Governor's Cup (Kansas)
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[edit] Summary
The Governor's Cup is a trophy awarded to the victor of the annual football game between the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, as part of the "Sunflower Showdown". It has been awarded every year since 1969.
Kansas State University leads the Cup series, with a 20-17-1 advantage. (Kansas forfeited a 1980 victory.) The most recent game, played on November 18, 2006, was won by the University of Kansas by a score of 39-20.
The two teams had a very long history prior to the inauguration of the Governor's Cup: they began play in 1902 and have faced each other every season since 1911, making this the fourth-longest uninterrupted series in college football history. KU built a large advantage in the series by 1923, and still leads the overall series, although the two schools disagree on the record. KU does not acknowledge its forfeit and says it leads the series 63-36-5, while Kansas State reports the record as 62-37-5.
The Cup is actually the third trophy associated with the rivalry. In 1902, in the very first match-up, a "Governor's Trophy" was given to the winning team. Then, beginning in the 1940 football season, the winner of the KU-KSU contest received the "Peace Pact Trophy", which was miniature bronze goalposts. The Peace Pact Trophy was intended to keep the winning team's student body from tearing down the loser's goalposts. However, as years went by, both of these prior trophies were apparently forgotten.
[edit] History
Kansas State won the first contest in the Governor's Cup series 26-22 on October 11, 1969, in Lawrence, Kansas. The game was a classic in the series, contested by two high-quality teams. The University of Kansas was coming off an appearance in the Orange Bowl the previous season, while Kansas State in 1969 was an offensive juggernaut led by quarterback Lynn Dickey and running back Mack Herron. The game was not decided until the final play, when two K-State defenders jarred the ball loose from a KU receiver in the end zone. Following the game, Kansas State fans tore down the goalposts in KU's stadium (an act with a long history in the rivalry, and that K-State fans would repeat in 1994).
The one tie in the Governor's Cup series, which occurred on November 7, 1987, in Manhattan, Kansas, is the most infamous game in the history of the series. The game, which was termed "The Toilet Bowl" and "The Futility Bowl" by national commentators during the week leading up to it, featured a KU team with a 1-7 record and 0-8 K-State. The contest lived down to expectations and resulted in a 17-17 tie, which was secured when Kansas State missed a field goal at the end of the game.
The only match-up of the two teams while both were ranked occurred on October 28, 1995, in Manhattan. The University of Kansas came into the game 7-0 and ranked #6 in the AP Poll, while Kansas State was 5-1 and ranked #14. Both teams would finish the season ranked in the top ten, but this day belonged to Kansas State. KSU started strong and maintained the advantage throughout for a decisive 41-7 victory.
Kansas won a 31-28 thriller in Lawrence to beat Kansas State for the first time in 11 years.
[edit] Results
Kansas State 20 - Kansas 17 - 1 tie (1987)
