San Diego State players wore their sleeveless red hoodies and black shorts warmups on the field at Snapdragon Stadium two hours before kickoff for Saturday night\u2019s game against James Madison.<\/p>\n
Most of them did, anyway.<\/p>\n
The specialists couldn\u2019t wait to wear their new uniforms. Punters Tashi Dorje and Camden Cowgill and long snappers Connor Poulson and Matthew Mercado were among those those who immediately took the field modeling the \u201cAge of the Jaguar\u201d alternate uniforms \u2014 red jerseys and pants and black helmets with the Ocelotl glyph on the right side \u2014 unveiled in a midweek social splash.<\/p>\n
Soon enough, their SDSU teammates changed into the uniforms that brought a buzz to the proceedings. Fans were encouraged to join in for the contest billed as a \u201cred-out\u201d game. About half of them got the memo.<\/p>\n
The players got a glimpse of the outfits before practice on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very excited,\u201d SDSU edge Kai Wallin said after a midweek practice. \u201cIt was awesome. Having new uniforms is always cool, whether it\u2019s something small, something big, something drastic. You know what I mean? The boys are fired up. I think the main message is it\u2019s not about looking\u00a0 good, it\u2019s about playing good. That\u2019s what we need to emphasize and put on tape. It\u2019s about how you play.\u201d<\/p>\n
SDSU has worn all-black jerseys and pants for home games dating back six decades, so what reaction were players expecting from longtime fans and season ticket holders?<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, it\u2019s a lot of juice and energy in the stadium,\u201d Wallin said.<\/p>\n
SDSU cornerback Mike Lindsay said the bright red is what struck him when he first saw the jersey and pants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a color rush,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cYou know what I mean? I used to, when I was a kid, play Madden and all those games they\u2019d have all the color rush (vibrant alternate jersey). It looks like those. I love it. \u2026 I\u2019ve definitely been a uniform guy. Look good, play good. Those are some good uniforms, and I\u2019m excited to go out there and represent our colors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay said he also liked the black helmets as a contrast to the jerseys and pants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just all one color,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gives some detail to it. Our helmets are always detailed and have got something to it. I\u2019m ready to play in them, show them out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallin, a senior transfer from Sacramento, said he\u2019s never kept his jerseys from previous teams he\u2019s played on, but he plans to ask for his Aztecs jersey when he graduates. All black or all red?<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely this one,\u201d Wallin said.<\/p>\n
Gear heads<\/p>\n
The new gear was for sale in the Aztecs Team Store at Snapdragon as well as two merch trailers, with red jerseys priced at $130, white and black T-shirts with the Ocelotl going for $39 and black hats with the Ocelotl for $35. While there were dozens of people in the team store 90 minutes before kickoff, there wasn\u2019t a run on product.<\/p>\n
Will Griffin was among those checking out the Ocelotl T-shirts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not bad. It\u2019s simple,\u201d said Griffin, a 2012 SDSU graduate who drove down to the game from Riverside. \u201cIt looks like a hockey logo, almost. I think it looks good.\u201d<\/p>\n
He still likes the calendar on the helmet better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish they did (the Ocelotl) on one side and the calendar on the other side,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good alternate as long as they don\u2019t get rid of the calendar. The calendar is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walking along the concourse moments later, Bonita\u2019s Tommy Thompson was spotted wearing the new red jersey with No. 1 on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new uniform that came out is pretty dope, bro,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI like it because it\u2019s the culture of the Aztecs and everything, the color, the logo, the jaguar. It\u2019s nice. I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson said he noticed online that they will be selling the jerseys with nameplates on the back. He\u2019s planning to get the No. 7 of running back Lucky Sutton.<\/p>\n
Age of the Jaguar?<\/p>\n
While the red jerseys and pants received high marks, the black helmets received a thumb down from many people on social media and chat boards.<\/p>\n
The popularity of the red calendar helmets is such (many consider them the best helmets in college football) that any substitution is going to be met with torches and pitchforks at the gates.<\/p>\n
There was a certain segment, however, that took issue with the Oceletl \u2014 the Jaguar \u2014 on the helmet.<\/p>\n
For one thing, the image is too big for the helmet. More than that, there is a belief by some that it is a subtle way to introduce a potential replacement for the Aztecs nickname and iconography the next time a group challenges its use.<\/p>\n
Tweeted @PinehavenGuy: I agree with this. \u201cThe Jaguar is clearly a backhanded attempt at erasing any reference to the Proud Aztec Warrior Iconography.\u00a0 No complicated rationalizations from the Administration change this fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the record, SDSU it has no plans to change its nickname. It\u2019s an alternate uniform\/helmet, not a lifestyle change.<\/p>\n
Going viral<\/p>\n
How popular are uniforms with the public? Put it this way:<\/p>\n
By Friday night, the @AztecFB social media account on X had about 2.5 million combined views for the three uniform-related tweets \u2014 Tuesday\u2019s tease (103,000 views) and Wednesday\u2019s tweet of the Ocelotl glyph (733,000 views) and uniform reveal (1.6 million).<\/p>\n
The previous 50 tweets on the account averaged 6,000 views each, with the most (27,000) for video of Jaylon Hawkins\u2019 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Portland State.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
SDSU plays at Toledo on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT at Glass Bowl. Toledo defeated Temple 49-48 in overtime on Saturday, the difference a failed two-point conversion by Temple in OT. Toledo quarterback John Alan Richter completed 36 of 51 passes for 429 yards and four touchdowns in the game.<\/p>\n
The Aztecs won the only meeting between the teams 17-14 in 2022 at Snapdragon Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego State players wore their sleeveless red hoodies and black shorts warmups on the field at Snapdragon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1327,181,74,76,75,305,127],"class_list":["post-469725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-college-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sdsu-aztecs","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}