2015 Mississippi State Football Uniforms Review

Two thousand fifteen was a big year for Mississippi State football.  In Dak Prescott's final season, the Bulldogs finished with an 9-4 record, the 4th time in 7 years as head coach that Dan Mullen has won at least 8 games.  Uniform wise, it was the dawning of a new set of primary uniforms.  An alternate jersey, along with several alternate pants and helmets were worn throughout the season.  By season's end, the Bulldogs had worn a school record 10 uniform combinations, only repeating two combos all season.

Primarily, 2015 was a transitional year for the Bulldogs uniform-wise.  Many changes were made before and throughout the season, but these are the big 5 that cement 2015's place in uniform history.

I. Change in Helmet Logo

This may have went unnoticed by some, but one of the biggest changes, and one that was actually adjusted mid-season, was the helmet logo.

For the first three games of the season, the transparent banner M-State logo was worn with a silver outline on a shiny helmet.  At first, I was in favor of the silver outline, but it soon became clear that silver and white were too similar in color and, like the logo from 2009 and 2010, only muddled up the logo.  So, for the fourth game of the season, with the 2015 debut of the matte helmet, the silver outline was removed from the helmet.  When the shiny helmet was worn again vs Troy, it too lacked the silver outline.

2015 Belk Bowl: vs NC State- 51-28 Win

The Bulldogs will cap off their 2015 season, and Dak Prescott's career, in today's Belk Bowl vs NC State.  This year, the SEC team is the home team for the Belk Bowl, and therefore gets free choice of uniforms.  For the first time this year, the Bulldogs' uniform combo was actually announced before the game- actually about three weeks beforehand.  Scott Stricklin quickly announced on Twitter that the Bulldogs would be wearing the shiny maroon helmet and maroon jersey, with the fan's choice of pants.  Using Twitter's new poll feature, the @HailStateFB account ran a poll asking fans if the Bulldogs should wear white, maroon, or gray pants in the Belk Bowl.  Predictably, with over 7,500 votes, gray pants won the vote in a landslide, gaining 60% of the votes as compared to maroon's 28% and white's 22%.

So, for the third time this season, the Bulldogs will wear the ever-popular shiny-maroon-gray combo.  It will be the fourth time that the gray pants have been worn overall; they were worn with the matte helmet and white jersey at Arkansas.

NC State, also an Adidas school, will NOT be going with a traditional look.  Instead, they will be pairing this interesting helmet with white jersey (with black outlines) and dark gray pants.  Doesn't that color discrepancy sound familiar?

Shiny Maroon Helmet
Maroon Jersey
Gray Pants

Game Photos:

Week 13: 2015 Egg Bowl- 27-38 Loss

For the first time in 5 years, Mississippi State will NOT wear gold-accented uniforms in the Egg Bowl.  An Adidas replica jersey of an early design leaked about a month back, but it would seem that the university stood up and said "NO" to Adidas.

The Bulldogs first started wearing gold in the Egg Bowl in 2011.  They beat a 2-10 Ole Miss team soundly in those, and tried it again on the road in 2012.  That year it didn't work out so well, but they tried it again in 2013, and for the second time at home, the Bulldogs pulled out a win.  At this point, the trend was clear: it looks good when you win (at home) and bad when you lose (on the road, generally.)  In 2014, the Bulldogs entered the Egg Bowl 10-1 and #4 in the country.  The DWS 100 road unis were worn in the Orange Bowl, and the solid ribbon-stripe road unis had been being worn all year.  Yet again, however, the Bulldogs went all out with the gold and got beat on the road.  The gold always looks bad in a loss.

This year, no one would've blamed them for wearing the gold again.  State's still never lost in gold at home.  That being said, not many are complaining.  It was cool for a couple of years, but eventually it just looks silly.  If anything, and this is definitely the case, the gold was removed a year too late.

Back before the gold was worn, the Bulldogs still weren't consistent with Egg Bowl uni combos.  In 2010, they wore all white (with maroon helmets) and in 2009 they went mono-maroon.  From 2002-2008, they wore white helmets.  It might surprise people to know that State has actually white helmets more than any other color in Egg Bowls this century.  This trend is renewed this year, as the Bulldogs will wear the white helmet first debuted earlier this month at Missouri.  Pairing the white helmet with the maroon jersey and white pants, the Bulldogs will still debut a record-breaking 10th combo of the year in the Egg Bowl.

This year's white-maroon-white look will most resemble the 2003 and 2005 Egg Bowls look, in which the Bulldogs wore white helmets, maroon jerseys, and white pants.  In 2005, the helmets had the Croom-Era M-State on the side and the uniforms were Russell-made.  In 2003, the helmets had numbers on the side, but the jerseys were more similar to those worn today, with the Nike sleeve stripes.

Other combinations worn by the Bulldogs in Egg Bowls this century include white-white-maroon in 2008 and 2006, white-maroon-maroon in 2007, all white in 2002 and 2004 (completely different designs those two years), traditional maroon-maroon-white in 2001 (the only time this century that traditional combo has been worn in the Egg Bowl), and maroon-white-maroon in 2000.  In regard to helmet colors, the W-L records for the Bulldogs with different helmet colors in Egg Bowls this century are: 4-3 in Maroon, 2-5 in White, and 1-0 in Gold.

If one were to believe in superstition surrounding uniforms, he or she could have predicted tonight's outcome.  With tonight's loss, the Bulldogs fell to 2-6 in Egg Bowls in white helmets this century.  The last time the Bulldogs lost a home Egg Bowl (2003) was, coincidence?, also the last one in which State wore alternate white helmets.  Sure, they wore white helmets in home wins in 2005 and 2007, but they were the primary helmet under Croom.  The last time white helmets were worn under him, by the way- a 45-0 loss at Ole Miss.  History was, and is not, on the side of alternate white helmets in the Egg Bowl.  Alas, the alternate white uniform curse lives on.  Of course, the Missouri game this year could be considered an exception, but Missouri was terrible this year.

Finally, the question begs, will gold return in the Egg Bowl sometime in the future?  I'd say the most likely time for its return would be 2017.  I certainly hope that it doesn't return next year- I've already expressed why I don't like it on the road.  Besides, next year's Egg Bowl has the potential for a GOAT uniform matchup, if State wears matte-white-gray and Ole Miss wears powder-red-gray.  That would easily be the greatest uni matchup in Egg Bowl history- even better if State were to steal a road egg.  As for 2017, that's a long time from now.  It's certainty possible- especially given the stat that State is undefeated in gold at home.

White Helmet
Maroon Jersey
White Pants

Game Photos:

Dak Prescott: A Uniform History

The career of the most prolific player in Mississippi State history is coming to an end.  Dak Prescott has put Mississippi State on the map by leading the Bulldogs to a #1 ranking and 10-2 record in 2014.  Prescott began his career at Mississippi State by playing backup to Tyler Russell for 12 games in 2012.  He started 8 games in 2013 and played in 3 more.  2014 was Prescott's first full year, starting all 13 games for the Bulldogs.  This year, Dak started all 13 games, including the Belk Bowl at the end of the year.

During Dak's first two years, he wore the Ribbon-Stripe uniforms.  In 2014, the Ribbon-Stripe unis were worn sparingly, but the ever-popular DWS 100 unis eventually took their place.  A version of the DWS 100 unis returned full-time in 2015.  Dak ended his career having taken the field wearing 25 different combos at State.

What uniform combination best defines Prescott's time at Mississippi State?  In his career at Mississippi State, Dak has played in 47 games, posting a 31-16 record.  He has started 32 of those games, with an impressive 23-9 record.  The uniform combo that Dak has started in the most, as well as posted a perfect 6-0 record in, is the DWS 100 uniform from the 2014 season.  The three game winning streak over then top-10 teams LSU, Texas A&M, and Auburn put the Bulldogs on top of the polls and Prescott on top of the Heisman race.  The Bulldogs never lost in those uniforms- the three losses at the end of the year all came in (three different) white uniforms.

A full breakdown of all of the uniform combinations Prescott has worn can be seen below:

As you can see, 18 of the 25 combinations were only worn once by Prescott, with 7 being worn only as a backup; the maroon/gray combo was worn three times in 2015, and two other combinations were wore twice.  There are four combinations at the top that were worn more the others: the DWS 100 unis, the Shiny-Maroon-White ribbon-stripe unis, the Shiny-Maroon-Maroon ribbon-stripe unis, and the Matte-White-White ribbon stripe-unis.

The past four years have seen a paradigm shift occur in the state of Mississippi State football.  Under the leadership of Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs posted a #1 ranking and have been consistently competitive in the ever-challenging SEC West.  As far as uniforms are concerned, the beginning of Dak's career coincided with the revelation of the Adidas-designed ribbon-stripe uniforms.  Throughout his career, special Egg Bowl uniforms were worn every year, as were other various alternate uniforms, some better than others.  The DWS 100 throwbacks that were introduced at the start of the 2014 season were cemented as the regular uniforms thanks in large part to the many wins Dak and his team posted in them.  In 2015, the DWS 100 base design has been carried over as the permanent design, with 10 different combinations popping up throughout the season.

The result of all these changes is 25 different uniforms by which we can remember the player who has been arguably the best in Mississippi State history.  Thank you, Dak, for all you've done.

Week 12: at Arkansas- 51-50 Win

The Bulldogs will tie their single-season record of 9 uniform combinations (set in 2012) by wearing the gray pants on the road in Fayetteville.  In what will potentially be the Bulldogs' best look of the year, they will wear the matte maroon helmets, white jersey, and gray pants.  When combined with Arkansas' Red-Red-White combo, the Bulldogs will participate in one if the nation's best uni matchups for the second weekend in a row.

Matte Maroon Helmet
White Jersey
Gray Pants

Game Photos:

Week 11- Alabama- 6-31 Loss

In their 2:30 CBS home game vs #2 Alabama, the Bulldogs made a clutch decision and brought back the gray pants first seen vs Troy earlier this season.  Because of the lack of oversized M-State logo, the gray pants create the best home look for the Bulldogs in 2015.  I have to applaud the players and equipment staff for making us look as good as possible in what very well could be the biggest game of the year.

It turned out not to be much of a game, but it was recognized nationally as one of the best uniform match-ups of the weekend.

Shiny Maroon Helmet
Maroon Jersey
Gray Pants

Game Photos:

Week 10: at Missouri- 31-13 Win

Word leaked as far back as two weeks ago that for the first time in three years, Mississippi State would break out white helmets for its Thursday Night game at Missouri.  Sure enough, the helmets were spotted on players' Snapchat stories after they were broke in during practice on Sunday night.  After some mild controversy over what decal would appear on the matte white shell, it was revealed Thursday afternoon to be a chrome maroon transparent-banner M-State logo with a silver outline.  Paired with the regular white jerseys and pants, the helmet creates the second all-white look worn by the Bulldogs since 2008, the last year of the Croom Era.  Coincidentally, both times have been in the Bulldogs' first meetings with SEC newcomers Texas A&M and Missouri.

White Helmet
White Jersey
White Pants

Game Photos:

Week 8- Kentucky- 42-16 Win

As I reported they would in June, the Bulldogs debuted brand new black uniforms this weekend vs Kentucky.  The jersey was the one that was leaked in June, with shoulder numbers thankfully added.  It was paired with the matte maroon helmet that was previously worn in the Auburn and Texas A&M games.  The pants were black, with an over-sized silver M-State logo.

The silver numbers, maroon stripes, and matte helmets combined to make this look much better than the previous all-black uniforms, which had a shiny texture and nearly illegible maroon numbers.  The pants were outlandish, but more appropriate for a one-off alternate than full time use (like this year's maroon and white pants).

Matte Maroon Helmet
Black Jersey
Black Pants

Game Photos:

Week 7: Louisiana Tech- 45-20 Win

As has been the case for the past two years, the Bulldogs will wear all-maroon for homecoming.  This will be the second time that this year's maroon pants, which feature an oversized M-State logo, have been worn, with the first being two weeks ago at Texas A&M.  This will be the sixth combo worn in 7 games for the Bulldogs.

Shiny Maroon Helmet
Maroon Primeknit Jersey
Maroon Pants

Game Photos:

Week 6: Troy- 45-17 Win

What was expected to be a fairly uneventful game uniform-wise for the Bulldogs ended up containing several upgrades to the Bulldogs' home look.  As expected, the shoulder numbers were re-added to the maroon jerseys, as they were the white jerseys two weeks ago.  In addition, the silver outline was removed from the helmet logo, which drastically improves its look; the immediate silver outline just muddles things up.

Most noticeably, however, was the reintroduction of gray pants.  Completely unexpected, the Bulldogs came out in gray pants with a triple maroon-white-maroon stripe, exactly like those worn in the late 80s and early 90s.  The only difference is the small M-State logo on the left hip, which is not nearly as overbearing as this year's normal pants logo.  This is the first time that the Bulldogs have worn gray pants since the Gator Bowl at the end of the 2012 season, and the first time at home (and with maroon jerseys) since a game vs South Alabama in 2012.

Due to the lack of the over-sized pants logo, addition of shoulder numbers, and removal of the helmet logo outline, I feel compelled to call this the best home combo of year for the Bulldogs.  That being said, there is room for improvement.  First, the idea of wears 80s pants with 90s jerseys (and not to mention a modern helmet logo) is kinda odd.  This basically brings to light my primary problem with the "DWS 100" uniforms: the lack of color consistency.  In this look, the helmet is maroon and white, the jersey is maroon, white, and black, and the pants are maroon, white, and gray.  If the Bulldogs want to claim they have a top-tier uniform, they need to make a few small tweaks and even out these inconsistencies.

Shiny Maroon Helmet
Maroon Primeknit Jersey
Gray Pants

Game Photos-

Week 5: at Texas A&M- 17-30 Loss

Five weeks into the season, the Bulldogs have finally debuted the maroon pants, which were first leaked over the summer when they were worn in a scrimmage.  This will create the third different road combo for the Bulldogs in as many games; they wore the shiny helmet with all-white at Southern Miss and the matte helmet with all-white at Auburn.  This week, they are pairing the maroon pants with the matte helmet.

From a certain angle, this might be my favorite combo all year for the Bulldogs.  I've always been a fan of matte-white-maroon, and from the right side, this is no different.  From the left side, however, the large m-state logo can be seen.  The oversized logo really detracts from an otherwise sound look.

Matte Helmet
White Jersey
Maroon Pants

Game Photos-

Week 4: at Auburn- 17-9 Win

When the Bulldogs kickoff in Auburn tonight, they will be sporting a road look vastly superior to that which they wore in the season opener at Southern Miss.  Only two changes have been made, but both were very significant.  First, the Bulldogs took the 3 week period between games to add shoulder numbers to the white primeknit jerseys.  They were missing in the season opener, even to the surprise of MSU AD Scott Stricklin. Second, the matte helmet has returned, sporting an updated M-State logo with a transparent banner and no silver outline.  These two changes should provide the Bulldogs with a very sharp road look for the rest of the season.  At the least, they will make for a good matchup in Auburn tonight.

Matte Maroon Helmet
White Primeknit Jersey
White Pants

Game Photos-

Week 3: Northwestern State- 62-13 Win

The Bulldogs wore the maroon primeknit jerseys with white pants for the second straight week in their rout of FCS Northwestern State.

Shiny Maroon Helmet
Maroon Primeknit Jerseys
White Pants

Game Photos-

Week 2: LSU- 19-21 Loss

The Bulldogs debuted the new maroon Primeknit jerseys in their failed comeback vs LSU.

Shiny Maroon Helmet
Maroon Primeknit Jerseys
White Pants

Game Photos-

Primeknit Maroon Jerseys Debuted vs LSU

UPDATE: Shoulder Numbers Were Added, the Silver Outline on the Helmet Logo was Removed, and Alternate Gray Pants were Added For the Third Home Game.

Last week, the Bulldogs debuted new Adidas Primeknit white uniforms in their season opener at Southern Miss.  There were several minor changes made, none too substantial but enough that the average fan noticed (and generally lamented) the differences.  This week, as expected, the maroon Primeknit jerseys were debuted vs LSU this week, with some similar differences from last year's DWS 100 uniforms.  Many of the changes were the same as those in the white jerseys, such as the removal of shoulder numbers and the modification of the stripes.  Other changes were made primarily to make the home and road jerseys consistent, for better or for worse.  The helmet and pants worn vs LSU were the same as those worn vs Southern Miss, but don't be surprised to see maroon pants or a matte helmet show up at some point.

Full list of changes:

Primeknit template
Changed Helmet logo (Transparent banner M-State with immediate silver outline)
No shoulder numbers (Could be added later, apparently even MSU AD Scott Stricklin was surprised)
No black outline on player names (Player names may be slightly taller also)
Straighter shoulder stripes (Thanks to the Primeknit template's sleeve caps)
No DWS 100 Patch
Lower M-State logo on the Pants

Comparisons of the two uniforms:

Week 1: at Southern Miss- 34-16 Win

In their new Adidas Primeknit white uniforms, the Bulldogs traveled to Southern Miss and won the season opener 34-16.

Shiny Maroon Helmet
White Primeknit Jersey
White Pants

Game Photos-

Bulldogs debut new Adidas Primeknit White Uniforms

UPDATE- Matte helmets and shoulder numbers returned in the Bulldogs' next road game.

Over the summer, we saw multitudes of teams unveil uniform changes, some small and some big.  Not once did we see an official announcement regarding Mississippi State uniforms this offseason, which seems strange in this day and age, especially considering the fact that more changes were made to the uniforms than some teams who did announce changes.  Black jerseys, maroon pants, and a helmet logo change were leaked at various stages over the summer, with the only official word on the uniforms being that the DWS 100 uniforms from 2014 would be the full-time unis in 2015.  What wasn't mentioned was the upgrade to Adidas's newest template, Primeknit.

Debuted last night against Southern Miss, the Bulldogs, at least with the white jerseys, have updated to Adidas's new Primeknit template, which features a pattern throughout the jersey (not too noticeable on white, though) and actual sleeve caps.  The template change brought about several more changes, which are detailed in the below graphic:

In recap, here are the changes for the 2015 road jerseys:

Primeknit template
Shiny Helmet (Instead of matte.  Matte could still show up later in the year)
Changed Helmet logo (Transparent banner M-State with immediate silver outline)
Stitched numbers and stripes (As opposed to the quickly screen printed Orange Bowl jerseys)
Tri-Color (Black-Maroon-Black) Collar (Was white last year)
No shoulder numbers (Could be added later, apparently even MSU AD Scott Stricklin was surprised)
Straighter shoulder stripes (Thanks to the Primeknit template's sleeve caps)
Lower M-State logo on the Pants

Next week (barring a true white-out), we'll find out whether or not the Bulldogs have made a full switch to the Primeknit template with the maroon jerseys.  I'd give it a 60% chance of happening, with the 40% chance of keeping the Shockweb 1.0 template being due to the use of it in the season posters and other promo shots.

Photos comparing the two uniforms:

Helmet Logo to Change for 2015?

                It appears that there may be another change coming to the Bulldogs’ uniforms in 2015. Last night, Hailstatesnap sent out a video (thanks to @calbrown85 on twitter for pointing it out) that appears to show an altered logo on the Bulldogs’ helmet.  (EDIT- A second picture has popped up, showing the change more clearly.)  This in no way confirms that a change is being made, but it is unfortunately a possibility.  Up until this point, there had been no indication of a helmet logo change.  Previous offseason uniform news included new black jerseys (yet to be officially released) and new maroon pants.

                The above photo is the one in question, and if you look closely at the player on the right’s helmet, you will see that the version of the “M-State” logo on the helmet has been modified.  Can’t tell the difference?  Here’s a graphic:

                As you can see, this is not the first time that the “M-State” logo on the helmet has been modified.  An earlier version was worn from 2004-2008, but from 2009 to the present, the updated version has been worn in 3 differing options.  Up until now, the M and the banner have always both been white.  From 2009-2010, the logo featured an immediate gray outline.  In 2011, the outline was removed.  For the Music City Bowl in 2011, the outline was brought back, this time with maroon space between the logo and the outline.  This style was used from 2012-2014.  Now it appears that in 2015, the banner may be turned maroon while the M stays white.  Click here for an extensive breakdown ofMississippi State’s helmets since 2009.

For 1600x900 images of MSU Logos, click here.

                In my opinion, this would be a huge downgrade if it were to happen.  The transparent banner M-State doesn’t look terrible, but the helmets worn by the Bulldogs with the DWS 100 uniforms in 2014 were the best they had ever worn.

                Why would this change be made?  As it was pointed out to me on twitter (by @pom5), this may be to create brand consistency at Mississippi State, following the recently changed visualguidelines, in which the all-maroon M-State logo was completely removed and the all-white only appears a few times (never in the athletics section).  Though I’m a big proponent of brand consistency, I just can’t get over the fact that the all-white (with gray outline) M-State looks SO good on the football helmet.  And if the university was so concerned about getting the transparent banner M-State everywhere, why did they let Adidas plaster a SINGLE color (though I guess technically all-transparent) M-State on the pants.  From that angle, the change creates even more inconsistency.

                The potential change would bring about more uniform consistency in one way: gray has been completed removed.  The helmet and pants would be solely maroon and white (I previously incorrectly thought that the pants logo was gray), with the only color inconsistency being the black on the uniforms.  Of course, we know that the leaked black alternate will feature silver numbers and outlines, so the inconsistency lives on in a different way.

                Finally, here is my mockup of what the Bulldogs’ 2015 uniforms would look like with the “updated” helmet:

New Maroon Pants: Just for Practice, or For Game Use Also?

               Last night, the Bulldogs debuted a new pair of maroon pants at their scrimmage at Davis Wade Stadium.  The pants are plain on the right side but feature an outline of an oversized M-State logo on the left side.  They’ve raised several questions on social media and message boards, with a surprising amount of people dismissing them as “old, leftover practice pants.”  While the practice pants part might be true, these are most certainly not old or leftovers.  They are a brand new design, similar to the white DWS 100 pants worn last year; the main difference is that the logo is slightly more slanted and is further down on the leg.  Full Photo Gallery

                If you look closely, you’ll notice that the pants feature the new Adidas PrimeKnit (ShockWeb 2.0) pattern.  Adidas debuted these pants this summer, so this dismisses any “leftovers” argument.  As to whether or not these will be restricted to practice, we’ll have to wait and see.  It does seem strange to debut them in a scrimmage, but it would also be strange to wear new pants in practice when you could use leftovers, as they had been doing.

                My guess?  This was their way of “unveiling” the new pants.  State needs maroon pants this year, and while I don’t like the oversized logo, an outline looks better than a filled-in logo.  I expect them to show up throughout the season, likely starting with the game at Southern Miss.  They could be doing like the rainbow baseball uniforms in 2013 and restricting Adidas’ crazy concepts to practice, but I doubt it.

These pants only continue the inconsistency between the DWS 100 (101 now?) uniform elements:

Helmet: Maroon, White, and Gray

Jerseys: Maroon, White, and Black

Pants: Maroon and White

It would make sense for MSU and Adidas to sit down and get a consistent uniform together, but that just doesn’t seem to be their style.  For now, we’ll continue with a great helmet, throwback jerseys, and crazy Adidas pants.  And don’t forget multiple alternate jerseys…

Finally, here's my mockup of the 4 possible regular uniform combinations for the Bulldogs this year: