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NC State Football 2010s Uniform Retrospective: Part 2

By WROncsu
North Carolina State v Notte Dame Photo by Craig Jones/Getty Images

The number 1 thing I’m remembering from looking back through all of these photos from previous football seasons is that State has had some real frustrating FB seasons this last decade. It seems like every time I go looking for a picture of a specific uniform from SB Nation’s archives, I realize that one of the pictures staring back at me that I’m considering using is from something like the 2010 Maryland game, 2012 UNC game, 2017 Clemson game, 2018 Wake game, etc, etc, etc.

Anyway, Part 1 of this FB Uniform series looked back on the helmets that State has donned over the last 10 years or so. Part 2 (as found below) is specific to the uniforms worn by State. And Part 3 will be uniform / helmet color combos. If you haven’t read Part 1 of this series, and are asking yourself, “why would someone break a Football uniform retrospective into 3 separate parts?” - well the answer to that question is that I was incredibly bored last week when I made this decision.

2010:

FBC-WESTCAR-NCSTATE Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
NC State v Central Florida Photo by Rick Dole/Getty Images

2011:

North Carolina at North Carolina State football Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
NC State at Virginia Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

2012:

Florida State v North Carolina State Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
North Carolina State v Clemson Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

2013:

Maryland v North Carolina St
North Carolina State v Duke Photo by Lance King/Getty Images

2014:

Old Dominion at North Carolina State Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

2015:

Syracuse at North Carolina State Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

2016*:

Notre Dame v North Carolina State Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

*In 2016, State opted to wear the throwback “White Helmet / Red Diamond S” look at home against Notre Dame to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Carter-Finley. To go along with these helmets, State wore a very plain red top / white pants look as shown above. These uniforms have more in common with the plain red Nike uniforms worn during the Rivers era than they have with any of the other Adidas uniforms used by State.

2017:

Louisville v North Carolina State Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

2018*:

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl - North Carolina State v Texas A&M Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 01 James Madison at NC State Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
North Carolina State v Syracuse Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 08 Wake Forest at NC State Photo by Michael Berg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

*In 2018, State debuted the “Ice Wolf” uniform, which are - in my opinion - the best uniforms ever used by the program. I personally prefer the white on white road look no matter the uniform set, but the “WOLFPACK” across the chest as opposed to “STATE” or “NC STATE” looks a lot better on the football uniforms. State has worn these uniforms with “WOLFPACK” across the chest with their practice uniforms for a few years now, but the games where State used this Ice Wolf set from 2018 are the only times that this look has been used in a live game.

State also made some changes to the black alternates that debuted in 2017 as the “Black Howl” uniform set by (1) using the standard Tuffy decal on a matte black helmet, and (2) replacing the chrome on the uniforms with white.

2019:

Syracuse v North Carolina State Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

My personal take is that I’d like to see the Ice Wolf set be used as the primary road uniform going forward, and then see a red look developed from the same template. I think the uniforms would look better without the shoulder striping (but then again, Adidas is always going to Adidas), but I could really go either way regarding the inclusion of those shoulder stripes.

I’d also like to see the Black Howl sets be used as the main alternate for 1-2 games a year. I like the black jerseys worn in 2018 and 2019 fine enough, but much prefer the Black Howl helmet to the option that was used with the 2018 and 2019 black alternates. I didn’t hate the Iron Wolf set, but I don’t favor them over any of the other uniform options.

Polls:

Poll

Favorite set of primary home/away red/white uniforms?

This poll is closed

  • 7%
    2010 "Murphy Center Logo" Set
    (11 votes)
  • 11%
    2011 "STATE" Set
    (17 votes)
  • 4%
    2012 "Block S - TATE" Set
    (7 votes)
  • 13%
    2013 "NC STATE" Set
    (20 votes)
  • 33%
    2016 Throwback Set
    (50 votes)
  • 30%
    2018 "NC STATE" / Shoulder Stripe Set
    (46 votes)
151 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Favorite Set of Alternate Uniforms?

This poll is closed

  • 9%
    2014 Black Uniform / Red Shoulder Stripes
    (12 votes)
  • 5%
    2015 "Iron Wolf" Gray Uniform
    (7 votes)
  • 16%
    2017 "Black Howl" Black Uniform / Chrome Shoulder Stripes
    (21 votes)
  • 36%
    2018 "Ice Wolf" White Uniform / Chrome Shoulder Stripes
    (48 votes)
  • 9%
    2018 Black Uniforms / White Shoulder Stripes
    (13 votes)
  • 22%
    2019 "Stealth Wolf" White Uniforms / Black Shoulder Stripes
    (30 votes)
131 votes total Vote Now

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