To put a stamp on what has been an all-time disaster of a season, Northwestern will don an uncommon uniform combo against rival Illinois. On Friday, the team announced its players will sport white helmets, purple jerseys and purple pants come Saturday. The mostly purple permutation is affectionately known as The Grapes by those within the program.
The last time the ‘Cats faced off in the fruit-inspired unis, they beat Rutgers in Week 6 of last season — 21-7. Ryan Hilinski passed for two touchdowns, and Andrew Clair ran in NU’s other score.
The Grapes are a relatively new creation, having been debuted against Nevada five years ago.