Breaking down Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry

Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

TV: WSB

What it means to me

"It means a lot to me, knowing that I'm part of a rivalry that my role model, my older brother (Cap) was a part of. It means a lot to me knowing that [Georgia] Coach [Rodney] Garner has a good relationship with my family. So it means a lot when it comes to this and trying to make history along with all the greats that were ahead of us."

-- Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett. His brother, Cap, played at Georgia from 1998-2002. Burnett is from College Park.

"In-state rivalry, you always want to play good against those guys for bragging rights. But I'm going home. I'm going to be in Atlanta, so I'm going to have a lot of fans and a lot of people there. I just want to go out playing hard in the last regular-season game. ... It does make it hard [to lose to Tech] especially when you got to go home and hear those guys bragging and different things like that, those guys from the area."

-- Georgia safety Reshad Jones, who grew up about 10 minutes from Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Compare and contrast

Tech's average SAT score: 1,364 for the 2008 incoming freshman class, according to Georgia Tech's factbook.

UGA's average SAT score: 1,237 for the 2008 incoming freshman class, according to Georgia's Web site.

Matchup close-up

Georgia Tech wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Stephen Hill vs. Georgia cornerbacks Brandon Boykin and Prince Miller.

• Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are averaging a whopping 24.4 yards per catch. They are also fourth in the NCAA in pass efficiency (162.5). As infrequently as Tech throws the ball, when Josh Nesbitt passes, he hurts other teams. Last year, Tech completed just one pass and still beat the Bulldogs. Thomas and Hill have combined for seven touchdowns this season.

• Georgia: Boykin stands 5-feet-10 inches. Miller is 5-8. Thomas is 6-3 and Hill 6-4. Boykin and Miller are going to have to use their athleticism to keep Thomas and Hill from winning jump balls. Boykin and Miller have three interceptions and seven pass break-ups this season.

The numbers game

2 -- The number of times in the past four decades Tech has won three games in a row over Georgia (1961-63 and 1998-2000). And both stretches culminated with Georgia ousting its coach -- Johnny Griffith in '63 and Jim Donnan in '00.

Distant replay

• What: Start of a rivalry

• When: Nov. 4, 1893

• What happened: Georgia Tech defeated Georgia 28-6 in Athens in the first game in the series.

• From the archives: "The Atlanta Boys came home last night about midnight and were jubilant about the victory they had scored. The manager of the team complained of the treatment his boys received from Athens. ... The treatment the Techs received was not what they had expected. Rocking the players and threatening them was something never before witnessed on a football gridiron.

-- The Atlanta Constitution, describing a rock-throwing incident during the first game between the two schools.