Unearthing a bit of history
If you're like me, then every time you come across Minnesota in NCAA Football 2010 it seems as if there's a trophy of some kind up for grabs, regardless of the Golden Gophers' opponent. That will be the case again this Saturday, when Minnesota visits Beaver Stadium in a battle for the Governor's Victory Bell. I decided to do a little hardcore research and find out how such prizes came about.
Little Brown Jug - Minnesota vs. Michigan
Fielding Yost's Michigan squad entered Minnesota in 1903 with a 28-game winning streak. When the Gophers tied the game at 6 with two minutes remaining, fans went so wild in their storming of the field that the game was called. A custodian gave a jug to Minnesota's athletic director, saying Yost forgot it. Yost asked for it back, only to be told he'd have to win it back. Michigan leads the series, 66-22-3.
Paul Bunyan's Axe - Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
Born in 1890, the 117-game series between the two schools is the longest in Football Bowl Subdivision football. Each school was the other's first-ever Homecoming opponent. Trying to replicate the "Little Brown Jug," the schools established "The Slab of Bacon" in 1930, topped with a football carved with an M inside of it (or was it a W? Hmm...). The trophy went missing after a post-game melee in the 1940s, so Wisconsin replaced it with "Paul Bunyan's Axe." The "Slab of Bacon" was later found in 1994 in a Camp Randall Stadium storage room, and while Wisconsin claimed it went missing in 1945, scores of the rivalry from 1930-1970 were marked on it ... so the story goes. Wisconsin leads the series, 36-23-3.
Floyd of Rosedale - Minnesota vs. Iowa
Rosedale Farms owner Allen Loomis gave the Gophers this pig, named after Minnesota governor Floyd Olson, after their win over the Hawkeyes in 1935. A little tension between the two schools leading up to the matchup led to the donation of the pig, which Olson later gave to the winner of an essay contest, who then donated it back to Minnesota before it was sold to a breeder who lived near the Iowa border in Mabel, Minn. Floyd died just a year later, and the hog's legacy has lived on ever since in the form of a bronze trophy. Minnesota leads the series, 39-33-2.
Governor's Victory Bell - Minnesota vs. Penn State
Minnesota played Penn State in the Nittany Lions' first ever Big Ten game, back on Sept. 4, 1993. The governors of Minnesota and Pennsylvania came up with the idea of the trophy to commemorate the occasion. Penn State leads the series, 6-4.
