Minnesota custodian Oscar Munson set football history in motion in 1903 when he found the Wolverines’ discarded water jug in the visitors’ locker room after a hard-fought contest that ended in a tie. Munson is pictured here in 1934, painting the game score on the Little Brown Jug after a Minnesota victory, a tradition that continues to this day. (University of Minnesota Archives.)

The five-gallon “Michigan Jug” originally was putty in color. Here, it hangs suspended from Minnesota AD Doc Cooke’s ceiling following the 1903 game. Years later, Cooke mused, “I sometimes think the jug has been filled with spirits, not alcoholic, but the disembodied spirits of the countless players who have fought for it on the gridiron.” (University of Minnesota Archives.)

Coach Fielding Yost (right) and 1922 All-American captain Paul Goebel get ready to board the train to Minneapolis with the Little Brown Jug. The megaphone with a W belonged to the Wisconsin Badgers, who had lost the previous week while playing in Ann Arbor. The megaphone was left behind by Wisconsin after the game. While en route to Minneapolis, Coach Yost delivered the megaphone to a representative of the Badgers who was in Chicago during Michigan’s train connection to Minnesota. (U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)

The original jug was reported stolen in early fall of 1931. In November it was “found” at a gas station at the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Stadium Boulevard. Diehard fans questioned its authenticity, but Coach Yost, eager to maintain the passion surrounding the rivalry, claimed it was authentic. Then in 1933, another jug was discovered in the bushes near the University of Michigan Hospital. Here, the mystery appears solved as Yost concedes that this was the original Little Brown Jug, which it was, effectively admitting that he tried to pass off the jug found at the gas station two years earlier as the original. Pictured from left to right are Fielding Yost, Wally Weber, Bennie Oosterbaan, Jack Blott, Frank Cappon, and head coach Harry Kipke. (U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)

A classic photograph depicts two football legends: Tom Harmon with the football being tackled by Minnesota’s Bruce Smith in the 1940 battle of the unbeatens. While both Harmon and Smith would win the Heisman Trophy (Harmon in 1940, Smith in 1941), Smith at Minnesota never lost to Michigan and Harmon never defeated Minnesota. In fact, Harmon never scored a rushing touchdown against Minnesota during his entire college career. (University of Minnesota Archives.)

Bill Daley was the first player to win the Little Brown Jug four consecutive times; however this feat will most likely never be done again in the way Daley achieved it. Daley played three years for the Gophers, from 1940-42, before transferring to a military unit at the University of Michigan, where he played his fourth year for the Wolverines. At Michigan, he earned All-American status in 1943. He was considered a Minnesota hero by intercepting two passes against the Wolverines in the 1941 game. After playing on two national championship teams at Minnesota, Daley was determined to win the jug for Michigan against his former teammates as demonstrated in this inscribed photograph to Henry Hatch, Michigan’s equipment manager. Daley’s determination paid off, as his Wolverines defeated the Gophers 49-6. (U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)

From left to right, first-year head coach Bump Elliott, halfback Fred Julian, equipment manager Henry Hatch, and halfback Darrell Harper celebrate Elliott’s first victory over the Gophers by a score of 14-6 in 1959. Harper accounted for Michigan’s first touchdown with an 83-yard punt return, and Julian also scored on a 42-yard rushing touchdown in front of a sold-out crowd in Minnesota’s Memorial Stadium. (Ken Magee Collection.)

This is a 1969 program for the Little Brown Jug game at Minnesota’s Memorial Stadium. The contest introduced new Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler to the storied rivalry. Michigan trailed at halftime 9-7 after three Gopher field goals, but the Wolverines rebounded in the second half to win 35-9. Future 1971 All-American Billy Taylor was outstanding, having a breakout game by rushing for 151 yards and three touchdowns. It would be the first of Bo’s 19 Little Brown Jug victories. (Ken Magee collection.)

Michigan halfbacks Glenn Doughty (No. 22) and All-American Billy Taylor (No. 42) carry the Little Brown Jug in its trophy case after the 1971 game in Minneapolis. Taylor had an outstanding game against the Gophers, rushing for 166 yards and scoring two touchdowns in Michigan’s 35-7 win. Also, this was the game where Taylor passed Ron Johnson as the all-time Michigan career leader in rushing yards. (U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)

Michigan end Andy Mignery lifts the Little Brown Jug in 2003. The Gophers had built a 28-7 lead by the end of the third quarter. Michigan quarterback John Navarre, All-American running back Chris Perry, and All-American wide receiver Braylon Edwards responded with four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, capped by placekicker Garrett Rivas’ 33-yard field goal with 47 seconds left to win 38-35. The game was dubbed the “Miracle in the Metrodome” and was Michigan’s greatest comeback victory of all time, accomplished on the 100-year anniversary of the 1903 game. (Photograph by Eric Bronson, courtesy of wolverinephoto.com.)

Jil Gordon paints the score on the Little Brown Jug in 2013. She has painted the game scores on the Little Brown Jug several times in the early 1980s for her dear friend and legendary Michigan equipment manager Jon Falk. Upon returning to Ann Arbor in 2002, she resumed this “sacred privilege.” Jil stated, “I feel so privileged to do something so simple, but yet so significant. It is continuing Michigan history, and not many are given a special task like this. Painting the score on the oldest collegiate rivalry trophy – but for Michigan.” (Greg Dooley of MVictors.com)