Iowa Football: Hawkeyes unveil gold alternate uniform

In a surprising move, the Iowa Football team unveiled new gold alternate uniforms for the ANF Spirt Game vs Penn State on October 12th.

The ANF stripe out game is one of my favorite Iowa football games every year and this year will be no different. In addition to the normal pyrotechnics and very good color coordination on behalf of Iowa football fans, these uniforms will be unusually flashy for the Iowa football program.

It’s not that Kirk Ferentz doesn’t like alternates, it just that these are incredibly bold.

They’re an homage to the old winged jersey’s of the 1990s when Iowa Football was lead by legendary head coach Heyden Fry who established a culture of success. But when you think of teams that wear flashy uniforms today, who thinks Iowa?

Literally no one. You think of Oregon, Boise State, and/or Maryland. Bright colors attacking your eyes. Crazy patterns and fashion designers allowed to run wild with the school’s colors and throw caution to the wind. Throwing caution to the wind isn’t really Kirk Ferentz’s brand.

Here’s a look below at these bold and gold uniforms.

There was even a video to go along with the uniform release.

And even when Iowa Football HAS worn alternates, they had an understated motif.

Like in 2017 when Iowa wore black uniforms with yellow pinstriped numbers and for the first time in school history, incorporated a dark grey into the uniform. Flashy these uniforms were not, but modest and striking yes. And these uniforms must have had some effect because Iowa beat Ohio State by 31 points…

And in 2015 the Hawkeyes broke out this number, which is arguably the best alternate worn in the Ferentz era. They were simple but they were bold. The complete black look can make anyone look good, (see Iowa State…) but the yellow accents and numbers make them pop. The black uniforms under the lights were truly iconic. Most of all though, the Hawks won the game and brought Floyd of Rosedale home.

Will these uniforms have any effect on the play of the Iowa football program? Probably not. But are they incredibly fun? Yes. As the video released today about the creation of these uniforms states:

"“The uniform it was inspired from was a bold uniform from it’s era… And do that with just a bold inspired uniform and bold graphics and hopefully they’re gonna excite people.”"

And excited we are. These uniforms are sick.

The actual Hawk they brought in is dope. AJ Epenesa is a dog. Hawks by a million.