2015 Auburn – Idaho Uniform Matchup

I don’t want to talk about the Georgia game. Let’s move on to this week’s game. Please.

The Idaho Vandals, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, comes to Auburn this weekend with a 3-7 record. The Vandals have already traveled to Alabama twice this season, coming away with a win over Troy and losing to South Alabama.

Idaho has historically been a program at the bottom of the FBS level of football. Their uniforms are even lower on the totem poll. The Vandals have worn some pretty bland uniforms over the seasons, with the current uniforms probably being the worst. The 2006-07 seasons saw Idaho wear uniforms that had contrasting stripes on the pants that continued to under the arms. The plain uniforms worn from 2008 to 2010 were probably the best of the recent designs, as black and gold compliment really well naturally (see Colorado). In 2011, Idaho went with their current pants and some really badly shaded shoulders.

The current uniforms being worn by the Vandals is the old California template. The template was awful when the Bears wore them, but it’s even worse with Idaho. The jerseys feature a cut-off collar with some pointy thingies accompanying it in the front. In the back, two stripes go out from the collar to the shoulders. The black pants have double stripes that compliment the collar stripes. Thankfully they have a pair of gold pants that have no stripes at all.

This season, Idaho has worn four different uniform combinations. At home, the Vandals have worn black/black/gold as well as all black. On the road, they’ve worn black/white/gold and black/white/black. I’m really hoping they wear the gold pants this weekend so we don’t have to see those awful black pants in Jordan-Hare.The best part about Idaho’s uniforms is easily their helmet. Idaho has a really nice script logo, and it looks wonderful when paired with the block I. The Vandals haven’t messed around with their helmet too much, but when they do, it always looks good. They traditionally wear a black helmet with gold outlined decals. The newer shells have some gold candy speckles sprinkled on that creates a nice effect. Previous seasons have seen a gold version of the black helmet on the field, but they haven’t been worn this season. Another alternate look features a gold Vandals script sans block I.

Saturday is Auburn’s fourth Military Appreciation Day. Only the first time around in 2012 did Auburn wear a helmet decal in coordination of the celebrations. Ribbons were painted onto the field last season for the first time. With Auburn having worn decals honoring former SEC commissioner Mike Slive, maybe we’ll see the return of the helmet decals. I’m glad Auburn hasn’t worn them in recent seasons for I’m not very keen on the way many teams have gone about “honoring” the military or other specific causes. Even though it’s just a simple helmet decal versus an entirely new uniform, the absence of the decal makes the Appreciation Day sentiment seem that much more sincere, to me at least.

Also, here’s this year’s Military Appreciation Day t-shirt (hope Auburn and Under Armour send more money to the specified causes than the NFL and Nike).

Previous Game Review

The Auburn – Georgia game is always one of the best looking games of the season. I love that each element (helmets, jerseys, pants) all contrast from each other every single year. The sunlight, I feel, makes this matchup look that much better. Saturday’s edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry was a very pleasing game visibly (cause we all know the gameplay was infuriating).

Julie Bennett / AL.com