THE PAUL BUNYAN TROPHY

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 runs deep in the heart of the people of Michigan because most people are a fan of one team or the other.

HISTORY


The University of Michigan has held the trophy since 2002. Most recently, the team retained it in an overtime 34-31 upset of #11-ranked Michigan State on October 1, 2005, 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 is disputed. 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.

Michigan leads the series with a record of 32-19-2 over the Spartans.

THIS SATURDAY OCTOBER 7TH, 2006 THESE TWO TEAMS WILL SQUARE OFF FOR THIS TROPHY ! !