THE IUP Football Thread

[iupgroundhog]

You’ve stated it well, I think. The best way I can describe it to people is that Slippery Rock hated IUP and IUP didn’t care. That made Slippery Rock hate IUP even more.

I’ve heard stories of certain SRU coaches refusing to say the letters “I, U and P” and instead use some variation of the old Woody Hayes line, “that school down south.” The SRU paper has more than once over the years, I believe, called it the D2 version of Michigan-Ohio State. Hell, in most cases, Slippery Rock calls IUP “Indiana” just because.

But for all those years Frank had things humming, IUP never picked anyone as a rival.

I remember when Lou Tepper was hired at IUP. He said that at Edinboro, they used part of every spring practice to prepare for IUP that fall. The reasoning was that nobody could truly call themselves the best of the PSAC West unless you beat IUP. He called it their “Red-letter game.”

There are traditional rivalries that are institutionalized (as described by FightingScot82) such as the Lehigh/Lafayette game, Army/Navy, etc. I think you could put The Coal Bowl in that category. There is something with a history that is on the line.

Rivalries all have to do with creating excitement and the pregame build-up. Back in the Cignetti late 80's and 90's, what was exciting was IUP going outside of the PSAC and playing against strong programs from other regions - his vision was more of a national D2 competitive level (regionalization of D2 made that obsolete, anyway). In those years, our rivals were schools like GVSU, SVSU, Towson, and New Haven. If you remember those series, it was a little more exciting than playing the SHU's of the world.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Sure you do. But it takes two to tango. When one side says "you're our rival" and the other one says "meh" it's more of a spat than a rivalry.

Exhibit A: The Civil Con FLiCT

Reminds me of when Penn State joined the Big 10 and wanted to form a rivalry with Minnesota and Michigan State. I don't think anybody bought in to it.

I suppose definitions of rivalries vary.

[Matt Burglund]

Well, I don't think you really get to 'pick' your rival.

Sure you do. But it takes two to tango. When one side says "you're our rival" and the other one says "meh" it's more of a spat than a rivalry.

Exhibit A: The Civil Con FLiCT

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You’ve stated it well, I think. The best way I can describe it to people is that Slippery Rock hated IUP and IUP didn’t care. That made Slippery Rock hate IUP even more.

I’ve heard stories of certain SRU coaches refusing to say the letters “I, U and P” and instead use some variation of the old Woody Hayes line, “that school down south.” The SRU paper has more than once over the years, I believe, called it the D2 version of Michigan-Ohio State. Hell, in most cases, Slippery Rock calls IUP “Indiana” just because.

But for all those years Frank had things humming, IUP never picked anyone as a rival.

I remember when Lou Tepper was hired at IUP. He said that at Edinboro, they used part of every spring practice to prepare for IUP that fall. The reasoning was that nobody could truly call themselves the best of the PSAC West unless you beat IUP. He called it their “Red-letter game.”

Well, I don't think you really get to 'pick' your rival. It kind of happens naturally. And, they don't all last forever.

I think back to the 90s when IUP and Cal had wars on the basketball court. They were both incredible programs. They both knew it. Both had eccentric coaches. The KCAC is grand and IUP is rocking and rolling, but the basketball games of that era are still my favorite. When Cal came to town in that era you couldn't move in the Memorial Field House. It was the same down there at Hamer Hall. Gary Edwards was hated down there. Bill Brown was hated here. It was the same in the years prior with Kurt Kanaskie and Jim Boone.

The KCAC gets larger crowds today, but comes nowhere close to the noise and atmosphere those games generated. But, when Angelo took over down there and shifted all the money to football, Cal's basketball program quickly became very mediocre. It's on the rise again after nearly 20 years of being average. The heated rivalry died as IUP dominated the series. It's kind of on its way back but the large following Cal once had down there is long gone. Maybe they can get it back.

These days, Mercyhurst is the big basketball rivalry.

I'd say, modern time, SRU and Cal are certainly the football rivalries. That said, I think most IUP fans think that more because they are just always in the way of IUP's chase to a division title. I don't think most 'hate' them the way IUP/Cal was back in the basketball days. They're just big games to the average IUP fan. Both equal in my mind. You get a sense of hatred on this board, sure, but there's so few of us on here -- and even fewer IUP fans who read this crap. I mean, Mercyhurst and SRU both had about the same gate at Miller Stadium this year.

Sure, there have been instances to draw hate between IUP and SRU. The 1999 Homecoming game. The 1999 Rock Dance. The 2000 Rock Dance Part 2 (sequels are never as good). But, that stuff was a long, long time ago.

[Fightingscot82]

I think they teach IUP hate at SRU freshmen orientation. I never got the same sense from IUP students. Perhaps mostly because they don't care.

It's big among the athletes. In my era it was a game most looked forward to watching but it wasn't like it's perceived to be now. Of course, Frank owned Dr. Evil record-wise.

When IUP takes the field at SRU, it's (by D2 standards) a thunderous amount of booing and F IUP chants. When SRU comes out at Miller ... it's the same as Clarion coming out at Miller.

It's heated on here among IUP fans but I don't see it many other places.

I don't understand what's different at SRU but the students and alumni do seem to show up more than the other schools. I don't sense any hate directed at IUP outside of social media (student section & barstool accounts). Honestly, the week leading up to the IUP game was like any other week.

When I was at Edinboro, it was a little more fun to talk trash at IUP. Maybe like poking the bear? McComb would give Gary Edwards so much crap. I was at the first game with Tepper vs Edinboro and I'd describe it as a Bronx cheer (understandably so).

[Fightingscot82]

Why do you keep trying to insult a school that has beat “you’re school” 8 times in the last 10 years? All I have to say is 41-0 LOL… typical IUP hater.

No insults. Just disagreeing with an example. Why were you offended?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well...I bought a t shirt in the Co-op store that says

"My two favorite teams are IUP and whoever is playing Slippery Rock"

I bought it in 2018 or so....so there must be some hate on IUP's part.

I did wear it the last two years on the day IUP played Slimey Pebble....:-)

Wear it all the time. IUP'S players get pumped up when they see fans wearing IUP gear from the Co-Op Store.

So I've heard.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think getting hooked on IUP football in the dominating years is what still keeps me from looking at SRU and even more so, Cal, as rivals. Very few of the games were competitive with those schools in those days. Then when SRU started having some success, it was more of an annoyance but at this point I look at them as a rival. Cal I still struggle with. I’d say they’re more at the annoyance phase yet.

Edinboro was the only team you’d worry about back then. They had some great teams that were maybe just a whisker behind IUP. Those teams were good enough to go as far as IUP did but unfortunately for Boro, they shared not only the same conference, but the same division. There were several very physical, low-scoring battles between the two teams and plenty of extra curricular unsportsmanlike conduct action. I believe one of the games featured a near brawl at the middle of the field before kickoff.

Clarion was a headache in the late 90s. If I recall, they made the football final four or title game in 1996.

They were good in men's hoops in that era, too.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I'm sure if you went to the SRU bookstore in 2018, you would have found the same shirt with the school names reversed. Back in the 1990s I started seeing ones that said "The Good (IUP logo), the Bad (Clarion), and the Ugly (SRU). Then I'd go to Clarion and see the same shirt in a different order. Same at Slippery Rock.

What I'm getting at is that back in the 90s when Frank was at his career peak, a lot of schools, including SRU, said IUP was their rival but the feelings weren't usually mutual. Frank went 107-14-1 against the PSAC West in his career. At one point, he was 11-0 against George (finished 16-3). He went 19-1 against Cal. So it was sometimes laughable that another divisional school said "we're IUP's rival" when most of them rarely gave IUP a game.

But that's all in the past. Things have certainly changed since IUP doesn't have that stranglehold on the division that it once had.

It's like that in men's basketball now. Every West team says it's Joe's rival. Meanwhile he has like a 98% winning percentage against several of them.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I'm sure if you went to the SRU bookstore in 2018, you would have found the same shirt with the school names reversed. Back in the 1990s I started seeing ones that said "The Good (IUP logo), the Bad (Clarion), and the Ugly (SRU). Then I'd go to Clarion and see the same shirt in a different order. Same at Slippery Rock.

What I'm getting at is that back in the 90s when Frank was at his career peak, a lot of schools, including SRU, said IUP was their rival but the feelings weren't usually mutual. Frank went 107-14-1 against the PSAC West in his career. At one point, he was 11-0 against George (finished 16-3). He went 19-1 against Cal. So it was sometimes laughable that another divisional school said "we're IUP's rival" when most of them rarely gave IUP a game.

But that's all in the past. Things have certainly changed since IUP doesn't have that stranglehold on the division that it once had.

I think getting hooked on IUP football in the dominating years is what still keeps me from looking at SRU and even more so, Cal, as rivals. Very few of the games were competitive with those schools in those days. Then when SRU started having some success, it was more of an annoyance but at this point I look at them as a rival. Cal I still struggle with. I’d say they’re more at the annoyance phase yet.

Edinboro was the only team you’d worry about back then. They had some great teams that were maybe just a whisker behind IUP. Those teams were good enough to go as far as IUP did but unfortunately for Boro, they shared not only the same conference, but the same division. There were several very physical, low-scoring battles between the two teams and plenty of extra curricular unsportsmanlike conduct action. I believe one of the games featured a near brawl at the middle of the field before kickoff.

[IUPNation]

I'm sure if you went to the SRU bookstore in 2018, you would have found the same shirt with the school names reversed. Back in the 1990s I started seeing ones that said "The Good (IUP logo), the Bad (Clarion), and the Ugly (SRU). Then I'd go to Clarion and see the same shirt in a different order. Same at Slippery Rock.

What I'm getting at is that back in the 90s when Frank was at his career peak, a lot of schools, including SRU, said IUP was their rival but the feelings weren't usually mutual. Frank went 107-14-1 against the PSAC West in his career. At one point, he was 11-0 against George. So it was sometimes laughable that another divisional school said "we're IUP's rival" when most of them rarely gave IUP a game.

That certainly has changed since IUP doesn't have that stranglehold on the division that it once had.

I had one in the early 90's that I bought at IUP that said "Friends Don't Let Friends Go To Slippery Rock". I'd say I wish I still had it but I wouldn't fit in it anymore! LOL.

[Matt Burglund]

Well...I bought a t shirt in the Co-op store that says

"My two favorite teams are IUP and whoever is playing Slippery Rock"

I bought it in 2018 or so....so there must be some hate on IUP's part.

I did wear it the last two years on the day IUP played Slimey Pebble....:-)

I'm sure if you went to the SRU bookstore in 2018, you would have found the same shirt with the school names reversed. Back in the 1990s I started seeing ones that said "The Good (IUP logo), the Bad (Clarion), and the Ugly (SRU). Then I'd go to Clarion and see the same shirt in a different order. Same at Slippery Rock.

What I'm getting at is that back in the 90s when Frank was at his career peak, a lot of schools, including SRU, said IUP was their rival but the feelings weren't usually mutual. Frank went 107-14-1 against the PSAC West in his career. At one point, he was 11-0 against George (finished 16-3). He went 19-1 against Cal. So it was sometimes laughable that another divisional school said "we're IUP's rival" when most of them rarely gave IUP a game.

But that's all in the past. Things have certainly changed since IUP doesn't have that stranglehold on the division that it once had.

[IUPNation]

Well...I bought a t shirt in the Co-op store that says

"My two favorite teams are IUP and whoever is playing Slippery Rock"

I bought it in 2018 or so....so there must be some hate on IUP's part.

I did wear it the last two years on the day IUP played Slimey Pebble....:-)

[Matt Burglund]

I think they teach IUP hate at SRU freshmen orientation. I never got the same sense from IUP students. Perhaps mostly because they don't care.

It's big among the athletes. In my era it was a game most looked forward to watching but it wasn't like it's perceived to be now. Of course, Frank owned Dr. Evil record-wise.

When IUP takes the field at SRU, it's (by D2 standards) a thunderous amount of booing and F IUP chants. When SRU comes out at Miller ... it's the same as Clarion coming out at Miller.

It's heated on here among IUP fans but I don't see it many other places.

You’ve stated it well, I think. The best way I can describe it to people is that Slippery Rock hated IUP and IUP didn’t care. That made Slippery Rock hate IUP even more.

I’ve heard stories of certain SRU coaches refusing to say the letters “I, U and P” and instead use some variation of the old Woody Hayes line, “that school down south.” The SRU paper has more than once over the years, I believe, called it the D2 version of Michigan-Ohio State. Hell, in most cases, Slippery Rock calls IUP “Indiana” just because.

But for all those years Frank had things humming, IUP never picked anyone as a rival.

I remember when Lou Tepper was hired at IUP. He said that at Edinboro, they used part of every spring practice to prepare for IUP that fall. The reasoning was that nobody could truly call themselves the best of the PSAC West unless you beat IUP. He called it their “Red-letter game.”

[ironmaniup]

I think they teach IUP hate at SRU freshmen orientation. I never got the same sense from IUP students. Perhaps mostly because they don't care.

It's big among the athletes. In my era it was a game most looked forward to watching but it wasn't like it's perceived to be now. Of course, Frank owned Dr. Evil record-wise.

When IUP takes the field at SRU, it's (by D2 standards) a thunderous amount of booing and F IUP chants. When SRU comes out at Miller ... it's the same as Clarion coming out at Miller.

It's heated on here among IUP fans but I don't see it many other places.

The sru hate ended a shortly after the year of the infamous storming of the rock - administration came down pretty hard on the students involved plus it wasn’t too long after that the football team sort of lost the students with their bad behavior