Georgia can use alternate uniforms and still be traditional

Apr 16, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Jacob Eason (10) throws before the spring game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The November 19th game versus Louisiana Lafayette is a blackout and black jersey’s might be making an appearance for the first time since 2008.

One thing you don’t see Georgia do too often is wear alternate uniforms. The last time was 2011 in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game against Boise State. That day Georgia wore silver helmets, a new red jersey and red pants in a 35-21 loss.

It was Georgia’s third loss in a row while wearing alternate uniforms. Georgia wore black helmets and pants with traditional white jersey’s in a 41-13 loss to Florida in 2009. And then the infamous 41-30 loss to Alabama in Georgia’s last blackout.

Since those three losses, a large and vocal portion of the Bulldog nation has scoffed at every notion of Georgia ever going away from the traditional red helmet, red/white jersey, silver “britches” style.

They use such arguments as “We won’t look like Georgia” or “you don’t see Alabama wearing anything else”.

They bring up Alabama to show that championship and traditional programs shouldn’t wear anything other than their one helmet, two jersey’s and one pair of pants.

Apr 16, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Jacob Eason (10) throws a pass during the first half of the spring game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia’s Alternate Uniform History

To young fans, Georgia appears to be another blue blood team that has never gone away from their conventional styles. Aside from those five games from November 2007 to September 2011, the Bulldogs only play in the traditional red and black.

But older fans know that Georgia has used alternate styles on several occasions. They have been rare occasions, but it has happened more than many fans realize.

In 1999 Georgia wore white pants for one game as a throwback to the 1960’s and 70’s when Georgia began wearing white pants instead of silver pants when Vince Dooley was hired.

In 1998 Jim Donnan brought in black pants for two games. First with white jerseys in the Outback Bowl versus Wisconsin and later with red jerseys against Florida.

A Minor alteration was made in the 1991 Independence Bowl against Arkansas, Ray Goff added black stripes to the helmets for just that game. A different black stripe was brought back by Donnan as the primary helmet from 1996-2000.

From 1977-1980 Georgia wore red pants for every road game, in fact Herschel Walker’s first two touchdown runs against Tennessee came in red pants. From 1980-1986 red pants were only used sparingly.

Before that you have to go back to the 1940’s to see Georgia wear alternate uniforms, but back then they actually served a purpose. Teams weren’t required to wear white on the road until the 1960’s.

When two teams like Georgia and Alabama played each other, in their normal uniforms they looked almost the same. Both wore a shade of red jerseys, Georgia wore silver pants while Alabama wore grey. And of course, football was still in the leather helmet era.

There’s also a painting circulating the internet of Frank Sinkwich while at Georgia wearing a black jersey. But that has not been confirmed as being inspired by an actual uniform Georgia wore at that time.

Oct 1, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Riley Ridley (8) catches a touchdown pass against the Tennessee Volunteers during the last half minute of the game to give Georgia the lead during the fourth quarter at Sanford Stadium. Tennessee defeated Georgia 34-31. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Philosophy

If Georgia was to do this, the Oregon or Maryland approach would be way too eccentric. But this could be very easily done and still look traditional.

This would include using more simple or classic uniform styles. The most designed style should look more like the triple sleeve stripe Georgia used off-and-on from the mid 1970’s to the late 1980’s. But what they wear now is just fine.

Uniforms Georgia wore during the Wally Butts era also have enough differences from the style Georgia fans are most familiar with. Butts won over 140 games, four SEC titles, one and consensus national title while at Georgia.

Clearly it was a great time to be a Georgia fan, throwbacks to this era would be a great tribute to an era that most fans nowadays aren’t familiar with.

Colors

At Georgia, red trumps all and they are very particular about the shade of red. So much so that many fans (including my own grandmother) complain when our red looks orange because of the lighting on certain broadcasts.

They’re so peculiar about the shade of red that it’s a subject of a Belk commercial featuring Kirby Smart and Hairy Dog.

But Georgia is known as the “Red and Black”, not just the red. Red & Black is the name of the student newspaper at the University of Georgia. The late Larry Munson uses the phrase “red and black” to describe what the team wears in his battle hymn speech played before every home game.

Despite this, black is only lightly used in Georgia’s uniforms. Besides the three blackouts, the two games in 1998, and the surprise black helmets and pants from 2009, black is an underused color by Georgia’s football team. Everyone else from basketball to tennis however uses black very often.

But the most under utilized color is silver. Besides the silver “britches”, silver does not get used that often by the football program. There’s no silver on the jersey or helmet. Besides the 2011 Nike Pro Combat helmet, Georgia hasn’t worn a silver helmet since 1963.

But just like with black, every other team in Georgia’s athletic department has taken the silver and ran with it. Why not expand the use of silver in the football jerseys for just a game or two a year?

Apr 16, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Detailed view of a Georgia Bulldogs helmet on the sidelines during the second half of the spring game at Sanford Stadium. The Black team defeated the Red team 34-14. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Helmets

Primarily Georgia shouldn’t go away from the red helmets with the power-G. It’s one of the sports best helmet styles and is a recognizable symbol in-and-of itself. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be left at Butts-Mehre for a weekend or two a year.

Surprisingly to some, to helmet style Georgia has today was not the first hard helmet style Georgia ever used. Originally Wally Butts dressed the Bulldogs in silver helmets.

Many variations were used from 1949-1963 but usually the team wore plain silver helmets with grey face-masks. Sometimes there was a red stripe added, other times there was a red block G.

With the movement of team wearing throwbacks, why hasn’t Georgia brought silver helmets back as a throwback?

A true throwback would be interesting to see, but a retro-modern style would be sufficient as well. The helmets could be silver, with a red or black power-G and a red stripe down the middle.

But don’t go crazy like in 2011 and use an over-sized red stripe with a multi-colored face-mask. That’s a tad extreme.

Besides that, black or white helmets could be worn as well, but as non-traditional helmets they probably shouldn’t appear too often.

Helmet list

Primary: Red helmet/power-G
Secondary: Silver helmet/power-G
Throwback: Silver helmet

Oct 9, 2016; Columbia, SC, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Nick Chubb (27) makes a catch against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Jerseys

Certainly most games Georgia should and will wear red jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road. But there’s a lot Georgia could do from a jersey standpoint.

The most obvious alternate jersey is the black jersey. fans want it, they’ve wanted black jerseys for a long time. And when they finally got those black jerseys, they were gone after just two seasons and three games.

Besides that another obvious choice is a throwback. Georgia’s current style is very simple and takes obvious design cues from Vince Dooley’s 1964 design. But just like with helmets, the Wally Butts era gets neglected when it comes to uniforms.

A throwback to this era could include a simple red jersey with no extra designs and simple silver block numbers.

A final silver jersey could be worn on the road and take inspiration from Georgia’s basketball team. Georgia often times wears silver at home basketball games and it seems that since Georgia began wearing silver “britches” in the 1930’s, every other team at Georgia has used silver more than the football team.

These jerseys would also be well within NCAA rules since Ole Miss wore light grey jerseys as a road alternate a few years ago.

Jersey list

Home Primary: Red/black trim/white numbers
Home Secondary: Black/red trim/white numbers
Home Throwback: Red/silver numbers

Away Primary: White/red trim/black numbers
Away Secondary: Silver/red trim/black numbers

Oct 15, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Roquan Smith (3) breaks up a pass in front of Vanderbilt Commodores wide receiver Darrius Sims (6) during the second quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Pants

Oddly, alternate pants have been used the most in Georgia’s history. Silver, white, black, and red pants have all been used for at least three games in Georgia’s history.

Silver britches will always be the primary pants for the Bulldogs, but who wouldn’t want to see Georgia wear red pants on a trip to Knoxville or Columbia? Georgia has not worn red pants since 1988, but they looked great the 11 years they were used.

A second pair of silver pants can be brought in as a throwback. Unlike the primary design, these would be completely blank.

Lastly are white pants to be worn as a throwback to the Dooley era. And then black pants to be used more seldom since they aren’t as steeped in tradition like the others, they just look nice.

Pants list

Primary: Silver with red/white/black stripe
Secondary: Red with black/white/black stripe
2nd Alternate: Black with Red/white/red stripe
Throwback 1: Silver
Throwback 2: White with black/red/black stripe

Apr 16, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Jacob Eason (10) throws a pass during the second half of the spring game at Sanford Stadium. The Black team defeated the Red team 34-14. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Frequency

Once again, the Oregon approach will be going too far in the wrong direction for Georgia. The Bulldogs shouldn’t wear a different combination every Saturday. In fact the primary style should be worn for at least half of the regular season.

As an example, here’s Georgia’s 2017 football schedule and how they could use alternate styles throughout the football season.

Key: helmet/jersey/pants

Vs. Appalachian State: Red/Red/Silver
At. Notre Dame: Red/White/Silver
Vs. Samford: Silver/Red/Silver (retro-modern)
Vs. Mississippi State: Red/Red/Silver
At. Tennessee: Red/White/Red
At. Vanderbilt: Red/Silver/Silver
Vs. Missouri: Red/Red/Silver
@. Florida: Red/Red/White
Vs. South Carolina: Red/Black/Silver
At. Auburn: Red/White/Silver
Vs. Kentucky: Silver/Red/Silver (throwbacks)
At. Georgia Tech: Red/White/Silver OR Red/Black/Black

SEC Championship Game: Red/White/White
Bowl game: Red/Red/Black OR Red/White/Black
National Title game (If possible): Red/Red/Silver OR Red/White/Silver

It can be done without the Oregon approach very easily. Georgia will always look like Georgia, whether it’s a throwback, blackout, or a simple tweak to the traditional style.