Fremont Cannon

Fremont Cannon

260px
File:Nevada Wolf Pack Txt.svg Nevada Wolf Pack UNLV Rebels
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 22, 1969 Nevada 30, UNLV 28
Latest meeting	October 3, 2015 UNLV 23, Nevada 17
Next meeting	2016
Trophy	Fremont Cannon
Statistics
Meetings total	41
All-time series	Nevada leads, 24–17  (.585)
Largest victory	Nevada, 50–8  (1991)
Longest win streak	Nevada, 8  (2005–2012)
Current win streak	UNLV, 1  (2015)

University
of Nevada,
Reno

University
of Nevada,
Las Vegas

Locations in Nevada

The Fremont Cannon is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Battle for Nevada, an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Nevada Wolf Pack football team of the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) and the UNLV Rebels football team of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The trophy was built in 1970 and is a replica of a 19th-century Howitzer cannon that accompanied American explorer and politician John C. Frémont on an expedition to Nevada in the mid 19th century. Originally fired following a touchdown by the team in possession of the cannon, it has been inoperable since 1999. The wooden carriage is painted the school color of the team in possession, navy blue for Nevada or scarlet for UNLV. The trophy is the heaviest and most expensive in college football.

The first game between the teams was in 1969 with Nevada defeating UNLV. The following year the cannon was built and UNLV became the first team to win the cannon. The current holder is UNLV, following a 23–17 victory in 2015 at Mackay Stadium in Reno in front of the stadium's crowd of 29,551. Nevada has the longest win streak in the rivalry, holding the cannon for eight consecutive years.

History of the trophy

In 1967 Bill Ireland was hired by Nevada Southern University (the predecessor to UNLV) to coach their new football team, and by 1969 came up with the idea to have a trophy as a symbol of the rivalry between the two schools. Ireland was the first football coach of the UNLV Rebels, and an alumnus and former coach of Nevada. The cannon was donated by Kennecott Copper and is a replica of a howitzer cannon that explorer John C. Fremont used on an expedition in 1843, and allegedly left in a snowdrift in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The cannon contains a 55 millimetres (2.2 in) barrel, weighs 545 pounds (247 kg), and cost $10,000 to build, making it the heaviest and most expensive trophy in college football. The cannon is painted the winning team's color, red for UNLV, and blue for Nevada.

The two schools first played each other on Thanksgiving Day, 1969, the game was actually played the Saturday before Thanksgiving (Nov 22 1969) and was homecoming, with the Wolf Pack winning 30–28, however construction of the cannon had yet to be completed. The first competition for the cannon was in 1970 when the Rebels won 42–30 in Las Vegas. In 1978, following Nevada's first victory over UNLV in four seasons, Chris Ault convinced security at McCarran International Airport to allow the team to disassemble the cannon and take it as carry-on luggage back to Reno. The team had to figure out how to break down the cannon, a task that was usually done by the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, which UNLV did not have in 1978.

The Fremont Cannon was refurbished by the UNLV athletics department at a cost of $1,500 in 2000 following damage after a UNLV victory celebration wherein fans and players attempted to lift the cannon and dropped it. Traditionally, the team possessing the cannon would fire it each time they scored a touchdown during the rivalry game; however, the cannon has not been fired since the restoration due to the damage it received.

History of the rivalry

John C. Frémont,
the cannon's namesake

The Fremont Cannon in 2005, painted Nevada blue

Students of Nevada's two public universities share a mutual disdain for each other, as evidenced by the numerous blue "FUNLV" (UNLV being shorthand for University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and red "FUNR" shirts (UNR being shorthand for University of Nevada, Reno) at the stadium on rivalry days. Many Nevada students hail from Las Vegas and view UNLV as a glorified community college; UNLV students see Nevada as an overrated, stodgy institution in an uncultured part of the state.

In 1993 Wolf Pack coach Jeff Horton left Nevada after one season to coach for UNLV in what is referred to as the "Red Defection".

The rivalry is heated inside the stadium as well. Sam Boyd Stadium and Mackay Stadium are two of the few NCAA football venues remaining to sell alcohol to all spectators of legal age on game day (many institutions either do not sell alcohol at all, or sell it only to those seated in luxury boxes). This, combined with the heated nature of the rivalry, has resulted in numerous fights in the stands. In 1995, UNLV players allegedly started a pre-game brawl, which prompted the Wolf Pack to run up the score in their 55–32 victory against UNLV. After the game, UNLV player Quincy Sanders threw his helmet in the direction of Nevada head coach Chris Ault.

In 2003 a Nevada fan was charged with battery for throwing a half full plastic beer bottle at UNLV head coach John Robinson, striking him near his head.

On August 18, 2010, Nevada announced that they would join the Mountain West Conference starting in either 2011 or 2012; their entry was later confirmed for 2012. Since UNLV has been in the Mountain West Conference since 1999, the annual rivalry game is once again a conference game. When the MW expanded to 12 football members in 2013 and split into divisions for that sport, both schools were placed in the West Division, assuring annual matchups for the foreseeable future. Before 2012, the last meeting of the two schools as conference rivals was in 1995, when both schools were members of the Big West Conference.

Game results

██ Blue indicates Nevada victories.
██ Scarlet indicates UNLV victories.

#	Season	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Series
1	1969	November 22	Reno	Nevada	30–28	Nevada 1–0
2	1970	November 21	Las Vegas	UNLV	42–30	Tied 1–1
3	1971	November 20	Reno	UNLV	27–13	UNLV 2–1
4	1972	November 18	Las Vegas	Nevada	41–13	Tied 2–2
5	1973	November 17	Reno	Nevada	19–3	Nevada 3–2
6	1974	November 26	Las Vegas	UNLV	28–7	Tied 3–3
7	1975	November 22	Reno	UNLV	45–7	UNLV 4–3
8	1976	November 20	Las Vegas	UNLV	49–33	UNLV 5–3
9	1977	November 19	Reno	UNLV	27–12	UNLV 6–3
10	1978	September 16	Las Vegas	Nevada	23–14	UNLV 6–4
11	1979	September 15	Reno	UNLV	26–21	UNLV 7–4
12	1983	September 3	Las Vegas	UNLV	28–18	UNLV 8–4
13	1985	November 16	Reno	Nevada	48–7	UNLV 8–5
14	1987	October 3	Las Vegas	UNLV	24–19	UNLV 9–5
15	1989	November 11	Reno	Nevada	45–7	UNLV 9–6
16	1990	October 20	Las Vegas	Nevada	26–14	UNLV 9–7
17	1991	September 7	Reno	Nevada	50–8	UNLV 9–8
18	1992	October 17	Las Vegas	Nevada	14–10	Tied 9–9
19	1993	October 2	Reno	Nevada	49–14	Nevada 10–9
20	1994	November 19	Las Vegas	UNLV	32–27	Tied 10–10

#	Season	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Series
21	1995	October 28	Reno	Nevada	55–32	Nevada 11–10
22	1996	October 5	Las Vegas	Nevada	54–17	Nevada 12–10
23	1997	September 6	Reno	Nevada	31–14	Nevada 13–10
24	1998	October 3	Las Vegas	Nevada	31–20	Nevada 14–10
25	1999	October 2	Reno	Nevada	26–12	Nevada 15–10
26	2000	October 7	Las Vegas	UNLV	38–7	Nevada 15–11
27	2001	October 6	Reno	UNLV	27–12	Nevada 15–12
28	2002	October 5	Las Vegas	UNLV	21–17	Nevada 15–13
29	2003	October 4	Reno	UNLV	16–12	Nevada 15–14
30	2004	October 2	Las Vegas	UNLV	48–13	Tied 15–15
31	2005	September 17	Reno	Nevada	22–14	Nevada 16–15
32	2006	September 30	Las Vegas	Nevada	31–3	Nevada 17–15
33	2007	September 29	Reno	Nevada	27–20	Nevada 18–15
34	2008	September 27	Las Vegas	Nevada	49–27	Nevada 19–15
35	2009	October 3	Reno	Nevada	63–28	Nevada 20–15
36	2010	October 2	Las Vegas	Nevada	44–26	Nevada 21–15
37	2011	October 8	Reno	Nevada	37–0	Nevada 22–15
38	2012	October 13	Las Vegas	Nevada	42–37	Nevada 23–15
39	2013	October 26	Reno	UNLV	27–22	Nevada 23–16
40	2014	November 29	Las Vegas	Nevada	49–27	Nevada 24–16

#	Season	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Series
41	2015	October 3	Reno	UNLV	23–17	Nevada 24–17
42	2016	TBA	Las Vegas

External links

• Cannon Painted Blue (Article written 9/21/2005)
• UNLV page about the cannon
• whatcoloristhefremontcannon.com (Single-serving site to show the current color of the Fremont Cannon)