Though the schools can’t agree on whether this year is the 118th meeting or the 116th, everyone in the state can agree the Georgia Bulldogs have dominated the recency of the rivalry called Clean Old-Fashioned Hate.
Georgia has won 19 of the past 22 games against Georgia Tech, dating to a 2001 victory that snapped a short three-game run by the Yellow Jackets. Tech has won only thrice in the past 22 years — 2008, 2014 and 2016.
The Bulldogs, 9-2 and ranked No. 7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, will be going for their seventh consecutive victory against Tech which match the program’s longest since 1991-97. The two programs did not play in 2020 because of COVID-19.
During UGA’s current six-game win streak, the Bulldogs have outscored Tech by an average of 41.3-12.
Tech’s past two wins in the series came in 2016 and 2014 and both victories were in Athens. The Jackets claim 15 victories and a tie in 48 previous trips east on U.S. 29/Georgia 316.
Things to know about Friday’s Georgia-Georgia Tech game
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Sanford Stadium (capacity 93,033)
TV: ABC
Streaming: WatchESPN app
Weather: 39 degrees at kickoff, 0% chance of rain
Tickets: There are very few tickets remaining via the secondary market starting at $66.
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Georgia Tech football social media: X | Instagram | Facebook
Storylines ahead of Georgia-Georgia Tech
Tech-Georgia also is Bobo versus Faulkner: Yes, Georgia-Georgia Tech is the embodiment of Clean Old-Fashioned Hate and all that. But for the families whose livelihoods are most closely attached to the outcome of this in-state rivalry, it’s something altogether different.
Take Jake Bobo and Harrison Faulkner, for instance.
You’d be right to recognize their last names as the same as the offensive coordinators at Georgia and Tech, respectively. They are, in fact, the sons of Mike Bobo and Buster Faulkner, and they are best friends.
When a Tech fan also roots for Georgia: It’s a path that nearly all Georgia Tech fans would find perplexing and possibly heretical.
Craig Topple is a proud Tech grad and ardent Yellow Jackets fan. But he has also come to a place in his life where his 49-year-old heart has a place for … the Georgia Bulldogs.
“One of my lines is, I cheer for the Dawgs 364 days of the year,” Topple told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the lone exception being, of course, the annual Georgia-Georgia Tech clash that this year takes place Friday.
Surprisingly, Topple’s Tech diploma did not burst into flames upon his uttering those words.
Jackets intent on finally breaking losing streak: Jordan Williams grew up in Gainesville, so he wasn’t completely oblivious to how much fans of the football teams at Georgia and Georgia Tech dislike each other. But he said it wasn’t until later that he had the realization of just how deep the hatred festers between Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets.
“Probably the first time I heard somebody bark,” he said Tuesday on his “Welcome to Clean Old-Fashioned Hate” moment.
Williams, who will tie Roddy Jones’ record of 52 career starts at Tech when he takes the field at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sanford Stadium against No. 7 Georgia, is like a lot of the Jackets on the 2024 roster when it comes to the UGA-Tech rivalry: A lot of them were cognizant of it growing up before fully comprehending it as members of the Ramblin’ Wreck.
Tech’s improved defense vital part of 2024 season: As Georgia Tech prepares to go into its season finale against its most bitter rival, a lot of attention will be paid to Tech’s offense and whether it can sustain, for a third game in a row, utilizing two quarterbacks as part of the game plan.
But the Yellow Jackets (7-4) would not be in the position they are in, with a chance at eight regular-season wins, eligible for a bowl game for a second season in a row and tied for fourth place in the ACC, without the incredibly improved play of the team’s defense.
Former Georgia linebacker making plays: He said he recognized the play from earlier in the season, a play the Yellow Jackets had been burned on because they were unprepared to defend it. But this time, Georgia Tech linebacker E.J. Lightsey sprung into action Thursday and pounced on North Carolina State’s attempt to run a jet sweep from left to right out of an odd formation, one in which the offensive linemen were stacked far to the left of the ball on the line of scrimmage.
Lightsey shot into the backfield and was in the right place at the right time as NC State quarterback C.J. Bailey tried to pop a small pass forward to KC Concepcion, who bobbled the attempted catch. The ball caromed off Bailey, up into the air and into the waiting arms of Lightsey who was off to the races for a 21-yard interception for a touchdown.
Dogs say focus is on Jackets, not SEC title game: A funny thing happened on the way to the College Football Playoff. No. 7 Georgia, fully absorbed on that singular task, learned late Saturday night that it’d be playing in the SEC Championship Game. Smart is 36-2 against non-conference opponents, 7-1 vs. Tech. Only other non-con loss was to Texas 28-21 in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019.
The Bulldogs, we found out Monday, weren’t even considering it as a possibility this past weekend.
Tech quarterback returns to Athens: When Aaron Philo left the field closer to Friday morning than Thursday night, the Georgia Tech students who remained in the stands to celebrate Tech’s 30-29 epic win over visiting North Carolina State began to chant “Phi-lo! Phi-lo!”
“It’s obviously a good feeling,” Philo said about hearing the echoes of his name as he made his way toward the team tunnel at Bobby Dodd Stadium. “But that doesn’t happen without the rest of the team. We don’t win without the rest of the team. The defense went out there, they did their job. And the offense, as a whole, went out there and did their job. I can’t take credit for that because it was, really, truly a team effort.”
Bulldogs move into seventh in College Football Playoff rankings: Georgia’s slow climb in the College Football Playoff rankings continued.
The Bulldogs (9-2) were back to No. 7 in the selection committee’s latest reveal, which was released about a half-hour late in-between basketball games Tuesday night on ESPN. For Georgia, the committee’s message was it needs to be impressive in taking care of business against Georgia Tech (7-4) on Friday night, then win the SEC Championship game on Dec. 7 to have any chance of getting back to where they once were.
Win No. 8 key for coach: A win for Georgia Tech over No. 7 Georgia would be big for Brent Key in more ways than one.
Key, Tech’s second-year coach, is in line to make a $100,000 bonus for one more victory this season, a bonus not tied to a win over Tech’s most fierce rival but for what be the team’s eighth victory of the regular season. Key already stands to make a $50,000 bonus for the Yellow Jackets (7-4) being bowl eligible.
UGA is third top-team team Tech will have faced: A regular season that began more than three months ago reaches its dramatic conclusion Friday when Georgia Tech rolls up in the road and into Athens to face its fiercest rival. Can the Yellow Jackets bookend 2024 with yet another marquee victory?
Tech (7-4) will be facing its third top-10 team of the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Sanford Stadium when it squares off against No. 6 Georgia. It has already conquered two such tests, beating No. 10 Florida State 24-21 in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 24 and knocking off No. 4 Miami 28-23 on Nov. 9 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
RBU’ is hurting: Georgia is expected to be short at running back for the sixth straight game. Starter Trevor Etienne (ribs) has missed the last two games and half of the Ole Miss contest; Branson Robinson (knee) has been sidelined since Oct. 12 and Roderick Robinson (toe) has been out all year. Though each has returned to the practice field, all three are considered doubtful for Friday’s game.
The Bulldogs have been able to absord the losses thanks to the play of freshman Nate Frazier. A 4-star prospect out of Compton, California, Frazier has recorded career-highs for either carries or rushing yards five times this season. He notched season-bests in both against UMass last Saturday with 136 yards on 21 carries and 3 TDs. Junior walkon Cash Jones and freshman Chauncey Bowens has helped Frazier carry the load.
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