Homecoming 1929 - vs. Nebraska (University Archives, C:0/49/2)

The tradition of Mizzou Football has been around for well over a century. Take a moment to browse through historic photos and read a bit about some of the rich history surrounding the University of Missouri.

The Big ‘M’

The Big ‘M’ is located in Memorial Stadium. It was initially a freshmen stunt pulled in 1927 when they stacked up giant stones in the north end zone the night before the Homecoming game. That night, it took them just an hour to construct the Big ‘M’, and now it is tradition for freshman to whitewash the rocks each fall.

The night before MU/Nebraska game in 1950s, Nebraska fans snuck into Memorial Stadium and changed the “M” to an “N”. Groundskeeper noticed it and gave students in the Laws and Lathrop residence halls free Cokes and tickets to football game if they helped fix it.

 

 

MU Football team - 1910 (1910 Savitar pg. 124)

Why are we the Tigers?

Missourians defended Columbia against bands of guerillas from both the Union and the Confederate during the Civil War. However, they never had to actually fight because they earned a reputation for being as “fierce as Tigers” and the name stuck and became our University’s mascot. The name for Truman the Tiger was in honor of President Harry S. Truman and came into existence in the mid-1980s.

Homecoming 1913 - Winning kick to beat kU (University Archives, C:0/46/7, Box 1, FF 9, Pg 3, F)

All photographs courtesy of University Archives and the Online Savitar.