NC State Football 2010s Uniform Retrospective: Part 3

Football and Fashion. Fashion and Football. This is what it’s come to during this summer of 2020. I’ve somehow managed to turn this NCSU Football uniform look back into a 3 part series in an effort to combat the ever encroaching boredom of not having been able to watch live sports for the last 3 months.

Part 1: Helmets

Part 2: Uniforms

Part 3: Home / Away / Alternate Color Combos

I’ve broken Part 3 into three separate sections. The first two sections represent the primary red / white uniform sets used by State for home & away games. The third section is for what I’ve termed the “Alternate Color Combos”. I know that there is still a large contingent of the “I thought we were the RED AND WHITE FROM STATE, not the RED AND BLACK FROM STATE” crowd out there, but the alternate uniform looks have gotten to be a big part of college sports, and State’s two primary colors of red & white lend State to be able to use some of the black/gray/chrome alternate color schemes pretty easily.

Section 1: Home Uniform Color Combos:

(1) White / Red / White:

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

(2) White / Red / Red:

Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

(3) Red / Red / Red:

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

(4) Red / Red / White:

Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Away Uniform Color Combos:

(1) White / White / Red:

Photo by: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

(2) White / White / White:

Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

(3) Red / White / Red:

Photo by Chris Rodier/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

(4) Red / White / White*:

Photo by Dannie Walls/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

*Although there’s pictorial evidence of this game taking place in 2017, it has been wiped from my memory entirely. Odd.

Alternate Uniform Color Combos:

(1) Black / Black / Black:

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

(2) Red / Black / Red:

Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

(3) Gray / Gray / Gray*:

Photo by William Howard/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

*This all gray look is perfect for a noon game against someone like Syracuse. Therefore, it’s fitting that I’m pretty certain it’s been worn almost exclusively for noon games against Syracuse.

(4) Black / White / Black*:

Photo by Jim Dedmon/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

*This look has been used once by State in an incredibly forgettable game to cap off a slightly disappointing season in 2015. State kind of lucked out by getting a decent bowl draw in Charlotte against an SEC opponent, and then they went and opted for a look that doesn’t look like NCSU in the slightest from a #branding perspective, and one that is complete with one of the ugliest helmets ever worn by man.

(5) Red / Red / Black*:

Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

*State hasn’t worn this look since getting beat down by a Mike London UVA team and I’m okay with that for a lot of different reasons. It’s a bad look IMO, and the less said about that 2012 season, the better. I think it really says a lot about this game - and this look - that this was one of the best pictures I could find from this game that showed this uniform color combo.

(6) Red / Black / Black*:

Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

* I totally missed including these black uniforms with the pink lettering in Part 2 of this Football Uniform Series that I’ve been devoting entirely too much time to of late. I was in the student section at this game back in 2011 and cannot for the life of me remember if I knew beforehand that State was wearing these alternate uniforms for this game. I believe that these black/pink uniforms were also used at the 2011 or 2012 Kay Yow Spring Game as well. IIRC, prior to this game there was some buzz about State busting out red helmets for the first time in decades, but opting to wear them for a game against the Central Michigan Chippewas was an odd decision. The fact that State ever even had any kind of alternate uniform under TOB is still slightly shocking to me, even if we’re damn near a decade removed from that era.

My Take:

I’m going to list out my top 2 preferences from each of the above 3 sections because State seems to like mixing & matching their different uniform options game after game every season. My personal preferences are the following:

• Home Uniform Set: (1) Classic White / Red / White, (2) Red / Red / White
• Away Uniform Set: (1) Classic White / White / White, (2) Red / White / Red
• Alternate Uniform Set: (1) Black / Black / Black, (2) Red / Black / Red

Polls:

If you’ve made it this far, well then thanks for reading / looking at all of the uniform pictures. Up next I’m going to be looking at the uniforms worn by the #Pack9. I’m not sure if the SB Nation servers have any pictures of State Baseball, so there might be a few more links in the next one of these rather than a page full of pictures from State sporting events throughout the years.

I think I’m going to go with making the #Pack9 series a two-parter, (1) Baseball Uniforms, and then (2) Baseball Hats. How exciting. I’ll see you all on the other side.