Uniform change in the SEC

Mark Richt and Georgia's seniors are pretty good at keeping secrets.

Only they knew the Bulldogs would don black jerseys against Auburn last Saturday. The rest of the Bulldogs had no idea they would wear black jerseys, especially after they came out for warm ups in their traditional red home jerseys.

Then, the secret came out.

Georgia returned to its the locker room, and the lights went out for the team's pre-game prayer, Georgia officials slipped into the darkness and placed the black jerseys in each of the Bulldogs lockers. When the lights came back on, mayhem broke loose.

Moments later, the blacked-out Bulldogs stormed the field and rolled Auburn, 45-20.

"I knew it would give us a boost and at least give us a jump start," Richt said of his latest motivational ploy.

Even Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville was impressed.

"Mark had his guys playing very hard," Tuberville said. "The crowd was into it. The blackout thing they used was very beneficial for them."

While Georgia had never before worn black jerseys in program history, team's altering their look in the SEC isn't new. However, a new jersey doesn't always equal a new attitude.

Just go back to this past Saturday in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks ditched their traditional maroon jerseys for black shirts and black pants at the urging of many of the Gamecocks players. It didn't help, as Florida rolled out to a 14-0 lead on its way to a 51-31 thrashing of the Gamecocks.

"It helps if you can block and tackle," Spurrier said of the jerseys. "Since those are two areas we are not good in, that doesn't have much to do with it."

Florida coach Urban Meyer has used similar tactics this season. Meyer called for fans to wear all blue for the Gators Sept. 15 game against Tennessee in The Swamp. With a crowd of 90,707 mostly clad in blue, the Gators rolled to a 59-20 Blue Out win.

Then, two weeks ago, Florida's seniors urged Meyer to let them wear blue pants against Vanderbilt on Homecoming. Meyer eventually agreed, and the Gators topped Vanderbilt, 49-22.

Mississippi State has also altered their look this year, wearing maroon pants twice at home. The Bulldogs wore maroon pants in a 33-21 home loss to Tennessee, but then beat Alabama 17-12 last Saturday with the same uniform.

Coaches admit it's hard to keep a college team on an emotional high for 13 weeks of a season. Sometimes, a slight change in appearance can re-energize a team.

"We all know there's different level of emotion for each ball game," Richt said. "No matter how hard we try, guys can't get to an emotional peak time after time.

"We're all human. We all have a capacity to peak emotionally and it's impossible to get them to that peak every week."

But sometimes, a change in wardrobe can help.