In the B1G battle this Saturday afternoon in Eugene, No. 2 ranked Ohio State will travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 3 ranked Oregon in the most anticipated showdown of the Season (after Alabama/Georgia). With the Ducks having bolted the PAC-12 to join the B1G, the teams will meet for the first time as Conference opponents. Both teams enter the contest undefeated, with 5-0 records. The game will be a Prime Time affair, kicking off at 7:30 pm ET and will be shown on NBC.
And yesterday evening, the Ducks announced their uniforms for the game: the all-black “Generation O” uniform they officially unveiled last June. The team is referring to them as the “Fly Era” unis.
Here are some additional views of the unis:
(For additional information, a hype video, and many more pictures/graphics, click the link above, or click here.)
It might surprise you to know that Oregon — basically the inventors of BFBS and GFGS — have worn school colors for every previous matchup this season. But it wouldn’t be Oregon if they didn’t decide to break out a special alternate, and especially against Ohio State.
The Ducks have changed uniforms so many times over the past two decades, it’s almost impossible to say “I love when Oregon looks like Oregon.” But they had managed to wear their yellow and green uniforms in their first five victories. Let’s quickly review:
Oregon 24 – Idaho 14
August 31, 2024
Oregon 37 – Boise State 34
September 7, 2024
Oregon 49 – Oregon State 14
September 14, 2024
Oregon 34 – UCLA 13
September 28, 2024
Oregon 31 – Michigan State 10
October 4, 2024
The Ducks and Buckeyes don’t have many all-time meetings, since the two schools had been in different Conferences until this season. But the teams have met 10 times previously. The Buckeyes hold a 9-1 edge in those ten games, but if there is any consolation the Ducks can take from that poor record, it’s that they won the 10th and last time the two schools met, on September 11, 2021. And with the new College Football Playoff system, it’s possible the two schools could meet not just once, but twice more this season: if both teams make it to the B1G Conference Championship game, and again in the new 12-team Playoff. But for now, let’s just enjoy this meeting between two top-3, undefeated teams.
What do you think of the Ducks uniform choice for this game? The team will often wear alternate colors for big games, but should they? It used to be the only game you could count on the Ducks definitely wearing some form of green and/or yellow was in the former “Civil War” game with Oregon State. They’ve gone 5-0 so far wearing school colors…will they go to 6-0 in BFBS?
We’ve discussed whether NFL teams should wear alternates for big Prime Time games, but college football is a different animal. And Oregon is still more known for their uniform proclivities than their National Titles. Do you think college teams should stick to their “classic” looks (or at the very least, school colors) for big games or are alternates acceptable (or preferable)? I’d rather see Oregon in green and yellow for big games, but that’s just me. What do you guys think?
And in a somewhat related question: If you’re watching a game between two teams for whom you have no real rooting interest, do the uniforms influence your game pick? Would a team you might otherwise root for (or against) cause you to root against/for them because of the uniform they chose for the game? (In other words, for example, say you have no preference between Ohio State and Oregon — would you root against or for Oregon because they’re wearing an alternate?)
Love to have your thoughts on this.
As much against mono-uniforms (especially solid black), I can overlook this one. And simply because, these types of uniforms have been a part of Oregon’s tradition for years and years now.
This is when I don’t mind BFBS. Hey Phil, do you know what the two ducks decal on the back left of the helmet stand for? Apologies for not knowing.
They’re a dual memorial decal for Spencer Webb and Khyree Jackson.
link
Not Phil here, but it’s a memorial decal for 2 players that passed away.
link
Others have already replied, but yes, it’s a memorial for two players who have passed away recently. I covered it when it was announced:
link
Oregon’s first game was a win vs Idaho, not Idaho State.
Whoops! Thanks for that. Post updated.
I hate it when teams wear BFBS, GFGS, or any alternate colors. Doesn’t necessarily make me root against a team, though; I just don’t watch the game at all.
The overall state of college uniforms has been declining ever since Oregon began their futuristic stylings over 20+ years ago.
This year, as Phil notes, has been pretty consistent with actually using school colors. But yeah, the last several years the only way “uniform” applies to Oregon is that the players are wearing the same thing on the same day. There’s so many different colors (pink? silver? black?) and so many shades of green and yellow (last week’s highlighter tone vs MSU was particularly egregious) that using the words “style” and/or “guide” in an Oregon Style Guide is basically disingenuous.
As Uni-watch’s Ducktracker, (link) I’ll rebut this by saying that this shade of almost-neon yellow (oft called Lightning Yellow, compared to the warmer Athletic Gold throwback yellow)=has honestly been Oregon’s preferred yellow since 2003 when they switched back to more yellow. link
Just because they use it more often doesn’t mean it’s less egregrious :D
Big fan of the traditional golden yellow. Why they would wear anything but this is a mystery to me :)
link
Too bad, because this could have been a spectacular looking game if the Ducks had worn that combo from week 1. Instead we get another mono black zzzzzzzzzzz.
I pretty much exclusively root for the team with the better uniform when watching. In fact I set up my YouTube TV multi view based on games with better uniforms.
More super-boring, all-black uniforms thrown on the pile. Oregon looks so much better in the green-and-yellow.
I do like the winged helmet design. I’ve always thought the diamond fleck was stupid, but they’ve kept it around long enough that it counts as part of their “visual identity” I guess, so whatever.
If its a game and I’ve got no dog in the fight…I’ll root for team that is 1. Underdog 2. Traditional unis 3. Non neon colors
Do Oregon and Oregon State no longer play each season? I loved watching the Civil War game when it was color vs. color.
They played late September. Just wasn’t the same. Moving from late November because of Big 10 scheduling changed the whole vibe. Washington St vs Washington same deal.
They played back in September.
Both Oregon & Washington kept OSU & WSU (respectively) on their schedules as non-conference games when they moved to the B1G.
The game was mentioned/pictured in the review of the five previous uniforms the team wore. They played OSU in their third game this season.
Man, imagine how good they’d look in yellow/green/yellow/green socks with Ohio State in their red “heritage” uniform with their other usual combo.
Not a fan of these roboduck uniforms. When I have no team to root for when watching a game I root for the best dressed team. For instance, I watched game 2 of the Guardians-Tigers series and I had to root for Detroit: I love their away hat with the orange D and squatchee.