The First Down Classic was a

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

endorsed Pre-Season

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

created by Jason Dannelly of the

Victory Sports Network Victory Sports Network (VSN) is an internet sports news provider founded in 2002 that focuses primarily on sporting events between colleges and universities in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The website provides news s ...

. It began operations in 2007, taking over for the defunct

Wheat Bowl The Wheat Bowl was the only National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics endorsed pre-season bowl game that operated from 1995 until 2006. The Wheat Bowl Football Classic was headquartered in the Central Kansas town of Ellinwood and was play ...

that operated from 1995 until 2006. In 2009, two separate games were played under the same name "First Down Classic". The game ceased operations after completion of the 2011 game.

Game results

Rankings are from the

NAIA Coaches' Poll The NAIA Coaches' Poll typically refers to a weekly ranking of the top 25 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college football and college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate at ...

Game details

2010

The start of the 2010 NAIA football season began at Ottawa University in the College Fanz First Down Classic game between Ottawa and Baker. This game marked the first time the two schools met in football for 17 years. Ottawa began the game by returning the kickoff for a touchdown and led the entire game to a 24-14 victory.

2011

Nationally ranked at #23, Baker University upset #10 ranked Ottawa University in the 2011 match-up played at Liston Stadium in Baldwin City, Kansas. Ottawa scored first when Shane Gimzo completed a 9 yard run for a touchdown with 9:02 remaining in the first quarter. It was the only lead Ottawa would hold for the entire game, which they lost when Baker's Tyler Hatcher ran the kickoff return for 82 yards for a touchdown and Andrew Kimrey completed the PAT kick. Later that same quarter, Baker's Reggie Harris ran a 62 yard punt return for a touchdown to take the lead. Ottawa managed to get close several times with the score at the end of the first half with Baker leading 16–17. Baker managed to hold Ottawa scoreless in the second half of play while scoring three touchdowns and a field goal. Baker recovered two fumbles and intercepted three passes to win with a final score of 41–16. Baker Running Back John Babb was named the game's Offensive MVP with 102 rushing yards on 10 attempts, 1 reception for 11 yards, and a Touchdown. Baker Outside Linebacker Adam Steele was named Defensive MVP with 16 tackles (7 Unassisted), 2 Interceptions and One Tackle for Loss.

References

{{College football kickoff games Defunct college football bowls American football in Kansas