Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry

Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry

Teams	Minnesota Golden Gophers Nebraska Cornhuskers
Trophy	$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy

The Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Nebraska Cornhuskers.

History

The rivalry can be split into four eras. The first two eras are Minnesota's glory days, and Nebraska's rise to prominence. These eras took place when the teams were non-conference rivals. They played each other on a fairly regular basis from 1900 until 1974, then on a much more intermittent basis until 1990. The Big Ten era started in 2011, when Nebraska joined and was in the Legends Division with Minnesota. The trophy era began in 2014, with the creation of the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy. Minnesota leads the series 31–22–2; from 1900–60, they went 29–6–2 against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers then won the next 16 games; the last 14 (1969–2012) were major blowouts, such as the 84–13 drubbing in 1983, the worst loss in Minnesota history.

$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy

The origin of the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy is rooted in November 2014 banter between the Twitter accounts for Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher and "Faux Pelini", a parody account for Bo Pelini, Nebraska's head coach at the time. In response to a recent increase in traveling trophies in the Big Ten, specifically the introduction of the Freedom Trophy two weeks prior in an effort to manufacture a rivalry between Wisconsin and Nebraska, Goldy suggested a wager on the game with this tweet: "Hey @FauxPelini, how about a friendly wager for this weekend's game? Team that gets the most points gets a conference win? Seem fair?" Faux Pelini responded "OK how about if we (Nebraska) win you give me $5, if you (Minnesota) win I get to smash a wooden chair over your back". This prompted Goldy to start crowdsourcing Twitter followers and the community at Reddit's college football section to design the "$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy". Many designs were quickly presented and eventually Goldy created a real trophy, which was brought to the 2014 game in Lincoln. Minnesota won 28–24 to take the trophy, their first victory in Lincoln since 1960. It received widespread acceptance from both fanbases, and has since been subsequently displayed at Minnesota's spirit events with other trophies such as Floyd of Rosedale and the Little Brown Jug. The trophy changed hands for the first time on October 17, 2015 after Nebraska defeated Minnesota 48–25 in Minneapolis.

Game results

Minnesota victories

Nebraska victories

Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winning team		Losing team		Series
1	November 29, 1900	Lincoln	Minnesota	20	Nebraska	12	Minnesota 1–0
2	October 12, 1901	Minneapolis	Minnesota	19	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 2–0
3	October 18, 1902	Minneapolis	Nebraska	6	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 2–1
4	October 29, 1904	Minneapolis	Minnesota	16	Nebraska	12	Minnesota 3–1
5	November 18, 1905	Minneapolis	Minnesota	35	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 4–1
6	November 3, 1906	Minneapolis	Minnesota	13	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 5–1
7	October 19, 1907	Minneapolis	Minnesota	8	Nebraska	5	Minnesota 6–1
8	October 17, 1908	Minneapolis	Tie	0	Tie	0	Minnesota 6–1–1
9	October 16, 1909	Omaha	Minnesota	14	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 7–1–1
10	October 16, 1910	Minneapolis	Minnesota	27	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 8–1–1
11	October 21, 1911	Minneapolis	Minnesota	21	Nebraska	3	Minnesota 9–1–1
12	October 19, 1912	Minneapolis	Minnesota	13	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 10–1–1
13	October 18, 1913	Lincoln	Nebraska	7	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 10–2–1
14	October 11, 1919	Minneapolis	Tie	6	Tie	6	Minnesota 10–2–2
15	October 15, 1932	Minneapolis	Minnesota	7	Nebraska	6	Minnesota 11–2–2
16	October 6, 1934	Minneapolis	Minnesota	20	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 12–2–2
17	October 12, 1935	Lincoln	Minnesota	12	Nebraska	7	Minnesota 13–2–2
18	October 10, 1936	Minneapolis	Minnesota	14	Nebraska	9	Minnesota 14–2–2
19	October 2, 1937	Lincoln	Nebraska	14	Minnesota	9	Minnesota 14–3–2
20	October 1, 1938	Minneapolis	Minnesota	16	Nebraska	7	Minnesota 15–3–2
21	October 7, 1939	Lincoln	Nebraska	6	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 15–4–2
22	October 5, 1940	Minneapolis	Minnesota	13	Nebraska	7	Minnesota 16–4–2
23	November 8, 1941	Minneapolis	Minnesota	9	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 17–4–2
24	October 17, 1942	Lincoln	Minnesota	15	Nebraska	2	Minnesota 18–4–2
25	October 2, 1943	Minneapolis	#9 Minnesota	54	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 19–4–2
26	September 30, 1944	Minneapolis	Minnesota	39	Nebraska	0	Minnesota 20–4–2
27	October 6, 1945	Lincoln	Minnesota	61	Nebraska	7	Minnesota 21–4–2
28	September 28, 1946	Minneapolis	Minnesota	33	Nebraska	6	Minnesota 22–4–2
29	October 4, 1947	Lincoln	Minnesota	28	Nebraska	13	Minnesota 23–4–2
30	October 2, 1948	Minneapolis	Minnesota	39	Nebraska	13	Minnesota 24–4–2
31	October 1, 1949	Lincoln	Minnesota	28	Nebraska	6	Minnesota 25–4–2
32	October 7, 1950	Minneapolis	Nebraska	32	Minnesota	26	Minnesota 25–5–2
33	October 20, 1951	Minneapolis	Minnesota	39	Nebraska	20	Minnesota 26–5–2
34	November 15, 1952	Lincoln	Minnesota	13	Nebraska	7	Minnesota 27–5–2
35	September 25, 1954	Minneapolis	Minnesota	19	Nebraska	7	Minnesota 28–5–2
36	September 26, 1959	Minneapolis	Nebraska	32	Minnesota	12	Minnesota 28–6–2
37	September 24, 1960	Lincoln	Minnesota	26	#12 Nebraska	14	Minnesota 29–6–2
38	September 28, 1963	Minneapolis	Nebraska	14	Minnesota	7	Minnesota 29–7–2
39	September 26, 1964	Minneapolis	Nebraska	26	Minnesota	21	Minnesota 29–8–2
40	September 30, 1967	Lincoln	#7 Nebraska	7	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 29–9–2
41	September 28, 1968	Minneapolis	#9 Nebraska	17	#17 Minnesota	14	Minnesota 29–10–2
42	October 4, 1969	Minneapolis	Nebraska	42	Minnesota	14	Minnesota 29–11–2
43	October 3, 1970	Minneapolis	#6 Nebraska	35	Minnesota	10	Minnesota 29–12–2
44	September 18, 1971	Lincoln	#1 Nebraska	35	Minnesota	7	Minnesota 29–13–2
45	September 30, 1972	Lincoln	#7 Nebraska	49	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 29–14–2
46	October 6, 1973	Minneapolis	#2 Nebraska	48	Minnesota	7	Minnesota 29–15–2
47	October 5, 1974	Lincoln	#6 Nebraska	54	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 29–16–2
48	September 17, 1983	Minneapolis	#1 Nebraska	84	Minnesota	13	Minnesota 29–17–2
49	September 15, 1984	Lincoln	#1 Nebraska	38	Minnesota	7	Minnesota 29–18–2
50	September 23, 1989	Minneapolis	#3 Nebraska	48	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 29–19–2
51	September 22, 1990	Lincoln	#8 Nebraska	56	Minnesota	0	Minnesota 29–20–2
52	October 22, 2011	Minneapolis	#13 Nebraska	41	Minnesota	14	Minnesota 29–21–2
53	November 17, 2012	Lincoln	#16 Nebraska	38	Minnesota	14	Minnesota 29–22–2
54	October 13, 2013	Minneapolis	Minnesota	34	#21 Nebraska	23	Minnesota 30–22–2
55	November 22, 2014	Lincoln	#25 Minnesota	28	#21 Nebraska	24	Minnesota 31–22–2
56	October 17, 2015	Minneapolis	Nebraska	48	Minnesota	25	Minnesota 31–23–2