News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech and MTSU renew their rivalry Saturday with the first football game between the two schools since 2006.
Cookeville native and MTSU alum Kevin Tucker said the dormant rivalry featured a rich history of games, pranks, fights and fun. He said the battles began in recruiting.
“Most of the players that played for these teams came from the Middle Tennessee area, so the players knew each other” Tucker said. “They had played against each other in high school, in fact my dad coached at Tennessee Tech and both my little brother and I played for MTSU and we know the rivalry pretty darn well.”
The once yearly game stopped in 1998 when MTSU left the Ohio Valley Conference, and the teams have only met once since. Tucker said when he looks back on the old OVC rivalry, he remembers intense games with two programs battling for the ultimate prize, bragging rights.
“The rivalry is very intense,” Tucker said. “I cannot remember an MTSU and Tennessee Tech game that did not end in at least one good fight, players ejected. It was for all the marbles. Usually which team won that game would end up winning the OVC conference. So, it did mean a great deal and I’m just really excited about the game being renewed.”
Another tradition, the rivalries trophy, featured a six-foot tall, 50-pound totem pole named “Harvey” or “Shinny Ninny” depending on which school you root for. Tucker said it was common practice for students of the losing team to conceive elaborate plans to steal back the totem pole.
“The winning team would keep the totem pole in their trophy case,” Tucker said. “And some way, somehow that losing team would always manage to steal the totem pole before the game and all of a sudden it would appear on the field just before the game.”
Both schools enter this season looking to build a new tradition, each sporting new heard coaches.
Tucker said that he has mixed emotions going into the game since he is living in Cookeville and has familial connections to Tech, but he’s also a Blue Raider too. At any rate, Tucker said this game means a lot to him, both schools and both communities.
“But I think, both programs have a lot to gain from this particular game, in terms of growing their program” Tucker said. “I think coach Wilder has done a very good job of bringing in players through the transfer portal. And I think it’s just going to be a real interesting game to see how they match-up after not playing each other for 18 years.”
