In the only October game at Davis Wade Stadium this season, Mississippi State hosted the hottest (and arguably the best) team in the country, the LSU Tigers. Bob Shoop's defense put up its best performance of the season, holding the Tigers' dynamic offense to a field goal in each of their first three drives, and holding LSU under 40 for the first time all season. Of course, that wasn't near enough to pull off the upset, but it was at least a step in the right direction.
For the first time since 2008 (feel like I've been saying that a lot in 2019), Mississippi State paired its white helmets with maroon jerseys and maroon pants for the Saturday afternoon matchup with LSU. The W/M/M color combination, which was worn 12 times (to a 6-6 record) from 2006 to 2008, is widely associated with the Sylvester Croom era at Mississippi State, which was less than successful. Fans had a field day on Twitter and message boards with plenty variations of "If we're gonna play like a Croom team, might as well look like one."
In defense of W/M/M, the Bulldogs did have a few big wins while wearing it under Croom, particularly the 2007 Alabama, Ole Miss, and Liberty Bowl wins. Prior to Saturday, State actually had a one-game winning streak in the combination, having beaten Arkansas in it in the final home game of 2008.
But the problem with the mid-00's version of W/M/M wasn't really it's on field record, it was the fact that it was not a good football uniform. The shiny Russell Athletic fabric often looked red, which just looked really bad in monochrome. The version of W/M/M that was worn on Saturday looked much better, and honestly wasn't a bad look. With the thick white/gray/white stripes accentuating the white helmets, it actually looked pretty decent. That being said, there are still plenty of better looks that State has in its wardrobe in 2019.
For the first time since 2008 (feel like I've been saying that a lot in 2019), Mississippi State paired its white helmets with maroon jerseys and maroon pants for the Saturday afternoon matchup with LSU. The W/M/M color combination, which was worn 12 times (to a 6-6 record) from 2006 to 2008, is widely associated with the Sylvester Croom era at Mississippi State, which was less than successful. Fans had a field day on Twitter and message boards with plenty variations of "If we're gonna play like a Croom team, might as well look like one."
In defense of W/M/M, the Bulldogs did have a few big wins while wearing it under Croom, particularly the 2007 Alabama, Ole Miss, and Liberty Bowl wins. Prior to Saturday, State actually had a one-game winning streak in the combination, having beaten Arkansas in it in the final home game of 2008.
But the problem with the mid-00's version of W/M/M wasn't really it's on field record, it was the fact that it was not a good football uniform. The shiny Russell Athletic fabric often looked red, which just looked really bad in monochrome. The version of W/M/M that was worn on Saturday looked much better, and honestly wasn't a bad look. With the thick white/gray/white stripes accentuating the white helmets, it actually looked pretty decent. That being said, there are still plenty of better looks that State has in its wardrobe in 2019.
This season, after years of tweaking, Mississippi State has essentially perfected their jerseys (maroon, white) and pants (maroon, white, and gray). The problem with State's football uniforms this season (and for a portion of last season) is two-fold: helmet design and combination selection.
Mississippi State has now gone 19 games without wearing the classic shiny maroon helmets; since last year's season opener, they've been shelved in favor of the matte maroon and white helmets. That is a real shame, as the shiny maroon helmets are easily State's best look for home games, in most all situations. The matte maroon and white helmets both work really well on the road, and the white helmets work well enough with the maroon jerseys to be worn once a year or so at home, but shiny maroon helmets are perfect for home games with the maroon jerseys and white, gray, or maroon pants. The SEC Nation set on Saturday morning had the Bulldogs' most recent shiny maroon helmet design on display, reminding everyone of just how great they look; hopefully they will make a return next season!
White helmets are getting close to reaching "primary status" this season. They aren't expected to be worn in the ACU or Ole Miss games due to alternates, so their usage (or lack thereof) in the A&M, Arkansas, and Alabama games will determine whether or not they overtake the matte maroon helmets as State's most worn helmet design this season. Saturday's game was the fifth time that the white helmets have been worn this season, officially bypassing last season (4) as the most they've been worn in a single season since being introduced in 2015. The current white helmets now have a 3-2 (.600) record on the season and 8-7 (.533) all-time record; in seasons where white helmets were not State's only option, white helmets are now 10-14 (.417).
It's been publicized that Moorhead has a leadership group of players that are picking the combinations this season; that's something that I'm certainly in favor of in concept, given that they are the ones that will actually be wearing the uniforms. That being said, the combination selection this season has left something to be desired. W/M/W twice and W/M/M once before the classic M/M/W (even if it's with matte maroon helmets) has even been worn once; if it isn't worn against Alabama (or in a theoretical bowl game), this would be the first season since 2008 in which M/M/W isn't worn. In addition, W/W/W twice on the road (and once against a team that only has white helmets) before either M/W/W or M/W/G see the field is not ideal.
Combination distribution was pretty solid last season, and 2017 was nearly perfect with M/M/W and M/M/G being worn three times each. I'm not really concerned about this; combination selection can easily be improved, it's just something else to nitpick about. Fixing the helmets and returning to 2017/2018 levels of combination distribution would result in Mississippi State perfecting the whole football uniform thing.
Mississippi State has now gone 19 games without wearing the classic shiny maroon helmets; since last year's season opener, they've been shelved in favor of the matte maroon and white helmets. That is a real shame, as the shiny maroon helmets are easily State's best look for home games, in most all situations. The matte maroon and white helmets both work really well on the road, and the white helmets work well enough with the maroon jerseys to be worn once a year or so at home, but shiny maroon helmets are perfect for home games with the maroon jerseys and white, gray, or maroon pants. The SEC Nation set on Saturday morning had the Bulldogs' most recent shiny maroon helmet design on display, reminding everyone of just how great they look; hopefully they will make a return next season!
White helmets are getting close to reaching "primary status" this season. They aren't expected to be worn in the ACU or Ole Miss games due to alternates, so their usage (or lack thereof) in the A&M, Arkansas, and Alabama games will determine whether or not they overtake the matte maroon helmets as State's most worn helmet design this season. Saturday's game was the fifth time that the white helmets have been worn this season, officially bypassing last season (4) as the most they've been worn in a single season since being introduced in 2015. The current white helmets now have a 3-2 (.600) record on the season and 8-7 (.533) all-time record; in seasons where white helmets were not State's only option, white helmets are now 10-14 (.417).
It's been publicized that Moorhead has a leadership group of players that are picking the combinations this season; that's something that I'm certainly in favor of in concept, given that they are the ones that will actually be wearing the uniforms. That being said, the combination selection this season has left something to be desired. W/M/W twice and W/M/M once before the classic M/M/W (even if it's with matte maroon helmets) has even been worn once; if it isn't worn against Alabama (or in a theoretical bowl game), this would be the first season since 2008 in which M/M/W isn't worn. In addition, W/W/W twice on the road (and once against a team that only has white helmets) before either M/W/W or M/W/G see the field is not ideal.
Combination distribution was pretty solid last season, and 2017 was nearly perfect with M/M/W and M/M/G being worn three times each. I'm not really concerned about this; combination selection can easily be improved, it's just something else to nitpick about. Fixing the helmets and returning to 2017/2018 levels of combination distribution would result in Mississippi State perfecting the whole football uniform thing.
LSU wore their classic Gold/White/Gold combination, one of the best uniforms in college football, for the 5th consecutive trip to Starkville. That hasn't always been the case in the State/LSU matchup; the Tigers have worn alternates against State the last two games in Baton Rouge (2016, 2018), and State wore white at home in 2007 and 2009, forcing LSU into purple.
After breaking out W/M/M on Saturday, State has now worn maroon jerseys/pants with four different helmet colors (maroon, white, silver, and gold) over the past sevens seasons. Since 1954, Mississippi State is now 21-14 (.600) in monochrome maroon uniforms.
After breaking out W/M/M on Saturday, State has now worn maroon jerseys/pants with four different helmet colors (maroon, white, silver, and gold) over the past sevens seasons. Since 1954, Mississippi State is now 21-14 (.600) in monochrome maroon uniforms.
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Next week, Mississippi State travels to College Station to take on the SEC West's other maroon and white team, the Texas A&M Aggies. Would love to see the matte maroon helmets make a return; maybe it's time for a repeat of the M/W/W color combination that the Bulldogs wore in the 2017 win in College Station?
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