The Iowa State–Missouri football rivalry was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the Iowa State Cyclones football team of

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

and

Missouri Tigers football The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). History Mis ...

team of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. From 1959 onward the Telephone Trophy was awarded to the victorious squad.These really stand out in the case
After the 2011 game, Missouri joined the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, thus putting the rivalry at an indefinite pause.

Telephone Trophy

The Telephone Trophy consists of an old rotary telephone that sits atop a tall wooden base. The receiver of the telephone is painted half gold and half red (gold for Missouri and red for Iowa State). A large metal plate on the base of the trophy shows the complete results for each Telephone Trophy game.

History

Before the 1959 match-up between the two schools, which took place in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

, field testing showed that the telephones the two schools used to communicate with their coaches in the coaches box were wired so that either school could hear what was happening on the other sideline. The problem was fixed before the game, but neither of the two coaches knew that. Northwestern Bell Telephone Company of Ames then decided to have a trophy made to commemorate the incident, and thus the Telephone Trophy was born.Telephone Trophy
"
" An odd sidelight to the whole affair was that the same event unfolded for Missouri the following season in a game played in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

. The 1960 game, which took place at Memorial Stadium, had similar problems.Football – 1959 Schedule
Football – 1960 Schedule

Game results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iowa State-Missouri football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Iowa State Cyclones football Missouri Tigers football Iowa State Cyclones traditions

Telephone Trophy

History

Game results

See also

References