No. 10 Indiana, Michigan State Set to Battle for the Old Brass Spittoon
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana and Michigan State are set to meet for the 66th time this Saturday in East Lansing, and for the 63rd consecutive game, the two teams will be competing for more than just a win or a loss.
The Hoosiers and Spartans are playing for the Old Brass Spittoon, a trophy that was first introduced in 1950. It was started by the junior and senior classes and student council at Michigan State, and the trophy was quickly accepted by the Indiana Student Senate.
A State News article in 2015 explains in detail how this trophy came to be:
In 1950 MSU football had just come off a 36-33 emotional victory over Notre Dame and were looking to avoid a letdown against Indiana the following week. Knowing this, junior class president Gene McDermott wanted to play his part in keeping the Spartans from falling trap to Indiana.
McDermott and class secretary Virginia O’Brien hit the town to find something that would rile up not only the football team but the student body heading into the Indiana matchup. Inspired by the Little Brown Jug, which University of Michigan and Minnesota play for, the two wandered into an antique shop in Lansing.
McDermott spotted the spittoon and thought it would be perfect for the rivalry. Inside the spittoon was a note that said the spittoon was in use during the 1800s at a trading post around what is now East Lansing. As the story goes, residents of both Michigan and Indiana would pass by the trading post and use the spittoon while hunting and fishing in Michigan, therefore becoming the basis for the reasoning behind the Old Brass Spittoon. The spittoon was cleaned up, and bought for $25 by McDermott.
Michigan State leads the all-time series, 48-16-2.
Tom Allen has never defeated the Spartans in three tries since he took over as the head coach, which means Allen has never successfully obtained the Brass Spittoon.
"We got all our focus, hundred percent focus on Michigan State," Allen said. "Ton of respect for them and the opportunity for us to play for the Brass Spittoon, which is a trophy game for us here that we have placed a high value on and have not been able to obtain that trophy since I have been the head coach here."
Indiana last defeated Michigan State in 2016, beating the Spartans 24-21 in overtime.
Indiana is currently 3-0 on the season and ranked No. 10 in the country. The Spartans are 1-2, suffering tough losses to Rutgers and Iowa, but getting an impressive win over Michigan, who Indiana beat last week.
Indiana is favored to win this game, but Allen knows not to look past the Spartans and wants to avenge his team's 40-31 loss in East Lansing last season, as well as capture the Old Brass Spittoon for the first time in his career.
"So, bottom line is that we have to stay focused on the task at hand," Allen said. "You have to do a tremendous job of staying in the moment of what we are trying to do, which is to play our best football on Saturday at noon in East Lansing."
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