Jack Marshall / Montana Kaimin Sep 23, 2021
. . . University of Montana football team unveiled some new maroon and silver uniforms that are very classy and have brought the Griz good luck. But the Grizzlies’ iconic copper and gold 1990 color scheme needs to come back.
“A classic look never goes out of style,” tweeted the official Griz football account back in 2018, the last time Montana flaunted its copper and gold colorway. If only that sentiment had stayed.After wearing perhaps the greatest throwback uniform of all time in 2018, Montana has stopped wearing copper and gold. Maroon and silver aren’t bad, it’s just that copper and gold are so damn good. Montana’s retro colorway allows its boomer fans to reminisce about the glory days, while UM students can throw these colors on as a trendy vintage look — despite not being alive when the colors were last officially used. There have been a few variations of the copper and gold uniforms, but the most recent ones UM wore were the best. The 2018 throwback uniforms were straight-up sexy. The copper and gold jersey was complemented by silver pants and white socks. A gold “Montana” was displayed just above the gold-outlined white jersey numbers.
Perhaps the best part of the uniform was the helmet, which was a shiny silver color similar to Montana’s current helmets. The helmets had white face masks and a copper and gold Griz sticker that was certainly more aesthetic than UM’s current maroon logo.
Montana wore the throwbacks when Griz legend Dave Dickenson, who led Montana to its 1995 championship, returned to Missoula. UM, with the help of its flashy uniforms, won the game, and the Griz nation rejoiced. “Who knew Montana had some of the cleanest jersey’s in the game?” one fan commented on Twitter. “These are still my favorite Griz unis,” added another. And then, the copper and gold disappeared. For the last three years, Montana has stuck with simplicity, only wearing the maroon and silver.
The retro uniforms bring the Griz good luck. In the 2018 game, Montana won 41-34. In 2015, when Montana wore a version of the copper and gold uniforms with white helmets, it beat Northern Arizona at home 23-14. In 2008, Montana wore the jerseys for the first time since its national championship, in a game against Montana State. UM warmed up in its normal uniforms and then ran out in the throwbacks. The Griz proceeded to kick the doors off MSU, 35-3.Bringing back some of the 1995 national championship mojo against MSU might be a key to breaking the Bobcats’ four-game win streak in the rivalry series.
And of course, the copper and gold colors treated Montana well in the 1995 season, when it won the program’s first national championship. Any Griz fan who says the copper and gold colors aren’t good luck is lying to themselves. The copper and gold represent a time in the ‘90s when the Griz became good at football, but also a time when UM was popular. It was the place to be: Montana’s iconic mascot Monte had just arrived, enrollment was on the upswing and “A River Runs Through it” had just been released. The vibes were immaculate.
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