The Ducks are joining their new conference this season, and one thing the B1G is known for is having some impressive fan participation and uniformity within their massive stadiums. Autzen isn’t as big as some of the behemoths of the B1G. In reality, Autzen is only about half the size of Michigan’s “Big House” and Ohio State’s “Shoe” — but the crowd at Autzen makes up for that by being one of the loudest venues in all of college football.
Penn State has their white-out games — historically one each year, but they have been doing two a year more regularly lately. Michigan has a yearly maize out game where their fans all wear Michigan yellow. These are impressive displays of fan unity, and the Ducks should strive to put on their own display with bright highlighter yellow. Mr. FishDuck took some time away from his fun at New York sports betting to give his absolute support for yellow attire to be worn at games for the colorful background.
Every year the Oregon Athletics Department posts a “what to wear” guide for fans to try to create some coordination within the stadium. It mostly works as there is clearly a dominant color on display, but it has never been truly monochromatic and dominant in the stands.
This year is no different as the fan color schedule is released. There are two home games where fans are all encouraged to wear yellow, against Michigan State and against Illinois. Neither team is going to sit atop the B1G this year and it feels like having fans wear all yellow is wasted on these games. For the two biggest home games of the year Oregon is going for a black-out against Ohio State and then wearing green against Washington.
2024’s Color Schedule for Oregon.
(From Facebook)
Black is an adopted alternative color for the Ducks. Sure, it is fun to have a game or two with a black-out style theme; after all we’re Duck fans and we aren’t constrained by strict color tradition — but in perhaps the biggest match-up of the year the Ducks aren’t even wearing one of their primary colors?
Why Yellow?
Yellow is Oregon’s secondary color. I think we can all agree that green is our primary, but the biggest upside yellow has over green is how bright it is, especially when Oregon dons their highlighter yellow uniforms. I know many of the old-timers don’t like Oregon’s highlighter yellows but personally I think they are amazing. They are loud, bonkers and just all-around uniquely Oregon.
The highlighter yellow just reflects light, and for a night game this effect looks spectacular. It is like the Penn State white-out but with an Oregon twist. However, unlike the Penn State white-out, Oregon just hasn’t executed it to the same degree. To put it bluntly, Oregon’s attempts at a yellow-out tend to result in a patchy stadium. A majority of fans try to follow the weekly color but the execution just simply isn’t there.
Oregon’s opener against Portland State in 2023 was supposed to be a dress in yellow game.
(Photo By Craig Strobeck)
Against Portland State last season the fans were supposed to wear yellow, and as the picture above can attest, the results were patchy at best. We have fans wearing yellow, green, white and grey. Hardly a fan-base making a stadium-wide statement. Now, I know many may respond by saying this was only a game against an FCS opponent and Oregon was supposed to win and win big, which they did, and that as a result it doesn’t really matter for this game.
Which is precisely the point. The games Oregon fans should wear yellow and make a blinding stadium wide statement should be big games; furthermore, they should be night games under the lights that will help illuminate the stadium in florescent yellow.
Oregon’s Best Attempt to Date
In 2017, the Athletic Department made a strong attempt to make a yell-O out when the Ducks squared off against Nebraska. Yellow pom-poms were provided and fans were supposed to show up in yellow. As you can see in the image below, the crowd was mostly wearing bright yellow but there are still clumps of green and white in what should have been a sea of pure yellow.
Oregon attempted something close to an all yellow game in 2017 and it’s not quite there.
(Photo by Kevin Cline)
Sadly the Ducks themselves were wearing white with only a hint of yellow on their feet. The Ducks don’t need to be wearing all yellow but it would have been nice to see them wearing more.
Now think what this could be if this was a night game under the lights, and the Oregon fan base is all in bright yellow and actually waving those yellow pom-poms, seen in the title photo. And think if this isn’t an out-of-conference game at the beginning of the season, but this is scheduled against a B1G rival in October or November. This Yell-O out could be against Ohio State this year!
Just think of the environment this would create for opposing teams. This would be sheer pandemonium.
For big night games, Oregon has scheduled black-outs where the fans are encouraged to all wear black and though this could have a cool effect in the stadium, it doesn’t feel like Oregon. It feels like something borrowed from other fan bases.
After all, black is only a sometimes Oregon color, but yellow is always an Oregon color. It’s time for Oregon to bring on the Yell-O out and provide fans with the yellow gear if necessary.
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By Kevin Cline
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in technology in SLC, Utah.
David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.