It’s homecoming week at Penn State, and that once again means the football team will bring out its signature alternate uniform. Penn State is not a program that typically digs into the sport of creating alternate looks, but this will be the fourth time the uniform has been worn in five seasons.
To the casual observer, not much may look all that different about Penn State’s carefully designed alternate look, but there are many unique elements to the design that pay tribute to different eras of Penn State football once you begin digging into the look.
Penn State wearing their "Generations of Greatness" unis vs. Illinois this Saturday. Click on image for deets… @UniWatch @alexhider pic.twitter.com/pxEoxBqxjJ
— Phil Hecken (@PhilHecken) October 18, 2021
The helmet
The most obvious difference that most will easily pick up on is the addition of a player’s jersey number to the side of the helmet. For a brief period spanning the early-1960s to the mid-1970s (1959-1961 and 1967-1974 to be precise), Penn State wore uniform numbers on the side of the helmet, with a gray facemask. Penn State wore a gray face mask from 1959 through 1986 before switching to the current blue in 1987.
The rest of the details may be easier to overlook without knowing specifically what to look for.