Article via The Big Spur/247 Sports
The South Carolina football program doesn’t change its uniform look very often, but with the celebration of 150 years of college football, a throwback uniform was worn on three different occasions.
The Gamecocks unveiled a black jersey that was worn in 1984, a throwback to the “Black Magic” days under former head coach Joe Morrison. The twitter handle Uniform Authority went through and ranked the top 10 throwback uniforms from 2019, and South Carolina’s look earned one of the top spots.
South Carolina came in at No. 8 on the top 10 list, which featured three teams from the Southeastern Conference. Florida had the third-best look while Arkansas came in at number ten on the list.
#UniAuthority Best Throwback Uniform of the 2019 College Football Season:
— Uniform Authority (@UniAuthority) January 6, 2020
8. @GamecockFB #UAAwards pic.twitter.com/j5jljG6UTb
Check out the entire top 10 list with photos of each school’s uniform by visiting the Uniform Authority Twitter account.
South Carolina wore its throwback uniforms for four different games this season as Muschamp said that the team would wear them every time the players chose to wear black jerseys. The Gamecocks were 2-2 in that uniform, knocking off both Charleston Southern and Kentucky but losing to Florida and Clemson.
The team debuted them against the Buccaneers, and had a banner offensive day scoring 72 points. It was also the first start for freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski, who took over for an injured Jake Bentley. Three games later, the Gamecocks wore them against and snapped a five-game losing streak to Kentucky.
The magic came to an end the next week, though, as the Gators came to town to steal a win at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Tigers were able to win their sixth straight in the rivalry to close out the season.
It is unclear at this point whether the throwback uniforms will stick around for another season. Based on Muschamp’s positive reaction, though, the chances seem high those jerseys will become the standard when wearing black jerseys under his watch.
The two sides — South Carolina and Under Armour — came together in late 2017, per sources, which is close to when the decision was made to bring back the ‘CAROLINA’ script font which adorns 2018’s garnet alternate helmet. Fans love the Joe Morrison era look and Under Armour will keep the script logo. South Carolina is among 13 Under Armour partner football teams that wore exclusive heritage uniforms during the 2019 season in celebration of 150 years of college football. The Gamecocks’ uniform design was inspired by those worn in the mid-1980s by standouts Sterling Sharpe, Todd Ellis and Brad Edwards, and include the return of the throwback garnet helmet.
South Carolina enrolled 10 of its 2020 recruiting class this week. Those 10 players, along with the rest of the team, will begin spring practice on February 26. Spring practice will come to a close with the Garnet & Black Spring Game on April 4.