Georgia football faces their final regular season opponent tomorrow against Georgia Tech for the 113th edition of “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate.”
There are many things that should worry Georgia football fans about tomorrow’s game against Georgia Tech. Having to defend the triple option without star linebacker Monty Rice. Not leaving points off the board, an issue that has affected the Dawgs all year. And not succumbing to typical rivalry game hijinks.
But one thing shouldn’t worry the Bulldog Nation: history. And if history repeats itself tomorrow, Georgia will send the Yellow Jackets back to Atlanta with an embarrassing beatdown. Because when Georgia has a great season, it’s usually capped by a blowout win over Georgia Tech.
The first instance of a great Bulldog team demolishing Tech was in 1941, when the Wally Butts and Frank Sinkwich led Dawgs defeated the Jackets 21-0. The Bulldogs finished that year 9-1-1 and narrowly missed out on winning the SEC Championship.
It became a pattern a year later in very surprising fashion. The no. 5 Bulldogs, now joined by Charley Trippi, hosted the undefeated and no. 2 ranked Yellow Jackets. Georgia tech was favored after Georgia’s upset loss to Auburn. The SEC Championship, and a spot in the Rose Bowl was on the line as well. But the game didn’t live up to the hype. Instead, Georgia slaughtered Tech 34-0 to win bragging rights and the SEC Title. The Dawgs claimed a National Championship a little over a month later.
Georgia’s next SEC Championship came with another Tech beating. In 1946, Trippi and the Dawgs beat Tech 35-7 in Athens to finish the year undefeated. The SEC Championship seasons of 1968, 1980-to-1981, 2002 and 2017 also all featured blowouts of at least three-scores.
The 1980 National Championship season saw the Dawgs win 38-20, and last year the Dawgs easily beat Tech 38-7. The biggest beatdown came in 2002 when Georgia won 51-7 before ending the 20-year SEC Championship drought. Plus, the 2012 team beat Tech 42-10 before barely missing out on winning a SEC and National Championship.
Of course every rule has exceptions. Tech can potentially pull off the upset. Georgia still has to play a good game. But in over 100 years of football, when Georgia is playing with a championship in mind, they always seem to enter Clean, Old Fashioned Hate with more focus than usual. That’s probably because players know, a loss to Tech will sour any season. Including a championship season.