The Georgia Tech-Georgia rivalry has been a factor in my life since time immemorial. I grew up in a Bulldog family and attended Georgia Tech before coaching there. I competed in 12 games as a Tech player or coach. I'll get around to this year's game, but first I want to discuss football rivalries in general.
College football rivalries are very much a mixed bag. On the one hand they spark enormous interest in the sport. On the other hand they create such emotion that every year players receive death threats from sick anonymous souls.
On the one hand they provide great entertainment for a day. On the other hand they split families and even marriages for a lifetime.
On one hand they promote healthy competition among respected combatants. On the other hand they stimulate aggressive young athletes to acts of unnecessary violence.
Rivalries allow fans to display their colors in fun and pageantry, but they also provide an excuse for thugs to run rampant in the streets in random, destructive ways.
On reflection, our rivalries are rites of passage for everyone, even those who look on in detached amusement. If one lives in close proximity to a college football rivalry one is forced to commit, take a stand and choose a side, whether that is their desire or not.
The impact begins in the cradle. When I coached at Alabama I was asked to talk to a third grade class, and upon arrival I noticed a young boy sitting in the corner crying. "Who is that?" I asked the children.
"Oh, that's Jason, he's an Auburn fan," they chimed. "We took care of him." I had to put Jason in my lap and explain that it was okay for him to support his team.
The questions that seem to be asked most often today are "Can rivalries be conducted in an atmosphere of sanity? Can we rein them in before they are too far gone?"
The answer is yes, but only if there is leadership that will be public and forceful from both sides. Both coaches must be involved in a public way.
In 1983 my Georgia Tech team lost a close game to Georgia in Atlanta -- emotions ran high on both sides and a few fans were rowdy. Someone threw a full beer can from the stands and it struck the Georgia team physician in the head. Although he was not injured he could have been killed. Since the can came from the vicinity of the Tech student section I assumed responsibility and assured Georgia coach Vince Dooley and his staff that it would not happen again.
Two years later we began our campaign weeks before the big game, publicizing the fact that we were going to hold our fans to a higher standard, that extra security men would be facing the fans during the game and that any misbehaving fan would be removed. I added that I would take their student I.D., thereby preventing their admission into sporting events for the remainder of their college careers.
Coach Dooley wrote after the 1985 game that the crowd was the best behaved he had ever seen at Tech. The fact that we won might have had something to do with it, but I think the security measures were more important.
Two weeks ago our ESPN crew broadcast the Pittsburgh-West Virginia rivalry -- "The Backyard Brawl" -- from Morgantown, W.V. Earlier this season West Virginia fans had rioted, tearing down the goalposts and setting over one hundred fires around town.
This time the administration and even the players appealed to the public to cooperate with authorities by staying off the playing field and celebrating peacefully in the event of a West Virginia win. The Mountaineers came out on top, the fans were wonderful and a good time was had by all. It is possible!
This year's Tech-UGA game would appear to be a mismatch. Georgia is ranked seventh in the latest BCS standings and has the second-best scoring defense in the nation. Tech is very thin in numbers and has played sporadically this year.
I am not one of those football analysts who says you can "Throw out the statistics and records when rivals play!" No matter what those guys say the better team usually wins.
The Yellow Jackets were terribly wounded by the loss of ten players to academics last spring. Over the summer most analyses assumed the team would be unable to compete, but this Tech team has nonetheless proven it has the capacity to play beyond itself.
With two great linebackers, Keyaron Fox and Daryl Smith, making play after play the defense has had amazing performances against Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State and Auburn. The bad news is that the Georgia Tech D has allowed an average of 401 total yards and 31 points over its last three performances.
The offense has had its moments, and led by true freshman Reggie Ball it has generated enough points to win six games. Running back P. J. Daniels leads the ACC in rushing with 1,110 yards, which is surprising considering he is a walk-on player listed seventh on the depth chart last spring. And Jonathan Smith is over 1,000 yards receiving while leading the ACC in punt returns, so the Jackets have weapons.
Georgia's most formidable facet is its gritty defense. It gives up less than 250 yards per game and has allowed only two teams -- South Carolina and Florida -- to gain over 300 yards in a game.
Coach Mark Richt says he needs at least six healthy receivers to run his offense, and for the first time this year he has them. Georgia riddled Kentucky for 442 yards and 30 points last week, its second-best performance of the year. The Bulldogs' Achilles heel is Tech's strong suit, though, as the young UGA offensive line has allowed an SEC-high 36 sacks and will struggle to protect quarterback David Greene from the Jackets' blitz package.
The game within the game this week will be the leadership on the Georgia Tech team. Last year's 51-7 debacle in Athens was the worst whipping ever in the rivalry and should spur the Jackets to one of their patented gut-check performances against superior numbers. If center Hugh Reilly, Fox and the Smiths are the kind of leaders I think they are, they will see that this is a great, competitive contest.
Hidden yardage will come from the experience difference between Greene and Ball. With both kicking games solid, small, seemingly insignificant decisions by the quarterbacks will play a role in field position. Such things as getting rid of the ball, checking out of bad plays and the like will go far in determining this one. Always a key number, the plus-11-to-zero advantage Georga has in turnover margin is significant.
ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry coached for 17 years in the college ranks. His Game Plans for marquee matchups appear each week during the college football season.