Georgia football is set to play Virginia in the 2020 Chick-fil-A Season Kickoff Game. The Bulldogs and Cavaliers have met 19 times in their 120-plus years of playing football.
When talking about Georgia football’s greatest opponents, the conversation usually centers around rivals like Georgia Tech and SEC teams like Alabama. But in 125 years of playing football, the Bulldogs have formed sort of mini-rivalries with several programs.
These relationships formed for many different reasons, usually because of proximity. Georgia played games with many of these teams because of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and later the Southern Conference.
Other meetings came just because the schools were close and travel was easy enough for both squads to make trips despite not sharing any conference affiliation. For one reason or another, these mini-rivalries didn’t persist. Now, they’re just relics of the history of southern college football.
Former regional rivals
Younger fans don’t realize how big of a rival Clemson was to Georgia. The two schools separated by just 78 miles have met 64 times and played each other almost every year from 1962 to 1995. Proximity led to the schools forming one of college football’s best rivalries.
But looking back through history, we can see that Georgia almost sparked rivalries with other college football teams in the south. Back before conference games took up a majority of a team’s schedule, it was more possible to build relationships and rivalries outside of conferences. The following are two such teams that Georgia played numerous times in their first half-decade of football.
North Carolina Tar Heels – 31 Games
What a site this rivalry could be today ascetically. Eyes would be glued to the television screens regardless of the quality of play because both Georgia and North Carolina are two of the best dressed teams in college football. That was on display in 2016 and it’s too bad we don’t see it more often.
But prior to 1966, Georgia and North Carolina played numerous times. 29 times in 74 years to be exact. That’s more than one game every three years. In those 29 meetings, Georgia led by a slim 15-12-2 margin. And Georgia had outscored the Tar Heels 459-445 for an average score of 15.8-15.3.
It’s no wonder why they played so often. A Georgia versus North Carolina game was bound to entertain fans and test both squads. Only 11 games were decided by more than two scores. Georgia won six of those games.
It’s just a shame that they’ve only played twice since 1966. Georgia defeated North Carolina 7-3 in the 1971 Gator Bowl and 31-24 in the 2016 Chick-fil-A Season Kickoff. As of right now, there are no plans for another meeting.