Mississippi State took care of business this past Saturday against Abilene Christian, despite a slow start and not looking near as dominant as an SEC team should against a 5-7 FCS opponent. The Bulldogs ended up with a 45-7 win on Homecoming, improving their record to 5-6 and keeping bowl hopes alive going into the Egg Bowl.
Before the season, Mississippi State and Adidas announced that special all-black alternate uniforms would be worn for the Kentucky game on September 21st. However, when the Kentucky game time was announced for a hot and sunny 3 PM, State’s athletic department (very smartly) called an audible and moved the “blackout” game to Homecoming, on November 23rd, against Abilene Christian. As a result, this past Saturday, Mississippi State wore black for the first time on Homecoming and for the first time against an FCS opponent.
This year’s black uniforms were, by a wide margin in my opinion, the best that Mississippi State has ever worn. They are inspired by the TK Martin Center, which is an organization on State’s campus that “ensures that persons with disabilities are able to continually benefit from technological solutions and advances in the field of assistive technology.” For more on the inspiration and background of the uniforms, check out the official press release.
The TK Martin uniforms feature a black base with white numbers and a white “Mississippi State” banner on the chest. The shoulders and pants both feature maroon/gray/maroon stripes; all of the stripes and numbers are outlined with a special iridescent pattern that contains a circuit board type design. The matte maroon helmets, with silver decals, silver facemasks, and no center stripe, were worn with the uniforms.
Overall, the uniforms are very consistent and very well designed throughout. After years of sub-par alternates, Mississippi State has nailed their alternate uniform for the second year in a row. That fact was recognized by UNISWAG, who has named both the 2018 “Statesman” and 2019 “TK Martin” uniforms as the #1 uniforms in the country for the weeks that they were worn. Cannot overstate how good of a job those in charge have done designing State’s two most recent alternate uniforms.
Before the season, Mississippi State and Adidas announced that special all-black alternate uniforms would be worn for the Kentucky game on September 21st. However, when the Kentucky game time was announced for a hot and sunny 3 PM, State’s athletic department (very smartly) called an audible and moved the “blackout” game to Homecoming, on November 23rd, against Abilene Christian. As a result, this past Saturday, Mississippi State wore black for the first time on Homecoming and for the first time against an FCS opponent.
This year’s black uniforms were, by a wide margin in my opinion, the best that Mississippi State has ever worn. They are inspired by the TK Martin Center, which is an organization on State’s campus that “ensures that persons with disabilities are able to continually benefit from technological solutions and advances in the field of assistive technology.” For more on the inspiration and background of the uniforms, check out the official press release.
The TK Martin uniforms feature a black base with white numbers and a white “Mississippi State” banner on the chest. The shoulders and pants both feature maroon/gray/maroon stripes; all of the stripes and numbers are outlined with a special iridescent pattern that contains a circuit board type design. The matte maroon helmets, with silver decals, silver facemasks, and no center stripe, were worn with the uniforms.
Overall, the uniforms are very consistent and very well designed throughout. After years of sub-par alternates, Mississippi State has nailed their alternate uniform for the second year in a row. That fact was recognized by UNISWAG, who has named both the 2018 “Statesman” and 2019 “TK Martin” uniforms as the #1 uniforms in the country for the weeks that they were worn. Cannot overstate how good of a job those in charge have done designing State’s two most recent alternate uniforms.
This was the seventh time that Mississippi State has worn black football jerseys, and the fourth different black jersey design. The Bulldogs first wore black jerseys in 2009, against Alabama; they wore those same jerseys with different pants colors the next two seasons, finally winning a game in them against Louisiana Tech in 2011. State did not wear black for the next three seasons, but brought back the color for an all-black look in Dak Prescott’s senior year in 2015. Special, American-themed black uniforms were worn in 2016, and the 2015 jerseys/pants were brought back in 2017. Last season, the Bulldogs opted to go with all-gray rather than all-black.
As I said previously, I think that the 2019 version is far-and-away the best Mississippi State football has ever looked in black. Second-best would have to be the 2015 version, which was worn in a win over Kentucky, and was also the last “blackout” game to actually be played at night. The 2017 version, which was the same as in 2015, just with silver helmets, takes #3 on my list; the 2009-2011 looks occupy #4 through #6, with the 2016 Texas A&M game uniforms, which I still consider to be the worst football uniform worn by Mississippi State, pulling up the rear at #7.
This was the second time that matte maroon helmets have been worn with all-black uniforms, with the first time being 2015. That’s a big reason why those two looks are my favorite; the matte maroon helmets work really, really well with all-black, much better than shiny maroon, and even better than silver, which didn’t look bad in 2016 and 2017 with all of the silver accents that both of those uniforms featured.
This was perhaps the best ever application of the current matte maroon helmets; as dark of a shade of maroon as they are, they fit in perfectly with the all-black, and the silver accents matched the gray stripes on the jerseys and pants. The uniforms were originally shown off with the silver stripe still on the helmets; though this is one situation in which it actually would’ve worked (matching the maroon/gray/maroon stripes on the jerseys and pants), I think the uniforms worked even better with it removed.
State is now 5-2 all-time in black jerseys and has won the last 5 games in them. Obviously, this weekend’s game was never in doubt; the most impressive win in the streak was the 2016 upset over then #4 Texas A&M. This game did finally break State’s losing streak in matte maroon helmets, which had reached 5 games and 385 days. The Bulldogs are now 15-17 (.469) all-time in matte maroon helmets, 5-7 (.417) in the current versions, and 1-3 (.250) in the current versions without the silver stripe.
As I said previously, I think that the 2019 version is far-and-away the best Mississippi State football has ever looked in black. Second-best would have to be the 2015 version, which was worn in a win over Kentucky, and was also the last “blackout” game to actually be played at night. The 2017 version, which was the same as in 2015, just with silver helmets, takes #3 on my list; the 2009-2011 looks occupy #4 through #6, with the 2016 Texas A&M game uniforms, which I still consider to be the worst football uniform worn by Mississippi State, pulling up the rear at #7.
This was the second time that matte maroon helmets have been worn with all-black uniforms, with the first time being 2015. That’s a big reason why those two looks are my favorite; the matte maroon helmets work really, really well with all-black, much better than shiny maroon, and even better than silver, which didn’t look bad in 2016 and 2017 with all of the silver accents that both of those uniforms featured.
This was perhaps the best ever application of the current matte maroon helmets; as dark of a shade of maroon as they are, they fit in perfectly with the all-black, and the silver accents matched the gray stripes on the jerseys and pants. The uniforms were originally shown off with the silver stripe still on the helmets; though this is one situation in which it actually would’ve worked (matching the maroon/gray/maroon stripes on the jerseys and pants), I think the uniforms worked even better with it removed.
State is now 5-2 all-time in black jerseys and has won the last 5 games in them. Obviously, this weekend’s game was never in doubt; the most impressive win in the streak was the 2016 upset over then #4 Texas A&M. This game did finally break State’s losing streak in matte maroon helmets, which had reached 5 games and 385 days. The Bulldogs are now 15-17 (.469) all-time in matte maroon helmets, 5-7 (.417) in the current versions, and 1-3 (.250) in the current versions without the silver stripe.
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Next week is the big one. Ever since the Arkansas game ended back on November 2nd, we all knew that Mississippi State would lose to Alabama, beat Abilene Christian, and be 5-6 headed into the Egg Bowl. Everything rides on this: pride, a bowl game, and potentially Joe Moorhead’s future. It’s a game that Mississippi State needs to win.
So, what says must-win like alternate uniforms? That’s right, Mississippi State is bringing back the gold accents for the first time since 2014 this season, looking to extend their streak of 2-0 in gold accents in home Egg Bowls. Let’s hope that happens.
So, what says must-win like alternate uniforms? That’s right, Mississippi State is bringing back the gold accents for the first time since 2014 this season, looking to extend their streak of 2-0 in gold accents in home Egg Bowls. Let’s hope that happens.
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