Practice report: Dogs 19th, Crowell wows and uniform debate
UGA and Nike showed off the Bulldogs' Pro Combat uniform that the team will wear for its opening game against Boise State. (Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com)
ATHENS – Online fan reaction to Georgia’s new Nike Pro Combat uniforms, publicly unveiled on Saturday, was generally negative. This came as no surprise to Bulldogs coach Mark Richt.
“I think there are a lot of people that just don’t want to get away from [tradition] and I don’t blame them,” Richt said. “That’s the reason we’re sticking it out there two weeks in advance, so everybody can get over it.”
The new design features a silver helmet with a wide red stripe down the middle, red jersey, red pants, llong black socks, all in the Nike “Pro Combat” style. UGA and Boise State both agreed to wear the specially-designed uniforms for one game only when they play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Sept. 3 in the Georgia Dome.
Georgia has a 2-2 record under Richt when it has changed its uniforms. The Bulldogs famously beat Auburn 45-20 in their first-ever “blackout” in 2007. They also rolled Hawaii 41-20 in black jerseys and pants in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.
But the last two times it hasn’t gone well. Georgia lost to Alabama 41-30 – after trailing 31-0 at halftime – in 2008. Wearing black helmets and black pants in 2009, the Bulldogs fell to Florida 41-17.
“We’re due,” Richt said. “I doubt we’ll do any surprise uniforms anymore. At least everybody’s got time to digest it this time. If everybody just thinks about what’s most important and that’s playing the game, I think we’ll all be fine.”
Richt said it’s not about motivation or breaking with tradition.
“When the players saw it, they liked it and that’s the big thing,” he said. “And it’s a special game. It’s not what we would call a traditional uniform but it’s not a traditional game either. That’s kind of why we did it.”
Meanwhile, the players love them.
“I think they’re awesome,” junior wide receiver Tavarres King said. “We’ve still got to play so it’s not a magic potion or anything. But I love what Nike has done for us. We’re blessed to have those uniforms. I’m excited about them.”
Said linebacker Christian Robinson: “I do like tradition, but I think one game out of the year you can do something new. It’s not like we’re changing our whole style for the whole season. It’s one game. If it’s upsetting somebody that bad, I’m sorry.”
Dogs 19th in AP poll
The Associated Press Top 25 was released Saturday and Georgia was ranked 19th. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 22 in the coaches’ poll released earlier this month.
“That’s good,” Richt said. “It’s nice to be ranked.”
Said senior defensive end DeAngelo Tyson: “That’s pretty good. We can’t go anywhere but up starting at 19. We just don’t want to go down.”
Boise State, Georgia’s opening opponent, was ranked No. 5.
“Good. I’m very excited,” Georgia’s King said of the Broncos. “They should be 5, if not even higher.”
Crowell wows team at practice
Tailback Isaiah Crowell apparently is completely recovered from the groin injury that sidelined him for six days. In his second practice back, Crowell wowed his coaches and teammates in the scrimmage portion of Saturday morning’s practice.
“Isaiah went live today and he made some plays,” Richt said. “He had a couple of great runs and a great catch and run after the catch for a touchdown.”
Said King: “Isaiah Crowell came in and was just making plays all over. I was excited about that.”
It was the first time Crowell has gone full speed since injuring the groin on Aug. 12.
“He went a little yesterday and that was enough for him, I think, to realize he could go,” Richt said. “We had a great competitive day and he wanted to be a part of it. So I think his adrenalin took over and he competed and he competed well. It was great to see.”
Injury report
Crowell’s backfield mate Richard Samuel was not about to return. Richt said the junior will be out at least until “early next week” with a strained quadricep muscle.
Nose guard John Jenkins sat out after being sidelined with a mild hamstring pull on Friday. Fellow nose guard Kwame Geathers returned from an undisclosed injury that kept him out on Friday. Also, freshman wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell was out Saturday due to a pulled leg muscle. Freshman outside linebacker Ray Drew will be out at least another week with a separated shoulder suffered in a scooter accident.
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797 comments Add your comment
Hope Mark has tickets ready to leave......
August 20th, 2011
6:49 pm
Once Boise State gets done with these sorry looking Dawgs, Mark better go ahead and get his tickets ready because he is going to have to be on a fast train out of town…….sorriest Coach that has ever been at Georgia and recruits the stupidest dumbest retards that ever walked on a football field….I can’t wait till he gets run out of town and I hope the first team besides Georgia to win at Sanford Stadium this year goes ahead and tears down the Hedges!!!! Go any team but Georgia! Beat the Dawgs Tails!!!!!!!
LakeDawg
August 20th, 2011
6:50 pm
Did I mention the new unis are hideous?
Gary Donehoo
August 20th, 2011
6:50 pm
Mighty fancy uniforms for a bunch of losers. They can hang their picture behind the counter in the 7-11 they’ll work in after they leave athens.
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
6:51 pm
Grow up you pansies -
Markt Wrecked
August 20th, 2011
6:52 pm
Er uh, I didn’t have anything to do with these uniforms, folks. This is just for a lot of money, you know? I’m not cheap. These uniforms from Nike will pay about one tenth of my salary this year, so hang, baby. That’s why I put it out a couple of weeks in advance. Drink this koolaid, it’ll start looking better before you know it.
The buck stops where?
Blackout = Losers, Red Uni's Bigger Losers!!
August 20th, 2011
6:52 pm
Look like a bunch of punk retards in those Red Uni’s…..Combat Uni’s yeah right….just wait until you see all these LOSERS of the Dream Team Recruiting Season lay down one time after they are hit!!!!
Hit A Single
August 20th, 2011
6:53 pm
If it takes a uniform to take a kid to commit, I don’t want that kid. Tradition should sell the school and UGA has that academically and athletically. I am not surprised by Nike. All these companies are partly responsible for college football and basketball being in the shape it is in. They cater to and give gifts to AAU teams and college teams when they charge high school teams outlandish prices. An AAU basketball team walked by me in Disney World one summer as they were participating in the showcase. The whole team smelled like a brewrey. They cater to the type of kid that has college football in the shape it is in. You poll many of the UGA players and I guarantee you they don’t like the uniforms. College football should have been embarrased by the uniforms worn by Va. Tech and Boise State last year. And of course Oregon is the poster child for uniforms and they are probation bound.
LakeDawg
August 20th, 2011
6:55 pm
Not to mention they break with TRADITION! UGA has spent decades building brand recognition. The new unis are either 1) a gimmick or 2) a sell out to a corporation that uses third world child labor. Either way its a low for UGA and college football in general. I thought this was supposed to be collegiate athletics, not a marketing campaign. Oh well, still excited about the upcoming season.
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
6:55 pm
Hit a single – Really?????
ga gator
August 20th, 2011
6:55 pm
Be honored that Nike thought enough of the Dawgs to offer them. My understanding is that Boise and UF will be wearing theirs this year when the Dawgs play them.
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
6:56 pm
Why does a person get so worked up over a uniform? Geez!
Snoop Dawg
August 20th, 2011
6:56 pm
They have prostituted UGA football to Nike for a handful of sheckels. Shame on them.
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
6:57 pm
Snoop – go back to harlem my brother – this it SEC football not E v/s W hip hop
Erk Russell's Dog
August 20th, 2011
6:58 pm
Give it some time Ga gayturd you will be down here with the Dawgs ,we have already planted a mole in your coaching staff.oops that was supposed to be a secret disregard that comment ga gayturd.
Zoli
August 20th, 2011
6:58 pm
Everyone who posts GATA meaning we (UGA) are running after their backsides. I would rather it say somthing along the lines FUTC–FORMTACKLE’EM UNDER THEIR CHIN!!
Run CMR Off
August 20th, 2011
6:59 pm
CMR has done nothing but embarass Georgia Football….this poor excuse for a man and imitating a head coach should be run out of town if not tar’ed and feathered. He is a JOKE!!!!!!
Snoop Dawg
August 20th, 2011
6:59 pm
If UGA losese to Boise State in those roller derby uniforms, he’d better just pack it up that night and be crossing the state line back to Tallahassee before the sun comes up. This will be worse that the smackdowns that Alabama and Florida put on him after the blackout and the Grambling loan.
Imagine how stupid the entire university will look. and it will reflect on every alumnus…
LakeDawg
August 20th, 2011
6:59 pm
Hit A Single,
You are right on the money.
Go Dawgs,
You obviously don’t understand the role tradition plays in college football, especially in the SEC. My guess is you’re in your 20’s.
Snoop Dawg
August 20th, 2011
7:00 pm
Go Dawg you just go back to bobbing for maggots in the bottom of the dumpster, OK…
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
7:01 pm
You are so right Snoop Dawg – your knowledge of college football makes me trimble – dude are you sure you not a coach at a power house school somewhere
shankit
August 20th, 2011
7:01 pm
Whatever happened to the dinosaur NCAA and Russell Sporting Goods?
College football is now dictated by ESPN and Nooki.
And Craig James, you suck.
Mike
August 20th, 2011
7:02 pm
Good to see practice going well and spirits high. The new uniforms suck and blow chunks. Glad we will only see them once.
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
7:03 pm
Lake Dawg – you are right – I am in my 20;s and tradition does predict the outcome of a football game – I guess Ga will lose or wait will Boise lose – I mean aren’t they both wearing NIKE uniforms – my goodness Lake Dawg I am so confused – please enlighten me
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
7:04 pm
Bobbing for maggots? – Really?
bamaguy
August 20th, 2011
7:07 pm
LSU and Alabama have both worn the Nike Combat uniforms. However, they allowed Nike to make only minor changes to the traditional uniform. Who at UGA allowed this and why?
The SEC is a traditional conference with traditional uniforms. When I saw these uniforms all I could think is “How many UGA fans would want a poster of their team holding up a crystal football, hoisting their helmets in victory, wearing these uniforms?”
Stamey
August 20th, 2011
7:07 pm
The new Unis look awesome. For all the traditionalists out there, get on board, we’re only wearing them once…
Hit A Single
August 20th, 2011
7:07 pm
I sure hope these uniforms aren’t like the music from motown and other great music from the 60’s and 70’s. That music is and will always be around, I hope these uniforms aren’t. I really would like to see UGA go back to the red pants with white jerseys on the road. The same ones that Herschel wore when he ran over Bill Bates.
Hit A Single
August 20th, 2011
7:09 pm
Oh yea, Craig James and his son both suck!
tckr83
August 20th, 2011
7:09 pm
WE ARE… Texas Tech. Go Dawgs!
shankit
August 20th, 2011
7:09 pm
Nooki has a special on “Red” golf, er’ football shirts.
$9.95 with a Tigger logo, or $49.95 with a Dawg logo.
JAWJeRDAWG
August 20th, 2011
7:09 pm
Won’t reflect on me, Snoop Dog, and I won’t have go south of the Georgia border to get home. Just sayin’. .. Go Dawgs!
Carl Spackler
August 20th, 2011
7:10 pm
Glad the players like them, that’s who matters. I did notice that the helmet looks like the #11 billiard ball, and that they matched it with the #11 uniform for the picture.
Snoop Dawg
August 20th, 2011
7:11 pm
Snoop Dawg’s not a coach, but he knows a good coach when he sees one… Preacha Man’s not a good one. He’s holding us back like the albatross around Ulysses’ neck… Now get back to that bobbing…
AltamahaDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:15 pm
Nope , there is not any possible score of that game that will reflect negatively on me. I will not look stupid if UGA loses. You might think it makes you look stupid, but that’s all on you. (actually I was just assuming you were counting yourself as an alumnus, since you took it upon yourself to speak for us) I would also add that there is no possible score of that game that will reflect positively on you.
LakeDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:16 pm
Go Dawgs
August 20th, 2011
7:03 pm
Lake Dawg – you are right – I am in my 20;s and tradition does predict the outcome of a football game – I guess Ga will lose or wait will Boise lose – I mean aren’t they both wearing NIKE uniforms – my goodness Lake Dawg I am so confused – please enlighten me
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Go Dawgs, not trying to Dawg you out
I’m not talking about the play on the field, but what makes college football special to the fan. If you weren’t taught the appreciation of tradition by older Dawgs while growing up, I can’t explain it to you. BTW GO DAWGS! 
shankit
August 20th, 2011
7:17 pm
The NCAA has become a dinosaur with regards to modern college athletics.
ESPN is the new kid on the block $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Sell your soul to the new company store.
ESPN cannot afford for A & M to leave the SW conference, with all the cash
they are shelling out to the Longhorns. If the SW conference dissolves, think
of the losses ESPN will “suffer.”
I would dare say there is behind the scenes negotiations involving monetary
considerations for A & M to stay in the conference, and preserve ESPN’s
deal.
A great comment by Mike Leach regarding ESPN, when they come, a team
or conference spreads it’s legs and opens up for the largest payout.
PolarDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:19 pm
Richt loves ‘em? Then maybe it is time for him to go. If he does not care about tradition then maybe we need to stop the tradition of keeping a head coach around this close to the season. These are embarassing and not Georgia football. Richt – TIME TO GO!!
LakeDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:20 pm
shankit, you are so right. But this time at least, ESPN is keeping A@M outta the SEC, I hope.
AltamahaDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:25 pm
Got to love the folks that wave the banner of tradition when it suits them, or the just personally don’t like something. Calling this a departure from tradition cheapens the meaning of the word. Those of us that have been around a bit longer have seen enough changes in college football over the years that we know what real tradition means, and we don’t confuse it with things that inevitable change over time.
We were bamboozled.....
August 20th, 2011
7:25 pm
Let’s just hope to uniforms for Boise State are even more hideous (Maybe helmets the same color as their turf…..).
U*G*L*Y
August 20th, 2011
7:25 pm
The new unis make the players look like fire hydrants. They’d better not get too close to UGA or Smokey
Erk Russell's Dog
August 20th, 2011
7:30 pm
Tradition CMR played at Miami was O coordinator at Free Shoes U ,What does he know about tradition,it is all about the money. He puts on a nice guy God fearing facade ,but he is what he is ,a football coach. His lively hood is tied to 19 and 20 year old kids playing football,so if he can make an extra buck from the devil “Nike” he will take it.If the Alumni and Dawg fans don’t like it they will get over it, you better win CMR or we will be getting over you.
LakeDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:34 pm
@AltamahaDawg
You are full of it. I’ve been around a looong time and this is no gradual evolution of tradition. Its a sell out to NIKE. Plain and simple. Tradition means you’ve built something and traditional unis represent that. Tradition includes the whole Dawg nation from us “old farts” to the newest members. Its one of the things that make college football special. Now, I’m not going to get overly concerned over unis for one game, but I’m allowed to vent for one day.
Vince Doodly
August 20th, 2011
7:35 pm
Richt just DOES NOT GET IT. That G has a tradition associated with it and a brand. People see players wearing traditional UGA uniforms and question in their minds whether they can win. Thats the history of the tradition of winning that brand brings. Certain SEC teams have this. Bama, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and UGA. When Nike messes with the branding, the fear is gone on the field. This is psychological.
I am an Auburn man, and I thank GOD we dont wear Nike uniforms. This aint Oregon over here with the day glo socks. Those people have no tradition. They have gimmicks. The people who think this is cool wonder why UGA has a building named Buttsmear. With no idea who Wally Butts was.
These Nike combat uniforms are BS. Richt is into gimmicks now. just like the black out stuff that made UGA look like Grambling.
A.Bishop
August 20th, 2011
7:36 pm
Wow, all you CMR haters act like children. I guarantee you that you couldn’t even come close to the job that he has done at UGA. Grow up please or better yet just go joing the UF or GT bandwagon. We don’t want you here.
shankit
August 20th, 2011
7:36 pm
I am an avid Dawg fan, but—–
I love Joe Pa, he would tell Nooki to take a hike if they tried this sh– on Penn State.
AltamahaDawg
August 20th, 2011
7:36 pm
I just can’t help but hearing Vince in that classic voice of his talking about the red pants that he rolled out to start the 1980 season which were a departure from the standard unis worn in that miserable preceeding season.
Uh well, someTiiiimes, you know, fan just need to get over it.
A.Bishop
August 20th, 2011
7:37 pm
join*
SuperB
August 20th, 2011
7:38 pm
THE NEW UNIFORMS— SUCK!!!!! Nike imposed those ugly uniforms on other teams (see Oregon,) and now us.
Mark Richt ought to be fired for letting the tacky morons at Nike use Georgia to sell hideous uniforms!
Bulldawg Richie
August 20th, 2011
7:39 pm
Well, I may be the ony one but I like the new uniforms for the Boise State game. Maybe not all the time but this is just a special event game. All in all, the main thing is how does the team play. And if the players like the uniforms, I’m not going to complain.