This year a new tradition will be put in oarder.
Student Body President Jordan Johnson said an anonymous donor presented him with a 10-foot-long oar to heat up the rivalry between UF and the University of Georgia. The trophy will join the likes of the Golden Boot between Louisiana State University and University of Arkansas and Paul Bunyan's Axe between University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin.
Johnson and UGA's Student Body President Katie Barlow will highlight the old rivalry's new addition during a 2 p.m. CBS broadcast in the parking lot of the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium this Saturday.
Johnson said the oar isn't just for the winning school's Student Government but for the whole Student Body.
"It instills a sense of pride to the game, a sense of responsibility to students from both sides and a sense of sportsmanship and great tradition that SEC football is known for," he said.
Johnson said the oar is made from wood in the Okefenokee Swamp, which is common in both states and is engraved into the histories of both Florida and Georgia.
SG press secretary Eric Conrad said the oar was carved from a 1000-year-old tree.
The wood symbolizes the conflict that arose when Florida and Georgia drew the state-boundary line through Okefenokee Swamp, a conflict that came long before the rivalry on the football field.
Barlow said both schools have been talking about having an award for years, adding the oar will add to the tradition and rivalry of the game.
"It's just something to kind of symbolize the victory," Barlow said.
