Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry

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Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry
First meetingNovember 29, 1900
Minnesota, 20–12
Latest meetingAugust 31, 2023
Minnesota, 13–10
Next meeting2025 in Minneapolis
Trophy$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total64
All-time seriesMinnesota leads, 37–25–2 (.594)[1]
Trophy seriesMinnesota leads, 7–3–0 (.700)
Largest victoryNebraska, 84–13 (1983)
Longest win streakNebraska, 16 (1963–2012)
Current win streakMinnesota, 5 (2019–present)
Locations of Minnesota and Nebraska

The Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team of the University of Minnesota and the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team of the University of Nebraska.

History

The rivalry can be separated into distinct eras, the first two being Minnesota's glory days, followed by Nebraska's rise to prominence. These match-ups took place when the schools were non-conference rivals, facing each other on a semi-regular basis from 1900 to 1974, then on a more intermittent basis until 1990. The Big Ten era started in 2011, when Nebraska joined the conference and played in the Legends Division (now the West Division) with Minnesota.[2] The trophy era began in 2014 with the creation of the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy.

Minnesota leads the series 36–25–2, due in large part to a 29-6-2 record against Nebraska from 1900 to 1960. Minnesota gave Nebraska their worst home loss ever with a 61–7 win in 1945. From 1960 to 2018, Nebraska went 19–3 against Minnesota, winning 16 straight games from 1963 to 2012, with an average margin of victory over 30 points. However, since that time, the Gophers have won five consecutive games against the Cornhuskers.

1983

On September 17, 1983, No. 1 Nebraska, coming off a 44–6 week one win over No. 4 Penn State, traveled to Minneapolis. Nebraska racked up 790 yards of offense, nearly 600 of them rushing, en route to an 84–13 win over the Gophers, the worst loss in Minnesota history. Nebraska wide receiver Irving Fryar, who would go on to be the top pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, managed 230 yards of offense on five touches (three carries for 92 yards; two receptions for 138 yards). Future Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier carried 15 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns.[3] Nebraska's entire 60-man travel roster had entered the game before the end of the third quarter.[citation needed]

The Cornhuskers would go on to set the all-time NCAA scoring record, while the Gophers lost their final ten games and finished 1–10.

$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy

The origin of the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy is rooted in November 2014 banter between the Twitter accounts for Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher and "Faux Pelini", a parody account of then-Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini.[4] Goldy suggested a wager on the game with this tweet: "Hey @FauxPelini, how about a friendly wager for this weekend's game? Team that gets the most points gets a conference win? Seem fair?"[5] Faux Pelini responded "OK how about if we [Nebraska] win you give me $5, if you [Minnesota] win I get to smash a wooden chair over your back".[6] This prompted Goldy to start crowdsourcing Twitter followers and Reddit's college football community to design the "$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy".[7] Many designs were quickly presented and eventually Goldy created a real trophy, which was brought to the 2014 game in Lincoln. Minnesota won 28–24 to take the trophy, their first victory in Lincoln since 1960; it also gave Minnesota their first winning streak against Nebraska since their 3-game streak from 1951 to 1954.[8]

The trophy received widespread acceptance from both fanbases, but both universities' administrations remained silent. The trophy changed hands for the first time on October 17, 2015, after Nebraska defeated Minnesota 48–25 in Minneapolis. Although Nebraska distanced itself from the trophy, in the weeks following the Cornhuskers' 2015 victory, the chair was seen with players and coaches, and made several appearances on the school's social media pages.[9] It was also taken to Minnesota spirit events by fans.[10]

In 2016, after Nebraska defeated Minnesota in Lincoln, the trophy seemingly disappeared. Inquiries to the Nebraska and Minnesota athletic departments revealed that neither school formally recognized the trophy as official, in a similar manner to the Floyd of Rosedale or Little Brown Jug. This essentially temporarily ended the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy in any major capacity.[11]

On September 12, 2017, it was announced, via Twitter, that Nebraska and Minnesota would again play for the $5 Bits of Broken Chair trophy, likely as an unofficial trophy game.[12] Following an initial Reddit post where Huskers fans brainstormed ideas to keep the trophy alive, a new trophy was built.[13] The trophy now serves as the focal point of fundraisers for Nebraska's Team Jack Foundation and Minnesota's Masonic Children's Hospital.[14] The image of Faux Pelini on the $5 bill has been replaced with Herbie Husker. The other $5 bill still bears a picture of Goldy Gopher.[14]

Game results

Minnesota victoriesNebraska victoriesTie games
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 November 29, 1900 Lincoln Minnesota 20–12
2 October 12, 1901 Minneapolis Minnesota 19–0
3 October 18, 1902 Minneapolis Nebraska 6–0
4 October 29, 1904 Minneapolis Minnesota 16–12
5 November 18, 1905 Minneapolis Minnesota 35–0
6 November 3, 1906 Minneapolis Minnesota 13–0
7 October 19, 1907 Minneapolis Minnesota 8–5
8 October 17, 1908 Minneapolis Tie0–0
9 October 16, 1909 Omaha Minnesota 14–0
10 October 16, 1910 Minneapolis Minnesota 27–0
11 October 21, 1911 Minneapolis Minnesota 21–3
12 October 19, 1912 Minneapolis Minnesota 13–0
13 October 18, 1913 Lincoln Nebraska 7–0
14 October 11, 1919 Minneapolis Tie6–6
15 October 15, 1932 Minneapolis Minnesota 7–6
16 October 6, 1934 Minneapolis Minnesota 20–0
17 October 12, 1935 Lincoln Minnesota 12–7
18 October 10, 1936 Minneapolis Minnesota 14–9
19 October 2, 1937 Lincoln Nebraska 14–9
20 October 1, 1938 Minneapolis Minnesota 16–7
21 October 7, 1939 Lincoln Nebraska 6–0
22 October 5, 1940 Minneapolis Minnesota 13–7
23 November 8, 1941 Minneapolis Minnesota 9–0
24 October 17, 1942 Lincoln Minnesota 15–2
25 October 2, 1943 Minneapolis No. 9 Minnesota 54–0
26 September 30, 1944 Minneapolis Minnesota 39–0
27 October 6, 1945 Lincoln Minnesota 61–7
28 September 28, 1946 Minneapolis Minnesota 33–6
29 October 4, 1947 Lincoln Minnesota 28–13
30 October 2, 1948 Minneapolis Minnesota 39–13
31 October 1, 1949 Lincoln Minnesota 28–6
32 October 7, 1950 Minneapolis Nebraska 32–26
33 October 20, 1951 Minneapolis Minnesota 39–20
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
34 November 15, 1952 Lincoln Minnesota 13–7
35 September 25, 1954 Minneapolis Minnesota 19–7
36 September 26, 1959 Minneapolis Nebraska 32–12
37 September 24, 1960 Lincoln Minnesota 26–14
38 September 28, 1963 Minneapolis Nebraska 14–7
39 September 26, 1964 Minneapolis Nebraska 26–21
40 September 30, 1967 Lincoln No. 7 Nebraska 7–0
41 September 28, 1968 Minneapolis No. 9 Nebraska 17–14
42 October 4, 1969 Minneapolis Nebraska 42–14
43 October 3, 1970 Minneapolis No. 6 Nebraska 35–10
44 September 18, 1971 Lincoln No. 1 Nebraska 35–7
45 September 30, 1972 Lincoln No. 7 Nebraska 49–0
46 October 6, 1973 Minneapolis No. 2 Nebraska 48–7
47 October 5, 1974 Lincoln No. 6 Nebraska 54–0
48 September 17, 1983 Minneapolis No. 1 Nebraska 84–13
49 September 15, 1984 Lincoln No. 1 Nebraska 38–7
50 September 23, 1989 Minneapolis No. 3 Nebraska 48–0
51 September 22, 1990 Lincoln No. 8 Nebraska 56–0
52 October 22, 2011 Minneapolis No. 13 Nebraska 41–14
53 November 17, 2012 Lincoln No. 16 Nebraska 38–14
54 October 26, 2013 Minneapolis Minnesota 34–23
55 November 22, 2014 Lincoln No. 25 Minnesota 28–24
56 October 17, 2015 Minneapolis Nebraska 48–25
57 November 12, 2016 Lincoln No. 21 Nebraska 24–17
58 November 11, 2017 Minneapolis Minnesota 54–21
59 October 20, 2018 Lincoln Nebraska 53–28
60 October 12, 2019 Minneapolis Minnesota 34–7
61 December 12, 2020 Lincoln Minnesota 24–17
62 October 16, 2021 Minneapolis Minnesota 30–23
63 November 5, 2022 Lincoln Minnesota 20–13
64August 31, 2023 Minneapolis Minnesota 13–10
Series: Minnesota leads 37–25–2[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Winsipedia - Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers football series history".
  2. ^ Wehling, Mike (September 12, 2017). "Nebraska Cornhuskers Renew Old-School Rivalry with Minnesota Gophers". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  3. ^ "Gophers-Nebraska series goes from rivalry to rout-fest". Star Tribune. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  4. ^ Nebraska vs. Minnesota: Faux Pelini and Goldy Gopher Create A Trophy, The Daily Gopher, November 21, 2014, accessed April 29, 2015.
  5. ^ Gopher, Goldy. "Hey @FauxPelini, how about a friendly wager for this weekend's game? Team that gets the most points gets a conference win? Seem fair?".
  6. ^ Pelini, Fake Bo. "@GoldytheGopher OK how about if we win you give me $5, if you win I get to smash a wooden chair over your back".
  7. ^ The Internet made a Minnesota-Nebraska rivalry trophy actually worth caring about, SB Nation, November 23, 2014, accessed April 29, 2015.
  8. ^ "Minnesota vs. Nebraska - Game Recap - November 22, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  9. ^ "Huskers Beat Minnesota 48-25: Broken Chair Trophy Celebration Thread!". SB Nation. October 17, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  10. ^ The Big Ten's favorite rivalry trophy made an appearance tonight... accessed April 29, 2015.
  11. ^ Furley, Adam (November 18, 2016). "What happened to the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy?". 93.7 FM The Ticket. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016. Alt URL
  12. ^ Callahan, Sean (September 12, 2017). "Just learned today the Nebraska vs. Minnesota "Chair Trophy" is coming back! @TeamJack @ @UMNChildrens are involved with it. Stay tuned...pic.twitter.com/Wr10oZrlGE". @Sean_Callahan. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  13. ^ "The New Bits of Broken Chair Trophy is Designed to Never Die". Hail Varsity. September 19, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Mullin, Luke. "$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy is officially back in action". The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved October 13, 2017.