Vols announce uniform combo for South Carolina, two new patches

Tennessee will don its standard all-white road uniform when it takes the field at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night against South Carolina, but there will be a few changes to the Vols classic road look.

On Friday, the Tennessee Football twitter account released a video of what appears to be defensive back Bryce Thompson in his new No. 0 jersey showing off the white uniform, which will now include double stripes for the first time since 2014. But the jersey also included two new patches.

The No. 45 orange patch on the right shoulder honors the late Johnny Majors, who passed away in June at the age of 85. Majors starred at Tennessee as a player and as a head coach.

Majors played at Tennessee from 1953-56, earning All-American honors twice and finishing as a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1956. After winning a national championship as a head coach at Pittsburgh in 1976, Majors returned to his Alma mater to replace Bill Battle in 1977. He coached the Vols until 1992, leading Tennessee to three SEC titles in 1985, 1989 and 1990, as well as a 35-7 thumping of No. 2 Miami in the 1986 Sugar Bowl.

The other patch depicts a black and white hand coming together to hold the famous University of Tennessee trademark of the torch.

The patch, called the “unity patch” recognizes protests against racial injustice and inequality that the Tennessee football team, led by players and coaches, has been vocal about on campus and throughout Knoxville this offseason.

Earlier in the offseason, third-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt said that the Vols would wear black uniforms at some point during the season in support of protests against racial injustice, although there has been no official release of what those uniforms will look like or what game they will be worn.

Tennessee and South Carolina are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.