It’s week eight and the Tennessee Vols are officially activating dark mode. For the second time this season, the Vols are bringing back a fan favorite alternate uniform, this time for their matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats. After much Smokey Gray fanfare for the Vols’ trip to Death Valley, Rocky Top will be back in black this Halloween weekend. Confirmed Tuesday on the Vols’ official Twitter account, on Saturday night the Vols are going dark.
Blackout in Neyland
Tennessee wore their dark mode uniforms twice last year. Once was in the 12:00 PM kickoff against South Carolina and once was during their 3:30 PM kickoff against Georgia. In both of those contests, the Vols wore white helmets with black jerseys and black pants. This season the Vols are set to favor a more monochromatic look as they’ll be dressed in black from head to toe, accented with the classic orange Power T.
Fall is in the air and Halloween is just days away. Neyland at night on Halloween weekend certainly feels like the perfect time to revive the all black uniforms-and a great way to keep fans engaged, turning Neyland Stadium into as formidable an opponent as the Tennessee Vols themselves. It’s a great move for recruitment too, providing prospective Vols a taste of the excitement a game like this brings to campus. After big victories against Florida and Alabama, a dark mode win against Kentucky is guaranteed to continue powering an already huge season for the Vols and their fanbase.
Related Article: Tennessee Rocks Smokey Gray Uniforms at LSU
As should be expected, fan reaction to the dark mode concept has been mixed. Many in the Twitterverse support the decision while others feel the uniforms stray from the Vols’ traditional colors unnecessarily. To be clear, I’m in the camp of the former: these uniforms are badass and the black helmets are slick.
More importantly, the players like the look. Since Josh Heupel took over as head coach for the Vols he’s shown a willingness to do some different things with the team, alternate uniforms being one of them. Speaking on the importance of the player experience, Heupel has said:
“There’s non-negotiables for myself and our coaching staff in how you gotta attack every day, whether that’s in the weight room, whether that’s class, whether that’s on the football field. But then there’s some things that you want to give them ownership in and make the player experience as good as it can be, on and off the field. Uniforms is something that, it’s important to them, and in some ways it’s important in the recruiting world as well.”
Dark Mode in Tennessee: Kentucky…reacts?
Per a recent Tweet from Barstool Rocky Top, a number of Kentucky fans see this game as Tennessee’s Superbowl. As such, the uniform change is being viewed as a sign of respect, and even as an indication that the Wildcats are this season’s premier event. That’s a thought that’s almost as funny as it is confusing.
Tennessee has played two rivalry games this year, first against Florida then against Alabama. They won both of those major rivalry games while wearing the school’s traditional orange and white color scheme. It is highly unlikely that the Kentucky game would be given greater consideration than either of those two games. If this were a game of similar magnitude, the Vols would likely be sticking to the traditional orange and white branding this week.
Kentucky is a good team and it could be a tough matchup. But, the Vols’ Superbowl? I don’t think so. If only there were another reason to wear orange and black on the last weekend of October, though…
Happy Halloween!
Tennessee could be employing dark mode for any number of reasons, the most logical being that it’s Halloween weekend. Sometimes it really is that simple.
Get your black and orange ready, Vol Nation. It’s spooky season on Rocky Top!