Georgia 16, Georgia Tech 9

 

After last year's 44-42, 8 OT insanity in Athens, this year's big in-state rivalry game with Georgia Tech, Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate as the press likes to call it (normal people don't call it that) was a relatively lackluster affair. Played for the first time on a so-called "neutral" field - Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium, 1½ miles south of Georgia Tech and 60 miles east of Athens - the game was a defensive struggle with only one TD scored the entire game.

That one TD was a seven yard Gunner Stockton-to-Zachariah Branch pass in the Second Quarter that gave the Bulldogs a 10-3 lead. They kept the 10-point lead for most of the game as the two teams exchanged field goals the rest of the way. A thrilling game it wasn't, nor was it a pretty win, but a win is a win is a win, and this one extended Georgia's winning streak against Georgia Tech to 8 games, the longest streak for either team in the history of the rivalry. It also gave the Bulldogs an 11-1 record to close out the regular season.

The next hurdle for the Dawgs is the SEC Championship Game, and their goal isn't to win it - it's to avoid it. Like the plague. Who needs that shit? The team's goal for the season is the National, not the conference, Championship. We're ranked No. 4 in the latest Selection Committee standings and have a first-round bye in the playoffs. If we play the SEC title game and win, our seeding in the playoffs won't be any better - we have nothing to gain except conference bragging rights (but everyone will stay say, "yeah, but what about Alabama?"). And if we play and sustain a serious injury to a key player, it could hurt our chances in the playoffs and jeopardize a potential National Championship. And if, god forbid, we play and lose the game, our ranking will drop, we'll lose the first-round bye, and we still might have those unnecessary injuries to contend with. It's far better to take out 11-1 record, rest and recuperate, and wait until the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

But it's not in our hands. The way I understand it, we're in the conference championship game if No. 16 Texas (8-3) upsets No. 3 Texas A&M (11-0) or if unranked Auburn (5-6) upsets No. 10 Alabama (9-2). While either outcomes would be an upset, it's not impossible in these state rivalry games - anything can happen. So as much as it pains me, I'm going to have to cheer for ATM and Alabama to prevent Georgia from having to play the conference championship game.  

What a cruel twist of fate!