Alternate uniforms giving Penn State football players a mental boost

This week, Penn State football will don alternate uniforms for their game against Purdue.

You know the saying, “if you look good, you feel good. And if you feel good, you play good!” Well, that’s just how Penn State football is doing heading into their weekend matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers. You would think that Penn State couldn’t get any more boosts in motivation after dominating Maryland the way they did — but that’s simply not true.

This week, the Nittany Lions are getting a temporary uniform makeover. And by makeover, I simply mean they are going to don alternate uniforms for their game this Saturday.

While they won’t take it to the next level like those guys in Oregon typically do, Penn State is just excited for a change of appearance for the week.

According to The Daily Collegian, there will be some subtle changes. Instead of just having a single blue stripe on the helmet, the player’s numbers will also be shown on the sides this week.

Instead of a black facemask, the Lions will go with gray. And instead of just a straight-up blue uniform with all white pants, some extra stripes will be added — a blue stripe on the pants, and white stripes on the sleeves and the collar.

The uniform change is refreshing, and everybody within the locker room is excited. However, the threads aren’t what all of the players are raving about. It’s the transition from black cleats to white cleats that has everybody excited, and head coach James Franklin immediately took notice.

The Cleats of the Week

The change to white cleats may not seem like a big deal to the casual fan watching the game on Saturday’s. But to the players, it’s a significant switch. While the look doesn’t actually physically make an impact for the players, it sounds like their confidence experienced a boost as James Franklin noticed a mental difference when players threw on the cleats this week.

“Remember when you were eight years old, and your mom would buy you a new pair of shoes, and you thought you were faster in the new shoes running up and down the aisle?” James Franklin asked on Wednesday evening. “That’s how our guys are.”