COLUMBIA - South Carolina's football team is going back to black.
Head coach Steve Spurrier confirmed Wednesday that the Gamecocks will wear black jerseys - and maybe even black pants, too - for Saturday's 7:30 p.m. game against Tennessee at Williams-Brice Stadium.
"Some of our players for the last couple of years have been wanting to wear black jerseys," Spurrier said on the weekly SEC coaches' teleconference. "I started thinking back, we actually beat Tennessee here, was it '08 I think, and we wore a black jersey that night.
"Maybe it will put a little inspiration into our guys, who knows. We need something to get us a little more motivated, so we've got some black jerseys ordered. Our school colors are garnet and black. So we're going to try some black jerseys this week."
South Carolina (4-4, 2-4 SEC) did indeed wear black jerseys in 2008 when it beat Tennessee 27-6, defeating the Volunteers (3-5, 0-4) for just the fourth time in school history. That game was played on Nov. 1, the same date as Saturday's contest.
The current Gamecocks have lost three straight SEC games and need to split their final four contests to earn bowl eligibility.
Black jerseys bring back fond memories for many South Carolina fans who recall the 10-win "Black Magic" season of 1984 under coach Joe Morrison. And South Carolina wore black often under coach Lou Holtz, who wanted to differentiate USC from the many other programs in the SEC which wore varying shades of red.
Spurrier has historically preferred garnet, although that will change Saturday night.
"There's a good chance we'll wear something different this week," he said.
