Georgia football holds a stranglehold on the all-time series with Georgia Tech.
The Dawgs leads 68-39-5 all-time, including 23 of the last 29 games. Now they’re on a three-game winning streak by a combined score of 135-35.
No, the Georgia-Georgia Tech game does not bring national attention. A lot of people are not too big on this game. Some people even think Georgia should just cancel their game with Tech.
It’s not about the national attention. Instead, it’s 100% about state attention and pride. It is about proving “We Run This State.”
Getting those bragging rights is better than having another conference game here because it’s Clean Old Fashioned Hate.
Georgia football and Tech have some great moments, here are five of the best.
The Dawgs have a lot of rivals, but this one runs deep and hits differently. Dawg fans all remember Georgia Tech destroying the hedges, so we need to keep this victory around to deliver a beat down each year to remind them how disrespectful that was.
Although in the last three years, the games have lacked drama and haven’t been competitive. However, growing up, it was not like that. If you were born in the 1980s, then there were early memories of constantly beating Tech.
It wasn’t a regular occurrence until those three years of 1998, 1999, and 2000 where Tech beat Georgia. It still isn’t because Tech has spurts of success in this series.
While this list doesn’t go back to the beginning, it does start in the 1990s. Of course, we’re well aware of Theron Sapp, the drought breaker, and Buck Belue to Willie McClendon.
We chose to focus on the last 30 years. Here are five of the best moments in this rivalry.
The 1993 Georgia football brawl against Tech
Georgia football was finishing up a tough 1993 season. The Dawgs came into the game with a 4-6 record, which was terrible enough, but adding in back-to-back losses to Florida and Auburn the two games before frustration level was extremely high in Athens.
At this point, there were rumblings of Ray Goff being on the hot seat after the Tech game. Thankfully, the Dawgs would win 43-10, as Georgia took all their frustration out on Tech.
The Dawgs led 36-10 with less than two minutes on the game clock. Georgia had the ball on the four-yard line. Facing fourth and goal, Georgia’s Ray Goff decided to go for it. Georgia quarterback Eric Zeier faked a toss and threw a pass to wide-open James Warner for a touchdown.
After catching the touchdown pass, absolute madness erupted. Tech’s defense did not like that Georgia was running up the score, and punches started to fly, and before long, both benches cleared. In 2019, when George Pickens cold-cocked the Georgia Tech player, it reminded us a lot of this 1993 brawl, just with fewer players.
If you remember, coach Ray Goff pushed Georgia players and grabbed them off a pile of guys throwing punches out of sheer emotion. What a great memory.
The hate runs through this rivalry, and this game reminds us all of that because of those punches thrown.
1997— Georgia football put their heart back into this matchup
Everyone has that game that turned them from a casual fan into a serious one that loves the Dawgs. This game did just that for a lot of people. Georgia won 27-24, and it’s memorable for the reason that so many Georgia games are — a Larry Munson call.
I remember watching this matchup on the floor next to my dad’s recliner — we were listening to Munson on the radio. Even though we had the game on television, Munson had us hanging onto every word.
That ability to keep listeners on the edge of their seats is what so many loved about Munson and make us miss him to this day.
Leading 21-13 early in the fourth quarter, Georgia went for a fourth and inches from their 45-yard line. Coming up short, Tech took advantage, driving down to kick a field goal. All the momentum was gone from Georgia, or so we thought.
With 53 seconds left, the Yellow Jackets punched in a touchdown and then got the two-point conversion taking a 24-21 lead. Munson was defeated, stating Tech “ripped our hearts out.”
Starting quarterback Mike Bobo quickly took the ball and drove Georgia into the Tech red zone. With just 14 seconds to go, Bobo throws an eight-yard touchdown pass to Corey Allen.
The Dawgs won the game by three points, prompting Munson to proclaim, “Our hearts that were ripped out and bleeding on the ground, we picked it up and stuck it back in. We had no business winning this game.”
However, the call is best known as the “Oh my it couldn’t have happened!”
That call is one of his best, especially from this rivalry, so this game had to make the list.
2002— Georgia football demolishes Georgia Tech
In 2002 Georgia football clinched its first berth in the SEC Championship Game. Tech had won their last two trips to Athens, and some were worried that the Dawgs would not give Tech their full attention.
That worry would not last long as Georgia would win 51-7 and dominate Tech in every way.
The Dawgs took a 34-0 half-time lead, and it was clear Georgia was taking over in this rivalry.
Georgia defensive lineman David Jacobs suffered a stroke at the end of the 2000 season that ended his career and nearly his life. He was a part of this team, and so with it being Senior Day, it was only fitting for second-year head coach Mark Richt to find a way to honor him.
Before the Tech game, not only did Jacobs get to be on the field for Senior Day, Richt had him dress completely out, full pads and all. That moment was one of the most inspirational times in Sanford Stadium history.
Richt was good about stuff like that, and by having Jacobs do that, it seemed like it gave the Dawgs the momentum to focus on this game and demolish the Yellow Jackets.
At the time, it set the record for most points scored against the Yellow Jackets, until head coach Kirby Smart’s 2019 beat that by one point, beating that Tech squad 52-7.
The Dawgs would go on to beat Arkansas 30-3 in the SEC Championship game.
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.
Georgia football came into the 2009 game with a 6-5 record but would go away with a 30-24 victory in a massive upset over their in-state rivals.
Georgia Tech was No. 7 in the country at the time, I know right that is hard to remember, but they were.
The Yellow Jackets were looking for two in a row against the Dawgs after Tech head coach Paul Johnson beat the Dawgs 45-42 in Athens as a first-year head coach in 2008. It was year two for Johnson and his option attack. The option gave everyone fits in 2009, and the Yellow Jackets were poised to get that second win in a row.
What would happen had become a battle cry for Dawg fans in this rivalry. Georgia running backs Washaun Ealey and Caleb King would combine for 38 carries and 349 yards, showing the Dawgs could run on the team who did nothing but tote the rock.
After winning this game 30-24, it was clear — Georgia runs this state. Sadly since this game, Tech has fallen off. Even winning two more games in 2014 and 2016 wasn’t enough as Georgia has taken complete control of the rivalry. As the years go by, the gap between the two only seems to be getting bigger.
With that said, make no mistake, this is a big game and one the Dawgs need to keep on their schedule.
Georgia and Georgia Tech always include scrappy, hard-nosed football, which is what the game is all about. These two hate each other and want yearly bragging rights because it matters.
This year it’s time for Georgia to keep widening that gap and remind Tech, who runs this state after the Yellow Jackets, got off easy by not playing last year.