Governor's Victory Bell

Minnesota Golden Gophers Penn State Nittany Lions
Sport	Football
First meeting	September 4, 1993 Penn State 38–20
Latest meeting	November 23, 2024 Penn State 26–25
Next meeting	2026
Stadiums	Beaver Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium/Huntington Bank Stadium
Trophy	Governor's Victory Bell[1]
Statistics
Meetings total	17
All-time series	Penn State leads 11–6 (.647)
Largest victory	Penn State, 56–3 (1994)
Longest win streak	Penn State, 4 (1993–1998, 2005–2010) Minnesota, 4 (1999–2004)
Current win streak	Penn State, 2 (2022–present)

The Governor's Victory Bell is an American college rivalry trophy contested between the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota, and the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Pennsylvania State University.^[1][2][3]

Both teams are members of the Big Ten Conference. Minnesota is a founding member, since 1896, while long-independent Penn State joined in 1993. The Governor's Victory Bell trophy was created to commemorate Penn States' first Big Ten conference game, vs. Minnesota, on September 4, 1993.

The Governor's Victory Bell, alongside the Land Grant Trophy, is one of Penn State's two traveling rivalry trophies.^[4] It is Minnesota's fourth official trophy, behind the Little Brown Jug, Floyd of Rosedale, and Paul Bunyan's Axe, and ranks the Golden Gophers first in the Big Ten for number of in-conference rivalry trophies.^[5]

500km
300miles

Penn State

Minnesota

  

Locations of Minnesota and Penn State

History

Minnesota and Penn State had never played a game prior to the later team's entrance into the Big Ten in 1993.^[6] The long-independent Nittany Lions were matched with the Golden Gophers for their first-ever in-conference game, and their first game of the 1993 season, on September 4 at Beaver Stadium.

A trophy to mark the occasion was established by Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson and Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey, represented at the time by acting Governor Mark Singel.^[2][7][3] Singel presented an artist's conception of the prospective Governor's Victory Bell prior to the game.^[2][7]

In 2013 Minnesota reclaimed the trophy after an interrupted four-game, nine-year losing streak, having last won vs. Penn State in 2004.^[8][9][10] The team accidentally broke the trophy in the ensuing celebration.^[8][9][10]

In 2019, both teams were undefeated with Penn State ranked #4 and Minnesota #17.^[11] This was the first matchup in which both teams were ranked. The game went down to the wire and ended with a dramatic interception by the Gophers in their own end zone to win 31–26.^[11] Later that month the Associated Press listed the matchup as a "Forced Rivalry" in their evaluation of the Big Ten's rivalries and 17 trophy games.^[6]

The Big Ten conference expanded in 2024, adding four teams from the Pac-12 conference.^[12] Tom Fornelli for CBS Sports listed the Minnesota-Penn State game last in a new ranking of the league's 21 football rivalries, stating "This game has a trophy, so I included it in the rankings, but I don't know how many Minnesota or Penn State students are even aware that this is considered a rivalry."^[12]

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll.

Minnesota victories

Penn State victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 September 4, 1993 University Park, PA No. 17 Penn State 38–20 2 September 3, 1994 Minneapolis, MN No. 9 Penn State 56–3 3 October 18, 1997[13] University Park, PA No. 1 Penn State 16–15 4 October 10, 1998 Minneapolis, MN No. 13 Penn State 27–17 5 November 6, 1999 University Park, PA Minnesota 24–23 6 October 7, 2000 Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 25–16 7 September 27, 2003 University Park, PA No. 24 Minnesota 20–14 8 October 2, 2004 Minneapolis, MN No. 18 Minnesota 16–7 9 October 1, 2005 University Park, PA Penn State 44–14 No. Date Location Winner Score 10 October 7, 2006 Minneapolis, MN Penn State 28–27^OT 11 October 17, 2009 University Park, PA No. 14 Penn State 20–0 12 October 23, 2010 Minneapolis, MN Penn State 33–21 13 October 9, 2013[8] Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 24–10 14 October 1, 2016[10] University Park, PA Penn State 29–26^OT 15 November 9, 2019 Minneapolis, MN No. 17 Minnesota 31–26 16 November 22, 2022 University Park, PA No. 16 Penn State 45–17 17 November 23, 2024 Minneapolis, MN No. 4 Penn State 26–25 Series: Penn State leads 11–6[14][15]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. Buscema, Dave (October 18, 1997). "Game Trophy doesn't ring a bell". York Daily Record. Retrieved September 15, 2024. They'll be playing for the Governor's Victory Bell, a tradition that has withstood the test of time since it started in 1993 when the schools met for Penn State's first Big Ten contest.
2. "Lions, Gophers to battle for Governor's Victory Bell". Centre Daily Times. August 28, 1993. Retrieved September 15, 2024. On Friday, acting Gon. Mark Singel of Pennsylvania and Gon. Arne Carlson of Minnesota commissioned the establishment of the 'Governor's Victory Bell,' which will go to the game's winner on an annual basis.
3. Snyder, Audrey (November 21, 2024). "The Penn State-Minnesota trophy nobody knows about: Origins of the Governor's Victory Bell". The Athletic. Retrieved November 23, 2024. But why Penn State and Minnesota even play for a trophy is a detail that often garners stares from players, coaches and fans. [...] Why it's even a bell isn't fully understood either. Mark Singel believes it's because they needed a way to represent Pennsylvania, so they chose to go with something similar to the Liberty Bell.
4. Tracy, Marc (November 14, 2014). "In College Football, Now the Trophies Precede the Rivalries". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2024. When Penn State joined the Big Ten two decades ago, the Land-Grant Trophy and the Governor's Victory Bell were quickly created for its games against Michigan State and Minnesota.
5. Duchesne, Claire (August 4, 2023). "The history of Gophers football trophy games". The Minnesota Daily. Retrieved September 16, 2024. The Gophers have four active trophy rivalries, more than any other college football program.
6. Olson, Eric (November 27, 2019). "Sorry, Ohio St-Michigan, Wisconsin-Minnesota is biggest game". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved September 16, 2024. No conference loves a good rivalry more than the Big Ten. There are 17 trophy games recognized by the conference, after all. FORCED RIVALRY Take your pick. Minnesota-Penn State, Governor's Victory Bell. The teams had never even met in football before 1993. That was the first season the Nittany Lions played a Big Ten schedule, and Minnesota was their first conference opponent. Nowadays, the teams are in different divisions and don't even meet every year.
7. "Ring that bell! Lions, Gophers add trophy to Big Ten tradition". Centre Daily Times. August 29, 1993. Retrieved September 15, 2024. Now the Gophers will be fighting Penn State for a bell.
8. Christensen, Joe (November 10, 2013). Written at Minneapolis. "Broken trophy no problem for 8–2 Gophers". Kenosha News. Kenosha, Wisconsin. Minneapolis Star Tribune. Retrieved September 15, 2024. After Saturday's 24–10 victory over Penn State, Minnesota's players sprinted across the field to claim the Governor's Victory Bell, and pretty soon, the wooden part of the traveling trophy came apart.
9. Schimmel, Greg (November 24, 2013). "Awards show". Washington Post. p. D2. ProQuest 1461048553. Retrieved September 17, 2024. In the decades since, many of the sport's biggest rivalry games have been enhanced by the addition of a trophy that goes each year to the winner. Most of the awards have a colorful history, many are charming for their lack of physical beauty and some are simply ridiculous. Perhaps the spirit of the college football rivalry trophy was best captured earlier this season when Minnesota beat Penn State to reclaim the Governor's Victory Bell. The Golden Gophers were so fired up to receive the trophy, they broke it during the celebration.
10. Gross, Mike (October 2, 2016). Written at State College, PA. "Penn State Notebook: So, so many trophies". LNP. Lancaster, PA. Retrieved September 15, 2024. One underrated (in terms of weirdness) aspect of Penn State's football history is the regular-season trophies it plays for. Both of the trophies/games/'rivalries' were concocted when Penn State joined the Big Ten [...] The Victory Bell—an actual golden bell in a wood frame—looks pretty cool. But it's only contested sporadically, because Penn State and Minnesota are in different divisions of the Big Ten.
11. Campbell, Dave (November 10, 2019). "Gophers stay golden — Minnesota upsets Penn State for first top-5 win since 1999". The Winona Daily News. Associated Press. Retrieved September 18, 2024. Minnesota football players hold up the Governor's Victory Bell after beating Penn State 31–26
12. Fornelli, Tom (June 30, 2024). "Big Ten football rivalry rankings: Where USC-UCLA, Oregon-Washington stand as conference expands in 2024". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 17, 2024. No. 21 / 21: Minnesota vs. Penn State (Governor's Victory Bell) This game has a trophy, so I included it in the rankings, but I don't know how many Minnesota or Penn State students are even aware that this is considered a rivalry.
13. Shontz, Lori (October 15, 1997). Written at University Park, PA. "Trophy rings bell with PSU". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. Retrieved September 15, 2024. Actually, the Governor's Victory Bell already is snug in State College, as part of the trophy collection in the Penn State Football Hall of Fame.
14. "The Governor's Victory Bell - Minnesota vs. Penn State". University of Minnesota Athletics. May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2024. The addition of the Governor's Victory Bell to the Golden Gophers' list of traditional trophy games means that Minnesota now has four active "trophy" rivalries on its schedule, more than any other college football program in the country.
15. "Penn State Football History vs University of Minnesota". Penn State Nittany Lions Athletics. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2024.