On Tuesday, Nebraska announced its 2019 alternate uniform. We don’t yet know when Nebraska will wear their new duds, but we know what it will be wearing to shake things up in 2019.

https://twitter.com/HuskerFBNation/status/1163467537163718656

As is our standard practice here, we will borrow the “good or stupid” metric from Paul Lukas’ UniWatch to judge Nebraska’s 2019 offering.

HELMET

The main design remains untouched, with only the color scheme changed – the N and the stripe are now black instead of red. In all honesty, it’ll be hard to tell the helmet from the 2013 version – and that’s a good thing, given how sharp that kit looked.

Good or stupid? Good, if not necessarily original.

JERSEY

OK, hear me out, because I feel like this is going to fall into the “unpopular opinion” category pretty quickly.

First of all, the jersey looks sharp. The red on the black pops, and even with all of the patches that Nebraska has to wedge on its jerseys this year due to the 150^th anniversary of college football, it still looks very simple.

And the Blackshirt skull-and-crossbones logo on the sleeve does look really cool. I know, I know, it’s supposed to be an “homage” to Nebraska’s Blackshirt tradition.

But, come on. A “blackshirt” is literally a practice jersey that is a different color, and that HAS THE BLACKSHIRT LOGO ON IT. I mean, look at this. See how the Blackshirts stand out from the other players – and how part of those Blackshirt jerseys that signify entry into that honored fraternity have the logo on their sleeves?

Now, everyone, including defensive players who have not earned a Blackshirt, and even (gasp) offensive players will be wearing a Blackshirt, at least for one game. I’m all for paying honor to one of Nebraska’s coolest traditions, but it feels like this is utterly watering down the meaning of the Blackshirt. The skull-and-crossbones doesn’t stand for the Nebraska team as a whole. It stands specifically for the starters on defense, and in general for the defense as a whole.

Look, I get it. This is the ultimate old man yelling at the clouds argument. I’m just saying it’s gonna be weird for me to see a kicker (no disrespect, Barret Pickering) walking onto the field rocking a Blackshirt logo.

Good or stupid? Stupid to honor a tradition by misapplying it. Also, get off my lawn and please help me set the clock on my VCR that won’t stop blinking 12:00.

PANTS AND SOCKS

Yeah, so basically they’re the same gameday white pants, with black socks replacing the red. It’s an incredibly sharp look that helps pull the whole thing together.

Unfortunately, it also is confirmation that the gameday pants this year are going to be of the white yoga pants variety, without stripes. I know it’s supposed to harken back to Scott Frost’s era of greatness, and I’m all for the product on the field partying like it’s 1997.

But I am solidly in team #SaveTheStripes. Nebraska’s uniforms look so much better, so much more balanced, with the stripes as opposed to the solid whites. So ultimately the look is great for what it is, but disappointing that it could be so much more.

Good or stupid? Good, just disappointing.

OVERALL

Alternate uniforms have two goals. One is to look cool to kids who are good at college football, to help convince them to play football for Nebraska. No question these will do the job. The other is to sell merchandise to Husker Fan. Little doubt these things will fly off the racks, including one going into the closet of a certain smart and particularly handsome analyst.

I fully realize and embrace that the universe of people that the whole Blackshirt logo misappropriation thing will bother is one, and he’s writing this piece now. So while it is my judgment, ultimately, that I get to make, at the end of the day I’m going to be rocking this thing more than once this fall. Sometimes it’s hard to realize how quickly you’re going to abandon your principles.

Good or stupid? Good, with a healthy side dish of self-loathing.

NEBRASKA ALTERNATE UNIFORM POWER RANKING

Images courtesy of the Lincoln Journal-Star

9. 2014

The infamous trash bag uniforms, which had numerals which literally couldn’t be read from the stands. The two-toned helmets were pretty cool, but overall the unis were a disaster.

8. 2015

Mystifyingly, adidas took its disastrous 2014 concept and made just a slight tweak, putting it on a black background instead of a red one, and made the uniform only marginally less horrific.

7. 2012

These original throwbacks get far more hate than they deserve, especially how well they combined with Wisconsin’s to make a truly memorable spectacle. (Although, in the interest of full disclosure, Wisconsin had the better unis that night.)

6. 2016

The only road alternates Nebraska has (yet) worn ended up making good use of the trash-bag silver, working them into an ice concept that ended up very sharp.

5. 2017

The concept was brilliant, to pay homage to the 1997 team by replicating the mesh uniforms. And while it came out great, it was also hard to tell the unis apart from normal ones on the field during the game. (In full disclosure, this picture is also my avatar on an unsettling number of websites).

4. 2019

Even with some of the questions I have, there’s no doubt that adidas’ 2019 version of Nebraska’s alternate uniform is one of the cleanest and sharpest that’s rolled out. 

3. 2013

Even early in the process, adidas got this one right. The basic black uniforms, the different-but-legible stencil numerals, and the overall simplicity gives this one a place of honor in the Nebraska alternate uniform pantheon. The unique stenciled numerals and (of course) the stripes on the pants give 2013 the nod over 2019.

2. 2018

Anything that involves old-school numerals, a shout-out to the Stadium Clock, and the full In the Deed The Glory inscription is going to be hard to beat. If it wasn’t for the silly helmet, this one would be the one to beat. Also, adidas, why could I not buy an “18” jersey with the cool 8 numeral, instead of getting stuck just buying a “1.” Just take my money already!

1. 2009

For whatever reason, I didn’t include this in the formal list of alternate uniforms in the last power ranking, maybe because there was a three-year hiatus between these and the 2012 set. But these beauts, with the curly-Q numerals and numbers on the helmets, have yet to be surpassed. Quite honestly, Nebraska could go to these uniforms as their regular ones tomorrow and I’d be quite happy.

GBR, baby.