College Football Uniform Grades: Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs

Official Colors: Red and Black
Additional Colors: Silver
Outfitter: Nike
Last Change: 2005

Georgia has one of the most traditional and distinct looks in college football, mainly thanks to a simple design, an iconic logo and really, really important sets of "britches".

In fact, no other college football team puts more emphasis on its pants, rather than jerseys or helmet, like Georgia. The unofficial nickname for the Bulldogs football team has been the "silver britches" for well over half a century.

Ironically, it was legendary head coach Vince Dooley that completely cemented Georgia's identity, as it was Dooley that actually dumped Georgia's silver pants in his first season as head coach in the 60s. At the same time, Dooley "borrowed" the oval 'G' logo from the Green Bay Packers to give Georgia a more cemented look. As the decades have passed, Georgia has officially accepted the 'G' as the primary mark of its athletics, phasing out the old school 'buldog head' logo.

While the team's other unoffical nickname--the one most fans of this generation are familiar with--is the Red and Black, it's the silver britches and the school-specific stripe design that gives Georgia an undeniable look.

Georgia's uniforms, other than subtle changes to the jerseys and helmet stripes, have essentially been the same since the early 80s. The Dawgs have fiddled with red pants and black pants as time has gone on, and even tried black jerseys and black helmets in recent years (as well as a really bad one-game uniform).

Here's the shake on the Bulldogs:

Helmet: Georgia earns points for its helmet. It's nothing crazy or special, but it looks outstanding. You can't go wrong with the red lids, and the white facemasks and single white stripe add elements without being distracting. The logo is the focus. Everything here is very modest and simple. The logo does the work, and lacks any details that might force you to look too hard at it.

Jerseys: Arguably perfect. Again, like the helmet, the jerseys are extremely simple, featuring zero design elements that are distracting. Georgia dropped a stripe design in 2005 for simple cuffing. The logo placement, only at the end of the collar, is perfect. Also, Georgia doesn't do anything weird with the numbers. The black trim on the white block lettering allows for visibility.

The road jerseys are fantastically simple as well. I've always liked how the numbers are black, which mixes with the red helmets for a better blend into the pants design.

It would be nice, however, to see the team move the TV numbers to the shoulders for more visibility.

Pants: The pants are brilliant. The red-white-black stripe pattern is one Georgia owns. It was even echoed in Georgia's basketball uniforms a few years ago. The only issue is the material. Georgia's lighter pants are made out of a material that doesn't shine like the older ones did. With dirt and odd lighting, sometimes they can look more tan, khaki, or beige, which kind of defeats the purpose of the set.

Improvements: There's nothing to improve other than finding a more silvery material for the britches. The jerseys are perfect, as is the helmet. If Georgia wanted to jump into more variations it could probably rock black pants with the road jerseys from time to time. Even a white helmet with black facemasks and a red center stripe would be a really clean alternate.

Seeing the black jerseys return wouldn't be bad either.

Grade: A -- Again, the pants can sometimes look a little off. Other than that, Georgia has a classy set. In fact, its current design, thanks to not messing with sleeve stripes and cluttered logos, might be the best it has ever worn.

Additional Nuggets:

- Head coach Mark Richt is on record, as of 2012, saying that Georgia will not wear alternate uniforms this year. But, he did say he'd consider unveiling more uniform options in the future if it was before the season instead of a surprise, ploy type of deal.

- Georgia wore black facemasks once, in 1991, against Arkansas in its bowl game.

- Apparently Georgia wore black jerseys before 2007. This magazine cover of former Bulldog Frank Sinkwich shows black shirts with red numbers. Some claim this is only a variation as a result of a manipulation, though this photo clearly shows a more authentic representation.