BIG TEN CONFERENCE ➤ LAND GRANT TROPHY
➤ GOVERNOR’S VICTORY BELL
➤ BROWN, KWALICK BIG TEN TROPHIES
The Land Grant Trophy, established in 1993, is awarded to the winner of the Penn State-Michigan State game. It honors the universities as the nation’s two pioneer land-grant schools. Each was founded in 1855: Michigan State on February 12 and Penn State on February 22. The schools were the prototypes after which the land-grant system was patterned. The trophy features images of the schools’ landmark buildings — Penn State’s Old Main and Michigan State’s Beaumont Tower — and replicas of the Nittany Lion and the Spartan, the schools’ mascots.
Commissioned in 1993, the Governor’s Victory Bell is presented to the winner of the Penn State-Minnesota contest. It first was awarded when the Golden Gophers provided the opposition for Penn State’s first game as a member of the Big Ten. The trophy was commissioned by Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey and Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson. The trophy features a brass bell bearing the medallion of the Big Ten Conference, the state seals of Minnesota and Pennsylvania and the athletic logos of each institution.
The Big Ten initiated the presentation of 18 trophies following the 2011 season and honors some of its all-time premier football student-athletes with the newly named awards, including Penn State’s Courtney Brown and Ted Kwalick. The Big Ten awards the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year, recognizing the Nittany Lions’ Brown and Michigan State’s Bubba Smith. Brown was a consensus first-team All-American in 1999, breaking school records in career tackles for loss (70), career sacks (33) and season TFL (29). The 1999 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Brown was a three-time all-conference selection. Brown was the first overall pick in the 2000 National Football League Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Penn State senior defensive tackle Devon Still won the inaugural Smith-Brown Defensive Player of the Year award in 2011. Carl Nassib also won the award in 2015. The conference also presents the Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year, honoring Penn State’s Kwalick and Iowa’s Dallas Clark. Kwalick was a first-team All-American in 1967 and ’68 and finished fourth in balloting for the 1968 Heisman Trophy. A first-round draft choice by the San Francisco 49ers and a three-time All-Pro, Kwalick was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2014 2015
Penn State, 38-37 Penn State, 59-31 Penn State, 24-20 Penn State, 32-29 Michigan State, 49-14 Penn State, 51-28 Michigan State, 35-28 Penn State, 42-23 Penn State, 42-37 Penn State, 61-7 Michigan State, 41-10 Penn State, 37-13 Penn State, 31-22 Penn State, 17-13 Michigan State, 35-31 Penn State, 49-18 Penn State, 42-14 Michigan State, 28-22 Michigan State, 34-10 Michigan State, 55-16
1993 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2010 2013
➤ Land Grant Trophy
Penn State, 38-20 Penn State, 56-3 Penn State, 16-15 Penn State, 27-17 Minnesota, 24-23 Minnesota, 25-16 Minnesota, 20-14 Minnesota, 16-7 Penn State, 44-14 Penn State, 28-27 (OT) Penn State, 20-0 Penn State, 33-21 Minnesota, 24-10
➤ Governor’s Victory Bell
➤ Courtney Brown (from left), Devon Still and Ted Kwalick at the 2011 Big Ten Awards Gala.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME The winners of the East and West divisions will play in the Big Ten Conference Championship game in primetime on Saturday, December 3, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Fox Sports is the official television partner of the 2011-16 Big Ten Championship games. Kickoff time is 8 p.m. for the contest. Lucas Oil Stadium will be the site for the 2011-21 Big Ten Championship games. The winner of the Big Ten Championship game will play in either the Rose Bowl game or the College Football Playoff. The winning team in the Big Ten Football Championship game will receive the Stagg Championship Trophy. The trophy pays homage to Amos Alonzo Stagg, who won 199 games at the University of Chicago when the Maroons were Big Ten members.
Big Ten Championship Game Dates December 3, 2016 December 2, 2017 December 1, 2018 December 7, 2019
➤ Lucas Oil Stadium, in downtown Indianapolis, Ind., is the site of the Big Ten Conference Championship game from 2011-21.
2016 PENN STATE FOOTBALL YEARBOOK
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