Nebraska’s Alternate Uniform: Good Execution, Odd Timing

It’s a well-done throwback to the 1983 team, but why now?

Nebraska Athletics

The Huskers released their alternate uniform for the 2022 season on Monday. The uniform pays tribute to the 1983 "Scoring Explosion" team that played Miami for the national championship, losing as a 2-point conversion attempt fell to the Orange Bowl turf.*

*We'll take a brief pause as every member of my generation experiences a traumatic flashback to that moment.

When the yearly alternate uniform is released, my routine is to review the primary components (helmet, jersey, pants, shoes & accessories), giving a letter grade to each one.

Nebraska Athletics photo

But this year that seems a bit unnecessary. The helmet is identical to what Nebraska has worn for 99% of their games since switching to red face masks prior to the 1982 Orange Bowl. The pants have the gorgeous doubled striping that were there for a large chunk of the Osborne era.

Nebraska Athletics

The jersey is not an exact match to what was worn in 1983, but that's okay. There enough visual clues (numbers that give the impression of mesh, no TV numbers on the shoulder, and the helmet "N" on the sleeves) that the uniform obsessive among us can tell they're supposed to be Husker jerseys circa 1980-1983. Even if you don't have a Husker uniform history page bookmarked, this is very clearly a Husker "throwback" jersey.

Nebraska Athletics

As a child of the '80s, I have a soft spot for what the Huskers wore when I was kid. Over the years, there has been a tweak here or a stripe or two there, but what NU wore in the '80s is very linear to what they wear today.

If Adidas was tasked with making a tribute to the 1983 team using today's materials and tailoring, they nailed the assignment. As a throwback/homage uniform, I give them an A.

The question I have is why?

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Let's start with the obvious: While it makes a lot of sense to honor the 1983 team and that amazing Scoring Explosion offense, doing so on the 39th anniversary of the 1983 season is weird. Why not wait a year until 2023?

I wanted to make a joke by referencing the traditional gift for a 39th wedding anniversary. But no such gift exists. The guides skip from 35th (coral) to 40th (ruby).

My hope is they opted to do a 1983 anniversary jersey a year early because NU and Adidas already have plans for 2023. Next year is the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium opening, so maybe they're planning an updated version of the 1923 inspired uniforms the Huskers wore in 2018.*

*But now that I think about it, if NU wore 1923 uniforms in 2018, 1983 uniforms in 2022, and completely whiffed on the 50th anniversary of the Game of the Century, it appears that nobody at Adidas has any idea how anniversaries work. My apologies to the Adi-spouses.

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As a uniform classicist (don't fix it if it ain't broke), I'll never complain about alternate uniforms that pay tribute to the great eras or teams. This is especially true when many of the other Adidas schools will be wearing some seriously ugly alternates this fall (I'm talking about you Arizona State, Louisville, and Miami).

But I can certainly understand the sentiment that Adidas and Nebraska didn't give their best effort for this year's uniform.

Exhibit A: Five years ago, the Huskers wore uniforms to honor the 1997 national champs. The result was the basic NU uniform with "mesh" numbers and the sleeve stripes replaced with a period-specific detail. I liked these at the time (in spite of that horrid sublimated lightning bolt pattern), but would you notice if the Huskers wore these this fall instead of the 1983 version?

Nebraska Athletics

Exhibit B: Take a look at what the Huskers have been wearing in practice for the past few seasons. We've got stripes on the pants and the helmet "N" on the sleeves. I guess we should give Adidas credit for not putting the three stripes on the shoulders.

Nebraska Athletics

Again, I'm not knocking Adidas for giving Husker fans a classic, understated look instead of a ridiculous superhero costume.

Longtime readers will note that these uniforms check each of my long-running complaints:

• Honors Nebraska’s history.
• Different, yet recognizable as a NU uniform.
• Fans in the stands can see/read the numbers.
• Something unique to Nebraska, instead of being the NU version of the current Adidas template.

I'm sure it is just a coincidence that those four bullet points are paraphrased from something I wrote after the last mesh numbered alternate uniform in 2017.*

*Goodness, I could have just copy/pasted that entire review and called it a day.

My point here is it when it comes to Nebraska's alternate uniform history, I feel like the vast majority of designs fit into one of these polar extremes:

• "Here is a design that came to us after we got high and went to Comic-Con."
• "Here is what the 19__ uniforms would look like if we made them today."

There is a lot of unexplored room in the middle.

For example, it is possible to honor a past team by creating a new jersey that is inspired by - but not exactly copied from - a previous look. Another Adidas school (Mississippi State) also released their alternate uniforms Monday. The resulting look is beautifully retro and successfully honors two trailblazing players. Heck, Adidas even managed to pull it off on the 50th anniversary, not the 49th.

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One more take before we go: I feel bad for Scott Frost.

Since November, he has fired four offensive assistants, modified his offense, and given up play calling because his high-tempo Oregon/UCF offense has sputtered at Nebraska. Now, while he sits firmly on the hot seat, his team will wear uniforms honoring a squad that averaged 50.3 points per game and broke 60 points five times. 

No pressure, Coach.

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