In the second game of a three-game home stand, Mississippi State hosted a non-SEC Power Five opponent at Davis Wade Stadium for the first time since hosting Georgia Tech in 2009. Much like that game against the ACC's Yellow Jackets ten years ago, Mississippi State was unable to pull out a victory over the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 this past Saturday.
After wearing white helmets and white pants in the first two games of the season, the Bulldogs broke out the matte maroon helmets and gray pants for Saturday's 11:00 am kickoff. It was the second time that the combination had been worn in the current set, with the first being last year against Florida. Unfortunately, despite this being one of State's best home looks in the current set, the Matte/Maroon/Gray combination is now 0-2 after the loss to Kansas State.
Outside of the minor changes to the maroon jersey (collar shape, NOB font, CFB150 patch), the Matte/Maroon/Gray combination was pretty much identical to last season. Many, myself included, have noted that the matte maroon helmets would look better without the center silver stripe; photos from practice last week showed the helmets without the stripe, creating hope that perhaps a design change had been made. However, by gameday, the silver stripe, along with the silver Bulldog reward stickers, had been added to the now game-ready helmets.
On the topic of the matte helmets, late last week I randomly saw one of my tweets pop up in the explore tab on Instagram. An account called HailStateWave had posted my tweet about the matte helmets being worn in practice and attached photoshops of what the helmet would look like with no stripe and with an additional white stripe outside of the silver stripe (which would match the sleeve stripe on the maroon jersey). Obviously different people have different preferences here, but HailStateWave's photoshops confirmed, at least in my mind, that stripe-less is the way to go here. No stripe was the original design (before, reportedly, Moorhead asked to add the stripe) and would match the design of the white and shiny maroon (rip?) helmets.
I actually do think that, in a vacuum, the helmet looks best with the stripe; in isolation, it's a beautiful helmet. However, when paired with the rest of the set, particularly the maroon jerseys, the stripe is not consistent and just looks out of place. The effect is lessened with the white jerseys, as the silver stripe on a maroon background actually does match the maroon/silver/maroon sleeve stripes, but I still think stripe-less would look even better. The stripe should actually work really well when worn with the "TK Martin" black uniforms against Abilene Christian later this season, as those have maroon/silver/maroon stripes on both the sleeves and pants.
The other major issue I see people complaining about with the matte maroon helmets is the fact that they are noticeably darker than the maroon jerseys. This hasn't really been rectified at all this season- however, with the extreme heat of Saturday's 11 am kickoff, many players were sweating down to the point that the maroon jerseys often appeared darker than they really were, and as a result more or less matched the helmets at times. That may have been the only positive of sauna that was Davis Wade Stadium last Saturday.
After wearing white helmets and white pants in the first two games of the season, the Bulldogs broke out the matte maroon helmets and gray pants for Saturday's 11:00 am kickoff. It was the second time that the combination had been worn in the current set, with the first being last year against Florida. Unfortunately, despite this being one of State's best home looks in the current set, the Matte/Maroon/Gray combination is now 0-2 after the loss to Kansas State.
Outside of the minor changes to the maroon jersey (collar shape, NOB font, CFB150 patch), the Matte/Maroon/Gray combination was pretty much identical to last season. Many, myself included, have noted that the matte maroon helmets would look better without the center silver stripe; photos from practice last week showed the helmets without the stripe, creating hope that perhaps a design change had been made. However, by gameday, the silver stripe, along with the silver Bulldog reward stickers, had been added to the now game-ready helmets.
On the topic of the matte helmets, late last week I randomly saw one of my tweets pop up in the explore tab on Instagram. An account called HailStateWave had posted my tweet about the matte helmets being worn in practice and attached photoshops of what the helmet would look like with no stripe and with an additional white stripe outside of the silver stripe (which would match the sleeve stripe on the maroon jersey). Obviously different people have different preferences here, but HailStateWave's photoshops confirmed, at least in my mind, that stripe-less is the way to go here. No stripe was the original design (before, reportedly, Moorhead asked to add the stripe) and would match the design of the white and shiny maroon (rip?) helmets.
I actually do think that, in a vacuum, the helmet looks best with the stripe; in isolation, it's a beautiful helmet. However, when paired with the rest of the set, particularly the maroon jerseys, the stripe is not consistent and just looks out of place. The effect is lessened with the white jerseys, as the silver stripe on a maroon background actually does match the maroon/silver/maroon sleeve stripes, but I still think stripe-less would look even better. The stripe should actually work really well when worn with the "TK Martin" black uniforms against Abilene Christian later this season, as those have maroon/silver/maroon stripes on both the sleeves and pants.
The other major issue I see people complaining about with the matte maroon helmets is the fact that they are noticeably darker than the maroon jerseys. This hasn't really been rectified at all this season- however, with the extreme heat of Saturday's 11 am kickoff, many players were sweating down to the point that the maroon jerseys often appeared darker than they really were, and as a result more or less matched the helmets at times. That may have been the only positive of sauna that was Davis Wade Stadium last Saturday.
Despite rumors of them possibly breaking out an all-white look for the first time since the 1980s, Kansas State wore their traditional Silver/White/Silver uniforms in Starkville, and they looked *fantastic*. Thanks to Bill Snyder, Kansas State has some of the best traditional uniforms in college football; I was really happy to get to see their traditional uniforms in person. The Wildcats' Silver/White/Silver was an outstanding matchup with State's Maroon/Maroon/Gray; neutral observers on SportsLogos.Net identified it as one of the top CFB uniform matchups of the week (and even noted State's out-of-place helmet stripe as the lone blemish on the matchup).
After Saturday's loss, Mississippi State is now back to .500 all-time in matte maroon helmets, with a 14-14 record since they were first worn in the 2011 game at Georgia (13-13 if you take out the "satin" maroon helmets with a silver oversized Bulldog head that was worn twice in 2013). The current matte helmets, featuring exclusively silver accents, were debuted last season, and now hold a 4-4 record over 8 games. Saturday's loss also dropped State's 21st century record in gray pants to 9-7; the current gray pants are now 1-3, and gray pants with maroon/white/maroon stripes are now 7-6. When both matte maroon helmets and gray pants are worn, State is 1-4 all time, which is unfortunate, because the two elements almost always look great together.
After Saturday's loss, Mississippi State is now back to .500 all-time in matte maroon helmets, with a 14-14 record since they were first worn in the 2011 game at Georgia (13-13 if you take out the "satin" maroon helmets with a silver oversized Bulldog head that was worn twice in 2013). The current matte helmets, featuring exclusively silver accents, were debuted last season, and now hold a 4-4 record over 8 games. Saturday's loss also dropped State's 21st century record in gray pants to 9-7; the current gray pants are now 1-3, and gray pants with maroon/white/maroon stripes are now 7-6. When both matte maroon helmets and gray pants are worn, State is 1-4 all time, which is unfortunate, because the two elements almost always look great together.
This week, Mississippi State hosts the Kentucky Wildcats for Bulldog Bash weekend to close the three game home stand. As you might remember, this was originally scheduled to be the 2019 "Blackout" game in which the TK Martin alternate uniforms would be worn. However, after the game was announced as a 3 PM kickoff, meaning State's third day game in a row, the Athletic Department made a very smart move and switched the "Blackout" game to the Homecoming game against Abeline Christian on November 23rd. Even if that does end up being a day game, the temperatures should be much lower, making wearing black much more tolerable.
So, for the Kentucky game, expect a more traditional uniform combination. I would think MatteMaroon/Maroon/White would be the *most likely* option, but it's pretty up in the air. You could see maroon/gray pants or white helmets, or perhaps *maybe* even shiny maroon helmets if we're lucky. As long as Kentucky also keeps it traditional, it should be a solid matchup, just as it was two years ago.
So, for the Kentucky game, expect a more traditional uniform combination. I would think MatteMaroon/Maroon/White would be the *most likely* option, but it's pretty up in the air. You could see maroon/gray pants or white helmets, or perhaps *maybe* even shiny maroon helmets if we're lucky. As long as Kentucky also keeps it traditional, it should be a solid matchup, just as it was two years ago.