Georgia Tech Football Will Never Compete With Georgia…And That’s OK

Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

The article title have you scratching your head? I bet it does. You have to be thinking “Wait, isn’t this a Georgia Tech website? I can get this type of abuse just by signing on to Twitter!” Well, rest easy my friends, for there is to be no Yellow Jacket bashing going on here. Just a calculating (see what I did there?) assessment as seen through the eyes of an observer.

When you look at this in-state rivalry between Georgia Tech and Georgia–unless you are looking at some pretty old footage–it looks very one-sided. It looks like Georgia has Tech’s number. Every time the Yellow Jackets come up with something good, the Bulldogs come up with something better to counter. Georgia has a football program that has grown into a national contender, and lands some of the nation’s top recruits. Georgia Tech…well, they run the ball pretty well.

The Yellow Jackets still have a first date with Alabama A&M before they welcome their regular dance partner, Georgia, to Bobby Dodd stadium, but the hate is already starting to seethe on both sides. Both teams have fallen below expectations this season, and both teams know that a win in the regular season finale can stamp a positive grade on the campaign in the eyes of fans.

Georgia has the recruiting advantages, the more desirable campus location, a more traditional “college experience”, and frankly, a student body that is more in tune with tailgating and rabid fandom than does their North Avenue rivals. Georgia Tech is an engineering school (one of the nation’s finest), and is extremely difficult to get into. The student body, although very loyal, just doesn’t place as much emphasis on football as they do academic pursuits.

The deck is stacked against the Yellow Jackets, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. They’ll probably never really compete with Georgia on a regular basis when it comes to football…and that’s ok.

Oh sure, every few years they’ll pull off the upset over the Bulldogs, and every few decades they may actually put together a string of wins against them…but it’s not dominance, not by any stretch, nor will it be anytime in the foreseeable future.

The good news for Yellow Jackets fans? This may be one of those years when Tech can hold their heads high and claim victory when the game with Georgia is over. The Bulldogs are ripe for the picking, with a defense that has had a lot of issues stopping option offenses, and who simply can’t defend the pass at all. This could be a true coming out party for Vad Lee. A chance for him to show on a fairly large national stage (ABC is carrying the game) just how darn well he can throw the ball.

Josh D. Weiss-USA TODAY Sports

This could be one of those years when folks will celebrate on The Flats, and will have 12 months of bragging rights–and the license to rub it in to Georgia fans–about how they spoiled the legendary Aaron Murray’s final regular season college game. Tech has the tools, and Georgia has the warts.

No, Georgia Tech football will probably never compete with Georgia on a long-term basis, and that’s OK. It only takes one win, to “run this state” for a year.

You simply have to accept Georgia Tech football for what it is…the product that is has become…and the fine tradition from which it has sprung.