Georgia football: SEC Championship or not, a loss to Tech will ruin 2017

The 10-1 Georgia football team travels to play the 5-5 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets this week in the 111th meeting of “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate.”

A loss to Georgia Tech is unacceptable. I do not care if the Dawgs go in 0-11 and Tech goes in 11-0. Georgia football does not accept losses to the Yellow Jackets. And in a season where the Bulldogs started 9-0 and lost to one big rival, another will not let us look back on this season with the fond memories we want.

Even if Georgia goes on to defeat Auburn or Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, and somehow gets into the College Football Playoff, losing to Georgia Tech sour the 2017 season.

Every time these players look at their championship rings and see 12-2 or 13-2, knowing that one of those losses was to Tech, they’ll know that Georgia football didn’t accomplish everything they should have this season. I wouldn’t even want that championship ring. I bet Kirby Smart would consider not even having them made.

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Just think about that Georgia Tech fan base. They live up to the name Yellow Jackets and they have this extreme inferiority complex for some odd reason. Georgia fans would never hear the end of it if the Dawgs won the SEC or a national championship, but lost to Tech. Sure, we’d have the championships. But just like actual yellow jackets, Georgia Tech fans will not go away.

I’m tired of it Georgia fans, I’m sure you are to. I’m tired of hearing about last year’s and 2014’s loss to the North Avenue Trade School. Tired of seeing them run the triple option for 300 rushing yards a game. Tired of seeing and hearing Paul Johnson.

I do not hate Georgia Tech like I hate Auburn or Florida, or even Tennessee. How can you hate something so inferior to yourself? How can you hate a team we’ve dominated for almost 55 years in the same way?

Many of those losses in that span of time included the fumble games in 1998 and 1999, the defensive meltdown in 2008, the squib kick game in 2014, and last year’s comeback. This team can’t even just beat us for 60 minutes. They need poor officiating, bad play-calling and meltdowns on defense.

This isn’t even “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” anymore, not for us at least. For the Bulldog Nation, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech has become “Clean, Old Fashioned Annoyance.”

A loss to Auburn, Florida and Tennessee is one thing. Those are, for the most part, respectable programs who recruit near our level and focus on winning championships more than beating one team.

But losing to Tech. A program that recruits like they’re in the Sun Belt Conference, who practically gave Clemson and the Carolina schools control of the southeast in recruiting for ACC schools. A program and fan base that isn’t even concerned about championships.

We are the 10-1, no. 7 Georgia Bulldogs, our Dawgs have averaged 9.45 wins in the last 20 years. They consistently finish in the top-10 in recruiting annually. Going into every season, Georgia sets themselves on winning championships. It’s not that Georgia Tech isn’t on our level, they’re not even on the level below us.

Next: Thanksgiving recruiting update

A lost this Saturday wouldn’t just devastate our National Championship hopes, it would devastate the legacy of this team and especially its senior class. That’s unacceptable. A care not for the margin of victory, the number of highlight film plays, or the stats. I just want to beat Tech.