Georgia Players Learn History of "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate"
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ATHENS - It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and that means it’s rivalry week in the peach state.
Georgia and Georgia Tech.
Even with Georgia dominating Jackets over the last 20 years, it’s clear this game means so much to people in the great state of Georgia.
The Bulldogs have certainly had their way with Georgia Tech since 2001, winning 17 out of the last 20 meetings. Still, this is a “must win” game for the Bulldogs every year. Just ask Jim Donnan.
If you look at the record book recently, this game may not seem like a rivalry. But if you ask Kirby Smart, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“No, it's still a big rivalry”, Kirby Smart said at his Monday press conference. “I mean, it was this program's biggest rivalry many, many, many years ago when they were in the SEC.”
To the older Bulldog fans, Georgia Tech is still considered by some to be Georgia’s BIGGEST rival. To younger fans, and even current players, Georgia Tech has become just an easy win before the SEC Championship. That’s what happens when one program takes a nose-dive and the other reaches its full potential.
“Our kids don't know that history”, Smart added. “They don't know the history of this rivalry and what goes into it. It was a really big rivalry, you know, during Paul's years here because of the triple option and playing something different and the physicality of the game, you know. And I think educating our players on that so they understand it -- because it means a lot to our players in terms of what they want to achieve and they got to win this game to achieve those things.”
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“So making sure they understand that is really important. And teaching the history of that is important because it'll mean something to the Georgia Tech players and the Georgia players 20/30 years from now.”
George Pickens, an Alabama native, understood the hatred for Georgia Tech when he smashed a bug defender into a wall at Mark Richt Field in Atlanta. He was competing that day.
The wins have come easy over the last five years, but it wasn’t like that all the time.
Georgia fans will never forget losing to Georgia Tech in 2008 when the Jackets rushed for 409 yards in Athens to knock off Matthew Stafford and the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s loss to Tech in 2014 was just as bad. Red-zone turnovers and the inability to stop Tech’s rushing attack led to an embarrassing loss in Athens, putting Mark Richt firmly on the hot-seat.
You can bet Kirby Smart will never forget losing to Tech back in 2016.
Right now, beating Georgia Tech is normal. It’s expected. It’s not the fight it used to be. But if you lose to Georgia Tech, you’ll never forget about it. Losing to Georgia Tech gets you fired. That’s how important this game is.
If you think about it, most of Georgia’s players are under 22 years old. They weren’t around for the 90s. They don’t remember the big battles in the 2000s. They may remember one of the three losses to Tech, but for the most part, they’ve seen Georgia beat down their in-state rival year after year.
If the Bulldogs want to continue smashing Tech’s face in the ground, it’s important the players understand what this game means to people in Georgia. They need to know the history and the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate between these two programs.