Paul Bunyan Trophy
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| Paul Bunyan Trophy | |
| Teams | Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans |
| Originated | 1953 |
| Trophy Series | Michigan leads, 34-19-2 |
| Current Holder | Michigan |
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| Michigan (34) 1954 1955 1964 1968 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1985 1986 1988 1989 1991 1992 1994 1996 1997 1998 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 |
Michigan State (19) 1953 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1965 1966 1967 1969 1978 1984 1987 1990 1993 1995 1999 2001 |
| Ties (2) 1958 1963 |
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The Paul Bunyan-Governor of Michigan Trophy is a college rivalry trophy awarded to the winner of the annual American football game between the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans. The winner retains possession of the trophy until the next year's game.
The naming of the trophy after the mythical giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan reflects Michigan's history as a major lumber-producing state. The trophy was first presented in 1953 by then-governor G. Mennen Williams, and is a four-foot high wooden statue on a five-foot high base.
This rivalry is intense in the state of Michigan, as most residents support one of the two teams.
The Paul Bunyan is not to be confused with Paul Bunyan's Axe, which is annually given to the winner of the game between the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (both of which are also in the Big Ten Conference).
The overall series is 28-67-5. The 100th annual game was played on November 3, 2007.
[edit] History
The University of Michigan has held the trophy since 2002. Most recently the team retained it with a 28-24 win on November 3, 2007, in East Lansing.
The last Michigan State victory was in 2001 in Spartan Stadium, a game that has since been called Clockgate. The game ended on a controversial last-second play where Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker threw a touchdown pass to T.J. Duckett to win the game. The Wolverines had contended that the clock had run out of time before the last play of the game took place; video evidence of this was examined by several media stations and the big ten commissioner of referees declared that the clock call was correct. Still, this led to a Big Ten rule change that control of the game clock would be held by a game official instead of a school representative.
Since the trophy was introduced, Michigan has won 34 times, Michigan State has won 19 times, and there have been two ties.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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