Paul Bunyan Trophy - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Paul Bunyan Trophy

Teams	Michigan Wolverines Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history... Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Spartans football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
Trophy Originated	1953
Trophy Series	Michigan leads, 34–23–2
Current Holder	Michigan State

The Paul Bunyan–Governor of Michigan Trophy is a college rivalry trophy awarded to the winner of the annual American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

game between the Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State Spartans football

The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...

and the Michigan Wolverines

Michigan Wolverines football

The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...

. The winner retains possession of the trophy

Trophy

A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...

until the next year's game. The trophy has been retained by Michigan State since 2008.

The naming of the trophy after the mythical giant lumberjack

Lumberjack

A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...

Paul Bunyan reflects Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

's history as a major lumber

Lumber

Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

-producing state. The trophy was first presented in 1953 (Michigan State's first year as a full Big Ten member) by then-governor G. Mennen Williams

G. Mennen Williams

Gerhard Mennen "Soapy" Williams, , was a politician from the US state of Michigan. An heir to a personal grooming products fortune, he was known as "Soapy," and wore a trademark green bow tie with white polka dots....

, and is a four-foot-high wooden statue on a five-foot-high base.

The University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

and Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

are natural in-state rivals who compete for resources and recruits. Their rivalry extends to all forms of achievement, including athletics. Some of their other athletic rivalries include a hockey rivalry

Michigan–Michigan State ice hockey rivalry

Michigan–Michigan State ice hockey rivalry is a college ice hockey rivalry between Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey and Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey that is part of the larger intrastate rivalry between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University that exists across a...

and a basketball rivalry

Michigan–Michigan State basketball rivalry

Michigan–Michigan State basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry between Michigan Wolverines men's basketball and Michigan State Spartans men's basketball that is part of the larger intrastate rivalry between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University that exists across a...

. Even though Michigan State did not join the Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

until 1950, the two schools have played each other in football annually since 1910, and they first played each other in 1898.

History

The series record for the Paul Bunyan Trophy is 34–23–2 for Michigan as the trophy was not added to the rivalry game until Michigan State became a full member in the Big Ten in 1953 at which point Michigan already held a 33–9–3 edge. At the start of the trophy game series Michigan State held a nearly two decade long period of dominance. From 1950 to 1969 MSU went 14–4–2 against the Wolverines. After the hiring of Bo Schembechler

Bo Schembechler

Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...

in 1969 though, Michigan dominated the series for the next four decades going 30–8 from 1970 to 2007. Michigan holds the longest winning streak at eight (1970–77) and Michigan State holds a current winning streak of four (2008–11) in Paul Bunyan Trophy series history.

1990

"Number One vs. No One" was the tag line spouted by the Michigan faithful. The 1990 game was held in Ann Arbor and Michigan came into the game ranked #1 in the country. With only a a few seconds remaining Michigan scored a TD making the score 28-27 MSU. Michigan coach Gary Moeller

Gary Moeller

Gary O. Moeller is an American football coach best known for being head coach at the University of Michigan from 1990 to 1994. During his five seasons at Michigan, he won 44 games, lost 13 and tied 3 for a winning percentage of .758...

elected to line up for a two point conversion and go for the win. Desmond Howard lined for a pass and was defended by Spartan Eddie Brown. While going out for the pass Desmond stumbled, appeared to have caught the ball for a moment before dropping it as he fell to the turf. It was a controversial play as some Michigan fans feel Howard was interfered with by Brown on the play. No penalty was called. The game ended with a Spartan 28-27 victory.

2001

In 2001, the game ended on a last-second play where Michigan State quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

Jeff Smoker

Jeff Smoker is an American football quarterback who played for the National Football League's St. Louis Rams from 2004 to 2005. He was also the starting quarterback for the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League.-Michigan State:Jeff Smoker attended Michigan State University...

threw a touchdown pass to T. J. Duckett to win the game. The game became known as "Clockgate". The Wolverines had contended that the clock had run out of time before the last play of the game took place. Video evidence was later examined by several media stations and the Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

commissioner of referees declared that the clock call was correct. This incident led to a conference rule change that control of the game clock would be held by a game official instead of a school representative.

2004

The 2004 edition of the rivalry game ended with Michigan defeating Michigan State, 45–37, in the first triple overtime game at Michigan Stadium

Michigan Stadium

Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Before playing football at the stadium, the Wolverines played on Ferry Field...

. Michigan was down 27–10 with 8:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Wolverines managed to tie the game up, 27–27, by the end of the fourth quarter. Michigan proceeded to dispatch Michigan State in three overtimes. Braylon Edwards

Braylon Edwards

-Cleveland Browns:-2005:Edwards began his rookie season as Cleveland's third wide receiver – he would have started higher, but a hold-out caused him to miss the beginning of training camp. Early in the season Edwards revealed that he had a staph infection, and missed a few weeks as a result of it....

led the Wolverines in receiving with 11 receptions for 189 yards and three touchdowns, while Mike Hart carried the ball 33 times for 224 yards.

2005

In 2005, the game once again went into overtime. Again, Michigan emerged victorious, winning 34–31. Michigan twice held leads of 14 points, but Michigan State was able to tie the game 31–31 before heading into overtime. Michigan State had the first possession of overtime, but Michigan State kicker John Goss's field goal attempt was wide right. Afterward, Michigan kicker Garrett Rivas

Garrett Rivas

-College career:As a freshman for the 2003 Wolverines, he was the regular kicker for the team from the start, making four point after touchdowns in the first game of the season...

made a 35-yard field goal to win the game. In his second game playing against the Spartans, Mike Hart rushed for over 200 yards, gaining 218 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries.

2007

The 2007 game marked Michigan's sixth straight win over Michigan State. The Wolverines once again narrowly won with a comeback in the fourth quarter, winning 28–24. Michigan quarterback Chad Henne

Chad Henne

Chad Steven Henne is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.He graduated from Wilson Senior High School and attended the University of Michigan...

led two touchdown drives in the final 7:35 of the fourth quarter of the game, completing touchdown passes to Greg Mathews

Greg Mathews (American football)

-College career:Had a streak of 23 consecutive games with at least one reception starting with the 2007 Michigan Wolverines football season the opening game against the two-time defending FCS champion Appalachian State Mountaineers in.-Pre-draft:-Chicago Bears:...

and Mario Manningham

Mario Manningham

Mario Cashmere Manningham is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Giants in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft...

, to lead the Wolverines back from a 24–14 deficit. Henne finished the game with 18 completions for 211 yards and four touchdowns, while Mario Manningham had eight receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns. After the game, Michigan running back Mike Hart called Michigan State Michigan's "little brother." "I was just laughing,” Hart said of Michigan State taking the lead. “I thought it was funny. They got excited. Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you’re playing basketball, and you let him get the lead, and then you come back and take it back."

2008

The game on October 25, 2008, in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

, was the first UM–MSU game for new Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez

Rich Rodriguez

Richard A. "Rich" Rodriguez is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Arizona. Rodriguez previously served as the head football coach at Salem University , Glenville State College , West Virginia University , and the University...

who, like his four immediate predecessors, lost his first meeting with MSU. Early in the game, Michigan scored on a pass to running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

Brandon Minor

Brandon Ricardo Minor is an American football running back who is currently a member of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2010, but after being released during the final cuts, he has been on the New Orleans Saints and...

, who was only able to get one foot on a pylon. The pass was initially called incomplete, but the play was reviewed and ruled a touchdown. The commissioner of the Big Ten later said the call was wrong. The two teams traded touchdowns for most of the game until MSU broke free in the fourth quarter. The Spartans won the game handily, 35–21.

2009

The next contest took place on October 3, 2009, in East Lansing

East Lansing, Michigan

East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...

. The undefeated, 25th-ranked, Wolverines were expected to defeat the 1–3 Spartans, but Michigan State took the lead in the first quarter and held it for much of the game, extending the lead to 20–6 with a touchdown 13 seconds into the fourth quarter. However, Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier

Tate Forcier

Robert Patrick "Tate" Forcier is an American college football quarterback. He was a starting quarterback for the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team ahead of Denard Robinson and Robinson's back up for the 2010 Michigan Wolverines football team before leaving the program in January 2011...

rallied to tie it up 20–20 with a touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with two seconds remaining. In overtime, Michigan State cornerback

Cornerback

A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

Chris L. Rucker intercepted a tipped pass from Tate Forcier. On MSU's possession, running back Larry Caper scored on a 24-yard touchdown run. It marked the first time Michigan State had won in back-to-back years since winning three straight from 1965 to 1967.

2010

The next game took place in Ann Arbor on October 9, 2010. At one point in the second quarter Michigan led the Spartans 10–7, but the Spartans began a rally and led 17–10 at the half. In the third quarter the Spartans went up 31–10 until the early fourth quarter when Michigan was able to score another touchdown. This game marked the third Spartan victory in a row, including two at Ann Arbor; this was the first time since 1965–1967 that the Spartans had won three consecutive contests against their in-state rival. This game was the first since MSU's victory at home against Notre Dame earlier in the season that coach Mark Dantonio was able to coach the entire game due to a heart attack suffered soon after the ND game. Many MSU players and staff cited his return as a major factor in defeating UM so decisively.

2011

On a windy day in East Lansing, Denard Robinson led the Wolverines to a touchdown on the opening drive. Michigan State answered back with a Edwin Baker touchdown. After two quarters, they were tied 7-7. After a couple of Kirk Cousin touchdowns, the Wolverines answered back with a few turnovers and got within seven. But Robinson threw a pick six and it proved too much of an insurmountable lead for the Wolverines to come back. Through the course of the game, the Michigan State defense accrued several personal foul penalties. Final score was 28-14, Michigan State. Michigan State won for the fourth straight year.

Game results

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External links

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