The following is the first in a series of articles that will preview the coming Georgia Tech football season, which begins Aug. 24 against Florida State in Dublin. In the series, we will examine several of the “Most important” things to watch as the Yellow Jackets’ season approaches. Today: Most important game.
There arguably are all sorts of matchups in 2024 that Georgia Tech fans can point to as the most important game on the schedule, but none of them trump THE GAME.
Tech faces Georgia this season on a Friday, making the trip to Athens for a Nov. 29 game, the first Friday game (and only the second Friday game between the two programs ever) in the 118-game series since 1994. The next edition of Clean Old-Fashioned Hate will go a long way in scoping the narrative of whether the Yellow Jackets have continued to close the gap with the mighty Bulldogs or still have a way to go.
Georgia has won six consecutive in the rivalry since 2017 (the two teams did not play in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and had won the first five of those meetings by an average margin of 33.6 points. The 2023 contest was only an eight-point game in Bobby Dodd Stadium, but didn’t lessen the agony of the losing streak for backers of the white and gold.
The two programs come into the ‘24 campaign still seemingly worlds apart with UGA ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll and Tech expected to win less than six games (according to Las Vegas oddsmakers) and to finish ninth in the 17-team ACC, according to the league’s preseason media poll.
But Tech has reason for optimism to prove the naysayers wrong. It returns star quarterback Haynes King, leading rusher Jamal Haynes, four of its five starting offensive linemen and a deep and experienced wide receiving corps. Coach Brent Key also retooled his defense with virtually an entirely new defensive coaching staff and an influx of transfers to boost depth and talent.
Speaking of Key, his words in June about his distaste for Georgia football only added to the spiciness of the rivalry and the sense of urgency for Tech to stop the streak.
“There’s nothing I hate more in the world. It’s probably the only thing I actually hate,” Key said at an alumni event about Georgia football. “When I say hate, like, truly despise everything about it. I really do.”
Should Tech lose to Georgia once again, it would give the Jackets a seven-game losing streak to their bitter rival for the second time since 2001 and make Key’s program 3-20 in the past 23 meetings with UGA. Tech has never lost eight straight to the Bulldogs.
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