An Old-Fashioned Rivalry: Georgia Tech vs Georgia

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and the University of Georgia (UGA) have been rivals in more than just football since 1893, separated by 70 miles of interstate between Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, and founded 100 years apart. In Georgia, you have to compete for everything, from potential pupils and fans to government subsidies and academic prestige (Georgia Tech is an engineering research university while UGA is a liberal art research university). This rivalry, though, shines on the football field.

 

The animosity between these two colleges most likely began shortly after the Civil War, when it was determined to establish a new technological school. Then-President of the University of Georgia, Patrick Mell, tried to persuade legislators that the new institution should be built near Georgia's main campus in Athens. Despite his attempts, the Georgia Institute of Technology was founded in 1885 near Atlanta's city limits.

 

Only a few years later, in 1891, the first skirmishes broke out over, of all things, the school colors. The school colors of UGA are gold, black, and crimson, according to the school magazine. Gold, according to Georgia's football coach, was too near to yellow, which he believed symbolized cowardice. The Tech student body, on the other hand, chose white and gold as the official school colors the same year. Tech would wear gold on their football uniforms in their first-ever football game versus Auburn, which some saw as a slap in the face to Georgia. After Tech defeated Georgia in their inaugural football game two years later, gold was permanently removed from Georgia's school colors.

 

On November 4, 1893, at Athens, Georgia Tech, then known as the Blacksmiths, defeated the University of Georgia by a score of 28 to 6. The rivalry was fueled by who scored those four touchdowns. Leonard Wood, a 33-year-old US Army physician, had only a few days before the game officially registered as a Georgia Tech student. He was, nevertheless, able to play because he was a full-time student. This infuriated Georgia fans, who threw rocks and garbage at all of the Tech players throughout and after the game.The next day, an Athens sports journalist criticized Tech's football squad, claiming that it was nothing more than a gathering of Atlanta citizens with a few students thrown in.

 

There was a rivalry born.

 

Georgia Tech's football program would struggle for the following several years. As a result, they chose to employ a new coach from Clemson, a rival institution. John Heisman was hired as Georgia Tech's football and baseball coach in 1904 for $2,250 and 30% of attendance fees. (NOTE: after quitting as a football coach in 1927,In 1935, he joined the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan. The club's prize honoring the best collegiate football player was dubbed the Heisman Trophy after his death in 1936. Heisman instantly made a positive impact on Tech's football program, going 8-1-1 in his first season. By 1908, Georgia alumni were petitioning the SIAA to probe Tech's recruiting practices (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association). The allegations were unfounded, and the SIAA later ruled in Tech's favor. Heisman coached Georgia Tech for 16 years, leading the Golden Tornado to three undefeated seasons, including a 32-game winning run and a crucial 23-6 victory over Georgia.In 1916, Heisman led Tech to the highest-scoring football game in history, a 222-0 victory over a completely outmanned Cumberland State (so bad it wasn't Georgia!).

 

With the outbreak of WWI in 1917, UGA disbanded its football team, since many of its able-bodied students were drafted into the army. Tech kept its male students and sustained its football program throughout the war because Atlanta was a military training site at the time. When UGA resurrected its football program in 1919, procession floats boldly announced "UGA in Argonne" and "TECH in Atlanta." As a result, Georgia Tech cut all sports ties with the university, including canceling many home games at Grant Field in Atlanta (UGA commonly used Grant Field as their home field). Regular season competition would not resume until 1925, as agreed upon by both parties.

 

Georgia and Georgia Tech were two of the initial 13 members of the SEC in 1932, and UGA is still a member today. Tech, on the other hand, would depart the SEC in 1964 after coach Bobby Dodd launched a battle with Alabama's Bear Bryant (after a cheap shot by an Alabama player that ended a Tech player's career and Bryant's failure to discipline the athlete). Concerns about scholarship distributions, dubious recruitment practices, and student-athlete treatment also contributed to Tech's exit from the SEC. Dodd, on the other hand, recognized the value of a rivalry and led the Yellow Jackets to 8 consecutive triumphs from 1946 through 1954, outscoring Georgia 176 to 39 in those games. This is the longest winning streak in the rivalry for either squad.

 

Tech attempted to re-enter the SEC some years later, but their application was denied, largely owing to Georgia's resistance. Tech would create the Metro Conference, which would include all of its intercollegiate sports except football because it had no conference to participate in. Tech, like Notre Dame, competed as an independent for the next 15 years before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1979, where it continues to compete today.

 

Not content with simply hating each other on the football field, both schools have customized their fight songs to reflect their animosity. The line "To Hell with Georgia" appears in Tech's Ramblin Wreck song, and "Up With the White and Gold" is immediately followed by "Down with the Red and Black" and afterward "Drop the Battle Axe on Georgia's Head." The Georgia fight song "Glory Glory," which has stayed virtually intact since its original publication in 1909, finishes with the letters G-E-O-R-G-I-A. The final lines, on the other hand, have been changed to "and to Hell with Georgia Tech!" by the student body.