Breaking Down Notre Dame's 2013 Shamrock Series Uniforms

After losing quarterback Everett Golson to a season-long suspension, Notre Dame might struggle in its quest to return to the Bowl Championship Series. But none of that turmoil can keep it from playing the annual Shamrock Series—and, perhaps more importantly, from wearing the Shamrock Series uniform.

In conjunction with adidas, the Irish released this year's new TECHFIT outfit, scheduled to be worn against Arizona State on Oct. 5 (at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington). The official release was accompanied by this hard-to-understand video: 

So basically, to get people pumped for a season without Everett Golson, Notre Dame released a video where a guy wearing his number dances and flexes around an empty room.

Got it. Makes perfect sense.

Other than that, though, the uniforms look pretty nice. Notre Dame's jersey deviations have been all over the map, ranging from very good against Michigan in 2010 to "maybe the ugliest uniforms of all time" (via Ty Duffy of Big Lead Sports) against Miami in the Shamrock Series last year.

This lands somewhere in the middle, probably skewing closer to good than heinous. It's certainly safer than last year's much-maligned outfit, which is precisely what the Irish needed, especially after Notre Dame wore these alternate basketball uniforms, also condemned as being among the ugliest ever created, in the 2013 Big East tournament.

Here's a close-up profile angle, courtesy of adidas.com:

And here's a full-length shot, also provided by adidas, but courtesy of ESPN's Darren Rovell:

The ensemble is understated—meant as a compliment—on the whole, but some of the nuance is impressive. Most notably, the green trim around the glossy gold font works well, helping numbers and logos pop off the all-white background. And the white pants serve as a polished complement to the jersey, much stronger than blue or gold or green would have done in this situation.

In its official release, adidas described the uniforms as such:

"

...All-white with metallic gold and Kelly green shamrock accents, Celtic numbers and an interlocking "ND" logo on the back neck. Notre Dame's Kelly green adidas TECHFIT baselayer highlights "FIGHTIN' IRISH" on the chest and "ND" on each bicep.

Notre Dame's helmet features Notre Dame's signature textured gold with a chrome shamrock detail on each side and a Kelly green chrome face mask. The Irish will wear adidas Team Speed vertical sock with Crazyquick and adizero 5-Star 2.0 cleats.

"

The "baselayer," or gold-scripted undershirt, can be seen in its entirety here:

To be honest, anything Notre Dame wears in the Shamrock Series will be bad by comparison. Its normal uniform, a sartorial tradition better than any in the sport, sets a lofty precedent. But in 2013, everyone wants to be the new Oregon, toying with the bounds of fashion every time they suit up.

That's the (sometimes) sad reality of the times, so it does no good to complain. And in this most recent style, unlike last year's, the Irish have at least created something benign—something that won't detract from the game-watching experience.

That small feat, strange as it might sound, might actually warrant applause.