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.