The 1999 Geneva College football season saw the Golden Tornadoes advance to the postseason for the fifth straight season, eventually culminating their season with a win in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Victory Bowl over MidAmerica Nazarene.

The season opened with a road trip to Tennessee to take on the #1 ranked team in NCAA Division II, Carson-Newman.  The Eagles proved too tough for Geneva in the season-opening matchup, and the Golden Tornadoes returned home the following weekend for another non-conference matchup against St. Francis (IL), with Geneva giving up a late touchdown to drop its second straight game, 14-13.

The Golden Tornadoes regrouped, though, winning seven of its last eight games in the regular season.  The only loss came at the hands of conference champion St. Francis (IN).  Geneva's seven victories came over Cumberland, Iowa Wesleyan, Malone, Tri-State, Walsh, Tiffin and Urbana, with Geneva's average margin of victory almost 17 points per game.

The 7-3 regular season was good enough to qualify Geneva to play in the NCCAA Victory Bowl championship game.  The Golden Tornadoes traveled to North Canton, Ohio, to meet up with MidAmerica Nazarene, a school from Olathe, Kansas.  The game was a back-and-forth affair, but a late 15-yard touchdown run by Melvin Cobbs enabled Geneva to hold on for a 31-26 win, the second straight season the Golden Tornadoes won the Victory Bowl.

Geneva was led offensively by its two senior stars, quarterback Justin Myers and running back Melvin Cobbs.  Myers passed for 2,271 yards and 20 touchdowns, while Cobbs rushed for 1,759 yards, most in a single season in school history, and 14 touchdowns.  Myers finished his career as Geneva's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, while Cobbs finished his career as Geneva's all-time leading rusher.  Both are in Geneva's Hall of Fame.  In addition, freshman receiver Marko Thomas burst onto the scene, leading the team with 43 catches, 854 yards and six touchdowns.  Thomas would go on to set multiple Geneva receiving records in his career, and he also is in Geneva's Hall of Fame.

Defensively, Geneva was led by linebacker Jeff Mihok, who finished the season with 113 total tackles.  He also finished with ten tackles-for-loss (TFL), including four sacks.  Adam Smith and Emilio Cresta led the team with 11 TFLs, with Cresta's five sacks tops on the team.  Aaron Slocum led the team with seven interceptions.


Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.