Oct 19, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets cheerleaders on the Ramblin Wreck comes on the field before the game against Syracuse at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Number 2 – The Drought
From 1949 to 1956, the Yellow jackets beat the Bulldogs in eight straight football games. The jersey worn by the man scoring the winning touchdown in 1957 rests retired beside those of Sinkwich, Trippi, and Walker – three of the greatest players to ever play the college game in any uniform.
Theron Sapp’s retired jersey speaks volumes about the Drought years.
The Drought was emblematic of the comparative status of the two institutions in the 1950s. With no major league sports franchise in Atlanta, the citie’s population filled Grant Field and corporate Atlanta filled the Tech coffers. The old Georgia School of Technology Evening School of Commerce existed until 1933 and thousands of once part-time students claimed Georgia Tech loyalty, further ballooning the tech following. Georgia, on the other hand existed in a lightly populated part of the state. A trek to Athens was an adventure at best and economic necessity forced Georgia to endure the humiliation of playing home games in Grant Field in Atlanta.
Georgia was a nation lost in the desert for eight miserable years and the wanderings left an indelible mark on our psyche. Lewis Grizzard said it best – Georgia will not rest until it beats Tech eight straight, “and that might not be enough.”
If you’ve known a few Bulldogs, you know it won’t be enough.