2017: Pantone Color of the Year is Ducky

Every year, the Pantone company picks a color that they say represents the coming year. If you are a trendsetter, you'll notice that color popping up everywhere from the fashion runway to Target.

For 2017 they picked "Greenery" which is about as close to Oregon's "Apple Green" as you can get! Check out this fun article about it. https://www.fastcodesign.com/3066350/pantones-new-color-of-the-year-is-weird-and-perfect

Here's the all green uniform they wore in the 2015 Rose bowl and also game 4 of the 2015 season. They worse several individual green pieces this past season but not all-green.

Jan 1, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Byron Marshall (9) warms up prior to the 2015 Rose Bowl college football game against the Florida State Seminoles at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

So does that mean that 2017 will be a good year for new coach Willie Taggert and the Ducks?

Week 13: November 26, 2016

The Ducks have seemingly settled on one road jersey in this white one with green numerals. This week's Civil War combo is very similar to their week 5 uniform versus WSU, but with an O on the helmet.

Week 12: November 19, 2016

In a season of firsts for Oregon (mostly bad), this week marked the first time in a long time (that I can tell) that they have worn the exact same combination as another week in the same season. While they have come close many times they usually switch up the helmet sticker to make it slightly new. But this week the Ducks reused the all-white kit that they used at USC 2 weeks ago. A much different result though!

Week 11: November 12, 2016

From the light to the dark...Oregon was all white last week at USC, but comes home to face Stanford wearing all dark gray. It was not a full-blackout, ninja outfit that they tend to save for home games against USC. It seemed to continue a blackout military-trend that both ASU and Washington followed this week as well. The somber color scheme seemed to fit the mood of the team and fan-base that was facing its first losing season in a decade.


This uniform seems to finally be the realization of a photoshoot that was tweeted out in July (See my post from then)

Week 10: November 5, 2017

Oregon tried to relive some past glory at the LA Coliseum by what they wore today. It's been 4 years since they played at USC. In 2012 and in 2010, they pulled out "stormtrooper" all-white which in those two years provided a real lift (or maybe the 2010 and 2012 versions of Oregon football were actually pretty good?!)

2012: Kenyon Barner burns it up for 300+ yards and Oregon wins 62-51. USA Today photo.

2010: Darron Thomas and Oregon beat USC 53-32. Harry How Getty Images

See the usual page dedicated to this look here:

http://betheatmosphere.com/menoforegon3/#watch

Week 9: October 29, 2016

Week 8: October 21, 2016

As losses mount, the complexity of the uniforms and uniform-reveals have waned a touch. This week's combo is one of the most sedate uniforms that Oregon has played with in several years. I had to go back to the 2013-14 year Alamo Bowl to find this combo of green helmet and all white uniform. Even the fact that they are wearing a green helmet with yellow O is remarkable since they have not worn more than 2 green helmets in year since the 2012 season. Before the new-helmet-every-week craze, Oregon has a dark green helmet with yellow O from 1999 to 2011. But since about 206, they have slowly put in other colors and then many other designs with wings and ducks, and throwbacks etc.

Week 6: October 8, 2016

See my pre-writeup about this look by going here.

What's old is new again!

For week six (otherwise known as Washington Hate Week, or the year that the 12-year winning streak against UW ends), Oregon will be wearing a uniform that many of you may recognize from the Spring Game.

See my post from then by clicking here.
See Phil Hecken's even more detailed Uni-watch entry from April by clicking here!

 This uniform is supposed to harken back to the 1916 "Webfoots" that went to the Rose Bowl (2016 ain't going to be as good, I can tell you that) as well as honor the Oregon Fight song which dates to 1916 as well.

This time around it has a black helmet and pants instead of the pewter gold ones from April. Instead we get black pants and black helmet. The helmet has a decal that is the front of the Oregon flag. (for you vexillologists out there, you know that Oregon has a front and back, but the back has a beaver on it, and that would not do)

As with most other weeks this year, read all about this uniform while enjoying the official Oregon Spark presentation here.

In general, this is a pretty cool uniform. I really like the "Webfoots", striped sleeves with the Oregon fight song on them. The retro UO monogram and typography is cool; and I can live with the Blue/Gold color scheme since it is the state flag colors. You Cal Bear fans, try finding Blue and Gold on your flag, why don't ya! So there!

What I find a bit "meh" are the black pants and helmet paired with dark blue (at least compared to the Spring game gold) and the aforementioned flag on helmet. I am a flag-lover, but Oregon falls into the category of "blue flag with state seal" that is like 50% of the state flags out there. Now if you are Maryland, Texas, California, Arizona or New Mexico, you have interesting-enough flags to put on a helmet...all the rest not! See this graphic to prove that it you shrink most down to the size you'd see on the helmets, this could be any flag out there:

And speaking of the flag.....While I lived in Oregon for 5 years while attending UO, I never noticed how wonky the typography on the Oregon flag is. As with other state flags, it's hard to tell what the "official" type treatment is, if there is even one, but most online versions of the Oregon flag have text that looks like it was traced and cut out by a 10-year old!

This image came from Wikipedia, so it must be accurate!?

Week 5: Saturday, October 1, 2016

For two weeks in a row, Oregon was sporting a classic look that relies on school colors and no gray (except for the very subtle gray on the shoulders) or black. For the first time all season, a helmet not colored black or white popped up. (5 weeks = 5 different helmet logos)

The jersey was the same as the one worn in the Alamo Bowl last January and the apple green pants and helmet are similar to last year, but instead of an O it's the happier version of the Nike Duck. This basic outfit is what Oregon wore last year when it visited the UW Huskies.

If this helmet had a yellow O and maybe a tad bit more yellow (maybe on shoulders or sleeves?), this would be the perfect road uniform.

Check out the school's official Adobe Spark explainer of the philosophy behind this uniform.

Week 4: Sept. 24, 2016

Once a Duck, Always a Duck...

Quack Quack..we get our first real green of 2016. And paired with...orange? For those not in the know, this week's look is inspired by the Oregon mascot "The Duck" and its orange legs and feet. As an alum, I'm liking the look and as the motto says, I'll always "Be a Duck"

Learn more about the duck mascot and how it inspired this uniform combo by visiting Oregon's  Adobe Spark "story"!


Tyson Alger of the Oregonian put it nicely:

"In a shocking development, the traditionally green and yellow and black and pink and gray and sometimes blue University of Oregon Ducks have added the color orange to their repertoire, as seen by Thursday morning's weekly uniform release.

For Saturday's Pac-12 opener against Colorado, the Ducks will wear relatively traditional green jersey's with yellow numbering, their Galaxy White helmets and normal white pants. "

Read about it on Oregonlive.

As a result, Twitter has gone wild with pundits speculating on how other teams will dress inspired by their mascot. Once again, Oregon leads the way!
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Week 3: September 17, 2016

For Oregon's first road game at Nebraska, they opted for (surprise, surprise) a mostly black and white look that has been real hit and miss with them of late. (see my post from last year about non green-yellow uniforms) The other trend that they have continued is the lack of any green in their combos to start the season. And not much yellow, unless you count the yellow flags that were a major part of the scene.

The numbers appear to be the same as last week, but the shoulder pattern is similar to the Alamo Bowl version from January. The shoulder feathers have become so abstract over the years that I'm not sure if these count as feathers or just techno designs. The fact that both times they have been used, the color is so reflective or pearly, that they just don't show up. The other reprise from the Alamo Bowl is the beveled O on the sparkly white helmet, but this time in black.

An interesting note: This White, White, Black combo seems to be pretty much unseen before.  At least I can't find anything like this in looking back 7+ years. The closest was their loss to Ohio State in the national championship when they wore White, White, Gray.
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Where does Oregon go from here with uniforms?

Brian Libby, a writer for Fishduck.com (a great place for Duck football news) wrote a nice backgrounder/critique on the state of the Oregon uniform. Like me, he has been a fan since the 1990s and has some good points to make about the Ducks' uniforms.

"Oregon and Nike have done a whole lot right with the team’s uniforms over the past 16 years – vastly more right than wrong. This success has no doubt helped the team’s on-field rise. What will strike the best balance, though, is a uniform that is apologetically contemporary without seeming dated soon afterward – a uniform that doesn’t just call attention to itself loudly but, like a great program’s fortunes, endures over the decades. We’ve achieved that numerous times before, and I’m confident we will again."

http://fishduck.com/2016/09/oregons-new-uniforms-are-we-still-innovating/

Week 2: September 10, 2016

For the second week in a  row, the Ducks did not wear any green, which is a continuing trend for these "pre-season" games! If you looked at September 2015 and 2016, you'd think we were watching the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This uniform is basically a retread of week 3 from 2015, but the new thing is the shoulder "wings" which have been so deconstructed that they are just printed splatters and shatters. And like last year, the helmets sport the dueling ducks decals.

To get more info about this week's uniform you can visit the Duck's official page or my post from last week.

Another week, another uniform

As I said last week (really only a couple days ago!) I figured that the "Rad" uniform from week 1 was a one-off. Well, The Ducks announced (via Twitter and Instagram) their uniform for this coming week against Virginia and its called "Electric Lightning" and has it's own info website here. Or even more detail here!

It reverts back to the "tweaked" numeral font of the Alamo Bowl/July press release, which makes me think that this might be a preview of the general scheme for the rest of the season. If that is even possible with the Ducks?

The color scheme is similar to past yellow/black uniforms (See last year's week 3), but updates the shoulder "wings" with an unusual photoshopped extravaganza (that will make my life hard trying to replicate that in my uni-tracker!) The helmets feature the happy/angry duck versions on opposite sides like last year)

What I find interesting is that both last year and this year, the Ducks have gone mostly black/yellow/gray in the preseason and have saved green for later in the year.

Here is what the Oregonian is saying: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2016/09/oregon_ducks_unveil_new_yellow.html

Another article:
http://thespun.com/pac-12/oregon/new-oregon-uniforms-virginia-yellow

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Week 1: Sept 3, 2016

You can read more about the design elements of this week's uniform by going to this post.

Another month, another uniform

It wouldn't be football season without the first (of many, I'm sure...edit: see week 2!) new uniform combos for the Ducks.

This week is a fun little themed ensemble that they have designed to honor training coach Radcliffe. While this is a nice one, I'm not clear if this is a permanent design look ( number font, no wings, simplicity) or just a one-off like the Pioneer-themed one from last year. This outfit does not match either the Alamo Bowl jersey (maybe that's good!) or the July-photo shoot that had new numbers and a new gray color.

 I won't got into too much detail since there are lots of good sites out there, including the Ducks' own fancy presentation!

".....players spoke to Coach Rad's ability to get the best out of them by developing their individual strengths, increasing extreme transitional agility and helping them achieve unbelievable speed. Although his innovation and methodology were often unique in nature and practice, his blue-collar ethics and never-changing look of wearing a grey heather tee were also cemented into a student-athlete's pillar of success in his or her training with Coach Rad.
Hence, the name for this uniform...The Rad."

See the official sites that explains it all here:

http://betheatmosphere.com/rad/

https://spark.adobe.com/page/N1DhPKK39eSOZ/

According to Tyson Alger of the Oregonian: "The Ducks' new Nike uniforms have gray tops, black pants and helmets and yellow numbers. There's a patch on the middle of the uniform that reads "Citius. Altius. Fortius." Or, for those not up to date on their Latin: Faster, Higher Stronger."



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Getting ready for 2016 season

Its been a pretty quiet offseason for Duck uniforms. But here are some interesting notes:

Oregon is a hit amongst the kids...

A fun May 2016 poll of 100 high school football recruits resulted in Oregon being named the "best uniform" and Alabama being voted "worst" Granted, this was not very scientific, but the results certainly show the "traditional" uniforms being voted down and the non-traditional ones being voted up.  A weird crossover is that Maryland got voted 4th Best and 3rd Worst. While Oregon has had 18 years to figure out their uniform craze, many of the schools like UMd are new at the whole thing.

From http://picksixpreviews.com/fashion-wars.html

See the full story here: http://picksixpreviews.com/fashion-wars.html

But not with the adults...

According to CBC Sports' Tom Fornelli , Oregon is only the 7th best uniform in the Pac! and that Oregon State is #2. Oh boy!
http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ranking-the-pac-12s-best-and-worst-football-uniforms/

Preview of the fall season?

In July at Pac-12 media days, Oregon tweeted out some pics of a dark gray ensemble that appears to be a version of the Alamo Bowl uniform (similar shoulder affect and same new font)

Spring Game 2016 Throwbacks

In Saturday's Spring game, the Ducks are looking far back for inspiration. All the way back to 1916-17 Rose Bowl year.  I'll let GoDucks explain more....

http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=210922832

My favorite part is that the lyrics to the fight song are on the sleeve stripes. Not grooving on the Cal Bears color scheme, though!


Here's a picture from Jan 1, 1917. Unfortunately it's in BW, so I can't really comment how close the new throwback uniforms are a match:-)

Alamo Bowl: Jan. 2, 2016

As is often the case, Oregon treated the fans to some reworked uniforms for their bowl game. This time, Oregon went a standard route of mostly white/grey uniforms which have caused some trouble in the past and often been a harbinger of loss. This time the jersey got a makeover with slightly reworked number font, almost-invisible shoulder "wing" pattern. The helmet appears to be a reprise of their "Galaxy-white" helmets but with a  new beveled O sticker. While not quite as bad as their "grellow" helmets in the the Las Vegas bowl loss to BYU a few years back, the way they lost to TCU will certainly put many fans off this look for a while. (Much like the "Pioneer" uniforms will probably never resurface after they lost badly in them this year)

Looking back at Oregon Uniforms in 2015

A photo tour of the last season's uniforms! from the International Business Times:

http://www.ibtimes.com/oregon-ducks-football-uniforms-2015-complete-list-pictures-team-season-2245583