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Oregon Ducks Spark Speculation With Glow-in-the-Dark Uniforms for Top-5 Showdown vs. Penn State

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 6:46 PM ET

Long before the Oregon Ducks were a perennial national championship contender in the world of college football, they were making a name for themselves as the leader in the sport when it comes to uniforms.

In the early 2000's, Nike co-founder and University of Oregon alum Phil Knight made a massive dedication to the athletic department, and infused hundreds of millions of dollars into the Ducks' football program. As such, Oregon turned out the coolest uniforms in the nation week-in and week-out, becoming proverbially known as "Nike University."

Now, as the No. 5 Ducks enter their biggest regular season game of the year in Week 5, with a trip to Happy Valley for a white-out game against the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions, it appears that Oregon is once again doing something special in the uniform game.

It appears that the Ducks might be going "glow-in-the-dark."

What the Oregon Ducks Teased for Uniforms on Sunday

We don't have the full look at Oregon's Week 5 uniforms just yet, as they are typically unveiled on Wednesday nights in Eugene, but Sunday offered a glimpse at the cleats that the Ducks will break out for the game.

Have a look at the "Mummy Duck" Nike Vaporposites.

Mummy mode.

Presenting the @Nike Mummy Duck Vaporposite cleat. Created exclusively for Oregon Football. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cRqFxhRL4b
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) September 21, 2025

At first glance, the cleats look like your run-of-the-mill white Nike Vaporposites, which are very nice, to be clear. But when you flip the switch and turn out the lights, "mummy mode" is activated, and the cleats glow in the dark.

We will have to wait until later in the week to see if the rest of Oregon's uniforms glow in the dark like the cleats do, but with the stadium going dark at times during night games for Penn State, thanks to the recently installed LED lights, the Ducks will be glowing down on the field.

What Oregon Has Done With Uniforms in 2025

These aren't the first special-edition uniforms that Oregon will be breaking out in 2025. Last week, in fact, the Ducks unveiled the "Shoe Duck" uniform combination to honor Knight, who has given over a billion dollars to the university as a whole.

The "Shoe Duck" look was an anthracite gray base, with marble white helmets, two different gold wings on each side, and had little easter eggs and details throughout that represented Knight's past, and his creation of Nike.

Thank you, Phil.

Presenting the @OregonFootball Shoe Duck uniform. #ShoeDuck pic.twitter.com/Sbu7jSh4TH
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) September 14, 2025

While the story of the "Shoe Duck" may not resonate with the rest of the college football world as much as it did with die-hard Oregon fans, it was still a beautiful look on the field in a 41-7 blowout win over the Oregon State Beavers.

And now, with the Ducks potentially glowing in the dark vs. Penn State on Saturday night, we could be in for another treat when it comes to Nike University.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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