The West Virginia University Mountaineers unveiled a retro-inspired, 60th Anniversary throwback uniform yesterday, bringing back the “old gold” shade the team used in seasons past.
The uniforms, as you can see are rather plain — and that’s perfectly OK, because the uniform is attempting to replicate what the 1965 Mountaineers wore.
The “star” of the 1965 uniform is arguably the helmet, which is a rich, old gold, and features a retro “WVU” logo in navy with a thick block shadow in athletic gold, all atop a light blue outline of the State of West Virginia.
The helmet also features a navy blue center stripe, with a navy blue nose bumper that reads “19 65” surrounding a WV state logo.
The rear bumper is navy and reads “MOUNTAINEERS” in a raised, 3-D gold font.
The navy blue jersey is very plain, with only gold TV numbers on the sleeve caps, and gold player numbers on the front and rear. The only additional logos are the Conference patch and the maker’s mark.
Finally, the pants are old gold with a single, navy blue stripe running down each side.
If you watched the video embed above, you’ll see it showed WVU taking on their (one time, long time) rival Pittsburgh, playing what was for decades known as the “Backyard Brawl.” The team cruised to victory, and in 1965, the Pitt win was huge. However, back then, WVU was in the Southern Conference (SoCon), and the Mountaineers compiled an overall record of 6–4 with a mark of 4–0 in conference play, winning the SoCon title for the second consecutive season. So, if you’re curious why the team is throwing back to 1965, that would explain it.
And what uniform unveil would be complete without the obligatory hype video? (This one is actually very well done):
Old gold.
Light blue.Brought .#HailWV pic.twitter.com/OGOjtRzi3o
— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) May 5, 2025
While the team has unveiled the uniforms, they have not indicated in which game(s) the throwback would be worn. A logical candidate would be Pitt (although they are no longer conference rivals — that ended in 2011 — the two schools have begun playing each other again after a decade hiatus, beginning in 2022 and continuing through 2025). Looking at their 2025 schedule, the Mountaineers play the Panthers in week three in Morgantown, so this game might be when the team will debut the throwbacks.
The Backyard Brawl was first played in 1895, and is the 14th oldest rivalry game in the United States. All signs are pointing to this game for the throwbacks, but we’ll need to wait a little longer for the actual date of the throwbacks to be announced.
I absolutely love these, and I think Nike is finally able to reproduce a satisfactory-to-good “old gold” for their uniforms. The helmet is fantastic as well (although I prefer the more modern logo). Definitely looking forward to seeing these on the field.
A couple additional photos here:
Your thoughts?
The West Dame Fighting Mountaineers. Cheer, cheer for old Country Roads.
Beautiful.
Might just be my favorite look in all of college football.
A uniform, not a costume. Sharp. No nonsense. Second in my mind only to their clean ‘88 Major Harris set.
Well done.
-C. (Pitt grad)
To wit:
link
Perfect in my book, chef’s kiss…
The “old gold” on the pants still seems off unless the lighting is perfect, but much better than other teams we’ve seen (I’m talking to you, Saints).
Absolutely!
As a Saints fan one of the first things I thought of when seeing this was how good the gold looks and if WVU and Vanderbilt can do it then so can the Saints. That is a great looking uniform, simple but everything pops.
For me, the throwback vibe is kind of ruined by the bike shorts. I recognize that a lot of players are going to wear their pants that way, but when you’re announcing a throwback/historical tribute uni, it seems like you’d use somebody as a model who wears their uniform in a more “traditional” way.
YMMV
These are all timers
Three words: ooo, la, and la!
I love when a school debuts a largely accurate throwback like this. It’s the rare occasion I can get behind a school not wearing their customary default home or away uniform in a rivalry game.
I’m not saying I prefer this to the standard uniform in a rivalry game, nor am I sure they are wearing these against Pitt. Just that it would be acceptable to me. IMHO.
The Buccaneers uniforms consistently get bashed on Uni-Watch because Nike can’t match the pants to the metallic shade on the helmet.
These uniforms have the same exact issue but somehow they are loved? Looking at the 1965 video, those pants seem much darker and a closer match to the helmet color.
Color matching was never a problem with me. I miss the Vikings dark helmets and lighter purple jerseys.
Nike has so many other issues, but this is one I let slide.
Very nice, Mountaineers!
People are embracing these because they represent a decent effort to use Old Gold again in a traditional football uniform. Not perfect, but a B+ given the current uni terrain.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the helmet sans the WVU. The outline of the state is unique enough but I get why they did it this way. Altogether it’s a very good uni.
Great uniforms here, although I’d prefer the color of the pants to be a little darker. The photographs in the dark studio mood lighting look good, but the pants look too light in the brighter photos.
Time to go true old school. Get rid of makers mark and conference patch. Then they’d be super clean!
Kudos to the Slash for making a nice, simple throwback. I don’t associate WVU with this shade of gold though and I bet most people younger than 50 don’t either, but I guess this isn’t for us.
A nice clean classic look. No nonsense without any gimmicks. The colors Navy and Gold mesh well together. Like the pant stripes and blue socks. Great number font. We need to see more of these types of designs.
Looks PHENOMENAL
Sweeter than sweet. And I’m a Pitt fan. These are sensational.