Iowa State football debuted a new throwback uniform against TCU on Saturday and it looked like they were playing without pants. The Cyclones straight-up looked naked.
Jack Trice became the first African-American athlete for Iowa State College in the early 1922. He later passed away due to injuries suffered during a college football game in his sophomore year.
Trice’s ground-breaking enrollment continues to have a profound impact on Iowa State University athletics and he is the namesake for Jack Trice Stadium, the Cyclones’ football stadium. His legacy also lived on through the team’s new alternate uniforms.
Iowa State honored Trice by wearing a uniform similar to what he would have worn in the ’20s.
ESPN completely botched the meaning behind ‘Ames’ during a feature on College GameDay, but that’s beside the point. The throwback uniforms were awesome.
However, they did not really translate…
Iowa State football looked naked.
Because of the nude pants included with the uniforms, players did not appear to be wearing pants at all. They looked like they were wearing socks and shirts but forgot to wear bottoms.
It did not look any better on T.V.
The Cyclones wore their helmets, shoulder pads, socks, cleats and accessories. They forgot their pants.
Or so it appeared.
Everything about Iowa State’s throwback uniforms was awesome in principle. It was a fantastic idea and a great concept. Everything looked great on paper. The graphic designers nailed the mock-ups.
Unfortunately, the nude bottoms did not work out how the Cyclones may have hoped or thought. They looked like they were playing without pants. There is no way to unsee it.