Georgia football: Five top moments of “Clean Old Fashioned Hate”
By Rick Beach
2006 — Georgia football finishes strong and beats a ranked Tech squad
Georgia football would close a disappointing 2006 year with three straight wins over ranked teams which catapulted the Dawgs into a great 2007 season. The middle game of the three wins was over a ranked Georgia Tech team as the Dawgs won 15-12.
The Yellow Jackets came in with big-time wide receiver Calvin Johnson who had been dominating all season.
However, in this game, Johnson got completely shut down all game by the late Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver. He was held to two catches for thirteen yards, which ultimately helped the Dawgs win over a confident Tech squad.
In a defensive battle and down 12-7, Georgia would get the ball with over eight minutes left to go in the game.
It was up to freshman quarterback Matt Stafford to get the job done, and boy did he. Stafford would lead a huge time-consuming drive capped off with a four-yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Massaquoi.
Georgia would get the two-point conversion and give head coach Mark Richt his sixth straight win over the Yellow Jackets. This win was a big one for Richt as it was the third consecutive year Tech challenged Georgia and the Dawgs had to fight to win.
Seven of his 14 victories over the Yellow Jackets saw the Dawgs win by eight or fewer points, so during this part of the rivalry, memories of the late 90s flurried through the fans’ heads, and each year, we hoped and prayed Georgia wouldn’t give Tech any bragging rights.