New Uniforms

So the Utes have new uniforms for the upcoming season. One thing that has always frustrated me, or should I say confused me, is that the football and basketball teams seem to switch the uniforms every couple of years. It's not unusual for teams, especially in college sports, to always be changing things up. But the big time programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Florida State, USC, and several others have kept the same uniform design for years, with the exception of a wrinkle here or there. I believe this just adds to the tradition and aura of these programs...it's why they remain elite year after year. For example, check Notre Dame:


<--- Here is the uniform worn by Notre Dame's Joe Montana in the mid 70's

And here is the current Notre Dame uniform worn by Brady Quinn --->

You see, hardly any difference. I love it. But, to say that the Utes have a tradition as rich as any of those major college football teams would be wishful thinking. So for now, I figure we look for a uniform that works and when we do get one, stick with it. After all, I guess some pretty big names in college football also change it up quite a bit, such as Miami and Oregon.

So, I figured to celebrate the history and tradition of Utah football, we would take a look at some of the uniforms the team has sported over the years.

The year: 1930








Leather helmets with long knit sweaters. Wish it wasn't in black and white so we could see the sweater design in color. Nonetheless...classic old-school.


The year: 1939




















The Utes (white sweaters and dark pants) defeated New Mexico 26-0 in the '39 Sun Bowl, their first bowl game victory. Note the use of block numbers on the sweaters instead of the fancy design used 9 years previous.


The year: 1964

















The Utes, pictured here in their 1964, 32-6 Liberty Bowl defeat of West Virginia, are wearing the dark jerseys with gray pants. Instead of leather, the use of a hard football helmet which appears to be white, is worn by the Utes. Most visible is the snazzy block U cheerleader outfits.

The year: 1973


Arizona State, riding a 12 game winning streak and ranked 8th in the country, was defeated in Salt Lake City 36-31 by the Utes in these uniforms. White helmets with double stripes, dark tops, and white bottoms with double stripes are featured here. (This must be where BYU got the idea for their uniforms, thiefs)

The year: 1978

















Finally a colored picture! The uniforms worn during this 23-22 victory over BYU in 1978 feature a red top with white bottoms. The now red helmet featured double white stripes, white facemask, and the classic drum and feather U logo on each side. White pants with red stripes are also featured atop red socks. Simple white block numbers adorn the chest, back, and lower sleeve.

History lesson: The year previous this picture, which was 1977, BYU beat a clearly over-matched Utah team handily. Marc Wilson, BYU's quarterback, was left in the entire game in order to run up the score and attempt an NCAA record. After the game had finished, the coaches met midfield and a BYU coach voiced some racially-disparaging comments to coach Wayne Howard about the Utes' team. Wayne Howard comments following the game:

"This today will be inspiring. The hatred between BYU and Utah is nothing compared to what it will be. It will be a crusade to beat BYU from now on. This is a prediction. Utah will drill BYU someday, but we won’t run up the score even if we could set an NCAA record against them."

One year later, coming into the Holy War with a 6 game losing streak, the Utes rallied from 16 points down to knock off the more-talented Cougars. Perhaps they were inspired from the year before? You be the judge.

The year: 1988























After a period known as the "Dark Ages" of Utah football, otherwise known as the 1980's, these uniforms, worn on the cover of this game program, were featured. BYU was favored by 11 points coming in to this episode of the Holy War, only to leave Cougar Stadium with a 29 point blowout loss to the U (57-28), despite the Utes subbing in backups and attempting to avoid classlessly "running up the score" (a la the 1977 Cougars).

When I think of the "Classic Ute Look," I think of these. The uniforms pictured here are the away uniforms (white top, red bottom). The Utes stayed consistent, wearing dark tops and light bottoms for home games, light tops and dark bottoms for away games. The red helmets featured the same double white stripe, logo, and white facemask. Double stripes down the side of the pants remained. Last names appear on the backs of the jerseys. The numbers feature an outline. A wide stripe surrounded by two thin stripes replace the number on the lower sleeve while the number finds its way to the top of the shoulder pad.

The year: 1996


















Future Pittsburgh Steeler Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala helped the Utes to a 45-42 victory over the #20 Kansas Jayhawks wearing this Utah uniform. The double white stripe has been removed from the helmet, but the rest of the helmet remains the same. The white stripes have also been removed from the lower sleeve and replaced with the drum and feather logo; the numbers remain on the shoulder pad. The pants are now red, ushering in the era of the all-red home uniform (the away uniform rotates between all white, and white top-red bottom). The stripes are also removed from the pants as well. Possibly we were trying to distance our uniforms as far from BYU as possible, even though they stole their "classic" design from us.

The year: 2004























During the Utes perfect 12-0, BCS busting season in 2004, the Utes sported these jerseys worn here by Alex Smith. Black trim made a big debut on these Nike designed models. The home uniforms were all red and the away were all white, both featuring a thick, solid black stripe up the sides and curving around the armpit. The helmet design stayed the same but the crimson red took on a deeper, darker color, despite the jersey and pant colors remaining traditional crimson. The numbers were outlined in black and a small print "UTAH" appeared above the chest numbers. Numbers were also located on the lower sleeve. A drum and feather was located on the upper left leg. Other teams such as Cal and West Virginia wore uniforms along the lines of this template.

The year: 2007


















The most recent Ute uniforms are pictured here. Adopting the "Miami design," the Utes were one of several teams to wear this style. Awarded #10 in "College Football's Worst Uniforms" by Sports Illustrated, the death of this design was in the making last year. The uniforms are very busy, to the point I don't even want to describe them. Several elements from previous uniforms remained, but the addition of a few new lines and curves, such as the ugly line going beneath the back numbers, made this uniform one to forget. In fact, they were so forgettable that Utah dropped Nike in favor of UnderArmour, the designer of this year's new uniform, pictured here:

So this is what we will look like next year. Personally I think they are pretty classy, but still a little busy like the last design. At least the back stripe is gone, I hope. (Can't see the back, but doesn't appear to have anything going back there) UnderArmour has been an up and coming brand that prides itself on innovative and revolutionary design/fabric. They have made a splash in the NFL and several other college teams such as Auburn, South Carolina, and Hawaii have UnderArmour gear. One thing that has become popular over the past few years is the "all-black" uniform, used on special occasions such as rivalry games. It has been rumored that an all-black uniform is in the works for the Utes, but no confirmation or images have been release. Using my modest photoshop skills, I have come up with this possibility:

This is pure speculation, and I know the art is pretty choppy, but you get the idea. I think they would be awesome, especially against BYU, and especially since this year's game is at night! Most traditionalists are opposed to this, and don't even like black trim, but I'm all for it. Let the players have a little fun.

So there you have it, a little history of the Utah football uniform and a sneak peek to next year!