Crisler's protests turned out to be irrelevant, as Michigan State won the first trophy game afterwards displaying it in Jenison Fieldhouse. Prior to awarding the first trophy win in 1953, Michigan enjoyed an overwhelming 33-9-3 non-trophy series advantage leading athletic director and former head coach Fritz Crisler's plan to reportedly refuse the trophy if Michigan had won the game. Mennen Williams to commemorate Michigan State's first year elevated to football competition in the Big Ten Conference. The trophy was first presented by Michigan Governor G. It reflects Michigan's history as a major lumber-producing state. It is a four-foot tall wooden statue of Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack of American folklore, mounted on a five-foot base. In 1953, the "Paul Bunyan – Governor of Michigan Trophy", or simply the Paul Bunyan Trophy, was introduced into the rivalry. The Paul Bunyan Trophy on display at Michigan State in 2009 From 2016 to 2019, Michigan won three out of four, but the Spartans won the 20 games under new head coach Mel Tucker. After Mike Hart's statement in 2007 referring to the Spartans as the Wolverines' "little brother", the Spartans reasserted themselves under head coach Mark Dantonio, winning seven of eight games from 2008 to 2015. The pendulum shifted back to the Wolverines under Bo Schembechler and his successors, as Michigan won 30 of 38 contests from 1970 to 2007. During the 1950s and 1960s, under head coaches Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans had their most prolonged period of success against the Wolverines, compiling a record of 14–4–2. With the arrival of Fritz Crisler as Michigan's head coach in 1938, the Wolverines then won 12 consecutive games. The Spartans had four consecutive victories from 1934 to 1937 under head coach Charlie Bachman. With rare exception, games in odd-numbered years are contested at Michigan State, and even-numbered years at Michigan. In the entire history of the rivalry, the game has never been contested anywhere beside Ann Arbor or East Lansing, and alternates between the two respective campuses. The teams began alternating home fields in 1958. Prior to 1958, 44 of the 50 games were played on Michigan's home field. The Spartans' first victories were in 19 under head coach John Macklin. In the earliest years of the rivalry from 1898 to 1933, Michigan was the dominant program with a record of 23–2–3. Michigan leads the series with an overall record of 72–38–5, though the series has seen several ebbs and flows during which one team or the other has experienced periods of dominance. The winner of each year's game receives the Paul Bunyan – Governor of Michigan Trophy, a four-foot wooden statue of a lumberjack that was first presented in 1953 to commemorate Michigan State's beginning football competition as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The game has now been played uninterrupted, every year since 1945. The teams first played in 1898 and have met 114 times. The Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans.
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