Georgia is a place where adherence to tradition could be the 11th Commandment. So when the football team previewed its special-edition uniforms for the season opener at Picture Day today, the reviews were somewhat mixed even from those most affected by the one-game change from the customary red helmet and silver britches.
So when the football team previewed its special-edition uniforms for the season opener at Picture Day today, the reviews were somewhat mixed even from those most affected by the one-game change from the customary red helmet and silver britches.
“There’s a lot of people who just don’t want to get away from that and I don’t blame them,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “That’s part of the reason we’re sticking it out there two weeks in advance so everybody can get over it. I doubt we’ll do any more surprise uniforms anymore. Now everybody will have time to digest it and think about what’s most important and that’s playing the game. I think we’ll all be fine.”
Nike released photographs of Georgia ’s 2011 Pro Combat uniforms this morning before the Bulldogs assembled for Fan Picture Day at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs will wear gray helmets with red jerseys and red pants. The team’s color scheme of choice since the 1960s has been red helmets and silver pants.
The team will wear the Pro Combat uniforms against Boise State on Sept. 4 in the Georgia Dome and revert back to their traditional scheme for the rest of the season. Boise State will also wear its version of Nike’s 2011 Pro Combat uniform.
“I love them, I think they’re awesome but we’ve still got to play,” Georgia receiver Tavarres King said. “It’s 2011. You’ve got to have a little swag.”
Georgia has experimented with alternate color schemes in the past few years, most famously the all black with red helmet ensemble against Auburn , Hawaii and Alabama in 2007-08. Georgia also tried red shirt-black pants and black helmet-black pants variations against Florida in 1998 and 2009.
“About the third quarter, it’s not going to matter because it’s going to come down to who’s playing the best,” Georgia linebacker Christian Robinson said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting for us to put something new on. But it won’t matter when the third quarter and fourth quarter get there.”
Make sure to check out photos of the new uniforms.
Georgia is 2-2 in the Richt Era when wearing non-traditional uniforms with the first three coming in “Blackout” games. Georgia beat Auburn 45-20 in the 2007 regular season and beat Hawaii 41-10 in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. Georgia fell behind 31-0 in the first half and eventually lost 41-30 against Alabama in 2008. Georgia also lost to Florida 41-17 wearing black pants and black helmets in 2009. During the Jim Donnan tenure in 1998, Georgia lost to Florida 38-7 while wearing red jerseys and red pants.
But at least one of the players likes the idea of special edition uniforms.
“I loved the black jerseys, that’s one of the reasons I came here,” Robinson said. “I was already committed, but that’s probably the most excited I’ve ever been, watching them running out of the end zone. The new jerseys, they excite the team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and we might not get to wear them again. But at the end of the game, it’s not going to matter.”
