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closeJACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Georgia head coach Mark Richt needed a gimmick, a trick, something, anything.
Simple blocking and tackling weren’t going to work for the Bulldogs on Saturday against the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
So, Richt turned to black britches, hoping that would be the motivation needed to push Georgia over Florida in this annual border war.
And for good measure, he threw in black helmets for the first time in the storied history of the Bulldogs’ program.
Florida 41, Georgia 17.
Ouch.
The Gators put a black-and-blue beating on Georgia.
But before the whipping started, Richt tried to get his team’s attention while everyone else was standing at attention for the National Anthem.
“We sprung it on them,” Richt said of the pants and helmets.
The players got them after warming up in their traditional sliver britches and red helmets with the familiar black and white “G” logo.
“We wanted to spring it on the fans, too,” Richt said.
“I think Coach Richt tried to pull some more emotion out of us,” freshman running back Washaun Ealey said.
It did not work on any level.
In this season of surprises — Georgia is 4-4 and as its coach pointed out “not even bowl eligible yet” — the black on black felt like a desperate man’s grasp for a straw.
But Richt can be forgiven for thinking a gimmick would work because two years ago, Georgia’s unorthodox team celebration of its first touchdown drew a penalty and put Florida on its heels in what has become a rare win over the Gators.
The latest gimmick didn’t come close to sparking a wave of momentum that the Bulldogs could ride to an upset.
OK, it was Halloween. Everybody should wear a costume on Halloween.
But for Georgia to trade the tradition of the Wally Butts-era silver britches for the little-used black models was a reach.
Then to put on black helmets, while leaving decades of tradition in the locker room, made a bad idea even worse.
By the time Georgia fans had adjusted to new headgear, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and wide receiver Riley Cooper had already connected for two touchdowns.
Even Richt, once the wonderboy of SEC coaches, noted the irony in the early Gators bite.
“We come out and go down 14-0; you think maybe not a whole lot came of it,” Richt said.
The helmets were a tightly held state secret. Even former head coach Vince Dooley, who attended the game, didn’t know it was coming.
“That was the first time I have seen them,” Dooley said.
He noted, and Richt later confirmed, the pants and helmets had been in storage since last season.
After a win last week over Vanderbilt, Richt thought the black attire was the silver bullet to kill a giant rolling toward a possible national title.
Hopefully, it will be the last time anyone sees Georgia in black helmets.
When a coach and team resort to gimmicks, they don’t always work. And when those things backfire, the vibration can be stinging, especially when the team across the field is doing it without gimmicks.
The Bulldogs have worn black jerseys three times in the three seasons. In 2007, Georgia broke the shirts out in a win over Auburn. They also wore them in the Sugar Bowl rout of Hawaii.
But last year, the shirts didn’t help in a Sanford Stadium rout at the hands of Alabama.
“They brought out the black out against Auburn and won; then a year ago they brought the black out and got the hell beat out of them,” Dooley said. “Who knows? It depends on how the game works out.”
This one didn’t work out too well.
Georgia looked like it was going to make it a game in the second quarter when it cut the Florida lead to 14-10 in the second quarter.
That was as close as it got.
In the end, the Bulldogs, wearing their black magic, were left to wonder what went wrong.
In the wake of the loss, Richt was not ready to address the changes that need to be made to finish what is shaping up to be a lost season.
“It is not good to make decisions within minutes after an emotional game,” he said. “You have to settle the spirit, settle the mind and look at the big picture.”
As the game ended, Georgia’s Red Coat Marching Band, wearing its traditional uniforms, belted out “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia” to a nearly empty Georgia side of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
It rang as hollow as the black pants and black helmets.
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