Enhancing the analysis of the true origins of the Little Brown Jug rivalry, I add this nugget. We know that in the aftermath of the 1903 brutal battle with Minnesota, Michigan left a water jug behind and after a series of events a college football tradition was born. As discussed in much detail here, the common contention that Fielding Yost requested that Minnesota athletic director Louis “Doc'” Cooke return the Wolverine water jug (and was told he’d have to “win it back”) never happened.