This school's football team played its first season in 1973, at which time the school name was Lynchburg Baptist College and the team colors were gold and green. In 1976 the name was changed to Liberty Baptist College and blue, red, and white were adopted as the school colors. The team was affiliated with both the NAIA and NCAA for a few years before switching solely to NCAA Division II in 1983. The college was renamed Liberty University in 1985 and a move to NCAA Division I-AA occurred in 1988. In 2019 Liberty completed a transition to Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision.

The two "known" "missing" helmet designs used by this team are those used in 1976 and 1993; below are photographs of these:

The 1976 design appears to have a "liberty bell" symbol with the number 76 across its lower portion; the colors used on this design are unknown but the helmet color is presumably blue. In 1993 Liberty used red helmets with the word "Liberty" in a script style, apparently blue letters with a white or silver outline. Clearer photographs of either of these designs would be appreciated greatly.

*1 The stripe sequence on each of these helmet designs is (from left to right) blue-white-red.

*2 The "'71" on this design (commemorating Lynchburg Baptist College's first year of operations) is worn on the left side only; a logo is worn on the right side (as shown below).

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LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY

? - 1967	1969	1968 - c.early 1980s; c.1989
	*see note 1 below

c.mid 1980s - 1988	c.early 1990s - 2006	2007
*see note 2 below

	'B'	'C'
2008 - 2012	2013 - 2014	2014

'D'	'E'	'A'
2014 - 2015; 2021 -	2015; 2021 -	2013 - 2014

'F'	'G'	'H'
2015 - 2016	2016 - 2020	2016; 2018
*see note 3 below

'I'	'J'	'K'
2016 - 2017; 2019 - 2020	2017 -	2018; 2020 - 2021
	*see note 3 below	*see note 4 below

'L'	'M'	'N'
2022 -	2022 -	2024 -
*see note 4 below

'O'	'P'	'Q'
2024 -	2024 -	2024 -

During recent years Louisiana Tech has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

• 2024: N-L-O; L-P-P; D-D-Q; D-D-D
• 2023: E-D-D; D-D-L; D-L-M; L-D-D
• 2022: D-E-D; D-D-L; M-L-D; D-L-D
• 2021: D-E-D; D-D-D; D-K-K; E-K-K
• 2020: G-G-K; G-I-G; G-K-G; K (the last game being vs Georgia Southern in the R+L Carriers Bowl at New Orleans, LA)
• 2019: G-G-G; I-G-G; G-G-G; G-G-G; G (the last game being vs Miami (FL) in the Independence Bowl at Shreveport, LA)
• 2018: G-K-K; K-G-G; G-G-G; H-K-G; G (the last game being vs Hawai'i in the Hawai'i Bowl at Honolulu, HI)
• 2017: G-G-G; G-G-J; J-G-G; I-G-G; G (the last game being vs SMU in the Frisco Bowl at Frisco, TX)
• 2016: G-G-F; G-H-G; G-G-G; H-G-G; G-I (the last two games being vs Western Kentucky in the Conference USA Championship game at Bowling Green, KY and vs Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, TX)
• 2015: D-E-D; F-D-D; D-E-D; D-D-D; D (the last game being vs Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl at New Orleans, LA)
• 2014: A-A-B; A-A-C; B-D-A; D-D-A; D-D (the last two games being vs Marshall in the Conference USA championship game at Huntington, WV, and vs Illinois in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at Dallas, TX)
• 2013: A-A-A; A-B-A; A-A-A; A-A-A

*1 The "100" logo was worn only on the left sides of the Louisiana Tech helmets in 1969, with the state outline logo worn on the right sides.

*2 The earliest and latest seasons from which I have seen photographs showing stripes on the red helmet are 1985 and 1988, respectively

*3 'F' and 'J' differ in that 'F' has two narrow red stripes between the middle blue stripe and the outer white stripes, while 'J' does not.

*4 'K' and 'L' differ in that 'L' has two narrow red stripes between the middle blue stripe and the outer white stripes, while 'K' does not..

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MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY

1960 - 1963	1964	1965 - 1966

1967 - 1968	1969	1970

1972	1971 - 1973	1974
*see note 1 below

1975	1976	1977

1978	1979 - 1981	1982 - 1998

	'A'	'B'
1999	2000 - 2014	2012 - 2013

'C'	'D'	'E'
2013	2013	2014 -

'F'	'G'	'H'
2014 -	2014 -	2014

'I'	'J'	'K'
2014 -	2014 -	2015 -

'L'	'M'	'N'
2015 -	2015 -	2016 -

'O'	'P'	'Q'
2016 -	2016 -	2017 -

'R'	'S'	'T'
2017 -	2017 -	2017 -

'U'	'V'	'W'
2017	2018	2019 -

'X'	'Y' (and 'Y1')	'Z'
2021 -	2021 -	2022 -
	*see note 2 below

'AA'	'AB'	'AC'
2022-	2022 -	2022 -

'AD'	'AE'	'AF'
2022-	2022 -	2023 -

During recent years MTSU has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

• 2023: AC-Z-Z; Z-AC-AB; AC-AB-Z; AF-AB-X
• 2022: Z-Z-AA; Z-AB-AC; Z-AB-AC; Y1-AB-AD; AE (the last game being vs San Diego State in the Hawai'i Bowl at Honolulu, HI)
• 2021: S-R-S; R-T-T; X-R-T; Y-T-X; X (the last game being vs Toledo in the Bahamas Bowl at Nassau, Bahamas)
• 2020: S-R-R; S-S-T; T-V-T
• 2019: S-R-T; R-G-S; R-R-T; W-G-R
• 2018: S-R-Q; T-T-S; G-R-V; Q-G-R; T-R (the last two games being vs UAB in the Conference USA championship game at Murfreesboro, TN, and vs Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowl at New Orleans, LA)
• 2017: M-Q-R; Q-S-G; S-T-U; Q-R-Q; R (the last game being vs Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl at Montgomery, AL)
• 2016: N-K-N; O-O-G; E-N-L; K-E-G; P (the last game being vs Hawai'i in the Hawai'i Bowl at Honolulu, HI)
• 2015: K-E-F; E-G-J; K-G-L; J-E-F; M (the last game being vs Western Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl at Nassau, Bahamas)
• 2014: A-E-F; I-J-G; E-J-E; G-H-F
• 2013: A-A-B; C-A-A; A-B-C; D-B-B; D (the last game being vs Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, TX)
• 2012: A-A-A; A-A-A; A-B-A; A-B-A

*1 MTSU used plain white helmets during at least games #3 and #7 of the 1972 season, but the design labelled "1971 - 1973" above was used during game #10.

*2 Six different sets of stripes are worn on designs 'Y' and 'Y1' representing the six branches of the United States Armed Forces; below are representations of these variations. Each of the stripes has left/right symmetry except for the Coast Guard design, which is blue-white-red (from left to right) with approximate width ratios of 1:1:5 for the three colors. An insignia of the same branch is worn on the back of the helmet.

Air Force	Army	Coast Guard

Marine Corps	Navy	Space Force

'Y1' is identical to 'Y' except that the "MT" logo on the right side is replaced with a three-digit number (as depicted below). The numbers represent according to an article published at the team's website "the individual player's area code" (presumably that of his home town). Forty-four different 3-digit numbers were used, with the most numerous (15 instances) being the 615 area code local to Murfreesboro, TN.

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NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY

1960 - 1965	1966 - 1968	1969

1970 - 1972	1973	1974 - 1977

1978 - 1982	1983 - 1985	1986

1987 - 1989	1990 - 1994	1995 - 2004

October 18, 2008	2005 - 2008	2009 - 2012
*see note 1 below

'A'	'B'	'C' (and'C1' through 'C7')
2013 - 2015	2015	2016 - 2017; 2020*
		*see note 2 below

'D'	'E'	'F'
2017	2018	2018
	*see note 3 below	*see note 4 below

'G' (& 'G1','G2',&'G3')	'H'	'I' (and 'I1')
2019	2019	2021 -
*see note 5 below	*see note 6 below	*see note 7 below

'J'	'K' (and 'K1' & 'K2')	'L'
2021 -	2022 -	2023 -
*see note 8 below	*see note 9 below

'M'	'N'	'O'
2023 -	2023 -	2023 -

'P'	'Q'	'R'
2023 -	2024 -	2024 -

'S'	'T'
2024 -	2024 -

During recent years NMSU has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

• 2024: Q-R-Q; Q-R-S; T-R-S; M-N-N
• 2023: L-L-K1; M-K1-N; K2-K2-N; O-O-O; K2-P-P (the last two games being at Liberty in the Conference USA championship game, and vs Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque, NM)
• 2022: K-K-K; K1-K1-K1; K2-K2-K1; K-K-K; K2 (the last game being vs Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit, MI)
• 2021: I-I-I; I1-I1-I1; I1-I1-J; J-I-I
• 2020*: C7-C7
• 2019: G-G-G1; G2-G2-G3; G3-G3-G3; H-H-H
• 2018: E-E-F; F-F-C5; C5-C1-C1; C6-C6-C6
• 2017: C3-C3-C3; C4-C4-C4; C4-C1-C1; C1-D-D; D (the last game being vs Utah State in the Arizona Bowl at Tuscon, AZ)
• 2016: C-C-C; C-C1-C1; C2-C2-C2; C2-C2-C2
• 2015: A-A-B; B-B-A; A-A-A; A-A-A

*1 The "ribbon" logo is present on the left side only of this design; on the right side is the "Aggies" logo worn on both sides of the design labelled "2005 - 2008".

*2 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side of designs 'C', 'C1', 'C2', 'C3', 'C4', 'C5', 'C6', and 'C7', but a different logo is present on the right side of each of these (as represented below).

'C'	'C1'	'C2'

'C3'	'C4'	'C5'

'C6'	'C7'

*3 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of this design; on the right side is a logo depicting two pistols (as represented below).

*4 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of this design; a logo is worn on the right side (as represented below).

*5 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side of designs 'G', 'G1', 'G2', and 'G3' but a different logo is present on the right side of each of these (as represented below).

'G'	'G1'	'G2'

'G3'

*6 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of this design; a logo is worn on the right side (as represented below).

*7 Uniform numbers are worn on the left sides only of designs 'I' and 'I1'; logos are worn on the right sides as depicted below..

'I'	'I1'

*8 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of design 'J'; a logo is present on the right side (as represented below).

*9 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of both 'K' and 'K1'; different logos are present on the right sides of these (as represented below).

'K'	'K1'	'K2'

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SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY

1976	1975; 1977	1979

1978; 1980	1981	1982 - 1985
	*see note 1 below	*see note 2 below

1986 - 1988	1989 - 1993	1994 - 1996

1997 (first 2 games)	1997 (last 9 games)	1998? - 2004

		'A'
2005 (first game or two); 2010	2005 - 2009; 2011 - 2019	2020* -

'B' (and 'B1')	'C'	'D'
2021	2023 -	2024 -
*see note 3 below

'E'	'F'
2024 -	2024 -

During recent years SHSU has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

• 2023: A-A-A; A-A-A; A-C-C; C-C-C
• 2022: A (entire season)
• 2021: B-B-B1; B1-B1-A; A-A-A; A-A-A (the last two games being FCS playoff games vs Incarnate Word and vs Montana State)

I have not received any information about pre-1975 SHSU helmets. In 1979 the team used white helmets with a "bearkat head" logo (photo below); I would appreciate a clear color photograph of this design. It has been reported to me that not enough of these decals were ordered, and that towards the end of the season about half the team were using "blank" helmets.

I received some contradictory reports about the decals used by SHSU in 2010; apparently both the orange and white versions of the most recent helmet decal were used in 2010, occasionally at the same time by different players. Can anyone clarify how these were used in 2010? Did one version eventually supersede the other? The white version was apparently used by the entire team during the 2011 season.

*1 The logo shown on this design was actually worn only on the right sides of the helmets; the left sides were "blank".

*2 The 1982-1985 design has been described as being identical to the one shown as "1986-1988" with the exception that there was a blue stripe between the orange and white stripes on each side (in other words the stripe sequence was white-blue-orange-blue-white). I would appreciate a photograph from the 1982-1985 period which clearly shows the width of the blue stripe relative to the others.

*3 Design 'B' has the cartoon bearkat on both sides; 'B1' has the bearkat on the left side only, with the "SH" logo of design 'A' on the right side.

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UTEP University of Texas at El Paso

1960 - 1961	1962	1963 - 1964

1965	1966	1967 - 1970

1971	1972	1973

1974 - 1976	1977	1978 - 1979

1980 - 1981	1982 (early season)	1982 - 1985
	*see note 1 below

1986 - 1987	1988 - 1990	1991

	'E'	'A'
1992 - 1998	1999; 2018 -	2000 - 2017

'B'	'C'	'D'
2014 - 2017	2016 - 2017; 2019 -	2017 -

'F'	'G'	'H'
2018	2018	2018

'I'	'J'	'K'
2018 -	2021 -	2021 -

'L'	'M'	'N'
2022 -	2022 -	2022 -

'O'	'P'	'Q'
2023 -	2023 -	2023 -

'R' (and 'R1')	'S'	'T'
2024 -	2024 -	2024 -
*see note 2 below	*see note 3 below

'U'	'V'
2024 -	2024 -
*see note 3 below	*see note 3 below

During recent years UTEP has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

• 2024: R-S-S; R-T-U; S-R-R1; O-R-V
• 2023: E-O-D; E-P-D; I-Q-N; E-N-I
• 2022: L-M-M; N-N-L; L-J-J; M-N-L
• 2021: E-E-E; J-K-I; C-I-E; C-J-E; E (the last game being vs Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque, NM)
• 2020: I-I-I; E-E-E; E-I
• 2019: E-D-C; E-E-E; D-C-E; C-E-D
• 2018: E-E-F; G-D-H; H-D-D; G-D-G
• 2017: C-D-C; D-C-B; D-A-D; A-C-C
• 2016: C-A-A; C-A-A; A-B-C; B-B-C
• 2015: A-A-A; B-B-A; A-A-A; A-A-A
• 2014: A-A-A; A-A-B; B-B-B; B-B-B; B (the last game being vs Utah State in the New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque, NM)

*1 UTEP did not use a helmet logo during at least its first five games in 1982; a new 'UTEP' logo was used by at least game #7 (October 16 at Arizona State). No information has yet been located for game #6 (October 9 at UNLV).

*2 Helmet designs 'R' and 'R1' both have uniform numbers on their left sides only; the right sides differ as depicted below.

'R'	'R1'

*3 The right side of each of these designs differs from the left side as depicted below.

'S'	'U'	'V'

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WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

c.1970s	c.1980s	c.1997

? - 2002	September 10, 2005	2003 - 2006
	*see note 1 below

2007 - 2010	September 10, 2011	2011 - 2012

'A'	'B'	'C'
2013 -	2016 -	2016 -

'D'	'E'	'F'
2018 -	2018 -	2018 -

'G'	'H'	'I'
2020 -	2020 -	2020 -

'J'	'K'	'L'
2021 -	2021 -	2022 -

'M'	'N'	'O'
2022 -	2022-	2022 -

'P'	'Q'	'R'
2023 -	2023 -	2023 -

'S'	'T'	'U'
2023 -	2023 -	2023 -
*see note 2 below

'V'	'W'	'X'
2024 -	2024 -	2024 -

'Y'	'Z'	'AA'
2024 -	2024 -	2024 -

'AB'	'AC'
2024 -	2024 -

During recent years WKU has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

• 2023: G-P-Q; R-R-P; R-S-T; U-T-R; R (the last game being vs Old Dominion in the Famous Toastery Bowl at Charlotte, NC)
• 2022: L-H-L; K-K-G; G-M-G; G-N-G; O (the last game being vs South Alabama in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at New Orleans, LA)
• 2021: J-G-G; G-G-G; G-K-G; G-G-G; G-G (the last two games being vs UTSA in the Conference USA championship game at San Antonio, TX, and vs Appalachian State in the Boca Raton Bowl at Boca Raton, FL)
• 2020: G-G-H; I-G-H; G-G-G; G-G-G (the last game being vs Georgia State in the LendingTree Bowl at Mobile, AL)
• 2019: A-A-A; F-A-D; A-A-A; A-A-A; A (the last game being vs Western Michigan in the First Responder Bowl at Dalls, TX)
• 2018: A-A-A; A-A-A; D-E-A; A-A-F
• 2017: A-A-A; B-B-A; A-A-A; B-A-A; A (the last game being vs Georgia State in the Cure Bowl at Orlando, FL)
• 2016: A-B-A; A-A-A; B-A-A; C-A-A; A-A (the last two games being vs Louisiana Tech in the Conference USA championship game at Bowling Green, KY, and vs Memphis in the Boca Raton Bowl at Boca Raton, FL)

*1 This design was used during the 2005 home game against Eastern Kentucky and reportedly several other games that year (which ones?).

*2 Design 'S' uses seven different versions of WKU's mascot 'Big Red' engaged in football activity; each player wore a version corresponding with his own position on the team. Below are representations of the seven subdesigns used.

Defensive backs	Linebackers	Linemen

Quarterbacks	Receivers	Running backs

Specialists

 

 

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