On the road at Illinois. Going yellow-white-white for only the third time ever—the first was a 2021 win at UW, second in 2024 win at Purdue. The throwback white jersey with the modern silver-accented-white pants is a bit forced (I'd have loved yellow or green pants), but helped out by fact that the Big10 logo is silver.
Home again after a brutal loss to UCLA—kinda tempers the uniform reveal.
In my attempt to forecast this year's sets, I did think this week would be green/black but had the colors reversed. This uncommon green/black/green set is VERY close to last year's week 7 home loss to Indiana, so I'm kinda wondering about the thinking on this choice. (after game edit: they almost lost which might have doomed this set)
This is seemingly only the third time ever they have worn this combo-the previous were both losses. The Ducks more commonly have worn green/black/black in the past, in big games like the Big10 championship game and USC last year.
After the bye in week 5, the Ducks don another special uniform at home vs UCLA. Since black helmets were introduced in 2008, this is the 21st mono black/nightmare green worn, and third year in row.
Oregon announced it's—presumably one-off—annual "dark" uniform named "Origin of Speed" for its night game against UCLA on October 17. The Ducks have a history of wearing special uniforms vs UCLA! ...and some Black For Black Sake single-serve uniforms the last few years (and my ranking from last year):
The nutshell list of new/different elements: new almost-black green called "Night Forest;" new "kinetic wings" that are like graphic scratchy marks in neon green and volt yellow; new "superman" numerals; and various nods to Hayward Field and an angle of attack of 26.2 degrees (marathon length). I'll let the Oregon press machine and former colleague Rob Moseley give you the details: https://goducks.com/news/2026/9/29/new-football-uniform-honors-origin-of-speed
httasdfps://x.com/oregonfootball/status/2104972203213435121?s=20
A huge game in LA, with the Ducks entering the game with a 4-game win streak against USC but needing some confidence. My preseason forecast was all white "storm trooper" since the Ducks have had luck with all-white at the Colisseum in the distant past. I was not too far off since they went all-white Warp Speed set with a new chrome helmet with dark green wings.
The Ducks last time playing USC in LA was the 2020 Pac-12 Championship game win and they went green/white/green. In 2019, they won in LA wearing yellow/white/yellow. The last time USC beat Oregon was in LA in 2016 when the Ducks wore all-white.
In the modern era, Oregon has gone all-white16 times, with three such games under Dan Lanning. The last few years they have paired chrome helmets with all-white.
Coming home after a ROUGH loss to Oklahoma State, the Ducks play Portland State. My pre-season prediction was all-yellow since PSU is a green team, but they went all- green for the third year in a row for non-conference. Under Dan Lanning, the Ducks are 2-2 in this set. Oregon has gone all-green in every modern season except 2023, 2020, 2016, and 2012, going back to 2002 whnen their green was black/green.
An away game at an orange-and-black OSU...but this time in Stillwater, Oklahoma for Oklahoma State. The Ducks dominated the Cowboys last year at home, but with their tough week 1 victory and new personnel in Stillwater, it looks to be a more competitive game?
Green-White-Green on the road for the 8th year in a row. Green helmet with white facemask and O for first time ever. I personally wish that with the white throwback jersey they had used yellow accents on helmet.
The Ducks open the season vs. Boise State the same way they did last year with a classic yellow/green/yellow combo. This time with green O, instead of wings, which appears to be first ever for this exact helmet.
This is the fifth time they have done this combo in the 4 years since they brought back the throwback yellow and apple green.
An update to my initial thoughts on the schedule from January, now that they have put out the fan color schedule:
With the 25-26 season wrapped up, here is a look back!
This season was long and varied with 15 games. The first three were very school-colored and then the Ducks went through a midseason black faze. The end of the season brought a bit more variety. Here are the number of the three main elements:
The things that stood out to me:
As with my 2024 rankings, I have a methodology that leans toward...
A crisp set that goes back to school colors from a week away from them. Green/White/White for the first time since the Pac-12 championship game loss to UW, and the Alamo Bowl loss to Oklahoma. The Ducks' blowout loss to Indiana will probably add this combo to the sets that fans will despise.
What this combo brings to mind is Joey Harrington winning the 2002 Fiesta Bowl.
First ever Orange Bowl for Oregon. But, Uh-Oh! A big game with gray, silver, white, or black! However, the Ducks pulled out a 23-0 victory over Texas Tech and maybe started a trend of doing well in gray on the big stage? But let's hope they don't test it in the Peach Bowl or hopeful-Natty.
3rd time this season with black helmets and first time with gray pants since last season's UW game. But 4th time this season without any green/yellow. First time with combo of black/white/gray since 2014.
The Ducks host the James Madison Dukes in their first-ever Playoff home game.
Thankfully the Ducks go back to school colors for this matchup. Hopefully that bodes well for further playoff games! First time they have worn yellow wings on a helmet (I think this is my favorite helmet this season). Last time they went green/green/yellow was 2023 and 2022, but you have to go back to 2013, 2005, and 20024 for the only other times before that. They are undefeated in this combo.
The Ducks traveled to Seattle. Unbelievably, they wore a combo that has not been worn since 1998! Yellow, white, green. A classic of the pre-Nike rebrand Belotti/Brooks years. The model for the set is Akili Smith HJr., who is the son of the famous Akili Smith from the late 1990s teams!
 |
| Akili Smith Sr. from late 1990s |
Oregon vs USC, with Gameday in town! Oregon uses a combo last seen in the Big-10 championship game last year. This time with black wings on green helmet instead of silver. This is another unusual combo that—before 2024—was last seen several times in 2006-2008.
The last times the Ducks have gone white/green/white were: 2015 win against Cal; 2014 Pac-10 championship against Arizona; 2010 Rose Bowl loss to tOSU.
I'l be honest that the marble helmet is cool, but too subtle and the green stripes seem random paired with the green and yellow jersey. I think a green and yellow stripe would have been better. I typically dislike white paints under darker jersey, but the look was saved by matching pant to helmet to create a "sandwich look."
The Ducks travel to Iowa and played the Hawkeyes for the first time since 1994. Green-white-green which is good since Iowa is a black and yellow team. This combo has been used for several years running, but the white wings on green helmet is new! And this snaps a stretch of 8 weeks where the Ducks wore only black or white jerseys. We haven't seen yellow since week 3.
Two-thirds of the Duck season is over and it's a bye week so I thought it would be a good time to examine trends and try to predict the end of the season.
A long-teased uniform this week against Wisconsin. The Ducks salute Oregon's hippie culture and Grateful Dead concerts held at Autzen Stadium in the past. Some schools play up their military connections, but in Eugene it just makes sense to play up their tie-dye! And Madison, Wisconsin is probably the other most granola-munching of the Big-10, so it's appropriate to wear it against them.
Read Phil Hecken's roundup about it https://uni-watch.com/2025/10/20/oregon-to-become-grateful-ducks-this-saturday/
This is the 5th game in a row where either black or white is the dominant color, and it's been since week 3 that ANY yellow has been present. With Iowa, Minnesota and USC being the next 3 opponents, I cant see much yellow being used against that very golden group. First mono-black set since their win last season against tOSU.
A UO history lesson on the connections:
