Richt has dominated Tech rivalry since arrival at Georgia (UPDATED)
Georgia players planted the "G" in middle of field after last year's win at Tech. (Johnny Crawford)
(Update below with point spread)
We can debate the significance of Georgia’s slide in the last two years. We can debate how accountable Mark Richt should be held for the losses on the field or the issues off of it.
But there’s one thing that’s not up for debate: The man owns Georgia Tech. Don’t discount the important of rivalry games. They shape 12 months of debate, which feed into perceptions, which feed into job security.
Consider these numbers, as the Dogs and Jackets prepare to meet next Saturday night in Athens:
♦ Richt is 8-1 against Georgia Tech, including last year’s 30-24 win on Grant Field. That dominance basically helped run off Chan Gailey, who went to bowl games six straight seasons but couldn’t beat the big brother to the east. Richt’s record against the Dogs’ other major rivals: 2-8 against against Florida, 6-4 against Auburn, 6-4 against Tennessee.
♦ Gailey was 0-6 against the Bulldogs. He followed the immensely unpopular Bill Lewis (0-2) and the immensely popular George O’Leary (3-5). O’Leary had a losing record. But it’s important to note one of those defeats came as an interim following Lewis’s firing late in the 1994 season, and he actually defeated Georgia three straight seasons (1998-2000).
♦ Tech’s Paul Johnson is 1-1 against the Dogs. His team’s win in Athens two years ago reverberates through the fan base more than any other victory during his three seasons, probably even including last year’s win over Virginia Tech when students tore down a goal post and paraded it through campus. Remember when the Jackets won in 2008? Players tore off pieces of the Sanford Stadium hedges. (Somehow, I get the feeling that might come up in a pep talk this week in Athens.)
♦ Compare Richt’s 8-1 record vs. Tech to his predecessors: Jim Donnan was 2-3 (losing his last three); Ray Goff was 5-2 against Tech but had lopsided losing records against Florida, Auburn and Tennessee (3-15-1 combined).
Regardless of how one grades Richt’s job security, it would be infinitely worse if he didn’t dominate the Tech rivalry.
(UPDATE: I’ve checked two online sportsbooks and I’ve seen two lines for this game so far — both big. One has Georgia favored by 13½ points and the other by 15.)
Here are the records of the last three Georgia coaches in rivalry games:
♦Mark Richt: 8-1 vs. Georgia Tech, 6-4 vs. Auburn, 2-8 vs. Florida, 6-4 vs. Tennessee. Total: 22-17 (.564).
♦ Jim Donnan: 2-3 vs. Georgia Tech, 2-3 vs. Auburn, 1-4 vs. Florida, 1-4 vs. Tennessee. Total: 6-14 (.300)
♦ Ray Goff: 5-2 vs. Georgia Tech, 2-4-1 vs. Auburn, 1-6 vs. Florida, 0-5 vs. Tennessee. Total: 8-17-1 (.327).
♦
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427 comments Add your comment
Tucker T
November 21st, 2010
4:00 pm
Why ain’t you at the Falcons game Jeff?
DRC
November 21st, 2010
4:01 pm
Hate to say this. First?
"Chef" Tim Dix
November 21st, 2010
4:02 pm
Pie!
Robert
November 21st, 2010
4:03 pm
We run this state. First.
NoRichtFan
November 21st, 2010
4:03 pm
That doesn’t say much for Tech. Maybe Paul Johnson should talk to Urban Meyer. Richt sure as hell hasn’t dominated FL. Old Urban might be able to give him a pointer or two.
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
4:12 pm
Tech over the mutts 49-7
GADAWG88
November 21st, 2010
4:17 pm
Am I in the top 10?
Hammerdawg
November 21st, 2010
4:19 pm
You are on crack blackberry pie! Nerds gonna get another beat down dawg style!!!!!
Oger
November 21st, 2010
4:19 pm
… NNNEEEEEEEEEEERRRRDDDSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
Steve
November 21st, 2010
4:24 pm
I love Tech nerds who come on here and say how Tech is going to kill UGA even though they know it won’t happen. UGA is having a terrible year but Tech is just awful. Won’t even be close. I would guess 38-21 UGA. It sure would be nice if this really was a rivalry but when you win every year, it’s just another game. UGA expects to beat Tech every year while Tech prays and hopes they somehow keep it close each year. Pretty sad.
"Chef" Tim Dix
November 21st, 2010
4:25 pm
Ahh, the Falcons game zone, Jeff.
Couldn’t you recreate the game like Reagan did baseball back in the day?
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
4:32 pm
@Hammermutt
Mutts have no defense, no coaching, and classless fans
mutts lose 49-7
Steve
November 21st, 2010
4:35 pm
HA HA HA. “Pie” UGA has no defense???
GT – Rushing yards allowed per game – 171, ranks 77th
GT – Passing yards allowed per game – 203, ranks 38th
UGA – Rushing yards allowed per game – 125, ranks 23rd
UGA – Passing yards allowed per game – 194, ranks 30th.
What a moron you are!
George Stein
November 21st, 2010
4:37 pm
In related new, the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I don’t see us having much success against Richt’s team next week either.
Ralph
November 21st, 2010
4:37 pm
thUGA has twice the attendance/alumni, and is much easier to get into. There are no easy majors for prospective professional athletes. It is a wonder that Tech is competitive.
thUGA has its starting quarterback and a pending NFL draft receiver. Playing to a huge home crowd (alumni from thUGA don’t venture far from Athens) should gain you a two touchdown favorite advantage.
But the individual thug mentality instead of team play, along with alumni, an administration, and a coaching staff that tolerates it may bite you again.
To Hell with Georgia.
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
4:39 pm
@Steve
Ask Auburn, Florida, Miss State, South Carolina and Colorado about UGA’S defense. The answer: Holes, holes, and more holes. Todd Grantham choke sign is the picture of uga’s season A JOKE
athensdawg
November 21st, 2010
4:40 pm
since when does beating georgia tech have anything do with winning the SEC?
George Stein
November 21st, 2010
4:40 pm
C’mon Ralph, let’s move past that stuff already. It’s true that they can get players we can’t but we need to get past the excuses already. Once we hold ourselves accountable, we will start to win more against them.
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November 21st, 2010
4:42 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by GamblingIQ, Georgia News and David Kelly, Jeff Schultz. Jeff Schultz said: Richt has dominated Tech rivalry since arrival at Georgia http://bit.ly/cDvehe [...]
Steve
November 21st, 2010
4:42 pm
The numbers don’t lie “pie.” If you think UGA’s defense is bad, you must think Tech’s is absolutely pathetic. UGA’s defense was fine against SC and Colorado. Nobody has stopped Auburn.
“Ralph,” UGA fans don’t travel far from Athens??? Are you a moron also? A few years ago at Arizona State they had over 20,000 fans there. They had close to 8,000 in Colorado. They always travel to road SEC game too. Talk about fans not traveling, lets talk about Tech fans traveling.
George Stein
November 21st, 2010
4:44 pm
I think the only way it might, athensdawg, is under a very strange tie-breaker for y’all where the BCS standings would come into play. But otherwise, you’re right – it has no effect.
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
4:45 pm
@Steve
UGA’s defense was fine against SC????? South Carolina ran the same play the whole second half against that defense and did UGA stop it?? Lattimore ran all over that sorry defense with the same play over and over.
Rod
November 21st, 2010
4:46 pm
Shows how stupid people are that want to fire CMR. Come to UGA top recruits. CMR is not going to get run out of town.
trey
November 21st, 2010
4:48 pm
By halftime the score will be 38-10 dawgs. Then the 2d and 3d string will play 2d half and the yellow maggots will score a bunch and make the game seem much closer than what it really is. End score will be 52-31 dawgs.
Ted Striker
November 21st, 2010
4:49 pm
1) Gailey doesn’t receive the respect from Tech fans he probably deserves however it underscores your point about the significance of rivalry games.
2) The record books say what they say, however one of those 3 straight “wins” by O’Leary is a shaky claim. I don’t even count it. Anytime an entire 7 man umpiring crew is suspended from working the SEC title game because they blew the prior game it calls into question the validity of the recorded score. Add that to the fact that Tech used ineligible athletes (many of whom were star players) in football in ‘98 & ‘99 and O’Leary’s star seems a little less bright, even before the resume debacle.
3) Donnan was a better coach than many UGA folks gave him credit for. I’m glad Richt is the coach now but I’ve always maintained Donnan deserved another year.
4) The Tech game means far more to under 40 fans of Tech — who don’t remember when Tech was in the SEC — than it does to the under 40 fans of UGA. I could care less about UGA playing Tech and there are 6 UGA grads in my immediate family (and 2 who attended Tech). It’s not a conference game and there’s more incentive in the contest for Tech than there is for UGA. I’d gladly replace Tech with Clemson on the schedule.
Steve
November 21st, 2010
4:49 pm
Duke had 443 yards of offense yesterday! DUKE! Ha ha ha. At least SC is good. UGA gave up only 17 points to SC.
Ralph
November 21st, 2010
4:50 pm
I’m not talking about traveling, but where most live. Tech alumni (half as many) are scattered all over the world, and don’t live mostly for football games.
Steve
November 21st, 2010
4:54 pm
Excuses, excuses. Only 42,000 at Tech yesterday. Absolutely pathetic. In a city of 5 million and 15,000 enrolled and enough alumni in the south, that little high school stadium should be full every Saturday. Not one sellout this year. Maybe they should start playing the games at Parkview High School’s stadium.
George Stein
November 21st, 2010
4:55 pm
Ted,
1) Gailey didn’t earn the respect of Tech fans. I actually happened to think he was as nice a man as there could be but he never could win us over after his first trip to Athens where y’all hammered us.
2) I agree that there were some bad calls in the 1999 game but if you want to play that game, then you have to give back the 1997 game with that horrible pass interference call.
3) Donnan did a very nice job of restoring the talent base at UGA but could never get the program to the next level, especially with Spurrier at Florida at the time. Richt accomplished that.
4) The Tech game would mean more if we upheld our end of the bargain. But we have not. To the extent that the game doesn’t matter to under 40 alums (debatable, but I have no reason to question your honesty), it’s our fault. Period.
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
4:56 pm
Kentucky had 423 yards
Arkansas had 433 yards
Florida had 450 yards
Jeff Schultz
November 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
Tucker T — Because the Budget Man said no columnist in St. Louis.
Jeff Schultz
November 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
DRC — So close.
Jeff Schultz
November 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
Robert — Not so close.
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
@Steve
Who is bowl eligible? And who will be sitting at home after next week?
saban
November 21st, 2010
4:58 pm
His real talent is in having the team out of jail by the Tech Game.
Of course the red panties helps too.
Willy
November 21st, 2010
4:58 pm
Mark Richt loves his Ford truck!!!!
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
5:00 pm
No mutt arrests after their bye week? Saint Richt must had promised his team of future convicts something nice if they stayed out of jail.
Steve
November 21st, 2010
5:00 pm
Ha ha. Are you kidding? Do you REALLY think UGA is going to lose to the nerds? Tech and UGA will have the same record after next week so talk all you want. This is just like last year when all the nerds kept saying how Tech was going to kill UGA. What happened?
saban
November 21st, 2010
5:03 pm
Tech is pitiful. Richt is lucky to have an in-state rival that is such a cupcake. Of course Georgia has so many new daddies these days, who know maybe Tech wins.
Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
5:04 pm
Watch how ole Mark Richt is outcoached by Chris Peterson in the kickoff game next year.
Steve
November 21st, 2010
5:04 pm
Reasons Tech fans hate UGA so much: UGA has a better campus. UGA students don’t have to worry about getting robbed every night. UGA has a better team. UGA always beats Tech. UGA has a better stadium. UGA has better tailgating. UGA by far has hot women everywhere. If I were a Tech fan, I would be jealous also and would hate UGA.
Viva GwinneXico
November 21st, 2010
5:05 pm
UGA is a 15 point favorite. Ouch!!! That has to hurt.
The heartbreak of psoriasis... and the dawgtards
November 21st, 2010
5:06 pm
Think about the football team THUGA puts on the field. 96% of the players are academically provisionally accepted, with Adams and his cronies knowing full well that they will use up all their coaching and tutors and elligibility and then have their asses kicked out on the street and soon be pushing grocery carts around Atlanta looking for a warm place to sleep. What a pitiful way to run the State’s flagship university. I am going to this next week’s game where the Ga THUGS will undoubtedly whip my North Avenue Scholar Athletes once again. Brawn and brainless win out over brains any day of the week when you are talking mayhem on the field. But once again I am hoping that Tech stomps their sorry asses.
And that’s the sorry truth about The Cesspool of the South.
Willy
November 21st, 2010
5:09 pm
Steve: Georgia Tech is the better school, academically.
George Stein
November 21st, 2010
5:09 pm
No, Steve, most of us don’t believe we will defeat UGA. But I’m willing to be surprised.
Ultimately, this is just a game between two teams that could charitably be described as mediocre. Should be a helluva pillow fight.
George Stein
November 21st, 2010
5:09 pm
Is that really the spread, Viva?
Tweets that mention Richt has dominated Tech rivalry since arrival at Georgia | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
November 21st, 2010
5:11 pm
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Blackberry Pie
November 21st, 2010
5:11 pm
@Viva GwinneXico
UGA can’t keep a lead because of their sorry defense. How many touchdowns was the mutts up on auburn??? Two or three. UGA can give up touchdowns in a min. Ask Cam Newton
MR
November 21st, 2010
5:14 pm
The funny thing will be this time next week when all of the nerd herd is calling for man boob’s job after losing to UGA by 7 TD’s. Well, you will have to go onto the blog to hear because they will not have the nads to get on any UGA blogs and run their mouths. Same as last year. I can’t wait!
UGA 51 nerds 3!
Steve
November 21st, 2010
5:14 pm
Willy, this blog is about a football game. Not academics. I could care less which school is “smarter.”