The Little Brown Jug: A College Football Rivalry Born for 30 Cents

A Lifetime of Rivalry for Just 30 Cents 

Minnesota and Michigan’s Battle for The Little Brown Jug* 

By Denis M. Crawford, College Football Hall of Fame Historian 

*First in a four-part series on rivalry trophies 

“Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink,” is the lament of the sailors in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It was also a primary concern of Michigan Hall of Fame coach Fielding Yost heading into a 1903 game at Minnesota.  

Fearing the Gophers would not provide his team with clean drinking water, Yost ordered his team manager to purchase a jug of water. The stone jug the manager acquired cost 30 cents. Following a hard-fought 6-6 tie, Yost and his Wolverines traveled back to Ann Arbor but inadvertently left the jug behind. And thus, a rivalry trophy known as the Little Brown Jug was born that Michigan and Minnesota will battle to win for the 100th time this Saturday.  

The Challenge 

Minnesota equipment manager Oscar Munson found the forgotten jug and brought it to athletic director Louis Cooke. The two men painted the jug brown and inscribed it: “Michigan jug captured by Oscar – October 31, 1903.” Cooke had the jug suspended from the ceiling of his office for several years.  

The two teams did not play again until 1909 when the Wolverines returned to Minneapolis. At a pep rally before the game, Cooke told John McGovern, Minnesota’s consensus All-America team captain, “tell that Michigan captain they can have their jug back if they beat us tomorrow.”  

The Wolverines did just that, winning 15-6 and taking their jug back to Ann Arbor. Yost and Cooke entered into an agreement to make the jug the winner’s trophy. Since that day, the two teams have battled for the Little Brown Jug. 

The Trophy Goes Missing 

There is nothing particularly special about this five-gallon stoneware jug. It is painted half blue (Michigan) and half maroon (Minnesota) with the final score of each game hand-painted on its surface. But folkloric value is immeasurable and an incident in the 1930s shows just how important the Little Brown Jug became.  

Fielding Yost reported the Little Brown Jug stolen in 1931. Almost immediately, Yost claimed the jug had been “found” at a gas station in Ann Arbor. Oscar Munson, who had picked up the jug from the Michigan sideline in 1903 was skeptical. “They’ve been passing off a phony since 1927,” Munson told the press. “(Yost) wanted the jug for himself and took it.” Yost protested, stating, “It’s the real jug. Look at it! Does it look like a phony?” 

When another jug was found in 1933 under some bushes on the Michigan campus, a chagrined Yost had to confess that he had fabricated the story of the replacement, and that the newly “found” jug was the authentic original. “I hope that someday the person who had the jug the two years it was missing will write me a letter and tell me the story of what was done with it while it was gone,” Yost said. “I’d like to have its complete story.” The fact that the “theft,” “recovery,” and Yost’s “claim” were chronicled on front pages in Minnesota and Michigan shows the importance of the Little Brown Jug.  

Michigan faculty member Greg Dooley has done extensive research on the Little Brown Jug and states it is possible the original was broken and replaced in the 1920s. After consulting with pottery experts and studying countless photos of the original Dooley feels there is a good possibility the Little Brown Jug being played for now is the 1903 original, but that it is more likely from the 1920s.  

Series History 

The Gophers dominated in the years following the recovery/replacement of the original, winning nine consecutive games in the series (1934-42). Michigan has dominated since then, leading the all-time series 78-25-3. Hall of Fame coach Bo Schembechler went 19-2 against Minnesota during his tenure (1969-89), helping the Wolverines to pull away dramatically in the series.  

Whether the Little Brown Jug dates to 1903 or sometime in the 1920s, the important thing is that it continues to give the Michigan – Minnesota game a level of importance for players, coaches, and fans to enjoy. It was true the first time, and it is true the 100th.