Nebraska Uniform History

I'm a big believer that every piece of memorabilia is piece of history. Nebraska saw many uniform changes in their 130+ years of history. While it is impossible to denote every change/anomaly between year and player, I wanted to provide a general overview below of some changes.

Credit for the pictures goes to the folks from AP Images, Getty Images, and the University of Nebraska. A special thanks also goes to fellow collectors who have assisted me compiling the information.

1890

1896

1897

1900

1902

1903

1904

1906

1907

1908

1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1916

1917

1918

1919 - Due to an order from an outgoing Athletic Director from the previous year, Nebraska wore Heather Green jerseys

1920 - In game versus South Dakota Nebraska wore blue jerseys for the first time as a courtesy to the visiting team

1921

1922

1923 or 1924 - First Time Friction Strips were on Nebraska Jerseys. Nebraska wore blue during some games in 1923 as courtesy to the visiting team

1925

1926

1927 - Introduction N-style jersey

1928

1929

1930

1931

1932 Away?

1932 Home?

1933 - Introduction of Jersey Numbers

O'Shea was the jersey manufacturer between 1933-1945

1934

1935

1936 Home?

1936 Away?

1937 Home?

1937 Away?

1938

1939

1940

1941

Away 1942 Home

1943

1944 Home

1944 Away

1945

Home 1946 Away

Introduction of the stripes on arm sleeves

1947 Home

1947 Away

1948 Home

1948 Away

Away 1949 Home

Home 1950 Away

Removal of Arm Stripes

Away 1951 Home

Away 1952 Home

1953 Home
Return of Arm Stripes

1953 Away

Return of Arm Stripes

1954 Away

1954 Home

1955 Home

Some home jerseys starting to miss arm stripes

1955 Away

1956 Home

Some home jersey missing arm stripes

1956 Away

1957 - Style 1

1957 - Style 2 Home

1957 was introduction of white numbers on scarlet helmets

1957 - Style 2 Away

1958 - Home

1958 - Away

1959 Home

1959 Away

1960 Home

No stripes - First time numbers on sleeves

1960 Away

1961 Home

Nebraska transitioned to white helmets with black numbering

1961 Away

1962 Home - Stylized Numbers

1962 Away - Stylized Numbers

Jerseys between 1962-1967 were manufactured by Spanjian.

1962 - Non Stylized Numbers. Some players had regular numbers while some had stylized/newer style jerseys

1963 Home

1963 Away

1964 Home

1964 Away

1965 Home

1965 Away

1966 Home

For the bowl game, Nebraska added "NU" to the helmet in red lettering and moved the number to the back of the helmet. Also first stripes on pants

1966 Away

Nebraska utilized red numbering for helmets this year Also first year for helmet stripe

1967 Home

Nebraska kept with the red "NU" on helmet

1968 Away

Nebraska keeps helmet design but switches to shoulder stripes

1968 Home

1969 Home Style 1

Same jersey style as previous year, but added "100" sticker to front of helmet

1969 Home Style 2

No shoulder stripes, plain numbers

1969 Away

1970 Home - "100" sticker removed, as was the "U" on the helmet. Double stripes on pants

1970 Away

1971 Orange Bowl ('70 Season)

No shoulder stripes. Names on back for first time ever.

1971 Away - Some players had shoulder stripes, some did not

1971 Home

1972 Orange Bowl ('71 Season)

No shoulder stripes. Names on back.

1972 Home

1972 Away

1973 Orange Bowl ('72 Season)

No shoulder stripes. Name on back of jersey.

1973 Home w/ Shoulder Stripes

1973 Home w/out Shoulder Stripes

1973 Away

. 1974 Cotton Bowl Variation ('73 Season)

Name on back of jersey. This was also the first game that players were allowed to wear white shoes - previously coaches had stipulated players were black shoes as to not stand out.

1974 Home

1974 Away

1968-1974 jerseys can be categorized into "old style" and "new style". Older styles, during the beginning of this jersey period, had slightly skinner top stripe on the cuff of the sleeve. Later styles, towards Osborne's tenure as head coach, had a slightly thicker top stripe on the cuff of the sleeve.

1974 Sugar Bowl

No shoulder stripes. Name on back of jersey

1975 Home

No shoulder stripes

1975 Away

Both jerseys from this year were mesh style instead of previously used fabric

1975 Fiesta Bowl

Names on back

1976 Home

1976 Away

1976 Astro Bowl

Names on Back

1977 Away

Mix of tearaway and mesh

1977 Home

1977 Liberty Bowl

Name on Back

1978 Away

Made by Wilson

1978 Home

"N" Added to Sleeve

Some tearaways did not have "N" on sleeves

1979 Orange Bowl ('78 Season)

Name on Back

1979 Home

1979 Away

1980 Cotton Bowl ('79 Season)

Name on back

1980 Away

Names are placed on back of away jerseys for whole season

1980 Home

1980 Sun Bowl

Names on Back

1981 Away

Names on back all season for away

1981 Home

1982 Orange Bowl ('81 Season)

Names on back. Introduction of red face mask.

1982 Home

Red facemasks remain permanent

1982 Away

Final year that tearaway jerseys are allowed

Names on back for aways all season

1983 Orange Bowl

Names on back. Orange Bowl logos/text are heat pressed into shoulders of jerseys

1983 Home

Season opener - no names on back

Mid season seniors had their names on back

1983 Away

Names on back

1984 Orange Bowl

Names on Back. Orange Bowl logo/text heat pressed on shoulders

1984 Nebraska away

No Names on Back

1984 Nebraska Home

Senior Names on back

Stripes are added to cuff of sleeves and "N" is removed from shoulder

1985 Sugar bowl ('84 Season)

Names on back. Sugar bowl logo/text heat pressed on shoulder

1985 Away

Names on back of all away

1985 Home

No names on back

1986 Fiesta Bowl ('85 Season)

Names on back. Small Fiesta Bowl logo on top of shoulder

1986 Home

Seniors name on back for Oklahoma. Team wore red pants this game

No name on back for rest of home

1986 Away

Names on back of all away

1987 Sugar bowl ('86 Season)

Names on back of all jerseys. Large patch on shoulders.

1987 Away

Names on Back of all away

1987 Home

Names on backs of seniors only

1988 Fiesta Bowl ('87 Home)

Names on back of all jerseys. Large patch on shoulders.

1988 Away

Names on Back of all away

1988 Home

Names on back of all home

1989 Orange Bowl ('88 season)

Names on back of all jerseys. Large patch on shoulders.

1989 Away

Names on back of all away

All jerseys had a 100 year shoulder patch

1989 Home

Names on back of seniors

1990 Fiesta Bowl

Jerseys retained the season patch, but also added a patch near collar. Names on all backs

1990 Home

Adds "N" Patch to left shoulder. Patch was embroidered with "1990 Winning Tradition"

Names on backs of all jerseys moving forward

1990 Away

1991 Citrus Bowl

Citrus Bowl logo embroidered into right shoulder

1991 Away

1991 Home

"N" shoulder patch simply said "Winning Tradition" and no longer had the "1990" Embroidered on it

1992 Orange Bowl ('91 Season)

Embroidered Orange Bowl Logo on right shoulder

1992 Home

1992 Away

1993 Orange Bowl ('92 Season)

Embroidered Orange Bowl Logo on right shoulder

1993 Away

1993 Home

Jerseys for this year were manufacturered by Russell with the exception of some jerseys for the Oklahoma game. A limited number of players wore jerseys manufactured by Sports Belle.

1994 Orange Bowl ('93 Season)

Embroidered Orange Bowl Logo on right shoulder

1994 Home

1994 Away

The home opener of the season had a "Kickoff Classic" patch sewn onto the right shoulder of the away jersey for the one game.

1995 Orange Bowl ('94 Season)

Embroidered Orange Bowl Logo on right shoulder

Some players wore Apex while other players wore Russell for this game

1995 Away

Adidas becomes uniform provider. Adidas logo is red on right shoulder.

Adidas was worn in all games with the exception of the Oklahoma State opener. Adidas jerseys were not yet available so the team wore away jerseys manufactured by Goodman and Sons.

1995 Home

Adidas white logo on right shoulder

1996 Fiesta Bowl ('95 Season)

Large Fiesta Bowl patch sewn onto right shoulder

1996 Away

Black Adidas font on right shoulder. Sometimes large black size tag on lower left of jersey.

1996 Home

Large black size tag on lower left of jersey. Adidas logo is black with white font

Jerseys from 1996 have variations in nameplates from player to player. Some show players with sewn on nameplates and screenprinted Varsity font. Other players have sewn on nameplates with Pro Block font, and other players have sewn on Pro Block letters with no nameplates.

1996 Orange Bowl

White Adidas font on right shoulder with sewn on FedEx Orange Bowl Patch

1997 Away

Red Adidas font on right shoulder. "XII" logo on V of neck

1997 Home

White Adidas font on right shoulder. "XII" logo on V of neck

Nebraska stopped putting names onto nameplates this year and began to directly sew on the letters to the jersey

1998 Orange Bowl ('97 Season)

White Adidas font on right shoulder. "XII" logo on V of neck. FedEx Orange Bowl patch sewn on left shoulder

1998 Away

Red Adidas logo on right shoulder, N on V of Neck

1998 Home

White logo on right shoulder, "N" on V of neck

1998 Holiday bowl

Identical to away with the addition of a sewn on Culligan Holiday Bowl patch on right shoulder

1999 Away

1999 Home

Adidas jersey fabric changed in 1999 to a tighter fitting mesh. Nebraska updated the "N" jersey shoulder patch and added a "Nebraska" script below the neckline. Numbers were sewn on this year.

2000 Fiesta Bowl ('99 Season)

Same as home jersey with the addition of a sewn on Tostitos Fiesta Bowl patch

2000 Away

2000 Home

This year was unique in that it was the first year that Adidas put a year tag on the jersey. Numbers reverted to being heat pressed instead of sewn on

2000 Alamo Bowl

Identical to away jersey with the addition of a sewn on Sylvania Alamo Bowl Patch to right shoulder

2001 Away

2001 Home

2002 Rose Bowl ('01 Season)

Identical to home jersey with the addition of the sewn on Rose Bowl patch to the right shoulder

2002 Away

White jersey with red logo below neckline and red jersey guessets. Pants for home and away were interchangeable

2002 Home

A complete redesign to include red gussets, a white Adidas logo below neckline, and thick striped pants

These jerseys are unique in that they're uglier than sin

2002 Independence Bowl

Identical to away with the addition of the Independence Bowl patch sewn on the right shoulder

2003 Away

2003 Home

Nebraska reverted back to the pre-2002 style for the 2003 season

2003 Alamo Bowl

Identical to home with the addition of the Alamo Bowl sewn on back to the right shoulder

2004 Away

2004 Home

Nebraska went back to sewn on numbers and nameplates

2005 Away

Nebraska removed the "Nebraska" font that was below the neckline

Introduced Captain's Patch "C" in lieu of Husker logo for Captain's

2005 Home

2005 Alamo Bowl

Identical to home with the addition of the Alamo Bowl sewn on back to the right shoulder

During the Callahan years, previous year jerseys were sometimes used in Spring games. During the 2006 Spring game players can be seen wearing the 2005 Alamo Bowl jersey.

2006 Away

2006 Home

2007 Cotton Bowl

Identical to home with the addition of the Cotton Bowl patch sewn on right breast.

Captain patch Continued

2007 Away

2007 Home

Final year of Captain's patch on captain jerseys

2008 Away

2008 Home

2009 Gator Bowl ('08 Season)

Identical to away, Gator Bowl patch sewn to right shoulder

2009 Away

2009 Home

2009 Alternate

Introduction of the alternate jersey

2010 Holiday Bowl ('09 Season)

Identical to home with the addition of sewn on Holiday Bowl Patch on right shoulder

2010 Away

Jersey design change with material, and the move from the Adidas logo from the shoulder to under the neckline

2010 Home

2011 Away

Addition of the Big 10 inaugural patch. Nebraska stepped away from the "mesh" design and introduced Techfit form fitting jerseys. Some examples of mesh with the patch exist, but were not seen pictured in games.

2011 Home

2012 Capital One Bowl ('11 Season)

Identical to away with the addition of a sewn on Capital One Bowl Patch on right breast

This may be the introduction of the first new, dedicated bowl jersey. Previous years were known to utilize season-used jerseys and sew on the patch prior to the bowl game.