Georgia improves to 10-1 on the season with a 42-13 win last Saturday over the Kentucky Wildcats in Sanford Stadium. The No. 7 ranked Georgia Bulldogs will complete its regular season this Saturday when they travel to Atlanta to face its in-state rival Georgia Tech in the rivalry dubbed simply as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.
Georgia leads the series 65-39-5 and doesn’t count two Georgia Tech wins during World War II (1943-1944) when the Yellow Jackets utilized players from a naval officer’s training program. Georgia and Georgia Tech did not play each from 1917-1924 because of a dispute caused by a Georgia parade float that ridiculed the Yellow Jackets for playing football during World War I.
Since 1995, the winner of this annual matchup is awarded the Governor’s Cup Trophy and Georgia last hoisted said trophy in 2015. Since inception of the Governor’s Cup Trophy, the Bulldogs hold a 16-6 advantage over the Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs have won the last eight matchups with Georgia Tech in Atlanta dating back to 2001, including Georgia’s 13-7 victory in 2015.
A win on Saturday will give the Georgia Bulldogs a regular season record of 11-1. Since a 12th game was added to the college football season in 2002, Georgia has gone 11-1 during the regular season twice, in 2002 and most recently in 2012. In school history, there have been nine teams that have won a total of at least 11 games in a season.
The Georgia Institute of Technology is located in Atlanta, GA, and has an approximate enrollment of 27,000 students. The Yellow Jackets are coached by tenth year head coach Paul Johnson (76-53). Since taking the head job at Georgia Tech, Paul Johnson has a 3-6 record versus the Bulldogs. Georgia Tech returns 16 starters from a team that went 9-4 and ended the season with a 33-18 win over Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Georgia Tech enters the game on Saturday with a 5-5 record (Georgia Tech’s game against UCF originally scheduled for Sept. 16 was cancelled due to the impact of Hurricane Irma) and in need of a win to become bowl eligible. A loss against the Bulldogs this year would leave the Yellow Jackets out of a bowl game for only the 2nd time in Paul Johnson’s tenure.
Georgia and Georgia Tech both enter the game with two of the nation’s top-10 rushing offenses. Georgia Tech comes into the game ranked No. 4 (319 YPG) in the nation in Rushing Offense whereas Georgia ranks No. 10 (267 YPG). Georgia holds the defensive edge with the No. 6 ranked Rushing Defense and the No. 4 ranked Scoring Defense.
The Georgia Tech offense is led by junior first-year starting QB TaQuon Marshall. Marshall has rushed for 1,074 yards with 17 rushing TDs and has passed for 889 yards with 9 TDs and 4 INTs.
Currently, Vegas has the Bulldogs as an 11.5 point favorite with a total of 51.5 for the game. Kickoff time is scheduled for 12:00 PM from Bobby Dodd Stadium and the game can be seen ABC.
