Throwbacks!

UPDATE: Bikoff has now posted a photo gallery. With the various logos (Hep tribute, Adidas logo, 40th anniversary patch) no one will mistake them for the originals (as predicted, they are the current, darker shade of crimson), but they look good. Hey, I've always wanted to see IU play wearing the Rose Bowl logo! While I prefer IU's current helmets to the block I, I would love to see these jerseys adopted permanently.

Various sources, including Ken Bikoff of Inside Indiana (and apparently the official IU site, although I can't find the link), are reporting that IU will be wearing 1967 throwbacks on Saturday to honor the 40th anniversary of IU's last Big Ten championship and only Rose Bowl bid to date. In 2005, the last time IU played Purdue at home, the Hoosiers wore "block I" helmets modeled on the 1967 helmet as a tribute to Terry Cole, a player from the 1967 team who had died recently. Bikoff promises pictures of the uniforms today. As something of a uniform nerd, I'm curious to see how faithful the throwbacks are to the original. The shade of crimson that IU wore in 1967, while not as bright as the Cam Cameron era fire engine red, was a bit brighter than the shade of crimson worn by the football team during the Mallory era and worn by all IU teams since 2002.

Here's the block I helmet that IU wore for the 2005 Bucket game (helmet images courtesy of the Helmet Project, one of the coolest sites on the web:

Here's the Helmet Project's depiction of the 1967 helmet:

The main differences between the most recent block I throwback and the actual Rose Bowl helmet are the color (although I think the Helmet project depicted the 1967 helmet a bit too bright) and the facemask. The stripe pattern and the block I are true to the original. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. The 1967 uniform (I have had some difficulty posting an image) is pretty basic: crimson uniforms, white numbers on the chest and the sleeves, and that's it. Unquestionably, the throwbacks will have the Adidas logo. I'm curious, however, whether IU will alter the color and the face masks to identically replicate the 1967 look. We shall see. Currently, there is a flash Bucket Game advertisement on the IU website showing the helmet with a crimson facemask, the 1967/2005 stripe pattern, and the block I. On the other hand, the red/crimson on the current advertisement strikes me as a bit lighter than what IU is currently wearing. Odlly enough, until 2005, IU never had worn red or crimson facemasks. IU wore gray from 1962-1975; white/cream from 1976-1990; black from the 1990 Peach Bowl-2001; and white from 2002-2004.