Ranking Oregon Ducks Nike Uniforms: Best In College Football 2024?

The five base uniforms for the 2024 season include the "Mighty Oregon," the "Gang Green", the "Warp Speed," the "Heroes" cancer tribute uniform, and the "Fly Era." All but the "Warp Speed" and "Heroes" designs were revealed before the season began. Each of these base uniforms have been utilized or mixed with other pieces in the collection for a truly unique array of Duck uniforms with deep history.

Speaking of history, "Generation O" is a true ode to Oregon's relationship with sportswear giant Nike. The brand and it's founder, Phil Knight, has a longstanding relationship with the University of Oregon and often tests their newest technology on Oregon athletes. A Youtube video released before the start of the 2024 season delves into the history behind the “swoosh” and the “O”.

Oregon’s new uniform era is overseen by a group of football athletes and Oregon Equipment Administrator, Kenny Farr. The “Uniform Committee” chose particular decades of Oregon Football to honor through their uniform designs, and is crucial in approving designs before they’re manufactured by a company in Portland, Oregon. Farr joined the Oregon program in 2008 and is instrumental in the way Oregon utilizes their unique uniform designs.

With history out of the way, let's rank all thirteen regular season uniform combinations to determine the best of the "O." Each Uniform will be ranked from 13-1 with the opponent of the game being listed to label each uniform.

13. Silver & Black "Eight Ball" vs. Washington

Modeled by senior defensive back Dontae Manning and senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Oregon’s uniform is an off-shoot of their “Fly Era" and "Warp Speed" designs from this years’ “Generation O” uniform line. The jersey sports a black base color, with green and silver details. Grey is prominent on the pants with silver metallic details. The undergarments are black and no gloves were shown in the promotional pictures posted to @goducks on "X" (formerly known as Twitter).

The helmets are Oregon's "Warp Speed" liquid silver base with wings on the sides. The facemask is also a silver metallic color sure to glimmer under the Autzen floodlights.

The uniforms, being black and modeled by both No. 8 players, appears to reference Gabriel's nickname "Eight Ball." The athlete is known for using the billiard ball emoji in his social media posts, along with his teammates using the same emoji when referencing Gabriel. Using black with the number eight only feeds into that concept.

12. White with Oregon Details vs. Purdue

Modeled by junior defensive lineman Keyon Ware-Hudson, the uniform includes a white jersey from the “Mighty Oregon” uniform design, white pants, green and yellow detailing and numbers, and The Oregon Duck alternate logo on the shoulder area. The undergarments match the jersey and pants with a white color. As for the helmet, a green “O” is placed prominently on the side with a yellow base, white and green stripes up the middle, and a yellow face mask with green tinted visor. This is also the same helmet from the “Mighty Oregon” uniform combination.

The cleats design for this match-up was previously announced by Nike designer Button via his “X” (formerly Twitter) account. This shoe design sports two-tones of green to make what mirrors a Nike Air Force One shoe motif. Yellow laces and silver detailing in the Nike swoosh and the cleat bottoms themselves top off this unique piece of footwear.

11. White & Black vs. Wisconsin

Modeled by senior defensive back Nikko Reed, Oregon’s uniform is an off-shoot of their “Fly Era" and "Warp Speed" designs from this years’ “Generation O” uniform line. The jersey sports a white base color, with black details and a color shift number meant to imitate the colors on a mallard ducks' head. Black is prominent on the pants with green details. The gloves and undergarments are black with white detailing.

The helmet design for this look is the "Fly Era" helmet with a matte black base, silver wings on the sides of the helmet, and a silver chrome face mask.

10. White & Green vs. Oregon State

Debuting with an animation of linebacker Bryce Boettcher landing on exit 68 in Eugene, which leads to the I-5 highway and North to Corvallis, the new uniform combination sports base colors of white and green. The jersey is from the “Mighty Oregon” “Generation O” release, with a white base, green collar, detailing, and letters, with The Oregon Duck on the shoulders and yellow smaller detailing throughout. Green carries into the pants, with white detailing. Undergarments are white and so are the gloves with tri-color details.

The helmet is a metallic green with a satin yellow Oregon “O” on the sides. The facemask is the same color green as the helmet. 

Oregon last wore white jerseyswhile playing the Beavers in 2016. Coincidentally, they also wore green pants in 2016, too. Oregon State won that game, 34-24. Since 2010, Oregon has worn white jerseys four times vs. the Beavers in 2010, 2012, 2016, and now. Two of those three times Oregon wore white jerseys, they won.

9. "Mighty Oregon" Original vs. UCLA

The UCLA game day uniform, modeled by senior wide receiver Tez Johnson, features a jersey from the “Mighty Oregon” “Generation O” release, with a white base, green collar, detailing, and letters. The Oregon Duck is on the shoulders and there is yellow smaller detailing throughout. This jersey was also worn when Oregon defeated Oregon State in Corvallis 49-14.

Unlike the uniforms worn at Reser Stadium, this white jersey is paired with yellow pants, green and white shoes, and a yellow helmet with a metallic green “O” on the side, and metallic stripes of green with a white stripe down the center of the helmet towards the face mask. The face mask includes a green visor, something not seen in the original pre-season release.

The uniform reveal video includes Johnson sitting on a water tower with “UO” in green and yellow lettering on the side of the structure. This lettering is meant to mimic the Warner Brothers logo, seen at their studios in Hollywood.

"Generation O: Mighty Oregon" was inspired by "The Catch". That's the uniform worn by the Ducks, and legendary wide receiver Pat Johnson, for the 1997 game against Washington. That's the game the Ducks were up 24-3, gave up 25 consecutive points, but got a touchdown in the closing minutes to upset the Huskies and end their 12-game Pac-10 winning streak.

"A modern, throwback-style white uniform with apple green lettering and trim," the release video begins. The uniform is topped by the O helmet with a university gold base and green O. The pants are also university gold, while the Fighting Duck logo adorns the outside of both shoulders.

Narrating/hosting the release video is none other than former Oregon coach Rich Brooks. He led the Ducks from 1977 through 1994.

8. "Heroes" Stomp Out Cancer Original vs. Michigan State

In an interview with Oregon Ducks on Sports Illustrated’s and KOIN 6 Game On’s Ally Osborne, the Van Horne’s detailed the process of working with Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s wife, Sauphia Lanning, and the couple’s three boys to tell their personal stories with cancer through this uniform.

Sauphia is seven years cancer free, after battling a bone cancer called osteosarcoma. Her last treatment was in 2017. The idea for these “Stomp Out Cancer” uniforms came when the Lannings moved to Oregon in 2022 after Dan was hired for the Oregon coaching job.

“The origin of the project came from Rob Mullens and him saying ‘you know what? The Lanning family, Dan, these are great people. We’d like to welcome them to Eugene, but we’ve heard this story that Sauphia is a cancer survivor. Why don’t you guys go talk to her and see if there’s something that she’s willing to do or say,’” said Todd Van Horne. “We didn’t know where the project was going to go. It was literally after that first conversation and she realized ‘This could be something not just about me, but I’ll honor the people that helped me and the heroes.’ Then she started doing sketches.”

Shortly after, the Lanning kids joined in on sketching the uniform design. Todd expressed that Sauphia wanted the kids' involvement to show how a cancer diagnosis can affect and entire family, not just the person fighting.

That family collaboration led to a uniform with several hidden details relating back to the Lanning family.

“There’s so many little details. I would say out of a lot of Oregon uniforms, this was a uniform where the details came into the story,” Quinn Van Horne said. “And we love to find those little intricacies that we can be able to play with. But it really started with a sketch.”

Shortly after, the Lanning kids joined in on sketching the uniform design. Todd expressed that Sauphia wanted the kids' involvement to show how a cancer diagnosis can affect and entire family, not just the person fighting.

That family collaboration led to a uniform with several hidden details relating back to the Lanning family.

“There’s so many little details. I would say out of a lot of Oregon uniforms, this was a uniform where the details came into the story,” Quinn Van Horne said. “And we love to find those little intricacies that we can be able to play with. But it really started with a sketch.”

The Van Horne’s also shared that each Lanning kid had input. An ice cream cone was the first symbol seen throughout the uniform and clothing. The cone symbolizes the ice cream trips that the family made after Sauphia’s cancer treatments. This ice cream symbol flows into Sauphia’s desire for her children to live in a world without cancer one day.

“‘It came into the phrase of ‘a world without cancer is like ice cream on a summer day,’” Todd Van Horne said.

7. "Gang Green" Original vs. Boise State

Modeled by senior offensive lineman Marcus Harper II, the predominately green uniforms with yellow details have "gang green" stitched in the collar, paying homage to the "Gang Green" Oregon Ducks of the mid 1990s. Note the Big Ten patch on the front with the fighting Duck logo on the shoulder. The fighting Duck is also on the inside of the green gloves. The glossy green helmet features a yellow O.

Oregon's throwback "Mighty Oregon" uniforms honors the 1997 Oregon Ducks. The white uniform features a fighting Duck on the shoulders with apple green lettering and trim.

6. "Heroes" Uniform with Black vs. Illinois

For their ranked matchup against the top 20 ranked Illinois, Oregon is repping a familiar combination based on the “Stomp Out Cancer: Heroes” uniform designed by Sauphia Lanning and the Lanning family.

Modeled by offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr., this uniform features the yellow “Stomp out Cancer” jersey with black and multi-colored details based off art drawn by the Lanning family. The jersey is paired with black pants, black undergarments, yellow gloves , and the cleats are not shown, but most likely are yellow. Oregon will use the “Stomp Out Cancer: Heroes” black winged helmets with multicolor details representing the many different cancer battles.

5. "Warp Speed" Original vs. Michigan

A white and silver uniform with a color shifting number had been long suspected to take its place amongst the newest collection of innovative Oregon threads. On a sleepy Sunday morning after Oregon’s dominant win against Illinois 38-9, the Ducks released what was their final “Generation O” creation for their upcoming game against the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor.

Dubbed “Warp Speed,” these uniforms are a solid white in the top, pants, shoes, and accessories. Like the previously released “Fly Era” uniforms, the shoulder pads contain a combination of carbon fiber wings and steel plating from Oregon uniforms of old. Details of silver and chrome run throughout the uniform. The number in the center is perforated, with a color changing green base, made to represent the head of a mallard duck.

The helmet is entirely chrome with wings on the sides. The facemask is also chrome and the visor is black. Emblazoned on the gloves is the Oregon “O” logo in silver with silver wings on opposing sides, a popular alternate logo for the football program.

“It feels like you’re in a race car vs. a football uniform,” said Todd Van Horne of Van Horne Designs, the father and son design firm duo that helps create each uniform for Oregon.

This uniform is a direct reference to Oregon’s last visit to Ann Arbor to play Michigan in 2007, dubbed “Blowout in the Big House.” That game was one of the first where former Oregon coach Chip Kelly worked as the offensive coordinator and began to change the way college football offenses were run. The famous “Statue of Liberty” fake and play by Jonathan Stewart and Dennis Dixon are heavily considered an iconic moment for the Oregon program, which makes sense as to why the two former Ducks were featured in the “Warp Speed” uniform reveal video.

4. Green & White vs. Boise State

Modeled by senior wide receiver Traeshon Holden, Oregon's uniform for their game against the Boise State Broncos has all the essential Oregon colors with a cohesive look throughout. The jersey is the "Gang Green" apple green base with yellow details and The Oregon Duck alternate logo on the shoulders. The pants are the white "Warp Speed" design with silver details.

The undergarments are white with green gloves also sporting the alternate mascot logo. Green covers the entire helmet, with the Oregon "O" shining bright on the sides in yellow.

“The first real identity of Oregon football was Gang Green. With the phrase was an attitude, and the players that matched it,” said Todd Van Horne.

3. "Fly Era" Original vs. Ohio State

Modeled by senior running back and ground game stand-out Jordan James, the “Fly Era” black uniform sports a unique shoulder pad combination of carbon fiber patterned wings and steel plating, alluding to the generations of Oregon uniforms. The “Fly Era” has detailing of white and green throughout, but predominantly keeps an inky black. With silver wings on the sides, the matte helmet sports a black base.

In an interview with Oregon Duck on Sports Illustrated and KOIN 6 Sports reporter Ally Osborne, the designers behind the “Fly Era” and the “Generation O” uniform line, Todd Van Horne and Quinn Van Horne of Van Horne Designs, dove into the creation of the “Fly Era.”

“This one was a fun one,” said Quinn Van Horne. “The Fly Era jersey. The players have been talking [about this]. And you know, all the ideas come back from the players and that’s really what ‘Generation O’ is meant to encapsulate. There’s been so many decades of player input on these jerseys and finding unique pieces.”

The “Fly Era” is truly an ode to the history of Oregon Football. In the announcement for the uniform during the pre-season, the “Black Mamba” himself former Oregon wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas presented the combination with linebacker Jeffrey Bassa. According to the Van Hornes, every part of this uniform has influences from Oregon athletes.

“The diamond plate was inspired by a former player who liked the attitude of the heavy duty machinery and trucking and the wings were inspired by other players in ways. This was a fun way of - when we met with the Oregon players - we talked about ‘hey, we would love to find a way to honor all of these amazing eras of Oregon Football that has led to where we are today,” Quinn Van Horne said.

“Each little piece tells a story,” Todd Van Horne said. “I think that story makes up a powerful narrative at the end and I think that when they take the field, they’re representing something that’s bigger than themselves and that’s really neat.”

2. True Oregon Colors vs. Maryland

Modeled by senior tight end Terrance Ferguson, Oregon’s uniform is an off-shoot of their “Gang Green” and "Mighty Oregon" designs from this years’ “Generation O” uniform line. The jersey sports an apple green base color, with yellow details. Yellow is prominent on the pants with green details. On the gloves and undergarments are green. The cleats sport a green design with yellow details.

The helmet design for this look is the "Mighty Oregon" helmet with a yellow base, Green "O" on the sides, and a white and green stripe down the center of the piece. The face mask is yellow.

1. Green Goblin vs. Penn State

Finally, the top ranked uniform combination of the season goes to the uniform the Ducks wore when they won their first Big Ten Conference title.

Modeled by senior linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon’s uniform is an off-shoot of their "Fly Era" designs from this years’ “Generation O” uniform line. The jersey sports a black base color, with silver and green details. Black is prominent on the pants. The gloves and undergarments are black. On the gloves, there's a steel plating silver detail that can be seen in the shoulders of the uniform, which represents the steel shoulders of Oregon uniforms of the early 2000's and the carbon fiber Duck wings of the 2010's.

The cleats are black with silver paint spraying from the foot of the shoe, seemingly intended to emulate the look of spray paint.

As for the helmet, you'll spot a green, shiny base with an almost matte silver Oregon "O" on the sides of the helmet. "Ducks" is in a light grey on the base of the skull. The eye guard is a black holographic shift with a black face mask. This particular helmet design has yet to be seen on the field this year.