MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Larry Maples thought his emergency uniform plan had gone off without a hitch.
Just weeks ahead of the start of the 2023 football season, supply chain issues had prevented Middle Tennessee's normal road white tops from arriving in Murfreesboro. So, the Blue Raiders' Associate AD for Equipment & Capital Projects and his staff put together a "contingency jersey" for Week 1 against the Crimson Tide.
The road whites MTSU wore against the Crimson Tide were indeed different than the road uniforms MTSU wore the previous year. There was no two-tone collar, the blue numbers on the uniform didn't have a grey outline and the sleeves no longer had the player's number on them, concessions to be made to deal with the supply chain issues at hand.