Iron Bowl Features Orange Facemasks for First Time Since 1984

Between 1973 and 1981, Alabama rattled off nine straight victories over Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

For the 1982 edition, a freshman running back by the name of Vincent “Bo” Jackson took the handoff, dove over the pile of offensive lineman in white and defensive lineman in crimson, and ended the long losing streak.

Bo Knows orange masks (image via Birmingham News)

The following year, Auburn pulled off a 23-20 victory as severe storms surrounded the Birmingham area. The Tigers finally had a winning streak against Alabama once again.

During those two wins – and three of the previous nine losses – the Tigers sported orange facemasks on their classic white helmets with orange and navy stripes down the middle. It was the design that Bo Jackson wore as his name became known in households across the country.

The orange masks were retired in 1984 when Pat Dye replaced them with navy cages. Bo Jackson won his Heisman Trophy following the 1985 season wearing a navy mask.

(Image via Todd Van Emst, Auburn Athletics)

The orange facemasks only lasted five seasons. They hadn’t been seen for nearly four decades until the Tigers wore them against Ole Miss on October 30, just four weeks ago. They return once more this season for the greatest rivalry in all of football.

This will mark the third game this year that the Tigers have worn an alternate facemask color, the first being the September 18th game at Penn State. For their first road trip of the year, and the first road game at a Big 10 stadium since the 1930s, Auburn broke out white facemasks for the first time in program history. Six weeks later was the aforementioned Ole Miss game.

Two of the orange facemask Iron Bowls featured special tributes on the Auburn football helmets.

The week prior to the Alabama game, Alan Manley and Cary Condray were killed when their car collided with a diesel tanker truck and caught fire in Florida. The two freshmen were honored during the rivalry game with Auburn wearing black tape above the AU logo on the right side of the helmet.

Two years later, tragedy struck again. As was typical during preseason camp, players had to pass multiple physical fitness tests. Following the running portion of the conditioning drills, fullback Greg Pratt collapsed. He would die at the hospital. Auburn would wear large #36 decals on the back left side of their helmets throughout the season in his honor.

The Auburn football uniform has seen more tweaks this season than any year in the previous century. What does the future look like? Will we see more than just different colored facemasks in the coming years? Stay tuned for a new article in the coming weeks that seeks to answer many of those questions.

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Featured image via Adam Sparks