Akshay Eye for the Uniform Guy: Week 2

It was ugly, but Tech scraped out a win in its annual Whiteout game, extending its win streak in Whiteout games to three (including 2017 versus UNC and 2018 versus Miami). Your updated uniform records, ladies and germs:

As is tradition (err, more of a 1.2-year trend), the standard sets continue to prevail. Keep wearing ‘em, friends. I have some reservations about the white GT sticker on the helmet this week, but you know, the whole thing just looked so good as a whole, so I’m willing to let bygones be bygones this time.

Without further ado, here is your Week 2 tasting menu uniform recap:

Please note: I am no trained uniform connoisseur; I call them like I see them.

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South Florida

Kit: Gold/Green/White

Result: L 10-14 @ Georgia Tech

Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

These were...ok at best. Commentator Wes Durham noted how you couldn’t read the gold numbers on these well at all with the Georgia sun beating down on Grant Field, and I wholeheartedly agree — whose decision was it to pair gold on green without some sort of border to discern between the two?

These should not have been paired with white pants either; that just looked strange. Me thinks they should have gone with gold pants to match the helmet or green pants to complete their pajamas. Alas, c’est la vie.

Grade: C-

Air Force

Kit: “Air Power Legacy Series 2019” - Gray/Gray/Gray

Result: TBD (10/19 vs Hawaii)

Sure, the game these will be worn in hasn’t been played yet, but I make the rules in this column and I will never pass up the opportunity to feature a new service academy alternate uniform.

The service academies are undefeated in the modern uniform era. UNDEFEATED, I say!

Grade: A+

Mississippi

Kit: Powder Blue/Red/White

Result: W 31-17 vs Arkansas

Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

There’s something about these powder-blue lids that just screams “peak Ole Miss”. The chrome red stripe down the center of the helmet is also great touch. The rest of the kit is standard Ole Miss fare though — not terrible, but also not super special.

Grade: B+

Nevada

Kit: Gray/White/GrayWhite

Result: L 6-77 @ #16 Oregon

Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Nevada announced their uniform combo (including the gray pants) early last week, but on Friday, they re-revealed it, opting to go part Stormtrooper with white pants instead.

I don’t think they made the right call here — the gray script “Pack” helmet would have matched nicely with the gray pants, but without them, it looks out of place. A script Nevada logo on the front of the jersey would also have been great to see, but instead we’ve left with the block NEVADA, which is a bit jarring. Points awarded for script “Pack”, but points subtracted for lack of continuity.

Nevada’s still on the adidas tire-tread template, so I have to take some points off there — but I do appreciate how the old template allowed them to get some other details just right. With the adidas’ maker’s mark centered below the collar, the MWC and #CFB150 patches don’t have to be squished together on one shoulder of the jersey. They’re each allowed a side to themselves, giving each logo room to breathe.

Grade: C

Tulane

Kit: Green/White/Green

Result: L 6-24 vs #8 Auburn

Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images

The Green Wave make their triumphant return to the column, but this time not for the matte green helmet and Angry Wave logo (ok, well that’s part of it) — no, this time it is purely off the social media prowess that is this tweet revealing their uniform combination for the week:

Never take yourself too seriously on the Internet, kids — you’ll have more fun that way.

Grade: A+

SMU

Kit: “Welcome to Dallas“ - White/White/White

Result: W 49-27 vs North Texas

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

My god — the branding effort put into this uniform is incredible. SMU found a way to meld their school colors along with the identity of the city of Dallas to stake their claim as Dallas’s team (aesthetically, at least — and Cowboys notwithstanding).

SMU’s fanbase may be...niche and we’re now going on 35 years since Eric Dickerson last wore Mustang white and blue, but calling yourself Dallas’s team and looking the part too is a great way to start bringing fans (and recruits) back to the program.

Now, these aren’t perfect; I would have liked to see SMU dip a little bit into the Cowboys’ realm (a la 2017 Arkansas) and the aesthetic value of the SMU pony emblazoned on top of the Dallas “Triple D” logo is lost on me. However, simply for the effort put into thinking about the design elements (down to the number font, which you’d really think they wouldn’t change), SMU wins high marks.

Grade: A

UTEP

Kit: White/White/White

Result: L 3-38 @ Texas Tech

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images

The jersey and pants are seemingly standard fare for UTEP, but...let’s focus on this helmet.

I want to love it — I really do. I really, really like it. Putting a pick-axe on your helmet is peak Miner and peak UTEP branding. UTEP seemingly doesn’t really use this logo anywhere on its usual uniforms other than on the collar, so promoting it to the helmet is an awesome touch.

Here’s my problem: you can’t tell the white part of the pick-axe (yes, there is one) from the helmet itself. This pick-axe sticker needs a border (maybe an orange). Sure, the navy part of the pick-axe pops out when viewed from afar, but it just looks too thin — it doesn’t even look like a pick-axe. Add a border, and you capture all of that pick-axe-y goodness.

Grade: B-

#25 Virginia

Kit: White/Orange/White

Result: W 52-17 vs William and Mary

Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia’s shade of orange is much less garish than Clemson’s and it looks great when paired with navy or white. We’ve previously established in this column how sorely UVA needed a uniform makeover after the “practice jersey” era pre-2015 (which are still preserved in NCAA 14 to this very day) and the blah-ness (a very scientific term) of 2015 to 2017.

The real star of the show is this helmet. Take away the Cavaliers’ stick and it’s honestly a work of art: a blank slate of white traversed by one stripe of navy and a parallel stripe of orange, each hand-painted and primed. I would hate to see these chipped and damaged during and after a football game. @UVA: I beg you — encase one of these in glass and put it on display for all our sakes.

Grade: B+

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Got any uni thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!