BYU Unveils Uniform Combination for Utah State

BYU has worn a different uniform combination in every game this season

On Monday, BYU announced the uniform combination they will wear against Utah State. The Cougars will sport the classic royal away uniform with the "Giff" facemask on Friday night.

This will be the first time the Cougars have worn the classic royal away combination this season. In fact, BYU will have worn five different uniform combinations in their first five games of the 2021 season. 

BYU re-introduced the grey facemasks last season when they played Houston. It was called the "Giff" helmet - a tribute to former BYU quarterback Gifford Nielsen.

Royal classic away with Gifford Nielsen tribute

2021 Uniform Recap

BYU wore the "royal rush" combination in the season opener against Arizona.

Neil Pau'u vs arizona royal blue
Lopini Katoa vs Arizona all royal

Then they wore the traditional royal home uniforms against Utah with a small twist: the helmets featured a "nickel" facemask instead of the customary royal facemask.

Tyler Allgeier vs Utah
Ammon Hannemann vs Utah

The Cougars wore all white with royal accents in their win over #19 Arizona State.

Jaren Hall BYU vs Arizona State whiteout
Lopini Katoa BYU vs Arizona State whiteout

They wore the classic navy home uniform in their victory over USF.

Baylor Romney vs USF
Navy classic home vs USF

BYU has more uniform combinations than games on the schedule, so fans can expect a new look every week.

Connecting Uniforms to Tradtition

The BYU equipment staff will continue to announce the uniform combination for each game in a similar format as last season, with each uniform being revealed the week of the game. Since 1964, BYU has donned royal helmets, white helmets, and navy helmets. For the first time in program history, however, BYU will wear royal helmets, white helmets, and navy helmets in the same season. When BYU added the royal helmets and navy helmets in March, they provided the historical context for blue helmets in BYU football history.

"In 1969, celebrating the centennial of college football, the Cougars returned to a white helmet with double-stripe design that had been used during the 1956 season. Now commonly viewed as the classic BYU look, the white helmet with blue stripes and Y logo remained the primary helmet for the next three decades during the Edwards era until a navy-blue helmet was adopted in 1999.

In partnership with Nike in 1999, BYU introduced the navy helmet along with new logos, colors, and uniforms. The navy jersey and helmet had not been used at BYU since the 1950s. The dark blue helmet again became a part of the tradition-rich history of Cougar football, which included the final season of Coach Edwards’ Hall of Fame career in 2000. Also finishing his playing career that same season was current BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, while other Cougar standouts such as Doak Walker Award winner Luke Staley, future NFL quarterbacks Brandon Doman and John Beck and many other great players donned the blue helmet while adding to the BYU football legacy.

In 2005, under head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Cougars returned to the white helmet with the traditional-style jersey that had been popular throughout much of the Edwards era. All three colors of helmets that will now be utilized by BYU—white, royal, andnavy—were used during Edwards' tenure in Provo dating back to 1962."


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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.