EWU–UM Governors Cup
Encyclopedia
| EWU–UM Governors Cup | |
| Teams | Eastern Washington Eastern Washington Eagles football The Eastern Washington Eagles football team represents Eastern Washington University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision... Montana Montana Grizzlies football The Montana Grizzlies football program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference, where it is a founding member, since 1963... |
| Originated | 1938 |
| Trophy series | Montana leads, 26-11-1 |
| Current holder | Montana |
The EWU–UM Governors Cup is the annual college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game between the University of Montana
University of Montana - Missoula
The University of Montana ‒ Missoula is a public research university located in Missoula, Montana, in the United States. Founded in 1893, the university is the flagship campus of the four-campus University of Montana System and is its largest institution...
Grizzlies and the Eastern Washington University
Eastern Washington University
Eastern Washington University is an American public, coeducational university located in Cheney, Washington.Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided into four colleges: Arts and Letters; Business and Public Administration; Science, Health and Engineering; and Social & Behavioral...
Eagles.
History
Traditionally, the Governors Cup is a very intense and heated rivalry between these two teams, mainly because the winner of the game usually is in the running to be the champion of the Big Sky ConferenceBig Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...
.
In the past 7 seasons the winner of the game has gone on to the playoffs. The rivalry between the two teams is so popular that the game has also sold out the past 7 years. The game is usually played in the middle of the regular season, played on the Saturday alternating between Roos Field and Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Washington-Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Missoula, Montana, located on the campus of the University of Montana. It is home to the Montana Grizzlies college football team, a dominant program of the Big Sky Conference and consistently a top team in Division I FCS, formerly known...
each year. From 1967-2004 (except for 1974),EWU hosted the game at Spokane's
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
Joe Albi Stadium
Joe Albi Stadium
Joe Albi Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Spokane, Washington. Primarily used for football, it is located in the northwest part of the city, just east of the Spokane River. It opened in 1950 as "Memorial Stadium," with a natural grass field, cinder running track, and a seating capacity of...
.
The Montana Grizzlies currently lead in the rivalry with 25 wins and 11 losses. There has been only one tie, which occurred in 1984.
Game results
EWLINE
|
Roos Field
With more than 2,000 bleachers added, record crowds of 11,702 in 2010 and 11,583 in 2006 attended the showdowns with Montana, the most recent match up in 2010 was won by the Eagles. The previous record before 2004 was 6,879 for the Eastern - Idaho game on Oct. 17, 1992, when temporary bleachers were employed in addition to the 5,000 permanent seats. The top 25 attendances at Roos Field have come since the early 1990s, including the top eight in the last three seasons.On February 26, 2010, ESPN reported that Eastern Washington planned to remove the natural turf at Woodward Field and replace it with red SprinTurf, making it the second Division 1 college football program to have a non-green playing surface (Boise State of the WAC has a blue surface). On May 20, 2010 the Eastern Washington Board of Trustees approved a name change to Roos Field, scheduled for the 2010 season, upon the successful completion of the project.
Washington-Grizzly Stadium
The stadium is named after construction magnate Dennis Washington, a Montana business pioneer who donated $1 million to finance the stadium's construction in 1985. The stadium has been expanded three times since its opening in 1986, most recently in 2008 with an upper deck expansion of 2,000 seats on the east side.The original seating capacity in 1986 was 12,500 permanent seats on the sidelines with open grass seating behind the end zones, an approximate capacity of 15,000. Permanent seating for the end zones was installed in 1995, which brought the seating capacity to over 19,000. The most recent expansion in 2008 brought the seating capacity to over 25,000.