Start of Tennessee-Austin Peay game delayed due to weather

In yet another weather-related delay in Week 2, Tennessee and Austin Peay will end up starting later than the scheduled 5 p.m. EST kickoff. Lightning had been detected in the area, causing at least a 30-minute delay, according to Volquest’s Grant Ramey.

Each time a new lightning strike is detected, the 30-minute delay time is reset. The game is slated to be available via streaming on ESPN+.

A tentative new start time of 5:17 p.m. has been provided, according to Volquest.

Tennessee opened the new season last week with a 49-13 win over Virginia while Austin Peay’s season started Saturday with a 42-23 loss at Southern Illinois.

A bevy of games on Saturday either kicked off late or had a notable weather delay. Wake Forest and Vanderbilt had a lengthy weather delay in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as did Notre Dame visiting NC State in Raleigh and James Madison playing at Virginia. Texas A&M and Miami kicked off late after storms cleared the field during warm ups and Purdue and Virginia Tech remain in a delay after rain has soaked and flooded the field at Lane Stadium since the first quarter.

Mother nature has played a big role in the college football landscape today and isn’t letting up as the evening slate of games get rolling.

Tennessee will pay homage to a legend with special uniforms on Saturday evening

Against Austin Peay, Tennessee will be wearing some special jerseys to honor former QB Condrege Holloway.

Holloway is a former Tennessee player and was the first African-American to start a game at quarterback for an SEC team, as he led the Vols in his debut in center in a win over Georgia Tech back in 1972.

51 years later, Holloway will be honored as the team takes the field in their smokey grey uniforms this season. You can see the tribute to him in the video below from Tennessee Athletics, which also shows Holloway interacting with current Volunteer QB Joe Milton.

Inspired.
Original.
Distinctive.

𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭. pic.twitter.com/1Ycq13D0pk

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 4, 2023

The Smokey Grey Series

In August 2022 Tennessee announced the return of the Smokey Grey alternate uniform, which was first worn during the 2013 season but was not worn between 2018 and 2021. 

The Vols announced the return of the alternate uniform while also adding that the look would be worn at least once over the next four seasons and that there was “potential to scale beyond those years.”

The ‘Smokey Grey Series’ will also include a variation of the Smokey Grey alternate each season. 

Tennessee introduced its initial black alternate uniform in 2021, the first season under Josh Heupel. The uniform paired black jerseys with black pants and a white helmet with a black facemask and an orange stripe and orange Power T trimmed in black. The black helmet was added last season.