Big Ten Rivalry Trophies

The Land Grant Trophy & Governors’ Victory Bell—

Historically, Big Ten football has a thing for “rivalry trophies” dating back decades—Little Brown Jug, Paul Bunyan’s Axe, and so on. Penn State’s arrival in the Big Ten for the 1993 football season as its 11th member presented a perceived need to create a rival or rivals for the Nittany Lions. And so, the Land Grant Trophy (Michigan State) and the Governors’ Victory Bell (Minnesota) were born. One makes a little sense while the other is a stretch, at best.

The Governors’ Victory Bell was the first to be awarded in 1993 because Minnesota was scheduled to be the sacrificial lamb at Penn State’s first Big Ten Conference contest on September 4th. The 17th ranked Nittany Lions feasted on the unranked Golden Gophers in the season opener, 38-20. Other than the victory, the so-called trophy game had little additional meaning to Penn State or Minnesota. Minnesota had never played Penn State in football prior to this moment, and it had several other longstanding league rivals like Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. The two would also not play each other regularly (only 16 times in the first 30 seasons of its existence), due in part, to playing in different divisions from the 2011 through 2023 seasons. But the series has produced number of really close games including 2 overtime wins for PSU in 2006 and 2016, the latter of which turned into a season-saving game. The Victory Bell game was also combined with the Whiteout & Homecoming in 2022 and It delivered a nail-biting 26-25 PSU victory in 2024 at Minneapolis.

The Land Grant Trophy game with Michigan State probably made the most sense when it debuted in 1993. The Big Ten was using the real history of schools as the two original “Lincoln-era” Morrill Land Grant colleges from 1862 law to create the sense of rivalry. That concept was also boosted by the plan to make Michigan State PSU’s regular season-ending rival, stepping into the role vacated by Pitt (although divisional adjustments after 2010, and other scheduling issues, have meant that this game is not played every season, and is not always the “season-ender”). Prior to the Big Ten, Penn State and Michigan State had a history of playing each other in a series of 10 games that ran from 1914 to 1966. And, that pre-Big Ten series was very lopsided in favor of the Spartans—Penn state was 1-8-1 with 5 straight setbacks in the final 5 games since the 14-14 tie in 1948. Penn State’s lone win came in 1925, 13-6, at New Beaver Field. (NOTE: That series also had two scheduled games in 1943 and ‘44 cancelled, in part, due to World War II varsity sports participation limitations placed on US Army personnel on the Michigan State College campus).

The biggest issue surrounding the Land Grant Trophy game might simply be the Land Grant Trophy itself. It is quite simply unattractive. It’s on the hefty side, too, weighing-in at around 50 pounds. The story goes that the designer of the trophy was Michigan State head coach George Perles (1983-1994) who would lose both of the Land Grant games he coached. It might be the only trophy that should, in reality, be presented to the loser.

The first Land Grant Trophy game in 1993 featured wintry precipitation in East Lansing, Michigan where PSU was 0-4 in the pre-Big Ten series. Over 53,000 fans plus an ABC-TV audience watched the #25 Spartans slip out to a 13-0 lead over the 14th ranked Nittany Lions. Penn State trailed by 6 at the half and fell behind 37-17 in the third quarter. Then, in what might have been a foreshadowing of the offense to come in 1994, the Lions exploded in lightning-style as the defense completely shut down the Spartans. Late in the third, a Derek Bochna interception sets the table for Kerry Colins who connects with Bobby Engram for 40 yards to cut the gap to 37-24. MSU then fumbles at the PSU 40 and two minutes later Brian O’Neal scores from 3 yards out and it’s a one possession game. The Spartans go 3-and-out, and Collins strikes again. Fourth quarter with about 11 and a half minutes to play, Penn State is 1st and 10 at its 48. From the I-formation, Collins with a play-action fake to Tailback Mike Archie as he drops to pass. Engram who had been split wide right at the numbers has his man beat on the go route and Kerry drops the bomb right into Bobby’s hands at the 9. The MSU safety arrives too late to help, Engram scores easily, and heads for a pile of snow near the stands behind the endzone where he removes his helmet to rejoice with PSU fans seated there. The Nittany Lions lead 38-37 with 11:21 to go and the defense does the rest with 3 sacks on the Spartans final possession for the one-point win in Land Grant One (the first of 4 straight wins in the new series). Kerry Collins threw for 352 yards and 3 TDs on the day. It was the best performance yard-wise by a PSU quarterback since Todd Blackledge passed for 358 yards in a 1981 loss at Miami.

Michigan State’s first Land Grant win came in 1997 under not-yet-legendary head coach Nick Saban (MSU 1995-99)—a 49-14 blowout of #4 PSU in East Lansing. Saban won his second and final trophy in 1999 capping the infamous Penn State end-of-season collapse to the “Three M’s” of the Big Ten (Minnesota, Michigan, & MSU) by a score of 35-28 in East Lansing.