A historic rivalry has emotions ramped up more than usual thanks to Georgia Tech's new head coach. Coach ATonOfLaw joined the team extremely late in the season, but he is more than familiar with this rivalry. "Tech is a storied football program," ATonOfLaw said at his hiring press conference a few weeks ago. "Despite all that history and how excited I am to become a part of it, I know the most important thing to these fans right now is getting a win against that other Georgia school."
ATonOfLaw's impact can be seen by the emotions on the sideline during the game. Recent Tech alum, Christopher Eubanks, remarked how excited he is to see the team liven up. "The players seemed almost like AI robots before Coach ATonOfLaw took the helm," Eubanks said. "He's put new life in them!" The new coach looks to keep that enthusiasm high as he takes on the school's bitter rival.
The University of Georgia and Georgia Tech meet this Saturday to start a new chapter in the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Both teams come in with high powered passing games. Georgia's Will Outman has led the Bulldogs to an 8-3 record with 3798 passing yards. The Yellow Jackets' O'Koyea Landrum has guided the team to a respectable 7-5 while accruing 4641 yards through the air. Both quarterbacks have been touted as dark-house Heisman candidates.
Students and fans at both schools have already been amping up the tension for Saturday's big match. Georgia Tech's student newspaper, The Technique, ran its annual UGA issue, To Hell With Georgia, highlighting the Bulldog's late season losses. UGA's The Red & Black ran a comic page full of memes about their rival notably referring to Tech's new coach as ATonOfFLAWS. To the school administrations' dismay, fraternities at both schools have been hangin colorful banners on their balconies ahead of the rivalry game. One fan noted on an online football forum "I haven't seen this much hate in the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate since I was a kid!"
Georgia's team comes into Saturday on a two-game losing streak. Coach Sarge is looking to right the ship with a big win against their rival. Georgia will need to get back to the basics on defense if they want to win this game. The Bulldogs have given up more than 450+ yards on defense in the last two games. Before that, UGA had not given up more than 330 yards since Week 7. If they want to stop Tech's Landrum from lighting up the score board, they are going to need to find themselves again on defense.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a disappointing loss to non-conference opponent Fresno State where they only mustered 279 yards of total offense. Tech had not been held to below 300 yards all season until last week's Fresno game. Some critics are saying the team was too focused on the Red and Black Bulldogs instead of the ones right in front of them. Whatever the problem was, if the offense fails to show up again, UGA will run right through Tech.
By all accounts, this is shaping up to be a barn burner. Many experts are saying this high-octane game may come down to the turnover battle. If either team can come up with an interception against the gun-slinging quarterbacks, they should be able to make it out on top.