Georgia football has dominated everyone in their path so far in 2021. Now the country’s unanimous No. 1 ranked team will take a trip up north to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.
The Vols are 5-4 on the year and defeated No. 18 Kentucky in a 45-42 shootout last week.
When it comes to Georgia’s biggest rivals, there is an unofficial big four among Dawg nation — Florida, Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Tennessee. Of all these teams, Tennessee is the one I personally love to hate the most.
This rivalry has given Georgia fans some classic moments in Bulldog history. From our first introduction to Herschel Walker to the iconic Larry Munson “Hobnail Boot” call in 2001, legendary moments are all throughout this storied rivalry.
Georgia football and Tennessee have tangled roughly 50 times, and since 2000 alone, this matchup has provided some memorable moments.
Georgia leads the all-time series with a 25-23-2 record, with the first matchup occurring on November 11, 1899, a game won by Tennessee 5-0. Since 2010, the Dawgs have won nine of the last eleven games.
The two teams began playing every year starting in 1992, and throughout the 90s, Tennessee dominated Georgia. The Vols were also one of the top teams in the SEC during that time, winning the SEC Championship three times and the 1998 BCS National Championship.
Then came Mark Richt, and he flipped the script in this rivalry. He defeated Tennessee in his first three seasons as head coach and was 10-5 overall against the Vols.
Kirby Smart, who was on the receiving end of some of those Tennessee beatdowns from the 90s, is 4-1 so far against the Vols, with the one loss coming from a miracle Hail Mary.
It’s always fun to look back on iconic games and plays from Georgia football, and here are three UGA-UT games from the 2000s for Dawg fans to reminisce about before Saturday’s game.
2000: No. 19 Georgia football 21, No. 21 Tennessee 10
As mentioned earlier, from 1992-1999, Tennessee dominated Georgia. It was definitely more fun rooting for the Atlanta Braves during this time than Georgia football.
Coming into this game, Georgia had a 3-1 record, with wins over Georgia Southern, New Mexico State, and Arkansas. They were looking to beat Tennessee for the first time since 1988.
Tennessee came into this contest having lost to Florida and LSU. The Vols were only a couple of years removed from beating Florida State to win the Fiesta Bowl and the National Championship.
Despite their early-season struggles, they felt they could count on this game against Georgia as an easy win.
The Dawgs, however, had other plans.
The defense of Georgia, led by future NFL players Richard Seymour and Kendrell Bell, played exceptional, forcing three Tennessee turnovers and holding the Vols to 248 yards of total offense. On offense, Jasper Sanks and Musa Smith combined to rush for three touchdowns. Quarterback Quincy Carter also threw for 134 yards.
However, this game is remembered more for what happened after the game, as this was the first and last time Georgia fans rushed the field following a victory.
Barrett Sallee wrote an article about this on Bleacher Report if you want the in-depth scoop of what happened.
It actually got pretty ugly, as fans were beginning to hop on the field with time still on the clock in the fourth quarter. Referees were throwing flags for this, and Georgia players were pleading with fans to go back to their seats and get off the field.
In the end, they couldn’t help it, and fans were littered all over Sanford Stadium. Larry Munson famously said, “The Athletic department is about to lose $11,000!”
Well, according to Sallee, the AD lost well over $100,000 to repair damages on the field from this night. Even worse, a fan was critically injured during the chaos and had to get hospitalized. She would recover, thankfully.
After this incident, the University of Georgia has ensured that this would never happen again. It remains one of the only times in school history where fans have rushed the field following a Georgia victory.
2005: No. 5 Georgia 27, No. 8 Tennessee 14
2005 is the last time Georgia and Tennessee have faced each other, with both schools ranked in the Top 10. This game definitely did not disappoint either.
Led by DJ Shockley, the Dawgs quarterback and current Bulldog radio sideline reporter, Georgia came into Knoxville with an undefeated record and SEC Championship aspirations.
This Georgia team was littered with talent, with guys like Shockley, Thomas Brown, Mohamed Massaquoi, Greg Blue, Tim Jennings, and Quentin Moses contributing to the team’s dominance in ’05.
The coaching staff also featured a young running backs coach by the name of Kirby Smart. I wonder if we’ll ever hear his name again.
Georgia jumped out to a 10-0 lead at halftime and made it 13-0 for most of the third quarter until Tennessee quarterback Rick Clausen scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper in the final minute of the third.
The Dawgs responded in the fourth when Thomas Flowers took a 54-yard punt to the house, and Thomas Brown would score with less than two minutes in the fourth to put the game away for good.
On defense, hard hitter Greg Blue led the team with 13 solo tackles. Demario Minter was second on the team in tackles, also had an interception and two pass deflections.
Georgia finished the regular season with a 10-2 record, defeated LSU in Atlanta to win the SEC Championship, and earned a Sugar Bowl birth with the win. Tennessee finished with a 5-6 record, their worst season since 1988.
2012: No. 5 Georgia 51, Tennessee 44
Hype surrounded the Georgia Bulldogs before the 2012 season, as the Dawgs could land two of the top running backs in the nation in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall. Nicknamed “Gurshall” similar to Herschel Walker and because their numbers were 3 and 4, Dawg fans couldn’t wait to see these two light-up teams on Saturdays.
On September 29, 2012, against Tennessee, Georgia unleashed them.
In what turned out to be a shootout in Athens, Georgia outlasted the Volunteers thanks to Gurley, Marshall, Aaron Murray, and Georgia’s second-half defense.
At one point, the game looked as if it would be an easy win for Georgia, as the Dawgs were up 27-10 early in the second quarter. Gurley and Marshall both had TD runs of 50+ yards.
Tennessee would chip away at the deficit and found themselves leading before halftime until UGA kicker Marshall Morgan drilled a 50-yard field goal as time expired to send both teams to the locker room tied at 30.
Aaron Murray would throw a pair of touchdown passes in the second half to give Georgia the lead, and Marshall had his second 70+ yard TD run that essentially iced the game for Georgia.
On the day, Gurley and Marshall combined for nearly 300 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Murray finished the day 20-for-26 passing with 286 yards and two TDs.
Despite giving up a lot of points and yards in the first half, Georgia’s defense rallied and held the Vols to 14 points in the second half.
Sanders Commings had two interceptions on the day, and Jordan Jenkins had a sack and forced a fumble late that was recovered by the Dawgs, all of which came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Georgia finished the 2012 regular season going 11-1 for the first time since 2002. They played Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, and of course, it resulted in heartbreak — a win would have sent the Dawgs to the BCS Championship to face Notre Dame…sigh.
This rivalry is still a big one amongst both Georgia and Tennessee fans. We are excited for Saturday in what should be another exciting chapter in this great SEC rivalry.