NC State football breaking out fresh uniform combo Saturday
The uniform craze in college football can probably be attributed to Oregon’s colorful combinations that were mixed and matched starting around the 1996 season. Now every team, No. 13-ranked NC State football included, tries to vary the combinations of the school colors on a seemingly weekly basis.
On Thursday, No. 13/15 NC State unveiled their uniform combination for Saturday’s ACC road contest at No. 18 Syracuse. The Wolfpack is a slight underdog for the 3:30 kickoff, and the game will be televised on ACC Network.
NC State is going with a new variation of their traditional colors for the final game before the bye week.
NC State football uniform
The very first ACC win for NC State football head coach Dave Doeren came at Syracuse in 2014. His Wolfpack program had lost the first 12 league games under his watch, but thanks largely to a pick six from defensive end Pharoah McKever, NC State pulled out a 24-17 win to break the skid.
On that day, NC State wore red helmets (albeit with a block S logo), white jerseys and white pants.
The last time that the Wolfpack was in Syracuse, NC State pulled out a 36-29 win in an unusual game. Despite fumbling away a potential score resulting in a touchback, giving up a bizarre safety, allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown and surrendering an explosive pass for a TD, the Pack secured a victory after Syracuse spiked the football on fourth and goal with seconds left.
On that day, NC State wore red helmets (with the Tuffy logo), white jerseys and white pants.
So, perhaps there should not be much surprise that NC State will use that same combination this coming Saturday, the first time this year that the Wolfpack has gone with that look.
Ironically, aside from the successes at Syracuse, the combination has not proved to be a lucky one over the years.
The only time NC State used that color combo last year was a 45-42 loss at Wake Forest with the ACC Atlantic Division title on the line. In 2020, while the Pack won at Syracuse, NC State also lost in the Gator Bowl against Kentucky, 24-21, using that look.
The only other three times that NC State has used the red helmet, white jersey and white pants with the Tuffy logo resulted in a 1-2 record: a lopsided loss at Boston College in 2019, a heartbreaking defeat at Wake Forest in 2017 and a close, 3-point win at Boston College in 2017.
The last time that NC State used that combination with the block S logo was the overtime loss at Clemson in 2016.
Here is the tweet for the weekly football uniform unveil from NC State football.
