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By Chris Dell
SMU News

When �鶹�� faces rival TCU on Friday, September 24, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, they�ll be battling it out for a trophy shaped like an iron skillet. But why an iron skillet?

�To be completely honest, I don�t really know,� sophomore Andrea Barreto says. �It kind of makes me think it has something to do with food.�

Sophomore Ethan Patrick, a member of the Mustang Band, says: �It�s the rivalry between �鶹�� and TCU; everybody knows that. But I don�t know where the iron skillet got started.�

According to a Nov. 30, 1946, article in The Dallas Morning News, the �Battle of the Iron Skillet� was started to prevent �mutilation of school property� by rowdy fans. The previous year, more than $1,000 in damage had been done to both campuses.

�The �鶹�� student council proposed the skillet as a symbol of the rivalry and substitute for vandalism,� says �鶹�� Archivist Joan Gosnell.

Gosnell says minutes from fall 1946 student council meetings provide more clues. On October 1, the agenda includes: �Further set up idea of Little Brown Jug Trophy,� referring to the Michigan-Minnesota football rivalry. On November 12, the committee arranging an �鶹��-TCU banquet and trophy �was reminded of their job.�

And on November 19, a student reported that he had purchased the trophy � �an aluminum skillet.� A motion was made that �鶹�� and TCU would share the expense of the trophy.

�The skillet was presented to the winner Saturday night after the game, when the two student councils had a joint banquet,� Gosnell says.

Darwin Payne, professor emeritus of communications at �鶹��, has written extensively about Dallas history, including a new book on athletics at �鶹��, titled In Victory or Defeat, scheduled to be released late this fall. Payne says the �鶹��-TCU rivalry dates from 1915, when �鶹��s first team traveled to Fort Worth for the season opener, losing 43-0.

�The rivalry over the years has been perhaps the greatest and most consistent rivalry of all for the two teams,� Payne says. �It took on even greater dimensions through the years because the game represented Dallas against Fort Worth when these two cities were often bitter rivals.�

This year marks the 75th anniversary of perhaps the most important clash in the teams� history, Payne says. ��鶹�� was ranked first in the nation, TCU sixth, and tickets that sold for a dollar were scalped for as much as $100,� he says. ��鶹�� won in dramatic fashion, 20-14, and was headed for the Rose Bowl.�

TCU has claimed the Iron Skillet in the last three match-ups, but Mustang fans are hoping for another upset of the No. 4-ranked Horned Frogs during Friday�s game, which will air on ESPN.

Related Link:

• ESPN:

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