The heaviest college rivalry trophy — the Fremont Cannon — owes its origin to an explorer, Rebel pranksters, and UNLV’s first football coach.
It all started on a chilly December night in 1965. A group of student leaders concocted a plan to steal one of the WWI cannons that sat on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno. The group included Tom Hribar, George "Chip" Mills, Don Malone, Bill Cunningham, Chuck Crawford, Chuck Cooley, Ben Knowles, and J. Michael Green.
"Two of our brothers, Tom Hribar and Don Malone, took over planning of the raid," Green wrote in a Las Vegas Sun column. "Chip and his father flew to Reno on a reconnaissance mission. They returned with numerous photographs, dimensions and weight of the cannon, the size of the chain that secured the cannon to a concrete slab, a map of the campus, and — amazingly — the times and routes when security made its nocturnal rounds through campus.
After some advanced scouting, the would-be thieves rented a trailer, borrowed some tools, and made the drive to Reno. They managed to move the cannon 25 feet from its perch outside Morrill Hall before campus security thwarted their plans.
"We hightailed it back to (Las Vegas) and some of these guys spent a night in the cooler," Hribar said, chuckling over his cowardice. "I was about as immature as you could get, but we gave it a shot."
Thankfully, administrators in Reno kept their sense of humor and sent the pranksters back to Las Vegas without a criminal record.
Then Bill Ireland caught wind of the caper.
A legendary figure at both schools, Ireland was UNLV’s first football coach. And he was none too impressed by an old bell, saved after renovation of Morrill Hall at Reno, that was exchanged when the teams met on the basketball court.
Ireland pitched his idea: Let’s create the heaviest, most expensive trophy in college sports. (It was also the loudest until a mishap in 2000 damaged the cannon's firing mechanism.)
Kennecott Copper donated the funds to construct a trophy with special meaning to the state — a replica of the mountain howitzer that explorer John C. Fremont abandoned in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during a snowstorm in 1844.
The Fremont Cannon trophy cost $10,000 and weighs some 545 pounds. It was completed in 1969 and Reno, having won that year's game, was the first to possess it. It made its “Battle for Nevada” gameday debut in 1970, when UNLV prevailed 42-20, becoming the first school to capture the cannon.
Each time the cannon exchanges hands, the winning team earns the right to paint it in its school colors. UNLV has kept the cannon scarlet since 2022, and we’re pretty confident our Rebels are going to keep it that way for another year.
