First meeting | 1903, 119 years ago Idaho, 28–0 |
---|---|
Latest meeting | October 23, 2021 Montana 34, Idaho 14 |
Next meeting | October 15, 2022 in Missoula |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 87 |
All-time series | Idaho leads, 55–30–2 (.644) |
Largest victory | Idaho, 46–0 (1945) |
Longest win streak | Idaho, 8, (1951–1959) |
Current win streak | Montana, 7, (2000–present) |
The Little Brown Stein is a rivalry trophy awarded to the winner of the college football game between Idaho Vandals football team of the University of Idaho and the Montana Grizzlies football team of the University of Montana. The trophy is, as the name implies, a large stein mug with the results of all the games between the two painted on.[1][2][3][4]
The game was not played for 14 seasons, from 2004 to 2017, and Montana retained the trophy.[5][6] The series resumed 2018, when Idaho rejoined the Big Sky Conference for football.
Idaho and Montana first met in football 119 years ago in 1903 and have played 86 times; the stein was introduced 84 years ago in 1938,[1][2][3] at the 25th meeting. Idaho has dominated the overall series (55–30–2 (.644)),[7] which also includes two Division I-AA playoff wins at home in the 1980s. Montana has had the upper hand since 1991, winning eleven of the last thirteen. While Idaho was in Division I-A (FBS), from 1996 through 2017, the teams met only five times, with Montana winning the last four.[5][6][8]
The schools are about two hundred miles (320 km) apart. Moscow and Missoula are on opposite sides of the lower Idaho Panhandle, separated by the Bitterroot Mountains over Lolo Pass (U.S. Route 12).
Idaho hosted the game in southern Idaho at Boise in 1961,[9][10] and in nearby Pullman, Washington, in 1970 and 2000.
Both were members of the old Pacific Coast Conference (the forerunner of today's Pac-12);[11] Montana departed after the 1949 season, and the PCC disbanded in the summer of 1959. In most years, the loser of the game was last in the PCC standings.
The universities were charter members of the Big Sky Conference in 1963,[12][13] (although Idaho remained an independent in football until 1965) and their final season as conference opponents was in 1995. While Montana has been in the Big Sky since its inception, Idaho has changed its conference affiliation no fewer than five times since 1995:
Idaho victories | Montana victories | Tie games |
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Since 1945; Idaho led the first 29 meetings (through 1942) at 20–8–1 (.707)).
Head Coach | Team | Games | Seasons | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Babe Brown | Idaho | 2 | 1945–46 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
Dixie Howell | Idaho | 4 | 1947–50 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
Babe Curfman | Idaho | 3 | 1951–53 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Skip Stahley | Idaho | 7 | 1954–61 | 6 | 1 | 0 | .857 |
Dee Andros | Idaho | 1 | 1962–64 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
Steve Musseau | Idaho | 3 | 1965–67 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Y C McNease | Idaho | 2 | 1968–69 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
Don Robbins | Idaho | 4 | 1970–73 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 |
Ed Troxel | Idaho | 4 | 1974–77 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .625 |
Jerry Davitch | Idaho | 4 | 1978–81 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 |
Dennis Erickson (a) | Idaho | 5 | 1982–85 | 4 | 1 | .800 | |
Keith Gilbertson | Idaho | 4 | 1986–88 | 3 | 1 | .750 | |
John L. Smith | Idaho | 6 | 1989–94 | 2 | 4 | .333 | |
Chris Tormey | Idaho | 2 | 1995–99 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | |
Tom Cable | Idaho | 4 | 2000–03 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |
Nick Holt | Idaho | 0 | 2004–05 | ||||
Dennis Erickson (b) | Idaho | 0 | 2006 | ||||
Robb Akey | Idaho | 0 | 2007–12 | ||||
Paul Petrino | Idaho | 3 | 2013–19 | 0 | 3 | .000 | |
Total | Idaho | 58 | 1945–2021 | 35 | 22 | 1 | .612 |
Head Coach | Team | Games | Seasons | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Dahlberg | Montana | 1 | 1945 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
Doug Fessenden | Montana | 3 | 1946–48 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 |
Ted Shipkey | Montana | 3 | 1949–51 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 |
Ed Chinske | Montana | 2 | 1952–54 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
Jerry Williams | Montana | 3 | 1955–57 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
Ray Jenkins | Montana | 5 | 1958–63 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
Hugh Davidson | Montana | 2 | 1964–66 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
Jack Swarthout | Montana | 9 | 1967–75 | 3 | 5 | 1 | .389 |
Gene Carlson | Montana | 4 | 1976–79 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
Larry Donovan | Montana | 7 | 1980–85 | 2 | 5 | .286 | |
Don Read | Montana | 11 | 1986–95 | 5 | 6 | .455 | |
Mick Dennehy | Montana | 1 | 1996–99 | 0 | 1 | .000 | |
Joe Glenn | Montana | 1 | 2000–02 | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | |
Bobby Hauck (a) | Montana | 1 | 2003–09 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | |
Robin Pflugrad | Montana | 0 | 2010–11 | ||||
Mick Delaney | Montana | 0 | 2012–14 | ||||
Bob Stitt | Montana | 0 | 2015–17 | ||||
Bobby Hauck (b) | Montana | 3 | 2018–19 | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | |
Total | Montana | '58 | 1945–2021 | 22 | 35 | 1 | .388 |