Good Sunday morning, everyone. Well, it may not be so good for Phil, because when he sees the featured photo he’s going to say, “NOOOO! This means Oregon isn’t in the Top Five this week!” If it’s any consolation, they’re Number 6, and this way I can talk more about the game than I would in the 5&1. The Ducks looked fabulous again, even without pants stripes, and UCLA looked as good as they can in their current set (I still prefer the Aikman-era look). Two more observations on the Bruins: I like the idea of the gold socks and shoes, but they kept reminding me of the jazz shoes that many dance teams wear. Also, I’m glad to see the Rose Bowl still has Gs on the goal lines!
I added that photo to yesterday’s goal line talk, and to last week’s post that started the whole G thing going. So what games did I add to this week’s 5&1? We’ll find out at the end of today’s SMUW. Now, we begin with our very own Terry Duroncelet. Take it away!
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Let’s wrap up September in style, shall we?
From Friday, September 27th
• Rutgers/Washington: If you’ve been reading my incoherent yapping (the word of the year) for the last 13 years, then you know FULL-WELL what I think about a Rutgers team literally named THIS, dressing like THIS. The frustrating thing is that IT’S NOT A BAD UNIFORM BY ITSELF. It just doesn’t fit the context of their name. I don’t entirely hate it enough to give it the Krusty the Beatdown Clown treatment, so we’ll chalk this one up as “we’ll get ’em next week”.
From Saturday, September 28th
• North Texas/Tulsa: If you’ve been reading my incoherent yapping (the word of the year) for the last 13 years, then you know FULL-WELL what I think about a North Texas team literally named THIS, dressing like THIS. Wait, didn’t I just… Their helmets were quite nice, I will say that (closer look, with thanks to Blaise D’Sylva).
• Notre Dame/Louisville: It’s always a treat to see Notre Dame break out the kelly tops. The white pants are… INTERESTING. I’m not sure if I’d like them with their regular garb. Paired with the greens however, they add this nice complimentary cleanliness to the look, they really let the helmets shine (no pun intended), and they bring out the green jerseys.
• Auburn/Oklahoma: This may potentially be an unpopular opinion, but I think Auburn should switch to the orange facemasks full-time. Don’t get me wrong, what they have is an undisputed classic, but the orange facemasks give it just that little touch of energy.
• Baylor/BYU: This would’ve been juuuuust-in-the-realm of an underrated visual delight if Baylor had worn their green pants. (JV: or if BYU had worn their blue pants)
• Purdue/Nebraska: Purdue in all-black. At least this one makes sense, and this was overall a nice game to look at!
• Boston College/WKU: Black lids for the Tops (closer look).
• UAB/Navy: Smile-A-Mile unis for UAB. You can learn more about Smile-A-Mile here (and here’s a closer look at those helmets).
• Miami (OH)/UMass: Commemorative look for the RedHawks. Phil has a good breakdown on the look here in case you missed it.
• Ohio/Akron: Ohio should just switch to these decals full-time, even if it does look like fishbones (closer look).
• Kent State/Eastern Michigan: New look for the Golden Flashes. The colors are DREADFUL, but everytime I look at any shoulder striped uniform made by Under Armour, I can’t help but to think about how good UCLA looked at the time, how hard UA fumbled the bag with the Bruins when the pandemic began, and what’s possible if Nike would just COMMIT TO AN IDEA FOR MORE THAN TWO SEASONS!!! Oh well, at least they’re doing well with Navy— oh, riiiiiiiight. I forgot that they have a new template. Dammit.
• Duke/North Carolina: Hmm, it’s basically BFBS Week, do you think that Duke will come correct with the proper blues against their arch nemesis? The answer may SHOCK YOU!
• FIU/LA Tech: Florida International wore their Biscayne Blue unis against the LA Tech Bulldogs (more info here, even though the article is a year old).
• Kennesaw State/UT Martin: I’m almost definitely wrong, but I think this is the first time I’ve EVER mentioned Kennesaw State. First time I heard of them is from someone that I met on Facebook from one of those meme pages that you follow for giggles (before the site became a[n even more dysfunctional] cesspool of A.I. nonsense), and that person –who was the admin and creator of said page– became a friend. When she posted about her school, she mentioned that she was going to Kennesaw State, this must’ve been… between 2010 and 2012. I can’t recall, time escapes all of us, I guess. ANYWHO, the gold/charcoal/gold kinda hits, I can see this working! Too bad Kennesaw State has to wear the haunted Trademark Treadmark unis of Adidas yesteryear.
• Utah/Arizona: Okay, was there a memo that I missed about all-black this weekend?
• SMU/Florida State: On the one hand, I actually really like Florida State’s all-whites. But on the other hand, this was NOT the game to wear them, as the only contrasting component between these 2 squads were SMU’s blue jerseys. Not well-planned out, if you ask me.
• Penn State/Illinois: Generations of Greatness unis for the Nittany Lions, while Illinois wore an old friend on their helmets.
• LSU/South Alabama: I must be confused on LSU’s purple jersey rule, because given all of the matching criteria (a home game against a non-conference opponent after the first true Death Valley home game has already played [Nicholls]), I figured they would have worn their Grimmace tops against the Jaguars of South Alabama, but instead, they opted for their classic white jerseys and… WHITE PANTS?????? Can someone with a better understanding of LSU’s purple tops protocol than me explain what happened here? Because as far as I know, the criteria goes as follows:
-LSU will wear their purple jerseys in all home games against non-conference opponents, unless one of two conditions are met:
-Condition #1) If it is a neutral site game, such as their FRUSTRATING LOSSto USC (Southern Cal) in Las Vegas from Week 1
-Condition #2) If it is the very-first true home game of the season, in which they wear white no matter what, such as their Week 2 game against Nicholls
…at any rate, part of me wishes that the Tigers fully-committed and wore their white helmets to match, but then they’d run into the aforementioned Florida State/SMU problem, where South Alabama’s navy tops would be the only thing tipping you to who’s who. Speaking of the Jaguars, here’s a closeup of their helmet stripe that they wore in this game.
• Wyoming/Air Force: the Mountain West doesn’t get enough credit for its beauty. It’s the Thai food of sight-seeing; people talk about it a lot, but they don’t talk about it enough, if you ask me. Beautifully-figured mountains as far as the eye can see, skies more blue than the eyes of a Disney princess (or the endless ravine of anime characters I can list), and what’s easily my favorite-looking game of Week 5. Contrast Matters: Mountain West Majesty Edition.
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Thanks, Terry…and I feel your pain with Rutgers. I almost put the Bearcats and RED Raiders in the &1 this week, but I found an even more frustrating matchup than either of these games. At least Cinci didn’t go full mono-white.
“Ohio should just switch to these decals full-time…”
I’m glad they brought this back.
They wore this in 1968 when they went 10-0 and were ranked #15 before a 7-point loss in the Tangerine Bowl. They finished 10-1, ranked #20, but then it was a green logo on white helmets.
Should UCLA have worn blue socks? Uni-Watch continues in in-depth investigation into the blue sock void.
Couldn’t agree more on UCLA’s Aikman era being vastly superior to what they are wearing today. It would like Ohio State going scarlet & anthracite. It’s just wrong.
Good to see Wade making a reference to The Tragically Hip’s classic Wheat Kings from the great town of Regina. Wait…Regina?? Uh oh…you know what that means:
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Hey Doogie! References for all the Hip fans out there. Such great music and soundtrack of my younger years. Canadian music icons. We miss Gord but we still have the library of their great songs.
Speaking of another great song. Who can forget that one! Yes, I am still experiencing Regina again until tomorrow. Going to my first WHL Regina Pats home game today since about the mid-1990s. Arena has been renovated inside since I have been there but I still call it the Agridome.
Can’t get past the 3 different stripes (helmet, sleeves, and pants) on SMUs uniform.
Eh Rutgers debuted the black uni’s in like 05 and have worn them on and off since, so they get a pass in my book.
My wife, 16 y/o son and I had a bit of discussion about the Penn State uniforms last night. The serif block numbers didn’t go over well with them – I think if they weren’t quite so thick, they’d look better. Wife didn’t care about the gray facemask; I feel like it’s awful. Son didn’t like numbers on the helmet and I don’t really either. I hate the white shoes. The first (and until the last decade) only time they wore white shoes they lost the National Championship to Alabama. Don’t commemorate that!
FWIW, Penn State football uniforms peaked in 2010. That was the last year they had the perfect contrasting trim. Why that year in particular when the previous 15 or so years they had the same? That was the year they brought back white shoelaces.
I agree with you on the white shoes. Don’t need those.
Everything else is perfect.
If any team needs to wear black shoes, it’s Penn State. That uniform is iconic, simple and old school. And, if anyone can go WFWS, it’s them.
With white shoelaces. I firmly agree with William on that.
Legend has it that Penn State coaches always felt that the black shoes made them look slower to their opponents and so they would underestimate their speed giving Penn State a slight “advantage” on field…
Looks like the Sherbrooke field superintendent missed a lawn cut?
Would say so. Noticeable in the one photo. Looks like the rough at a golf course.
Looks like the chevron on Navy’s Under Armour template doesn’t wrap around the sleeves. Auburn’s stripes barely fit in that space.
Love Wyoming in the brown jerseys. They have such a classic look.
Just a reminder that Minnesota got sloppy with their Running Gopher logo. The stripes are always on the right arm, but the image was simply mirrored for the left side helmet decals.
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Great job crew!
One thing wade noted in his twitter post on Saskatchewan was the amazing indigenous themed helmet logo- a thing of beauty!
Here is a good look. More on the design by Chris Chipak of Red Pheasant Cree Nation.
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Man, that logo is freaking gorgeous!
CUUW:
2 squads in all-purple this week… not a good look for either of ‘em.
Gotta say I love the static A on the Golden Bears helmets, but not the mono-gold worn beneath the blanc head protectors.
OTOH, Queen’s Gaels looked tremendous in their mono-yellow combo. That totally works. Thanks for sharing, Wade!
Thanks Chris! I wish one of the purple teams, Western Mustangs, would make changes. They used to have a signature quirkiness with “Western” on everyone’s nameplate and logo on 1 side of the helmet. Go back to that. Otherwise it is just a regular uniform now.
While I rather not see Auburn switch to orange facemasks, I’d like to see more widespread use of the facemask style (Riddell Axiom?) used by the Sooners #52.
Thumbs up to Auburn and the orange facemasks!!!!!!
I had a strong hunch AFvWyo was going to be number one this week. Wyoming has a classic look but I love that they also have a distinct number font (that’s also classic and not a more modern design) which elevates a simple traditional look above a team that’s maybe sticking with collegiate athletic font, as well as the color scheme. Airforce (imo) needs to allocate a little bit more of the budget toward number fabric and lightning bolt stickers. The numbers could be bigger and bolder and the bolts could stretch a bit farther back on the shell. But can’t argue the game being first on the list.
The numbers could be bigger and bolder
Absolutely. They were good enough for this week, though.
Definitely a great looking game, and while I think brown yellow and white are a fantastic color combo, I also love that it’s currently limited to Wyoming and the padres (as
far as I know) which makes it extra special to see. I definitely think of that look when I think of air force’s primaries, though. I don’t know their uni history too well but I think of the thin numbers and cheapo lightning bolt when I think of them. But you’re right, it doesn’t take away from the greatness of this matchup.
This Rutgers stance you’re making is a ridiculously stupid take if you know anything about the history of the university and their mascot.
First, the school chose scarlet as a color because they wore it as an accent color as a ribbon during the first football game against Princeton
Second, in the logo you show as reference the knight is wearing grey, and the accent and plume is scarlet
If anything, the accent color is more important than the actual uniform color
That LA Tech and FIU game is pretty dang close to #1 for me. Coin flip between that and AF&Wyoming.
That spot under the collar on Penn States generations of greatness uni bothers me because it looks like the logo that’s usually there was just ripped off or something. I’d just have the logo there tbh. I’d like them to just make those pants their default though. Don’t like the grey face masks.
Another big weekend for unnecessary white pants and mono black.
Illinois has pretty nice unis these days, but that number font really is just horrendous.
Even though it’s a lot of red, I love the contrast of the crimson of Alabama with the bright red of Georgia (plus I love the UGA road look) . Gorgeous game.
I thought for sure Cincinnati – Texas Tech would be the & 1 this week. I guess the black helmets for the Bearcats were just enough to save it. I still think it was slightly worse than Boise – WSU, but that one was definitely a real turd.
the black helmets for the Bearcats were just enough to save it
Yes… just barely.
LSU hasn’t stuck to this script the last few years.
Last year their first home non-conference home game was Grambling St. and they wore their normal whites. But their next non conference home game was Army and they wore white and white pants with their normal helmets. They wore their purples at home against Georgia St. in the second to last regular season game but wore white helmets. Then wore their regular purples as the home team in the bowl game.
2022 their later season home game against UAB they wore their normal white home uniforms.
2021 is the last time they followed the criteria, so maybe now it’s they shoot for one home non conference game they wear their purples.
These pants would fit much better with the tops Colorado wore against Baylor. A bit odd having pants stripes but not on helmets or jerseys.
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I like it as long as all the colors are on the pants. Bucs pull it off too.
Yes, I like the Aikman-era lighter blue better, but I might prefer the baby blue Beban-era even better.
I differ from you on sunny days. Give me a sunny day game over an overcast day. Of course I might feel different if I didn’t grow up in Southern Cal, where the weather is usually mild. A sunny Rose Bowl with snow-covered mountains in the background was the quintessential game for me. Also makes the uniform colors, and especially the helmet colors, stand out.
My ideal day is a raw, snowy Pitt/Penn State game, followed by a warm, sunny USC/UCLA game.
But since I can’t have the former anymore, I’ll take a raw, snowy Iowa/Nebraska game first.
UCLA needs to go back to the Clarendon Font on their football uniforms.
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As new Big10 tracker, I thought I’d head off any rabid PSU folks and say that I had not been aware of the Generation of Greatness alt uniforms, so have updated the file to reflect that wild and crazy list of changes! Being an Oregon Duck, I did not even notice the difference until Jim pointed it out. I’m used to alt Duck uniforms that actually look different! See my blog for the change. link
This site is updated now as well. Thanks!
There were many Ole Miss players yesterday who didn’t have a real biker shorts on their uniform….but all of those players had them either rolled up, scrunched up or folded under…
Messy look
Ole Miss uniforms haven’t looked much like Ole Miss since Kiffen got there. The solid white pants need to go. Their gray pants paired with either the navy, red or white jerseys is great. I can deal with the powder blue helmet with either combination. But, the overuse of powder blue has gotten out of hand.
Agreed on the powder blue.
Kentucky/Ole Miss…I mean, Kentucky/The Sip
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almost made the Top Five anyway, because the whites and powder blues popped on a wet overcast day.
But if The Sip went dark blue/red/gray instead, I would have fit them into the list.
Or even if they went powder/red/gray.
I about spit my beer across the room when I saw “The Sip”. That’s worse than “The Land”, “The Town” or “The City”. Next Ole Miss will start using their area code “662” on their helmets. LOL Kiffen loves to give in to the younger generation. Still not as bad as the bumper stickers they had years ago. “O” The Coach mocking the “W” The President stickers. Of course that was for Ed Orgeron
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Wyoming and Nevada to the Pac 12!!, try and lure back California, with all the other additions they’ve made, a very “Western” conference starts to take shape.