Uniform Advice for West Virginia Mountaineers: Work Blue

In today’s meaningless bit o’ statistical whimsy, we present the case why WVU should wear its blue jerseys during the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma if it can—but Steve Slaton should wear white.

At either rate, both Slaton and his teammates should avoid the gold jerseys at all costs.

Through 12 games this season, here’s the average rushing yardage per game, broken down by jersey:

• Blue jerseys (three games): an average of 424 yards per game.
• White jerseys (six games): 311 yards per game.
• Gold jerseys (three games): 222 yards per game.
  

• Blue jersey: an average of 95 yards per game.
• White jersey: 101 yards per game.
• Gold jersey: 71 yards per game.
  

Unfortunately, the Sooners’ home unis are red. Since they’re the favorite in the Fiesta Bowl, it seems likely they’ll choose their home look and WVU will have to wear their white jerseys.

If there’s any upside to this, I read this season in the Daily Athenaeum, WVU’s student newspaper, that quarterback Pat White’s favorite jersey color is white. Of course, WVU has had good luck in the white jerseys, beating Georgia and Georgia Tech in them.

Possible reasons for the Mountaineers’ varying levels of success in different jerseys?

Here’s one: WVU’s running game relies on sleight-of-hand and misdirection. White is a master of the fake handoff, feinting to Slaton and keeping it himself, or vice versa. It could be harder to pick out a dark brown football against a dark blue jersey—which would mean the defense might be slower to pick up the ball when the Mountaineers are wearing the blue jerseys, giving the speedy White and Slaton a one-step advantage.

But why is Slaton most successful in the white jerseys, which should make the ball visually stand out the most?

Slaton had his biggest game of the year—150 yards—wearing a white jersey, while playing the weakest team on WVU's 2007 schedule, Marshall. So, the quality of the opponent probably has a lot more to do with the outcome than the color of the shirt in that game.

But Slaton ran for his second-highest total—144 yards—against Maryland, a respectable opponent. However, he had his second-worst game of the year wearing white—55 yards against South Florida. So, I got no answer on that one.

But one thing is clear: Gold is poison. Slaton and the team each had their worst rushing games of the season—18 and 142 yards, respectively—in gold against Pitt.