Rubber vs. Steel

Today’s announcement on fbschedules.com about Akron meeting Youngstown State in 2020 brought a smile to my face - as well as most (if not all) college football fans in Northeast Ohio. This had been a rivalry that was played for almost 30 consecutive years from 1967 to 1995, but it went away soon after Akron moved up to Division 1-A. My desire for this game to be played again will be satisfied - even if it is only for one year at this time.

These schools first met in 1940, (Youngstown State won 13-0), and have played 35 times (Penguins lead the series 19-14-2). A trophy was created to represent the two cities main product (Akron - rubber, Youngstown - steel) and was named the Steel Tire Trophy after the development of the steel-belted tire in 1971.

I am very happy to add a date to this game on my rivalry spreadsheet - instead of having a “not scheduled” beside the game…