Vols announce uniform combination for Georgia game
Tennessee will be back in orange pants for its road game Saturday at Georgia. The Vols on Thursday announced their uniform combination, pairing the orange pants with the traditional white jersey and white helmet.
Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on CBS. Tennessee (8-0, 4-0 SEC) was ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Top 25 on Tuesday, after moving up to a tie for second in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday. Georgia (8-0, 5-0) is No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and No. 3 in the CFP ranking.
“The week has been really good,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference on Thursday, his final time meeting with reporters before the showdown on Saturday. “Guys have been focused, urgent in the way that they’ve entered the building, their meetings, out on the practice field, too. Like what we’ve done up until now. The lead up to kickoff will be important as we finish our preparation.”
In their last road game, the 40-13 win at LSU on October 8, the Vols wore their Smokey Grey alternate uniform. Tennessee was in its ‘Dark Mode’ alternate black uniform last week in the 44-6 win over Kentucky, with black pants, black jerseys and alternate black helmets, trimmed in orange.
Tennessee wore its tradition orange-on-white home uniform in the 52-49 win over then-No. 3 Alabama on October 15, the same set worn in the 38-33 win over Florida on September 24. The orange pants were last seen in the 63-6 win over Akron on September 17, after the Vols wore all white in the win at Pitt the week before.
Tennessee looking to move to 3-0 on the road
This season the Vols are 6-0 at home and 2-0 on the road, with the toughest — and loudest — road test coming Saturday.
“We’ll find out on game day,” Heupel said Thursday when asked about dealing with the soldout crowd at Sanford Stadium. “At the end of the day, there have been times since we’ve gotten here that we’ve handled being on the road extremely well. There are other times where we haven’t handled it. A lot of that is us. You know, the communication and playing smart football will be important on Saturday. I anticipate us handling it well.”
Tennessee not changing mindset as No. 1 team in CFP Top 25
Heupel told his team to enjoy the journey its on, instead of blocking out the noise, the same message he’s had all season. Being No. 1 in the CFP Top 25 didn’t change that
“I’m absolutely proud of what we’ve done up until this point, from the time we’ve gotten here until now,” Heupel said. “There are a lot of things we need to continue to get better at. But the reality is that’s the first show, the first rankings. Everybody remembers what you do in November. The only one that matters is the last one.
“The reason we’ve gotten to the point that this is a big football game is because we’ve handled things the right way. Coaches and players alike. Preparation and practice and understanding the type of football team. It’s a really good football team and they’ve been winning for a while. Great opportunity for us.”
