By Bert Lunay
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football unveiled special new Big Red helmets on Thursday, which will be worn for the Oct. 10 Red Out game against UTEP at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
The uniforms, designed to look like Big Red – WKU’s Hall of Fame mascot – will feature red pants, red jerseys and red helmets with decals resembling Big Red’s eyes. The facemask for the helmets is black to represent Big Red’s mouth.
The game will mark the return of WKU’s red helmets, which were last worn in the mid-2000s. The Hilltoppers announced that red helmets would return to their helmet rotation on July 25. That announcement can be watched HERE.
The Oct. 10 game against UTEP will be a Red Out, and fans are encouraged to wear red to Houchens-Smith Stadium for the game. There will be 5,000 red towels given away to fans in attendance.
WKU has worn a variation of Big Red helmets three times prior to Thursday’s game against UTEP. The program debuted Big Red helmets on Nov. 12, 2022, for a 45-10 victory over Rice at Houchens-Smith Stadium. That game featured only the Big Red quarterback decal. Last season, WKU wore helmets featuring seven different Big Red logos based on position groups for the Oct. 24 game against Liberty. Both sets of decals were worn on black helmets. For this season’s Sept. 21 game against Toledo, the Hilltoppers again wore the Big Red quarterback helmet, but wore it on white helmets.
WKU received significant attention with previous Big Red helmet announcements. For last season’s uniform reveal featuring the seven position-specific Big Red decals, WKU received over 11 million total impressions on social media and drew stories from all major sports news outlets. The uniform reveal generated over $1 million in media exposure value through social media and earned media, according to a Nielsen study.
Apparel based on WKU’s new helmet with the Big Red eyes decal are available for purchase on the WKU NIL Store HERE.
Tickets for the Oct. 10 game against UTEP can be purchased HERE.
For the full 2024 WKU Football promotional schedule, click HERE.
Big Red, WKU’s mascot, was born in the fall of 1979 and celebrates its birthday on December 1st. Big Red can be best described as the Spirit of Western. The huge, furry, lovable creature was originally designed and built by WKU student Ralph Carey, (’80 WKU graduate), of Cincinnati, and made its’ debut during the Hilltoppers’ 1979-80 basketball season. Big Red has become a big hit with fans of all ages throughout the state and the nation. Big Red’s signature moves are the belly slide and belly shake.
WKU sits at 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Conference USA play this fall. The game against UTEP on Oct. 10 is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU.
For all the latest on WKU Football, follow @WKUFootball on Twitter and Instagram, and like the WKU Football Facebook page.
COURTESY WESTERN KENTUCKY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
