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          Montana, Penn State throwbacks lead Week 7 college football uniforms

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          • ESPN staffOct 9, 2025, 04:10 PM ET

          There's a clear theme for the uniforms of Week 7 of the 2025 college football season: throwbacks.

          A number of teams are rolling out retro uniforms for this week, and the results are glorious. The most popular approach to the trend has been to keep things simple: Wisconsin, Penn State and Texas A&M's vintage threads will each feature sleek, minimalist designs.

          And then there's Montana.

          FCS' Montana Grizzlies will also be donning throwback uniforms for homecoming weekend, looking to build on a 3-0 start. But the Grizzlies' retro look is steering away from a minimalist design.

          The colors -- copper, silver and gold -- pay homage to the state's rich mining history. Emblazoned on the helmet is an old-fashioned cartoon grizzly -- "Otto the slobbering bear" -- marking the first time that Otto has appeared on a Montana football helmet.

          Here are the top uniforms from Week 7 of the college football season.

          It's been a tough recent stretch for Penn State, which lost a top-10 clash in Week 5 to Oregon before being felled by previously winless UCLA in Week 6. Looking to get its season back on track against Northwestern, the Nittany Lions are sprucing things up with a vintage look.

          Penn State's retro look is broadly similar to the program's current navy blue threads, but with one distinct tweak: a bold white collar wrapped around the neckhole of the jersey, with an image of a Nittany Lion front and center.

          Wisconsin is also hoping throwback uniforms will add midseason momentum. Currently on a three-game losing streak, the Badgers will be looking to grab their first Big Ten win of 2025 in style at home against Iowa on Saturday.

          Wisconsin's classic "motion W" motif is easily recognizable, but that logo was only adopted by the school in the 1990s. The Badgers' throwbacks for this weekend will feature a previous era of the letter logo on the helmets -- a simple block W. The vintage logo is also featured on the jersey's sleeves in the form of a background to a standing badger.

          Playing their final game at home before embarking on a three-game road stint, Texas A&M is making waves with its uniforms for its final game at Kyle Field in October.

          The Aggies' throwbacks will pay homage to the program's 1975 team, which finished as co-champions of the Southwest Conference, and are as simplistic as you'll find. The jerseys are maroon with white numbers, paired with white helmets and pants that also feature minimalist designs. The lone detail is on the back of the jersey's collar, where "GIG 'EM" is featured.

          SMU is offering a modern look and are going all-black for their matchup with Stanford this week.

          While all-black threads aren't unique to SMU, what makes the Mustangs' Week 7 uniforms stand out is the color they're pairing it with: blue. Featured on the nameplate, numbers and helmet stripe, SMU's blue pops in a distinct manner against the black jersey and helmet background. Blue is also the color of the mustang logo on the uniform's helmet, which races through a "D" motif that pays homage to the school's Dallas home.

          Sometimes, tweaks make all the difference in uniforms -- UCF is deploying such a change this week, swapping in gold pants as part of an otherwise classic white road look.

          The pants, per UCF Equipment, are brand new. They will match with the gold helmet logo on UCF's lids as well as the outlines of the black numbers on the jerseys.