The rivalry between Georgia and Georgia Tech is a storied one. There’s a reason they refer to the teams’ opinions of each other being “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate,” after all.

That said, Friday’s matchup may have been the most interesting game the teams have played in many, many years.

Georgia was down 17-0 at the half, marking their first first-half shutout since 2019 against Kentucky. This said, most Dawg fans had no reservations about their team’s mission; they almost came back from down a similar deficit against Alabama, an objectively better team.

The Bulldogs rallied back in the second half, and thanks to a key fumble from Georgia Tech QB Haynes King, tied the game right before the end of regulation. The Yellow Jackets tried to mount a quick, one-minute drive to set up a field goal but were snuffed out.

To overtime the storied rivals went, and then to another, and another; after eight overtimes, Georgia emerged from the scuffle victorious by just two points. Final score: 44-42.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was faced with a pretty simple question postgame: what happened? Sure, the Jackets are a decent squad, boasting a 7-4 record coming into this matchup, but the No. 7-ranked Dawgs should have had no trouble with this matchup.

His response? The Dawgs’ defensive gameplan was more for the old Tech, under Paul Johnson. Essentially, they game-planned for Haynes King not to be able to throw the ball, as he’d been dealing with a shoulder injury. 

Throw King did, though; boasting 303 yards and two touchdowns with a staggering 161.3 efficiency rating, King tore through the ill-prepared Georgia defense.

This assessment raises some concern among the Dawg fans, as it’s certainly not a good look for Georgia to completely disregard an aspect of their opponent just because of an injury that clearly did not stop King.

The Dawgs will have to prepare better ahead of their SEC championship matchup, as Texas or Texas A&M (whichever wins the matchup on Saturday) will surely not be so forgiving.