The Penn State Nittany Lions will wear their “Generations of Greatness” throwback uniforms during Saturday’s Homecoming game against Northwestern (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1), though they’ve made a small but significant update to the original design.
The uniforms, which were unveiled in 2017, combine various eras of Penn State football with white helmets that feature a single blue stripe, gray facemask and numbers on the sides, mimicking the Nittany Lions’ design from 1959-61 and 1967-74.
The navy blue jerseys also feature block numbers, which were worn during the 1950s-60s, as well as a white collar and sleeve cuffs as a nod to the 1957-66, 1982-89 and 1992-2011 teams. The contrasting collar is new this year, however, as it was previously navy blue.
The look is complete with the Nittany Lion Shrine logo at the base of the collar instead of their primary logo, white pants with a single blue stripe down the sides (1952-68) and white cleats, which honor the 1979 Sugar Bowl team, rather than their standard black cleats.
Penn State has posted a 6-2 record in the uniforms since they were introduced, including wins over Indiana in 2017, Purdue in 2019, Minnesota in 2022 and UMass in 2023 and Illinois and SMU (in the College Football Playoff) last season and losses to Michigan State in 2018 and Illinois in 2021.
The uniforms – which, from afar, aren’t a significant departure from Penn State’s standard home design but show how much the program’s look has actually evolved over the years – were not worn during the COVID-shorted 2020 season, however.
In addition to the uniforms, Penn State has also painted its 1983-2011 wordmark and primary logo in the end zones at Beaver Stadium for Saturday’s game. The “Generations of Greatness” uniforms have previously been paired with a diamond pattern or script wordmark in the end zones.
Photos courtesy of @PennStateFball on X/Twitter.
