So my favorite rumor making the rounds on the Iowa message boards now involves the annual scuttlebutt about new uniforms. The latest rumor was sparked by the old "friend of a friend who knows someone in the equipment office" and indicated that Ferentz was bending to the whims of modernity and signing off on new uniforms for Iowa. That rumor was eventually squelched by Greg Morris, Iowa's equipment manager, but it eventually that morphed into a more credible rumor too: another round of throwback jerseys for a one-off game this year. That's certainly more plausible than wholesale changes to the uniform.
And since we're stumped for football-related things to write about (beyond throwing poop against the wall and seeing it if it sticks pondering potential offensive coordinators), why not amuse ourselves by looking at some possible options for throwback unis. It's getting a little trickier to do so now, of course: they've already celebrated the infamous Ironmen team of 1939 (back in 2004) and the 1958 team that won the Rose Bowl (back in 2010) and there's really no point in throwing back to the Rose Bowl teams that Hayden Fry guided since the differences in the uniform from then to now are minor. (And before anyone suggests it, I'm going to work off the assumption that they're not going to throw back to the uniforms from 1994 or 1996 for several reasons: we didn't win much in them, they're pretty recent, and they're bloody awful.)
So let's take a look at some contenders:
1890:
PROS: Perhaps the first-ever football uniforms worn by Iowa (no one can find pictures of the 1889 team). Would re-emphasize the "SUI" (State University of Iowa) branding.
CONS: They look a bit like pajamas.
1892:
PROS: Um, more "SUI" branding? They look pretty comfy.
CONS: They should look comfortable since they again appear to be pajamas. Are these made for playing football or heading to the opium den?
1904:
PROS: Dark and foreboding; people always like black, right? Come with a very cute dog, apparently.
CONS: No numbers could be a bit of a pickle. Might be better suited for a reading of Hamlet.
1922:
PROS: They celebrate one of the most successful periods of Iowa football history (Iowa went 19-2 from 1920 to 1922, including back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1921 and 1922; by the logic of Pitt football, we could probably claim national titles for those seasons.) and have a very striking (and original) look.
CONS: It would be a bitch to get numbers on them.
1955(?):
PROS: This is a bit of a cheat since we recognized the Evy-era teams with the 2010 throwbacks, but those were the home unis and these were the away unis (also pretty sharp-looking, frankly). And if any era is worthy of double-dipping in when it comes to throwbacks, it's that late '50s run Evy had.
CONS: I can't recall ever seeing Iowa wear white jerseys in Kinnick, so that would be weird. As noted, it's a bit of a cheat since we just celebrated the Evy-era teams two years ago.
1968:
PROS: Well, they're something different.
CONS: They don't look particularly good and Iowa went 5-5 in 1968.
1973:
PROS: Very different jersey (block "IOWA" across the chest, no stripes on the sleeves) and very different helmet (black with a realistic-looking gold flying hawk)
CONS: Iowa went 0-11in Frank Lauterbur -- probably not something we want to commemorate.
1978:
PROS: Script Iowa, motherfuckers!
CONS: Iowa went 2-9 in Bob Commings' final season -- again, not something we probably want to commemorate.
So which tickles your fancy?