Many of the players on this Georgia football team saw up close all-white uniforms when they came on recruiting visits.
Now they know they will get a chance to wear them on game day.
Coach Kirby Smart surprised players Tuesday by telling the team before preseason camp that the Bulldogs will wear the white helmets, white jerseys and white pants in a week two home game against Western Kentucky on Sept. 12.
"Honestly, I wasn't expecting that all and I was so excited," linebacker Chris Cole said. "As a recruit, I loved coming here and I was like, 'I want the all white.' That's what I want to wear."
Georgia had blackouts with black jerseys against Auburn in 2007 (a big win) and Alabama in 2008 (a big loss) under Mark Richt.
Georgia wore black helmets and black pants against Florida in 2009 in a 41-17 loss in Jacksonville.
The Bulldogs donned Nike Pro Combat uniforms with silver helmets with a red stripe down the middle and red jerseys and red pants in 2011 in its season opening 34-21 loss to Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
Georgia wore black jerseys against Louisiana-Lafayette in 2016 in Smart's first season and against Mississippi State and Cincinnati in 2020.
"The fans will probably love it," senior left tackle Earnest Greene said. "Anything that we can to get some hats rocking in Sanford we'll do that."
Safety KJ Bolden and tight end Lawson Luckie were picked to model the all-white uniforms for a team meeting.
"I thought I got in trouble or something," Bolden said. "They took us to the room and I saw them. I really didn't want to believe it at first. I thought he was just trolling the team. He actually was serious. That's definitely going to bring a spark to the stadium that day. It's going to be an electric week, too."
Said Luckie: "At the end of the day, it's just a different uniform we're wearing. But it's cool. Especially being able to do it in Sanford Stadium. I think it will bring some extra juice for the guys running out of the tunnel and I think the fans will love it and I think that's what it's really about."
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football players on all-white uniforms: 'That's going to bring a spark'