Eight straight against Georgia Tech 'very big' for Georgia football
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ATLANTA – Georgia football wants to win national championships.
Owning traditional rivals along the way is something they’ll take as well.
Georgia notched its eighth straight victory against Georgia Tech in a 16-9 slugfest in Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday afternoon Nov. 28.
The Governor’s Cup will remain in Athens like it has since 2017.
The celebration in the locker room?
“Shoot, it was pretty big,” inside linebacker Raylen Wilson said.
“Very big actually,” outside linebacker Quintavius Johnson said. “Because we did it eight in a row. We were harping on that this week.”
The Bulldogs have also won nine in a row against Auburn, five in a row against Florida nine in a row against Tennessee.
Coach Kirby Smart was told those are Georgia’s four biggest rivals, but he wasn’t so sure.
“Probably debatable, four biggest rivals,” Smart said. “I don’t know who you would define as the rivals. …There’s others one out there we haven’t beat.”
Yes, Smart is 1-7 against Alabama.
Smart joins Bobby Dodd as the only coach to win eight straight in the ‘Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate’ rivalry. He did it from 1949-56.
“My senior year they were at seven and that ended the streak,” Smart, the former Bulldog safety, said of Georgia losing 22-19 in 1998. “That’s one that always sticks with me. …It’s been a battle back and forth. Both programs have had their runs. It’s good for the state.”
Johnson, who had six tackles including a tackle for loss, cherished the win. He’s from Atlanta.
“My Mom lives like seven minutes from this stadium,” he said. “It felt really good.”
Georgia won its 13th straight against Georgia Tech in Atlanta since 1999.
This one was played in the Falcons’ stadium with Georgia Tech getting a $10 million guarantee to move it.
The field was all Georgia Tech logos, none for Georgia, for the Yellow Jackets home game, but Georgia fans made their presence heard just like in Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“We’ve got to continue to recruit, continue to coach and be better versions of of everyting we do,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said.
Smart knows fans love bragging rights against rivals no matter which one they think is most important, but it’s not the most important thing to him.
“I’m about winning championships,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How Georgia football feels about dominating traditional rivals
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