Gridiron rivalries produce spirited mayhem
November marks the start of the
heart of many football schedules at
universities across the nation. It is
a time when pride is on the line as
teams meet their archrivals.
U. The National College
Newspaper asked college editors
and sportswriters to report on what
makes these rivalries tick. Each
reporter was asked to cover a region I
of the country.
This list is not meant to be com
prehensive. U. recognizes some
bias, especially when a reporter
looked at a rivalry involving his or
her respective school. Nevertheless,
these examples reflect the spirit of
rivalries nationwide.
SOUTHEAST
By Christopher J Rings
■ The Miami Hurricane
U of Miami. FL
1'. of Notre Dame at U. of Miami,
Nov. 25 Although relatively new
among college football rivalries, the U
of Miami l of Notre Dame senes has
quickly blossomed into a war that trail
scends football It is most clearly a battle
between old and new
Notre Dame represents tradition in
college football. In contrast, the Miami
Hurricanes the “Thant of the ’80s"
have developed a flashy, pro-like passing
offense and have strayed olT the sum
dard path of college football a path the
Irish cut.
Although they trail in the overall
senes 6-14-1 . Miami hus won five of the
seven times the teams have met in the
80s Hurricane tans didn’t really consid
er the series a rivalry until List season
when the Irish detested Miami in a game
that decided the National
Championship seven weeks before the
season ended.
And the rivalry has gotten nasty So
nasty that after this year 's game, the two
teams won’t meet again in regular sea
son play until 1992.
U. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa at
Auburn l'., Dec. 2 l of Alabama and
Auburn U. have wrangled for state supe
nority in the Iron Bowl since before foot
bail players wore helmets The Auburn
Tigers won the initial meeting m 1892,
hut the Crimson Tide holds a 20 22 1
senes edge
For an IS-game stretch, the rivalry
was as much a contest between coaches
as plovers, with Alabama couching great
Paul "Hear" Hrvant and Auburn's Slmg
.Ionian matching wits Bryant won five
national titles during that (xiriod
Traditionally, the game is played on
neutral ground m Birmingham, but this
year. Auburn will play host to the fide
m tile season finale for Ixith teams
l!. of Georgia at lof Florida, Nov.
18 — 1' of Georgia is -afe until at least
2009 Whv? Because the Bulldogs hold a
20-game, 12-22 2 advantage over the
Gators in a rivalry that started m 1915
The game is played each year at the
Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Fla , less
than an hour from Georgia's southern
See SOUTHEAST, Page 22
ALAN GIB SOU 'M* t •'JN('i ttt ACH UNION Al r»Uft
♦Aj rifcACH
NORTHEAST
By Lori Shontz
■ The Penn State Daily Collegian
Pennsylvania State U.
Army vs. Navy, at the
Meadowiands Dec. 5) The biggest
football rivalry in the Northeast started
liefore the I S Military Academy even
had a team. In 1892. some Midshipmen
from the Naval Academy stopped in
West Point and challenged some Army
Cadets to a game “We didn’t have a
team, but once we were challenged we
got one.” said Madeline Salami of Army
sports information.
Once the rivalry started, the teams
alternated playing sites. Because dis
tance prevented the visiting school from
sending fans. Army plebes first-year
students — were forced to cheer for Navy
when Army hosted the game and vice
versa.
Today, all of the more than 4,000
cadets and midshipmen attend the
game. In fact, all students from each
school march onto the field before the
game begins
Pennsylvania State U. at l.'. of
Pittburgh, Nov. 25 Penn State and
Pitt have met on the field 89 years in
what is known as the battle for
Pennsylvania. “And there's a big differ
ence between the two schools Pitt’s
urban. Penn State's in a country setting
So the differences enhance the rivalry
even more,’’ said Kimball Smith. Pitt's
sport information director
The Penn State student section often
becomes frenzied when the Panthers
visit. “My freshman year, there were all
kinds of fights on the field and the sta
dium,” Penn State senior Dana Pennett
said “It was crazy, the goalposts came
down and everything.” Many Penn State
students don't care if the Lions lose every
game of the year, as long as they beat the
See NORTHEAST. Page 23
WEST
UCLA at CSC, Nov. 18 — Most rival
ries involve teams within the same state,
but very few involve perennial powers
whose campuses are located only 15
miles apart. The Pacific Ten Conference
Championship has been on the line 34
times in the game’s 60-year history with
USC leading the series, 33-19-6.
Each year, both UCLA’s Bruin statue
and USC’s Tommy Trojan statue are cov
ered with canvas and plastic during the
week before the game. This practice was
liegun in the 1950s sixin after several
UCLA fans rented a helicopter and
dropped manure on Tommy Irojan.
U. of Arizona at Arizona State U-,
Nov. 25— Guarding the‘A’that sits atop
a mountain next to .Arizona State U.’s
home stadium is a chief concern of State
students. Each year the game is played
in Tompe, including two years ago when
the Arizona State U. radio station
promised 21-hour security, U of Arizona
fans climb the mountain and paint the
'A' blue and rod Arizona colors.
The rivalry between the two runs deep
in all sports. 'They can meet from tiddly
winks to any sport, and people get fired
up around here,’ said JefTMunn, sports
information student assistant at
Arizona State U. Arizona leads the series
35-26-1
U. of California, Berkely at
Stanford U., Nov. 18 — Known as the
Big Game, the rivalry between the
California Golden Bears and the
Stanford Cardinal, which leads the
series 4.3-37-11, started in 1892. College
football buffs no doubt remember an
infamous incident in the 1982 game
where a Stanford kick-off with seconds
left resulted in five laterals and a
California score to tie the game. What
made the incident infamous, aside from
Stanford losing a bowl bid, was when the
See WEST, Page 23
By Bob Pockrass
• The I ndiana iHy it idei t
Indiana U
Ohio State U. at l;. of Michigan,
Nov. 25 — The l' of Michigan
Wolverines have a rivalry with almost
every opponent, but the one with the
greatest impact in the Big Ten
Conference is against the Buckeyes of
Ohm State L’ Always played during the
final week of the conference season, the
game has helped decide 28 Big Ten
championships
Former Buckeye running back Archie
Griffin, the nation’s only two-time
Heisman Trophy winner, said from the
first day of spring practice through
gameday, players and coaches talk
about the Michigan game
“Former players would come in and
talk, and the coach is at his best in
speechmaking,” Griffin said
If Ohio State beats Michigan, players
are given a gold pendant shaped like a
pair of pants. It symbolizes that
Michigan players are a normal team
they put their pants on one leg at a time
— as well as "beating the pants off of
Michigan,” said Griffin, who is now an
assistant athletic director at ()Sl
Purdue U. at Indiana U., Nov. 25
Kven if Indiana and Purdue universities
don’t have the prowess of Michigan or
Notre Dame, these two Indiana schools
have a special rivalry that focuses on the
“Old Oaken Bucket.” The bucket was
found on a farm in southern Indiana 63
years ago Each year, a bronze block is
added with either an T or ‘P depending
on who won the game.
L. of (Iklahuma at U. of Nebraska,
Nov. 18 — Possibly the greatest nvalry
occurs between a school from the
Midwest and a school from the
Southwest Big Eight rivals U. of
Oklahoma and (J. of Nebraska.
Nebraska junior John Doxon said par
ties are abundant during game week
end, whether the game is to decide the
Big Eight Championshipor not. At those
parties, Doxon said not too many
Oklahoma Sooner fans can be found.
Oklahoma T-shirts and other Sooner
items are torched by unyielding stu
dents.
No matter what the score, nobody
leaves early from a Okiahoma
Nebraska game, Doxon said.
U. of Kansas at Kansas State U,
Oct. 28 — Despite both teams' recent
lack of luster on the football field, fans
usually turn out in droves for this
intrastate rivalry In 1982 when Kansas
See MIDWEST. Page 23
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