First meeting September 4, 1993 Next meeting November 9, 2019 All-time series Penn State leads, 9–5 | Latest meeting October 1, 2016 Meetings total 14 | |
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Trophy Governor's Victory Bell | ||
The Minnesota–Penn State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Penn State Nittany Lions. The Governor's Victory Bell is awarded to the winner of the game.
History
The Governor's Victory Bell was first presented in 1993 to commemorate Penn State's entry into the Big Ten Conference, with their first league game coming against Minnesota. Penn State won the trophy during the first four matchups, Minnesota the next four, and Penn State the next four after that. In 2008, Penn State recorded the first shutout of the series when they beat Minnesota 20–0; the previous low score for each team was 3 for Minnesota in 1994 and 7 for Penn State in 2004. Minnesota won the matchup in 2013 with a 24–10 victory. Penn State has since regained the trophy with a thrilling overtime 29–26 victory in 2016.
In 2010, after the University of Nebraska joined the Big Ten as its 12th member, the conference was split into two divisions. Penn State and Minnesota were placed in different divisions and thus, beginning in 2011, the rivalry will only be held four times every ten years. In 2014, the University of Maryland and Rutgers University joined the Big Ten. Due to the future changes in the Big Ten's scheduling procedures, the rivalry will be held approximately two times every seven years starting in 2014; this changed to three times every seven years when the Big Ten added another conference game in 2016. The teams are scheduled to meet again in 2019 in Minneapolis. Penn State leads the series 9–5.