Today's Tidbit... Reenacting The 1927 Little Brown Jug Game

Before the widespread availability of radio and television broadcasts of away games, one option available to hardcore football fans was to stand outside the local newspaper offices. The newspapers arranged for telephone updates from the game, and as they were received, newspaper employees shouted updates to the crowd or posted them on a scoreboard. Others sat in movie theaters or auditoriums where they simulated games using light displays or by moving small figures around a representation of a football field.

Simulations were particularly popular for rivalry games, such as the 1927 Minnesota-Michigan battle for the Little Brown Jug. Both were top teams at a time when Big Ten teams scheduled their conference games individually - just like nonconference games. The Big Ten did not handle scheduling but required teams to play four or more conference games to be considered for the championship based on win percentage. Unfortunately for Minnesota and Michigan, both their competitiveness and behavior that irritated others resulted in some Big Ten teams refusing to play either team. That left them in a pickle, and needing to play four conference games, Minnesota and Michigan agreed to play one another twice that year. (Indiana and Northwestern also played twice in 1926.)

The first of the two-game series came in Ann Arbor. Michigan dominated the first half and allowed Minnesota to threaten a bit in the second half, but the Wolverines won 20-0, so both teams had a reason for optimism after the game.

Quarterback Benny Friedman led the Wolverines in the game at Ann Arbor’s Ferry Field. (1927 Minnesota yearbook)