William & Mary 7 1980 Norfolk, VirginiaVirginia Tech 21 VMI 6 1981 Norfolk, VirginiaVMI 14 The Citadel 0 1982 Norfolk, VirginiaVirginia Tech 14 VMI 3 1983 Norfolk, VirginiaWilliam & Mary 26 Yale 14 1984 Norfolk, VirginiaVirginia Tech 54 VMI 7 1985 Norfolk, VirginiaRichmond 38 James Madison 15 1986 Norfolk, VirginiaTemple 29 Virginia Tech 16 1987 Norfolk, Virginia William & Mary 17 VMI 6 1988 Norfolk, VirginiaThe Citadel 30 VMI 20 *1989 Norfolk, VirginiaWilliam & Mary 13 Boston University 10 1990 Norfolk, Virginia William & Mary 59 VMI 47 1991 Norfolk, VirginiaThe Citadel 17 VMI 14 1992 Norfolk, VirginiaRichmond 41 VMI 18 1993 Norfolk, Virginia William & Mary 49 VMI 6 1994 Norfolk, VirginiaThe Citadel 58 VMI 14 1995 Norfolk, Virginia Georgia Southern 31 VMI 13 1996 No game held 1997 No game held 1998 No game held 1999 Hampton, Virginia 48 33 2000 Hampton, Virginia 30 8 2001 Hampton, Virginia 14 11 2002 Hampton, Virginia 48 17 2003 Hampton, Virginia 58 20 2004 Hampton, Virginia 21 16 2005 Newport News, Virginia 45 0 2006 Newport News, Virginia 37 0 2007 Newport News, Virginia 61 55 2008 Newport News, Virginia 37 14 2009 Newport News, Virginia 14 10 2010 Newport News, Virginia 40 7 2011 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 23 James Madison 20 2012 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 31 Delaware 26 2013 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 66 Albany 10 2014 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 30 Louisiana Tech 27 2015 Norfolk, VirginiaFlorida Atlantic 33 Old Dominion 31 2016 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 42 FIU 28 2017 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 24 Rice 21 2018 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 77 VMI 14 2019 Norfolk, VirginiaCharlotte 38 Old Dominion 22 2020 No game held 2021 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 56 Charlotte 34 2022 Norfolk, VirginiaJames Madison 37 Old Dominion 3 2023 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 28 Appalachian State 21 2024 Norfolk, VirginiaMarshall 42 Old Dominion 35 2025 Norfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion 27 Georgia State 10
References