After a difficult week for the Michigan State football program, the team has revealed its uniform selection for this week’s matchup against Washington. In Mark Dantonio’s return to the program (associate head coach), and Harlon Barnett’s debut as acting head coach, Michigan State will wear a white helmet, green jersey and green pants combination.
As this week’s game is honoring the 10th anniversary (time flies) of MSU's 2013 Rose Bowl season, the social media uniform reveal features audio clips from that season, along with video clips from last week’s game, a 45-14 win over Richmond.
Michigan State also used linebacker Kyler Elsworth from that 2013 team to model the uniforms in this week's reveal video. Elsworth (along with Darien Harris and others) made one of the most memorable plays in MSU's Rose Bowl victory over Stanford, stopping a fourth-down-and-1 play with 1:43 remaining in the game, and sealing the win for the Spartans.
Some quick facts:
-This is the third unique uniform combo MSU has worn in three weeks this season. MSU has not repeated a uniform within its own season since 2019.
-This white helmet is the first uniform component that we did not see at the "Thy Shadows" event reveal, as this week’s helmet features a green face mask.
-This is the fourth time MSU has worn a white helmet and a green face mask, after Northwestern in 2021 (script "State"), Western Kentucky in 2021 ("Gruff Sparty") and Washington in 2022 (Spartan logo)
-This is the third time MSU has gone with a white-green-green combo, after Central Michigan in 2018 and Penn State in 2022.
Many MSU fans, myself included, thought the team would debut the black “shadow” uniform this week. It made perfect sense, for a big marquee matchup against a top-10 opponent in Washington. It was not meant to be this week.
I received word from sources that we would indeed see the black uniforms, and I also received word that we would see white-green-green. So it’s possible things may have changed at some point, whether it be due to the head coaching change or not.
Another home game next week provides a new opportunity for us to see the black uniform make its debut. I also wouldn’t count out road games as an opportunity to see a black helmet or pants.
What do you like about this uniform combo? Are you disappointed to see the all-black uniform stay in the closet? Any thoughts about the possible uniform combo for next week’s matchup against Maryland?
Let us know your thoughts on the premium Spartans Illustrated Message Board.