Las Vegas Bowl team history: San Diego State’s all-black nighttime tradition

Leading up to the Las Vegas Bowl between Houston and San Diego State, the Review-Journal will provide glimpses into each school’s football history. We’ll take a look at each school once per day until game day Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Night games in all-black

Dates: 1930-present

The Las Vegas Bowl’s 12:30 p.m. start time might prove jarring for San Diego State, a program used to playing much later in the day.

Since 1930, 75 percent of the Aztecs’ games, home and away, have been played underneath lights. The program’s first night game took place Sept. 25, 1930, a 39-0 victory over the San Diego Marine’s second team before 5,000 fans.

The night tradition led to another concept: the team’s all-black home uniforms. When legendary coach Don Coryell took over the program in 1961, the team wore black jerseys with silver numerals, silver pants and a silver helmet.

Coryell thought an all-black uniform at night would present a scary image to opponents and boost his players’ psyche. The look was unveiled Oct. 12, 1963, against Long Beach State, and San Diego State won 33-8.

The team strayed from the all-black look in 1980 and 1983, but returned to its traditional uniform each time. The team’s website boasts that the uniforms are as much a part of the program “as the forward pass.”

Ben Gotz can be reached at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.