Clean, Old Fashioned Hate

By Richard Rice
Love of Sports Correspondent

The only thing you need to know about this rivalry is its name its knwn by, “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate.”

Saturday at noon, you can see why they call it this. Less than an 75 miles apart, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia have been bitter rivals since 1893.

Though the series hasn’t been much of a rivalry lately (UGA’s 7-0 under Mark Richt), this year appears to be different.

Georgia Tech enters Saturday’s game ranked 22nd in the BCS with a record of 8-3, and head coach Paul Johnson’s option offense has proven it can compete at a high level this season. While Georgia comes in ranked 11th in the BCS at 9-2, which is very good, but injuries and perhaps the pressure of a preseason #1 ranking have gotten to the Dawgs this season.

But still, Mark Richt has his team in a position to win 10 games again and maybe even still a shot at an at-large BCS bowl berth, which is a testament to coach Richt and his abilities both on and off of the field.

For Tech, who’s run the ball well against the ACC all season long, this will be a much bigger challenge facing a very good and very fast UGA defense. And everybody knows the way you stop the option is with speed on defense. But then again, tell that to Florida State, who was gashed for 288 yards on the ground by Jonathan Dwyer and company a few weeks ago.

One thing I believe we can expect this year is that Tech will be competitive and has a good chance at a win Saturday. The Yellow Jackets’ defense is as good as Georgia’s, and they have a very tricky offensive scheme, which spells trouble for any team. Tech’s 8-3 record under a new coach this season proves that.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, need to play the same game they’ve played the last seven times against the Jackets. That means running the ball and controlling both sides of the line of scrimmage. Knowshon Moreno and Geno Atkins and the rest of the Bulldogs players should be enough to get a hard-fought win for UGA, but I think this one goes right down to the wire.

Georgia Tech will have to pass to win, because Georgia won’t allow them to run all over their defense like many teams have done this season.

Whether it’s Josh Nesbitt, or Jaybo Shaw or anyone else, someone will have to throw the ball down the field to beat the Bulldogs. “Knute Rockne called it the forward pass,” as Krusty the Klown would say. Coach Paul Johnson needs to incorporate it into his scheme if he wants to beat teams like Georgia.

Bottom line: Georgia Tech is close, but they’re still not quite there. Georgia wins this game 38-27 by shutting down Tech’s run and making them one-dimensional. Big shock, I know.