Little Brown Jug

College Football Rivalries

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The Battle for the Little Brown Jug, as it is often called, is played between the football teams of the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. Although it hasn't historically been an annual event due to the imbalance in the Big Ten's scheduling, it is the oldest trophy game in college football.

Michigan player with The Little Brown Jug

The two teams played six times dating back to 1892 before the Little Brown Jug came into the picture in 1903. In that year, the two teams were to meet on October 31. Michigan coach Fielding Yost had assembled a juggernaut of a program, the storied "point-a-minute" team, that had won all 28 games since he took over in 1901. But Minnesota came in with arguably its best team as well, and the anticipation became so fierce, that Yost directed his student manager to bring their own water for fear that the Gopher staff would contaminate the Wolverines' water. The manager ran to a local store and came back with a five-gallon Earthenware jug for Yost.

The game was hotly contested and Michigan held a 6-0 lead for much of the game, until Minnesota finally put together a scoring drive. After the Gophers finally reached the end zone to tie the score at six, what could only be described as pandemonium struck as the Gopher fans began storming the field. The game was called with two minutes left at a tie, and Yost and his Wolverines rushed out of the stadium, leaving his jug behind.

The next day, custodian Oscar Munson brought the jug to L.J. Cooke, head of the Minnesota athletics department, and declared in a thick Scandinavian accent: "Jost left his yug." Cooke then painted the jug brown and wrote on it: "Michigan Jug – Captured by Oscar, October 31, 1903" along with the score "Michigan 6, Minnesota 6," writing Minnesota's score much larger, of course.

Later, Yost asked for the jug back, to which Cooke replied in a letter, "We have your little brown jug; if you want it, you'll have to win it." So the jug sat in the possession of Minnesota for six years before the two teams played again in 1909.

Michigan won the contest and repeated their performance the next year, then left the conference. The two teams did not play again in 1919, when Minnesota crushed Michigan in Ann Arbor, 34-7, and, naturally, demanded the trophy back. After some persistence, the jug was given to Minnesota and from then on was passed to the winner of the game.

Today, the jug has the M logo of Minnesota on one side and the M logo of Michigan on the other, along with the colors of each school on their respective sides, meaning it's not really brown anymore.

Michigan leads the all-time series 67-24-3, and has possessed the trophy 63 times to Minnesota's 22.

[edit] All-Time Results