Mountain West Conference
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|---|---|---|
| AIR FORCE | BOISE STATE | COLORADO STATE |
| "Falcons" | "Broncos" | "Rams" |
| Air Force Academy, CO | Boise, ID | Fort Collins, CO |
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|---|---|---|
| FRESNO STATE | HAWAI'I | NEVADA |
| "Bulldogs" | "Warriors" | "Wolf Pack" |
| Fresno, CA | Honolulu, HI | Reno, NV |
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|---|---|---|
| NEW MEXICO | SAN DIEGO STATE | UNLV |
| "Lobos" | "Aztecs" | "Rebels" |
| Albuquerque, NM | San Diego, CA | Las Vegas, NV |
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|---|
| WYOMING |
| "Cowboys" |
| Laramie, WY |
Comments
Air Force, New Mexico, Nevada, Fresno State, San Diego State, and UNLV all have new helmet designs in 2012 (shown above).
Fresno State , Hawai'i, and Nevada are new members of this conference in 2012, while Texas Christian has moved to the Big 12 Conference.
Historical Helmets
AIR FORCE
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|---|---|---|
| 1959? - c.1973 | 1980 - 1998 | 1999 - 2006 |
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|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2009 | September 11, 2010; December 28, 2011 |
October 2, 2010; November 6, 2010 |
| *see note 1 below | *see note 2 below | *see note 3 below |
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|---|---|---|
| December 27, 2010 | October 1, 2011; October 8, 2011; November 5, 2011; September 8, 2012 |
c.1974 - 1979; 2007 - 2011 |
| *see note 4 below | *see note 5 below |
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|---|---|
| October 6, 2012 | 2012 - |
Air Force has apparently not used any logo other than the traditional blue lightning bolt on its helmets since the 1950s, but there have apparently been some fairly minor changes to the color, placement, and shape of it through the years. The team used silver helmets with blue lightning bolts in 1956 and 1957, and apparently used blue helmets with silver bolts in 1958. The helmets shown above are believed to be a complete set for the period 1960 to present.
*1 This design was used during the Armed Forces Bowl game against Houston at the end of the 2009 season. Both the lightning bolt and the tapered stripe along the top of the helmet featured a "digital tiger stripe" camouflage pattern.
*2 Worn during the 2010 home game against Brigham Young, and vs Toledo during the 2011 Military Bowl game at Washington, DC.
*3 Worn during the 2010 home game against Navy and the 2010 game at Army.
*4 Worn vs Georgia Tech during the 2010 Independence Bowl game in Shreveport, LA. This design featured an asymmetrical stripe sequence - the white middle stripe was flanked by a blue stripe on the left side of the helmet, and by a red stripe on the right side.
*5 Worn during games at Navy, at Notre Dame, and home vs Army during the 2011 season, and at Michigan in 2012.
BOISE STATE
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|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 1969 | 1970 - 1973 |
| *see note 1 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 1972 - 1973 | 1976 - 1977 | 1974 - 1975; 1978 - 1979 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1980 - 1986 | 1987 - 1990 | 1991 - 1996 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1997 - 2001 | 2002 - 2008 | September 6, 2010; additional games 2010-2012 |
| *see note 2 below |
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|---|---|---|
| September 3, 2011 | November 5, 2011; November 12, 2011 |
2009 - 2011 |
| *see note 3 below | *see note 4 below |
The 1968 Boise State helmet apparently featured an orange shell with a blue stripe and a logo that was similar to the one shown on the "1972-1973" helmet above. The rather thick circular outline around the logo was probably blue and may have contained some text; below is the clearest photo I have received of the 1968 helmet:
Several people reported seeing a possible "unknown" Boise State helmet during an ESPN segment on October 26, 2010 - the report showed a display of historical helmets for the team, in addition to the one in the photo below, which has never previously been reported to this web site. Did Boise State ever actually use this design? At the present time, I doubt that it was ever used, but any additional information would be greatly appreciated. If the design was used, it was probably used during the period 1970 - 1974, and probably for only a very short time (definetly not for a whole season, as I have received at least one photo from every year showing some other design in use).
The school's name was changed from Boise College to Boise State College in 1969, and again to the present name in 1974. As a junior college, the school had a football team from 1933 through 1967. The team played at the NCAA Division II level from 1968 through 1977, and at the Division I-AA level from 1978 through 1995, before moving to Division I-A in 1996.
*1 This design is also reported to have been used by the Boise College junior college team from 1957 through 1967.
*2 This design was worn during two games in 2010 - BSU's first game of the season vs Virginia Tech at Landover, MD, and against Utah in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas at Las Vegas, NV on December 22. The huge "bronco head" was worn only on the left sides of the helmets during both games, with the right sides left "blank". The design was again worn for four games in 2011: October 7 at Fresno State, November 19 at San Diego State, December 3 vs New Mexico, and December 22 vs Arizona State in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas. The right side of the helmet remained "blank" for the first two of these games, but for the last two games uniform numerals were added to the right sides of the helmets (as represented below). Numerals were worn on the back of the helmet during the October 7 and November 19 games - these would not be visible from the vantage point used for the helmet images at this web site. This design (with numerals on the right sides) has been worn during BSU's first three games of the 2012 season.
*3 Worn September 3, 2011 vs Georgia at Atlanta, GA.
*4 Worn during games at UNLV and home vs TCU during the 2011 season.
COLORADO STATE
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|---|---|---|
| 1959 - 1961 | 1964 | 1962 - 1963; 1965 - 1968 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 1970 - 1972 | 1973 - 1981 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1982 - 1992 | 1993 - 1994 | September 8, 2007 |
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| 1995 - |
During the 1964 season, Colorado State wore helmets that were similar to those worn the previous year, but with the addition (during at least some games) of what was apparently a "ram head" logo. Apparently there are almost no surviving good photographs of this logo (at least not in the archives at CSU - but what about those of the team's opponents? CSU played at Wyoming, Air Force, Utah State, Arizona State, New Mexico, UTEP, and Hawai'i in 1964), so I would greatly appreciate any photos better than the one below.
The 1969 CSU helmet was identical to the first helmet shown above, but with the addition of a "100" decal, as shown in the photo below. The football-shape appears to be green or perhaps blue - the photograph is not quite clear enough to reveal which for certain.
Below is a photo from the 1973 season showing a couple of CSU players wearing very "thick" horn decals on their helmets - does anyone know the story behind these unusual decals?
FRESNO STATE
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|---|---|---|
| 1961 - c.mid 1960s | c.late 1960s | 1969 |
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|---|---|---|
| c.1970s | c.1978 | 1988 |
| *see note 1 below |
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| 1981? - 1987; 1989 - 1996? | 2006 (last four games) | 1997? - 2010 |
| *see note 2 below | *see note 3 below |
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| 2011 | 2012 - |
I have probably received less information about Fresno State's historical helmets than I have for any other Division I-A college, so I would greatly appreciate additional information from anyone familiar with the team. There are particularly big gaps in my information for the years from 1960 to about 1980.
A few other known helmet designs appear in the photographs below:
The first photo shows the design that was used during the late 1960s; it featured white numerals that were worn on helmets that I think were almost certainly red in color. The middle stripe appears to be a darker color than the (probably) red shell, and may be black or dark blue - a color photograph would be appreciated.
The middle photograph shows the 1969 Fresno State helmet with the "100" college football centennial logo - I would guess that the football shape was blue with white numerals.
The third photo is from 1978 and shows an unknown logo (or something) on the sides of the helmet - probably a cartoon bulldog logo, perhaps one very similar to the one currently used by the team. I would greatly appreciate a clearer photograph from the 1978 season.
Fresno State's current helmet design (and the 1997? - 2010 one) features a green "V" outlined in white, worn at the back of the helmet, and not visible from the viewpoint that I am using at this web site. The "V" stands for "Valley", and recognizes the agricultural heritage of California's Central Valley, where the city of Fresno is located. The bulldog logo on the sides of the current helmet design has undergone some very minor modifications during recent years (which I have not attempted to represent here).
*1 It has been reported to me that, during the 1988 football season, a black stripe was worn on the helmet as a tribute to the late wife of Fresno State's then-head coach, Jim Sweeney.
*2 1981 marks the earliest use of the script "Bulldogs" logo that I have yet identified - was it used earlier than 1981?
*3 Plain red helmets were worn during the last four games of the 2006 season (November 11 vs New Mexico State, Nov. 18 vs Idaho, Nov.24 at Louisiana Tech, and December 2 at San Jose State).
HAWAI'I
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|---|---|---|
| c.early 1950s - 1960; 1962 - 1969 |
1970 - 1973 | 1974 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 1976 | 1977 - 1981 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1982 - 1998 | 1999 | 2005 - 2007 |
| *see note 1 below |
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| 2000 - |
| *see notes 1 and 2 below |
For the time period covered by this site, there is one other "known" historical helmet design for Hawai'i, this being the team's 1975 helmet. During that year the team wore white helmets with a logo consisting of a running warrior wearing a cape and carrying a football, in front of a nearly-circular rainbow - below is the clearest photograph that I have received of this helmet and a version of what is apparently the same logo. I have not yet added this one to the web site because the colors within the logo as used on the helmet remain uncertain - so I would appreciate a clear color photograph of one of the helmets used during the 1975 season (a photograph of an actual game-used helmet, please, as opposed to a mini-helmet or replica helmet). I think it is unlikely that the helmet logo included the purple, greenish-yellow, and sky blue colors shown in this version.
Otherwise I believe this is the complete set of historical helmet designs for Hawai'i from 1960 to present. The team was discontinued following the 1960 season but was brought back in 1962. What would probably be classified as a "club-level" team played in 1961 against a series of semi-pro or amateur teams. Hawai'i played at the NCAA Division II level until 1974 when it moved to Division I; the team nickname was changed from "Rainbows" to "Rainbow Warriors" in 1974, and then to "Warriors" in 2000.
*1 Both of these designs were used during the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons. The green helmets were used for home games, and the silver ones for road games, with four exceptions: on both December 3, 2005 (vs San Diego State) and November 18, 2006 (vs San Jose State), the silver helmets were used during home games; on October 13, 2007 (at San Jose State) and November 16, 2007 (at Nevada), the green helmets were used during road games.
*2 I still occasionally receive messages claiming that the current Hawai'i helmet has a black shell rather than a green one, but I strongly believe that this is incorrect. The team definetly did use black helmets in 1999 (I was maintaining this web site at that time), but a switch to green helmets was made the following year. The helmets are VERY dark and do tend to look black, particularly during night games. As evidence that the helmets are actually dark green I would cite the following from a press release about the team's new uniforms for the 2008 season: "Only UH's green helmet will be worn for both home and away games / The silver road uniform, including the jerseys, pants, and helmet, will not be continued" (note no mention of black helmets; see http://uhfootball.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-uniform-designs.html ). You will also note the green color if you take any digital photograph of the current helmet and "brighten" it using graphics software - below are some examples:
NEVADA
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|---|---|---|
| ? - 1975 | 1977 - c.1979 | 1986 - ? |
| *see note 1 below | *see note 2 below |
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|---|---|---|
| ? - 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| *see note 3 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 2002 - 2004 | 2005 - 2007 | 2008 - 2011 |
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| 2012 - |
I have no information for Nevada from 1973 or earlier. This university was known as the University of Nevada at Reno until sometime around 1990 or so.
*1 Photographs show that the "N" decal was worn considerably higher up on the helmet during at least some games in 1974 and 1975. 1974 is the earliest use of this design I have yet found.
*2 During at least portions of the 1978 season, some players used a different stripe sequence with this helmet design: a red stripe in the middle, bordered by two white stripes. The number of players using this alternate stripe sequence appears to be quite small in the photographs that I have seen, so I suspect that this was some sort of "award" for outstanding play, or perhaps a special design used by team captains, or something else of that sort.
*3 This design was used at least as early as 1995.
NEW MEXICO
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|---|---|---|
| 1960 - 1963 | 1964 - 1965 | 1966 - ? |
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| ? - 1968 | 1969 | 1970 - 1971 |
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| 1972 - 1973 | 1974 - 1979 | 1980 - 1986 |
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| 1987; 1996 | 1988 | 1989 - 1991 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1992 - 1995 | 1997 - 1998 | 1999 - 2000 |
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|---|---|---|
| 2001 - 2003 | September 3, 2011 | November 12, 2011; November 19, 2011 |
| *see note 1 below | *see note 2 below |
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| 2004 - 2011 | 2012 - |
This is believed to be the complete set of historical helmet designs for New Mexico for the period covered by this web site (1960 to present).
*1 Worn during the 2011 home game against Colorado State.
*2 Worn during the 2011 home game against UNLV and the 2011 game at Wyoming.
SAN DIEGO STATE
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|---|---|---|
| ? - 1963 | October 12, 1963 - 1973 |
1974 - 1977 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1978 - 1979; 1981 - 1988 |
1980 | 1989 - 1995 |
| *see note 1 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 1996 - c.mid-season 1997 |
c.mid-season 1997 - 2000 |
2001 |
| *see note 2 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 2002 - 2003 | 2004 - 2005 | 2006 - 2011 |
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| 2012 - |
*1 Although the difference shows up only poorly with this image size, this helmet differs from the 1981-1988 version in that the black letters had both red and white outlines, while the letters on the earlier helmets were outlined in white only.
*2 San Diego State's new helmet design for the 2001 season featured black "airbrushing" around the "edges" of the helmet, which was, to the best of my knowledge, the first time any team had done such a thing with its helmets.
UNLV
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| 1968 | 1969 - 1972 | 1973 |
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| 1974 | 1975 | 1976 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1977 - 1978 | 1979 - 1980 | 1981 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 1983 - 1986 | 1987 - 1989? |
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|---|---|---|
| 1990 - 1992 | 1994 - 1995 | 1996 - 1998 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1999 - 2004 | 2005 - 2007 | 2008 - 2009 |
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|---|---|---|
| 2010 - 2011 | October 13, 2012 | 2012 - |
The first UNLV football team played in 1968, though at that time the school was known as Nevada Southern University. The helmet design shown in the photograph below was apparently the first one used by the team. One would naturally assume that the colors within the football-shaped helmet logo were similar to those used on the flag which is popularly referred to as the "Confederate Battle Flag" (i.e., blue "X" with white stars on a red field), but I have never received any color photographs to confirm this. The helmet shell appears to be silver. A color photograph of this design would be appreciated greatly.
The team's second helmet design (apparently used 1969-1972, though I have very few photographs from these years) featured a silver shell with a "UN" logo which was probably red in color (photo below).
WYOMING
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|---|---|---|
| ? - 1961 | 1962 - 1964 | 1965 - 1972 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1973 - 1974 | 1975 - 1976 | 1977 - 1980 |
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|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 1981 - 1985; 1987 - 1988 | 1990 |
| *see note 1 below | *see note 2 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 1989; 1991 - 1996; October 15, 2005; October 14, 2006 |
1997 - 1999? | 2000 - 2006 |
| *see note 3 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 'B' | 'C' | 'D' |
| September 18, 2010; additional games 2010-2012 |
October 8, 2011 | September 10, 2011 |
| *see note 4 below | *see note 5 below | *see note 6 below |
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|---|---|---|
| 'E' | 'F' | 'G' |
| November 19, 2011 | December 3, 2011 | December 17, 2011 |
| *see note 7 below | *see note 8 below | *see note 9 below |
|
|---|
| 'A' |
| 2007 - |
Through four games of the 2012 season Wyoming has used the following sequence of helmet designs: A-A-B; E.
During the 2011 season Wyoming used the following sequence of helmet designs: A-D-A; A-C-A; B-B-A; E-A-F; G.
*1 During the 1986 season, the horse/cowboy decal was modified slightly; the number "100" in yellow was placed over the body of the horse, apparently to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the university.
*2 I have only a single clear picture of Wyoming's 1990 helmet, but it shows quite clearly the number "1890" atop the horse decal on the LEFT side of one player's helmet, and the number "1990" on the logo on the RIGHT side of a different player's helmet. These special decals were apparently used in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Wyoming's statehood, and I do not know if they were used for every game during 1990.
*3 This design was brought back for use during home games against New Mexico in 2005 and Utah in 2006.
*4 First worn during the 2010 home game against Boise State; subsequently worn November 20, 2010 (vs Colorado State), October 29, 2011 (at San Diego State), November 5, 2011 (vs TCU), and September 15, 2012 (vs Cal Poly).
*5 Worn during the 2011 game at Utah State.
*6 Worn during the 2011 home game against Texas State.
*7 Worn during the 2011 home game against New Mexico.
*8 Worn during the 2011 game at Colorado State. The picture contained within the horse/rider logo is a portion of the Wyoming state flag.
*9 Worn vs Temple during the 2011 Gildan New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque, NM.
