The animosity between Georgia and Georgia Tech goes just as far as the century-old rivalry.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs recalled the past several meetings between the two teams, noting the intensity and aggressiveness of competition ahead of their meeting Saturday at Sanford Stadium (Noon, SEC Network; News 95.5 and AM-750 WSB, 680 the Fan).
“I know we came in (Sunday) fired up just because it’s Georgia Tech week,” Georgia defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter said. “It’s just the culture here. You just embrace it. You know it’s going to be tough, you know it’s going to be a 60-minute game.”
“The rivalry goes on and off the field,” Tech linebacker Brant Mitchell said. “A lot of friends that live outside of Atlanta that I’ve met their families are Georgia fans. It makes it run a little deeper.”
Over the past five meetings, both Georgia and Tech have failed to defend their home turf. Georgia and Tech seniors have yet to win the rivalry at home.
» 2013: at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia wins 41-34 in 2OT
» 2014: at Sanford Stadium, Tech wins 30-24 in OT
» 2015: at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia wins 13-7
» 2016: at Sanford Stadium, Tech wins 28-27
» 2017: at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia wins 38-7
However, a win on the road calls for big celebration, including Georgia players sticking their flag on the 50-yard line at Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2015 and Tech taking pieces of the hedges in 2016.
“There’s pictures up all around the facility,” Ledbetter said. “There’s videos going around. When we work out, we’re squatting and doing a squat you’ve got something right in front of you. It’s stuff like that that gets you fired up and ready to play.”
“It’s definitely all around like leading up like two weeks in advance,” Tech defensive lineman Desmond Branch said. “I got regular people telling me that like, “you’ve got to do good so we can take this momentum to Georgia.” I’m like, “oh snap, we’ve got two weeks before them.” It’s really fun because you can feel the magnitude of the game, and seeing it all over social media from students.”
However, there were no talks of harming property after Georgia's athletic director Greg McGarity and Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury agreed to cease the tradition of destroying property after a visiting win.
Yet, Tech and Georgia players feel the destruction for 60 minutes in the “Clean Old-Fashioned Hate” rivalry game, especially in-between plays. The whistle stops the play, but fails to stop the aggressive, tense nature of the rivalry.
“In-between plays, it’s really aggressive just between the talking amongst players, what might go on during the play, or after the play,” Tech defensive lineman Anree Saint-Amour said. “It’s just an aggressive thing, and I feel like both teams really want to get the win for bragging rights, for the season, for better bowl games. It’s real tense, it’s real aggressive.”
“It’s an in-state rivalry,” Georgia wide receiver Terry Godwin said. “The other team calls itself a Georgia team as well. We just got to let them know who’s the real Georgia team around here.”
