University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt doesn't just deal in Xs and Os, apparently he's also taken up exclamation points.

To fire up the Bulldogs for the game at Florida, Richt mandated that team run to the end zone to celebrate the first touchdown, the 15-yard excessive celebration penalty be damned. Seventy-some players complied in what became known as the Gator Stomp.

To stir his players for the Auburn game, Richt hauled out black uniforms and shelved the red ones for the first time in more than a half century.

The Bulldogs won both games.

While there is no word if the 10-2 Bulldogs will take to the end zone 100-plus strong against the University of Hawai'i on Jan. 1, Richt has decreed that Georgia will whip out the black uniforms again for the Sugar Bowl and is asking the fans to get in on a black-out theme in the Superdome.

"We are definitely wearing our black jerseys," Richt said at Georgia's media day yesterday. "Our guys are excited about it. I hope our fans are, too. Last time when we had this suggestion for the fans to get excited about it, they did and they made the difference in it being a good day and an unbelievable day. I hope our fans are excited about it and get in the spirit of it, too."

Richt was apparently looking for something to lift the Bulldogs' sagging spirits after Georgia was leapfrogged by Louisiana State in the final Bowl Championship Series standings for a berth in the national title game and ended up in the Sugar Bowl.

In the black uniforms he has seized upon something close to the Bulldog seniors' hearts.

"There are a couple of guys who have wanted to do it since we've been here," senior tailback Thomas Brown said. "I can remember talking about it as a freshman. It was coach Richt's decision to bring them out for the Auburn game and, again, in the bowl game and we're excited about it. It is a great emotional boost for us."

The Bulldogs got so into the black theme this year that Richt's wife, Katharyn, reportedly tried to come up with a mixture to turn the team's Powerade black, settling for something that was said to resemble a darkened purple.

That Richt is returning to the black jersey theme for a game in which Georgia has been a 9-point favorite underlines how seriously he seems to be taking the contest. While some Bulldog fans might still bemoan Georgia missing out on the national title game, Richt has made his peace with the slight, for now, at least. He is focusing on the Sugar Bowl and making sure his players' readjust their attitude as well.

Yesterday he spent much of his media day press conference talking up the Warriors, the potency of their offense, stoutness of their defense and quality of special teams. All themes he has tried to hammer home to his players lest they get stunned by UH the way Boise State did to Oklahoma.

But for all the superlatives thrown Hawai'i's way, the black uniforms and dressing for success seems to have most captured the Bulldogs' imagination.

"When coach Richt first told us we were going to wear the black jerseys against Auburn, of course all the seniors said we wanted to wear them, too, if we got to the Southeastern Conference championship and we wanted to wear them in a bowl game, too," said Fernando Velasco, a senior center. "I'm glad it all worked out that we can wear them in this game."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.

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