Fremont Cannon 101: History behind college football's coolest trophy

Wolf Pack football coach Jay Norvell has played or coached for a bronze pig (Iowa vs. Minnesota's Floyd of Rosedale), a 6-foot long axe (Wisconsin vs. Minnesota's Paul Bunyan's Axe), a 295-pound brass bell (USC vs. UCLA's Victory Bell) and a metal cowboy hat (Oklahoma vs. Texas' Golden Hat), but Saturday will mark the first time he coaches for a cannon.

The Nevada and UNLV football teams play annually for one of the coolest trophies in college sports, the Fremont Cannon. Norvell had former Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault talk to his team Monday morning about the rivalry trophy and the importance of this game.

“I’m so excited about this one," Norvell said. "To have an amazing trophy like the Fremont Cannon and the history involved in that is pretty special."

Here's a look at the cannon, which will be played for this week when the Wolf Pack (2-9, 2-5 Mountain West) hosts UNLV (5-6, 4-3) at noon Saturday at Mackay Stadium.

Mr. Fremont

The cannon is a replica of the howitzer that accompanied captain John C. Fremont on his expedition through Oregon, Nevada and California from 1843-44. Fremont, the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party in 1856, also has streets named after him in more than 10 cities, including Reno (in the old southwest), Las Vegas, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Portland. There are also several high schools, middle schools, libraries and hospitals named after him in the western U.S.

Ireland's invention

Bill Ireland, a 1952 Nevada alum who was UNLV's first football coach, deserves credit for creating the idea of the cannon, which was built by the Nevada Mines Division of the Kennecott Copper Corp. Although the Wolf Pack won the first game between the schools in 1969, the Rebels were the first team to capture the cannon when it was handed out after the 1970 game — a 42-20 Rebels win.

Heavy stuff

The cannon has the distinction of being college football's largest and most expensive trophy. It weighs roughly 545 pounds and cost roughly $10,000 to build 40 years ago (that's more than $63,000 in 2017 currecny). When Nevada has the cannon, it is housed in Cashell Fieldhouse below a sign that reads: "The Fremont Cannon: The Largest 'Rival' Trophy in America."

It used to work

John Hill, a 1973 Nevada alum and son of then-UNR professor of military science Col. Robert H. Hill, claims to be the first person to fire the cannon, which used to blast off after every score during the game. "We not only shot it, but we shot some of our players one time," Ault said many years ago. "I remember Steve Bryant getting shot right in the back with those paper wads and his jersey bending up and smoke coming out. There's some wonderful memories."

Now boarding

After the Wolf Pack won the 1978 game as 20-point underdogs, the Nevada players disassembled the cannon and talked McCarran International Airport officials in Las Vegas into letting them carry small pieces of it onto the plane to bring it back to Reno. "It was total chaos, an amazing memory, but it was one of those moments we were flying so high, we didn't need a plane to get home," Ault said.

A full-time rivalry (now)

Despite the fact UNLV beat Nevada only once in the 1980s, the cannon spent seven years that decade in Las Vegas. That's because the teams only played four times in the 1980s after UNLV pushed to drop the series; the Rebels kept the cannon for five straight years with only one victory. The Nevada Board of Regents, led by chairman Bob Cashell (Reno's former mayor), reinstated the rivalry on a full-time basis in 1989.

Damaged goods?

After UNLV won the trophy in 2000, Rebel players and fans lifted the cannon in celebration before accidentally dropping and damaging it. The UNLV athletics department repaired the cannon at a cost of about $1,500 before the team's next home game. However, that accident did enough damage to disable the cannon from ever firing again.

A secret message

While the cannon was being refurbished after the 2000 incident, UNLV officials found an inscription inside the cannon that read: "University of Notta Lotta Victories." It was an obvious poke at UNLV, which trails the all-time series 17-25. The identity of the person who put the phrase on the cannon has never been revealed. UNLV later responded by carving University of Northern Rejects on the cannon, which Nevada ground off.

Transportation

The cannon travels for road games, which isn't the easy task given its age, weight and bulky nature. "It doesn't travel very well," ex-Wolf Pack director of equipment operations Craig Hopkins told the RGJ in 2008. "It just doesn't roll very well, despite being a wheeled cannon. It's so heavy and bulky, it's hard to roll it down a hallway and not hit something."

The Wolf Pack, which is in possession of the cannon after a 45-10 victory last season, is hopeful it isn't going anywhere on Saturday. The cannon will sit on the Wolf Pack sidelines during the game and Nevada is working to keep it in Reno for at least one more season. To do so, it will have to buck a trend. The road team has won a rivalry-record five straight games in this series.