Gophers, fans revel in excitement of reclaiming Little Brown Jug
MINNEAPOLIS -- The biggest celebrity on the University of Minnesota campus this week isn't one of the student-athletes or a famous alumnus.
It's a two-foot-tall inanimate object.
That would be the Little Brown Jug, the trophy given annually to the winner of the football game between Minnesota and Michigan. The Jug, half of which is painted blue and half maroon, is lined with the scores from each game of this rivalry dating back to a 6-6 tie in 1903. Until last Saturday's 30-14 win in Ann Arbor, the Gophers hadn't held possession of the Jug since 2005.
That all changed with a convincing victory over a struggling Michigan program, which meant the Little Brown Jug returned to the Minnesota campus for the first time in nearly a decade. In the days since its arrival in Dinkytown, the Jug has been everywhere. It's been paraded about on media tours. It was on display at TCF Bank Stadium for Gophers fans to get a glimpse of and take their picture with it.
And, of course, it's spent some time with the team that won it. Several days after the fact, the Gophers are still enjoying the spoils of victory.
"I was talking to some of my teammates, it took us four years to get the Jug," said senior running back David Cobb. "It's a good win for the program. Some of the alumni, I talked to some of our teammates that left like (MarQueis Gray) and Brock (Vereen) and all those guys. They're happy for us. They're uploading pictures like they won the Jug."
Between Saturday's win and the victory in Ann Arbor in 2005, there were six Gophers teams (Minnesota and Michigan didn't play each other in 2009 or 2010) that never got to experience what it was like to win the Jug. It was an even longer gap from the 2005 win to the previous victory before that in 1986. In fact, since 1968, the Gophers have had the Little Brown Jug just four times.
Perhaps that's why they're cherishing every minute with it; why guys like punter Peter Mortell made sure to give it a few taps as he walked from practice to class; why former players who never won it are celebrating as if they did.
"Professors are excited. Other students in class are excited. They believe in us," said redshirt sophomore quarterback Mitch Leidner. "They've had a lot of support throughout the season so far. We've just got to continue to work."
Gophers tight end Maxx Williams was especially eager to get his hands on it. The family tree of the redshirt sophomore from Waconia, Minn., intertwines with Minnesota football lore as his dad, Brian, lettered for the Gophers from 1986-88.
When Williams picked up the Jug on Saturday after beating Michigan, he looked at the scores and saw one in particular that stood out to him: a 20-17 Gophers win in Ann Arbor in 1986.
"The coolest thing for me was that on the '86 team, my dad actually played on that in Michigan," Williams said. "He was there, and after the game when we won and I gave him a hug, it was kind of the coolest part for me knowing that he was on that Jug and now my legacy will be on that Jug."
The Little Brown Jug is one of four rivalry trophies Minnesota plays for, and it's also the oldest. The other trophy that the Gophers currently have custody of is the Governor's Victory Bell, the newest of the trophies. It's given to the winner of the Minnesota-Penn State game but has only been in existence since 1993. The Gophers beat the Nittany Lions last year to win it for the first time since 2004.
The other one that head coach Jerry Kill and his staff have won since taking over in 2011 is Floyd of Rosedale, a giant bronze pig that is awarded annually in the game between Minnesota and Iowa. They've battled for that pig since 1935, and Iowa has won the last two matchups.
The only trophy Kill and Co. haven't had yet is Paul Bunyan's Axe, the award in Minnesota's border-battle rivalry with Wisconsin. The Badgers have won it 10 years in a row dating back to 2004. The Gophers won't get a chance to win the Axe until the final game of the regular season.
For now, they'll revel in the excitement that still surrounds claiming the Little Brown Jug. Perhaps Minnesota's bye week this Saturday came at a good time as it affords the Gophers time to celebrate a bit more before turning all of their attention to their next opponent, Northwestern. As nice as Saturday's win was, it could be all for nothing if Minnesota slips up at home next Saturday against the Wildcats.
"The way I look at it now, we won it. We've got to move on," Williams said. "We've got this bye week to get healed up and get ready for Northwestern. We're going to start looking ahead to Northwestern. We've got to celebrate. We've had our fun. But we've got to look ahead to the rest of the season."
Even if the Gophers have already started to look forward to their next opponent, Minnesota's fans are still looking back a few days to relive one of the biggest wins in Kill's four years on campus.
"I'd say through e-mails and people coming up and going to the (Vikings) game on Sunday, everybody wants to touch that Jug," Kill said. "I think there's no question that there's excitement and the state takes great pride in having that Little Brown Jug. That's 110 years of history. There's no question that's energized our fan base and our state."
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