Tennessee football will wear dark mode uniforms for Kentucky game

Tennessee football will wear its Adidas dark mode uniforms for the homecoming game against Kentucky on Nov. 7.

It’s not a surprise. The first home game after Halloween seemed like the best fit for the all-black uniforms. But UT made it official on Oct. 30 with a video titled “The chaos lives within” posted on the Vols‘ social media accounts.

No. 17 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) plays No. 8 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1) on Nov. 7 (6:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Neyland Stadium.

The chaos lives within. ⚫️#GBOpic.twitter.com/y9Ptjt8goX

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 30, 2026

In July, UT unveiled its new dark mode Adidas uniforms with an eye-popping video titled “Darkness comes for all,” on social media. It was in the same vein as the “Venom” viral video that teased UT’s dark mode uniforms in 2024.

Tennessee has a 5-2 record in black alternate uniforms since 2009, including: 31-13 win over South Carolina in 2009; 45-20 win over South Carolina in 2021; 41-17 loss to Georgia in 2021; 44-6 win over Kentucky in 2022; 41-20 win over South Carolina in 2023; 28-18 win over Kentucky in 2024; 33-27 loss to Oklahoma in 2025.

What is Tennessee’s record in each uniform combination in 2026 season?

Tennessee is 3-1 in its traditional home uniforms of white helmets and pants, and orange jerseys this season after beating Alabama 26-10 on Oct. 17. The Vols also routed Furman 56-9 win in on Sept. 5 and beat Kennesaw State 42-9 on Sept. 19, both games at Neyland Stadium. The lone loss was a 20-17 defeat to No. 1 Texas on Sept. 26 while wearing the usual home uniform.

UT is 2-1 this season when it wears white helmets, uniforms and pants. It beat Georgia Tech 45-24 on Sept. 12 and beat Arkansas 24-17 on Oct. 10. In the 2025 season, it won two of four games in the all-white combination, notching wins over Kentucky and Florida but losing to Alabama and Illinois.

The Vols are also a perfect 5-0 in grey uniforms since 2022, with the latest win coming on Oct. 3 at home vs. Auburn. They also beat LSU 40-13 in 2022, Austin Peay 30-13 in 2023, Chattanooga 69-3 in 2024 and New Mexico State 42-9 in 2025 while wearing different editions of the “Smokey Grey” uniforms.

What alternate uniforms will Tennessee wear this season?

The Vols wore alternate uniforms for the first time this season vs. Auburn, when they honored the iconic coach Gen. Robert Neyland with their grey “Neyland Legacy” uniforms.

The special, throwback flare Tennessee is brought to the Third Saturday in October this year wasn’t necessarily an alternate uniform, but it was the first color-on-color clash between the two rivals since 1970.

The dark mode all-black uniforms round out the alternate looks.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football will wear dark mode uniforms for Kentucky game