LANDOVER, MD (July 15, 2008) – Lincoln University of Pennsylvania head football coach O.J. Abanishe briefly transformed into a comedian while discussing his 2008 team during the press conference to introduce the participants in the Fifth Annual Prince George’s Classic Tuesday afternoon. (OFFICIAL PRINCE GEORGE'S CLASSIC WEBSITE)
“We are going to be young this year,” said Abanishe stating the obvious. “Of course, our last returning starters would probably be about 67 years old being that our last year of playing was in 1960. Out of 22 starters, about 18 of them will probably be freshmen or sophomores.”
The room burst into laughter following Abanishe’s comments.
Lincoln is less than seven weeks away from playing its first football game in 48 years on August 30 against George Mason and 11 weeks from playing against Bowie State on October 4 in the Fifth Annual Prince George’s Classic presented by State Farm Insurance. The game will be played at Bowie’s Bulldog Stadium beginning at 1:00 p.m. The first football meeting between Lincoln and Bowie in history is the centerpiece of a week’s worth of activities surrounding the contest.
Abanishe, defensive coordinator Herb Pickens, celebrating his birthday, and Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Information Management Rob Knox represented Lincoln at the press-conference, which was held in the Town Hall room of the luxurious Prince George’s Sports Complex. The Lions will play eight of their 10 games against CIAA schools in 2008. (CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE 2008 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE)
“This is a special event to have Lincoln, the oldest HBCU with a distinguished history, as a part of the fifth annual Prince George’s Classic,” Classic director Mike Little said. “Certainly Lincoln has a lot of illustrious alumni in our region. We look forward to Lincoln’s participation and being a part of this event. Thinking long term, we believe that this relationship between Lincoln and Bowie will be great for both universities.”
Lincoln will be the eighth school in five years to participate in the Prince George’s Classic, joining Howard, Alcorn State, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State, Bowie State, North Carolina Central and Saint Paul’s College.
The first two games were played at FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins, with Alcorn State defeating Howard, 17-10, in 2004 and North Carolina A&T edging Morgan State, 40-33, in a double-overtime thriller in 2005. The last two games were played at Bowie State with the Bulldogs falling to North Carolina Central 35-13 in 2006 and rallying to beat Saint Paul’s, 41-30, in 2007.
“We are proud to be a part of this classic,” Abanishe said. “I see why this classic has been successful over the last four years because of the support from the community and its corporate sponsors. We are looking forward to competing against a quality program like Bowie State. We have been practicing since last year so it’s going to be real interesting to see what type of team we have out there on August 30 and October 4 when we play Bowie.”
According to school records, Lincoln, which began playing football in 1894, has compiled a 163-166-27 record. Lincoln won the CIAA Conference championship in 1918, 1919 and 1924. Lincoln was one of the original founding members of the CIAA in 1912 along with Howard, Virginia Union, Hampton and Shaw.
In addition to football, Lincoln won CIAA championships in the following sports: men’s tennis (1945-46), men’s track and field (1927-28), men’s basketball (1914-15), wrestling (1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1960 & 1961) and boxing (1939).
Founded in 1854, Lincoln University is the first historically black institution of higher education and its graduates include such luminaries as Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice of the United States Supreme Court, and acclaimed poet and author Langston Hughes. Lincoln University is nationally regarded for producing African Americans with undergraduate degrees in the physical sciences.
--LU--