Battle for the Red Belt

Murray State Racers

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

First meeting

October 24, 1931
Western Kentucky 7, Murray State 0

Latest meeting

September 20, 2008
Western Kentucky 50, Murray State 9

Next meeting

TBD

Trophy

Red Belt

Statistics

Meetings total

All-time series

Western Kentucky leads, 36–24–7

Largest victory

Western Kentucky 50, Murray State 0 (1963)

Longest win streak

Western Kentucky, 5 (1969–1973)

Current win streak

Western Kentucky, 4 (1999–present)

Murray State

Western Kentucky

Locations in Kentucky

The Battle for the Red Belt is an American college football rivalry between the WKU Hilltoppers football team of Western Kentucky University and the Murray State Racers football team of Murray State University. The rivalry began as an in-conference rivalry within the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Hilltoppers have since moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision, first to the Sun Belt Conference and most recently to Conference USA. The rivalry has continued as a trophy game, although it is no longer played on an annual basis.

History

The football rivalry between the Hilltoppers and the Racers dates to 1931. Western Kentucky secured a victory in the first game on October 24, 1931. In 1939, both institutions strengthened the rivalry by scheduling the match up as the final game of their regular seasons. This tradition continued, with only four interruptions, for the next 46 years.

Prior to the 1955 football game, a group of Western Kentucky students traveled to Murray and stole a banner commemorating Murray State's participation in the 1949 Tangerine Bowl. In response, a group of Murray State students traveled to Bowling Green with buckets of paint and plans to paint the Western Kentucky water tower that overlooked the football stadium. The plan was stopped when the Murray State students were forced off the water tower by a group Western Kentucky students with an ROTC training rifle. A "W" was shaved into the hair of three of the Murray State students, and their photo appeared in the local newspaper along with a photo of the Western Kentucky students displaying their stolen Murray State Tangerine Bowl banner. Murray State won the 1955 game 28–12, and the Tangerine Bowl banner was returned to Murray State. Following the Racer victory, a similar banner was stolen from Western Kentucky's W Club room. Over the next decade, the water tower and statue of Henry Hardin Cherry remained targets of Murray State students any time the schools met in both football and basketball. In another incident, the phrase "Murray OVC Champs" was painted on an overpass near the Western Kentucky campus.^[1]

The football rivalry was cemented as an annual trophy game in 1978 known as the Battle for the Red Belt. The Red Belt originated in 1978 when WKU athletic trainer Bill Edwards attended a district trainers' meeting in Atlanta with Murray State trainer Tom Simmons. Simmons forgot to bring a belt, and borrowed a red one from Edwards. After the meeting, Edwards asked for the return of his belt, but Simmons responded that WKU would have to battle Murray State in football to get it back. Simmons had the belt mounted on a large plaque with brass plates to record the annual game scores of the annual rivalry game. The annual meetings between the two teams ended in 2000, but the Battle for the Red Belt is still played on in intermittent basis. The last game was played in 2008 when a record crowd of 22,297 in Bowling Green watched the Hilltoppers beat the Racers 50–9 and maintain possession of the Red Belt. The Racers and Hilltoppers have met 67 times in football, with Western Kentucky leading the series 36–24–7.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Series History

Murray State victories	Western Kentucky victories	Tie games

#	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	1931	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	7–0
2	1932	Murray	Western Kentucky	6–0
3	1933	Bowling Green	Murray State	20–6
4	1934	Murray	Murray State	27–14
5	1935	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	21–6
6	1936	Murray	Western Kentucky	14–0
7	1937	Bowling Green	Tie	7–7
8	1938	Murray	Western Kentucky	21–7
9	1939	Bowling Green	Tie	12–12
10	1940	Murray	Western Kentucky	6–0
11	1941	Bowling Green	Tie	0–0
12	1942	Murray	Western Kentucky	24–13
13	1946	Bowling Green	Murray State	55–6
14	1947	Murray	Murray State	21–0
15	1948	Bowling Green	Murray State	34–7
16	1949	Murray	Western Kentucky	10–7
17	1950	Bowling Green	Tie	27–27
18	1951	Murray	Murray State	23–6
19	1952	Murray	Western Kentucky	12–7
20	1953	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	12–7
21	1954	Murray	Murray State	19–0
22	1955	Bowling Green	Murray State	28–12
23	1956	Murray	Murray State	34–13
24	1957	Bowling Green	Tie	7–7
25	1958	Murray	Murray State	12–7
26	1959	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	21–6
27	1960	Murray	Murray State	26–7
28	1961	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	14–6
29	1962	Murray	Western Kentucky	16–15
30	1963	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	50–0
31	1964	Murray	Murray State	14–7
32	1965	Bowling Green	Tie	14–14
33	1966	Murray	Western Kentucky	37–20
34	1967	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	42–19

#	Date	Location	Winner	Score
35	1968	Murray	Murray State	17–14
36	1969	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	59–14
37	1970	Murray	Western Kentucky	33–7
38	1971	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	24–10
39	1972	Murray	Western Kentucky	17–6
40	1973	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	32–27
41	1974	Murray	Murray State	9–7
42	1975	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	19–0
43	1976	Murray	Murray State	16–6
44	1977	Bowling Green	Murray State	21–13
45	1978	Murray	Western Kentucky	14–6
46	1979	Bowling Green	Murray State	30–20
47	1980	Murray	Murray State	49–0
48	1981	Bowling Green	Murray State	38–6
49	1982	Murray	Western Kentucky	27–20
50	1983	Bowling Green	Murray State	7–3
51	1984	Murray	Murray State	17–16
52	1985	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	27–25
53	1986	Murray	Tie	10–10
54	1987	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	21–17
55	1989	Murray	Murray State	17–14
56	1991	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	14–0
57	1992	Murray	Western Kentucky	47–15
58	1993	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	44–14
59	1994	Murray	Western Kentucky	39–13
60	1995	Bowling Green	Murray State	35–14
61	1996	Murray	Western Kentucky	44–41
62	1997	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	52–50
63	1998	Murray	Murray State	36–31
64	1999	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	21–15
65	2000	Murray	Western Kentucky	48–38
66	2002^*	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	59–20
67	2008	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky	50–9
Series: Western Kentucky leads 36–24–7

^* Division I-AA 1st Round Playoff Game

Notable games

2000

The 2000 game was final meeting between the Hilltoppers and Racers as both members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Keith Brooks rushed for a career-best 186 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, and DeWayne Gallishaw moved the ball for 118 yards on the ground to lead 24th-ranked Western Kentucky to a 48–38 OVC victory at Roy Stewart Stadium. Following the 2000 season, the Hilltoppers left the OVC as a result of a new OVC rule that required all eligible sports to participate in the conference. WKU was a football-only member of the OVC, and the university was not willing to move its other athletic programs back to the conference. Following the announcement, the head football coaches from both programs expressed the strong desire to keep the rivalry game on the schedule as an annual non-conference event.

2002

In 2002, WKU and Murray State met in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. The Hilltoppers beat the Racers 59–20 in front of 3,300 fans at L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green. This was the first meeting between the two programs since WKU left the OVC to move to the Gateway Football Conference. The Hilltoppers went on to win their only NCAA Division I-AA National Championship.

References

↑ Niedermeier, Lynn. "Our Chief Rival and Greatest Friend": The Western-Murray Athletic Rivalry. 2009
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
↑ http://dustyluthy.blogspot.com/2008/09/wku-vs-msu-and-red-belt.html
↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=20000927&id=2voaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CkgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6662,3393984

Murray State Racers football

Venues	Roy Stewart Stadium (1973–present)

Bowls & rivalries	1949 Tangerine Bowl Battle for the Red Belt (WKU)

Culture & lore	Racer One Dunker "Fight Song" "The Old Gray Mare" Racer Band

People	Head coaches NFL draftees

Seasons	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football

Venues	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (1968–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Eastern Kentucky: Battle of the Bluegrass Middle Tennessee: 100 Miles of Hate Murray State: Battle for the Red Belt

Culture & lore	Big Red "Stand Up and Cheer" Big Red Marching Band One Second of Laterals

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Conference USA football rivalries

Conference	100 Miles of Hate (Middle Tennessee-Western Kentucky) North Texas–UTSA Rivalry in Dixie (Louisiana Tech–Southern Miss) Shula Bowl (FIU–Florida Atlantic) Southern Miss-UAB

Non-conference	Battle for the Bell (Marshall–Ohio) Battle for the Bell (Southern Miss–Tulane) Battle for the Palladium (Middle Tennessee–Troy) Battle for the Red Belt (Murray State–Western Kentucky) Battle of I-10 (New Mexico State–UTEP) Battle of the Bluegrass (Eastern Kentucky–Western Kentucky) Louisiana Tech–ULM Bayou Bucket Classic (Houston–Rice) Black and Blue Bowl (Memphis–Southern Miss) East Carolina–Marshall Friends of Coal Bowl (Marshall–West Virginia) I-35 Rivalry (Texas State–UTSA) Mayor's Cup (Rice–SMU) Safeway Bowl (North Texas–SMU) Rice–Texas

Ohio Valley Conference football rivalries

Conference	Sgt. York Trophy (Austin Peay–Tennessee State–Tennessee Tech–UT Martin)

Non-conference	Battle for the Ol' School Bell (Jacksonville State–Troy) Battle for the Red Belt (Murray State–Western Kentucky) Battle of the Bluegrass (Eastern Kentucky–Western Kentucky) Jacksonville State–Samford Mid-America Classic (Eastern Illinois–Illinois State) Old Hawg Rifle (Eastern Kentucky–Morehead State) Southern Heritage Classic (Jackson State–Tennessee State)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.