BYU Unveils Uniform for Home Opener Against Utah

On Monday, BYU unveiled its uniform combination for the home opener against arch-rival Utah. The Cougars will wear their traditional royal home uniform with two slight twists: a grey chrome facemask and a 9/11 tribute sticker on the back of the helmet.

BYU re-introduced the grey facemasks last season when they played Houston. It was called the "Giff" helmet - a tribute to former BYU quarterback Gifford Nielsen.

BYU will announce the uniform combination for each game in a similar format as last season, with each uniform being revealed the week of the game. Since 1964, BYU has donned royal helmets, white helmets, and navy helmets. When BYU added the royal helmets and navy helmets in March, they provided the historical context for blue helmets in BYU football history.

"In 1969, celebrating the centennial of college football, the Cougars returned to a white helmet with double-stripe design that had been used during the 1956 season. Now commonly viewed as the classic BYU look, the white helmet with blue stripes and Y logo remained the primary helmet for the next three decades during the Edwards era until a navy-blue helmet was adopted in 1999.

In partnership with Nike in 1999, BYU introduced the navy helmet along with new logos, colors, and uniforms. The navy jersey and helmet had not been used at BYU since the 1950s. The dark blue helmet again became a part of the tradition-rich history of Cougar football, which included the final season of Coach Edwards’ Hall of Fame career in 2000. Also finishing his playing career that same season was current BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, while other Cougar standouts such as Doak Walker Award winner Luke Staley, future NFL quarterbacks Brandon Doman and John Beck and many other great players donned the blue helmet while adding to the BYU football legacy.

In 2005, under head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Cougars returned to the white helmet with the traditional-style jersey that had been popular throughout much of the Edwards era. All three colors of helmets that will now be utilized by BYU—white, royal, and navy—were used during Edwards' tenure in Provo dating back to 1962." - BYU Athletics