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Old School Mountain West Helmet Contest

Mountain West teams are changing helmet designs faster than most players can change their jock straps. So what do you remember about the old designs?

By Hank Corless
Kevin C. Cox
Air Force, New Mexico, Nevada, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and UNLV all had new helmet designs in 2012 and this year Wyoming, Boise State, Hawaii, San Diego State, Nevada, and Fresno State are also trading in their old designs for a spiffy new look on the gridiron. Like most Mountain West schools those new designs have been showcased here throughout the year.

The retro unis that have been popular in college ball over the past few years are starting to fade. Remember the good old days when the teams now in the MW had plain, drab, ordinary, unimaginative, uninspiring football helmets? Yeah, me neither. But before the old school look goes completely away it might be fun to look back and see how many of the old helmet designs can be identified of the teams that now make up the Mountain West Conference.

Below is a collage of helmet designs from the 1960’s and 1970’s courtesy of The Helmet Project, an online "atlas" of football helmets. Out of the twelve MW teams pictured below see how many can you identify. Some will be easy, some not so much.

Helmets_medium

Answers: Top row, L to R: Nevada, c. 1975; Air Force, c, 1973; UNLV, 1975; Boise State, 1970-1973. Middle Row, L to R: Hawaii, 1970-1973; New Mexico, 1969; Colorado State, 1970-1972; Fresno State, mid 1960’s. Bottom row, L to R: Utah State, 1970-1972; San Jose, 1976-1979; San Diego State, 1963-1973, and Wyoming, 1962-1964.

Grading system:

12 correct= Geezer

10-11= Old Timer

8-9= Whippersnapper

7 or less= Youngster (With Nevada, Air Force and Wyoming as freebies you should be ashamed of yourself).

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