The Last Time: Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and hopefully your belly isn't too full to digest some stats!

(I'm sorry. I'll show myself out.)

It's Rivalry Week, and for us, that means Clean Old Fashioned Hate. It means bragging rights over your neighbors, co-workers, church members and estranged children.

It means if you lose, your year is about to be a living hell.

And for a year, the Yellow Jackets have been in that dark, smoky place.

Which reminds me!

The last time...

1) These teams met:

Last year on The Flats, we got to see a sloppy defensive slugfest.

Sony Michel punched in a 34-yard touchdown on the opening drive, which turned out to be Georgia's only touchdown of the day, despite gaining 402 total yards.

Marshall Morgan connected on a couple of field goals, and — for the most part — the Dogs' defense absolutely shutdown Georgia Tech's triple option attack, holding them under 200 yards rushing.

Despite all of that, Georgia squeaked out a 13-7 victory.

2) Georgia started a freshman quarterback against Georgia Tech:

I'll go ahead and address both ways this could be true.

If it's a true freshman you're looking for, we need to travel back in time to 2006, when Matt Stafford led the Bulldogs to a 15-12 victory Between the Hedges, finding Mohammed Massaquoi on the game winning touchdown with (as Larry Munson put it) a hundred and five seconds left.

If you're looking for any kind of freshman, we need to go back to 2010, when R-Fr. Aaron Murray led Georgia to a 42-34 win in Athens. Justin Houston notched the game-sealing interception as the Jackets were driving for the potential tying score.

3) A Tech senior class finished with two wins against Georgia:

A win Saturday would send the seniors of both schools out with a 2-2 record, thanks to the Yellow Jackets' win in 2014.

It would mark the first time since the class of 2002, which notched wins in 1999 and 2000 (51-48 OT and 27-15, respectively) then fell in 2001 and 2002 (31-17 and 51-7, respectively).

Since then, the Tech class records have either been 1-3 (classes of 2003, 2008-11 and 2014-15) or 0-4 (2004-07, 2012-13) in the series.

4) Georgia lost when both teams were unranked:

Here's a stat for ya. Under these conditions (both teams being unranked), Ray Goff, Jim Donnan and Mark Richt combined to go 7-1, with the only loss coming in Goff's first year, 1989.

That season, the Jackets (7-3) knocked off the Dogs (6-5) 33-22 in Atlanta.

Since then, if both teams were not ranked (like this year), it's been all Georgia:

In case you're wondering, across that same span, Georgia is 9-1 when only one team is ranked, and 3-5 when both are ranked.

5) Georgia Tech had two players with 10 rushing touchdowns in the same season:

The Yellow Jackets are getting semi-close in this category, with B-back Dedrick Mills already over the threshhold with 10 touchdowns on 114 carries.

Behind him, there are a few guys who could get over the hump with decent games against Georgia and whichever bowl opponent gets to use their extra practice time on the option. Matthew Jordan (6) and Justin Thomas (5) would be the most likely candidates.

Should that happen, it would mark the first time since 2011, when QB Tevin Washington (14) and A-back Orwin Smith (11) both topped the double-digit mark.

It would be the third time it's happened under Paul Johnson, with 2009 (Josh Nesbitt and Jonathan Dwyer) representing the other.

6) The team that won the game DIDN'T win the turnover battle:

David Greene was the Georgia quarterback the last time the winner of this game lost the turnover battle, back in 2004.

The Bulldogs had one turnover in the 19-13 victory (a fumble by Bryan McClendon), while the Yellow Jackets never turned it over, but it doesn't tell the entire story.

Though that's the only one that goes down in the stat column, the Georgia defense stopped Georgia Tech four times on fourth down, including the infamous throw away by Reggie Ball to seal the win.

Since then, the team that won the turnover battle has come out victorious in Clean Old Fashioned Hate every single year.

I just wish Reggie had another year.

7) A Georgia defensive coordinator won his first game against Georgia Tech:

Paul Johnson has faced three defensive coordinators in this rivalry so far, and the only one he failed to beat was ... Todd Grantham.

Georgia went 4-0 with Grantham on the sidelines, including a 42-34 win in his first year, 2010, a game that saw the Yellow Jackets gain 411 rushing yards and 32 first downs.

The other two coordinators didn't fare as well, at least in their first tries. Willie Martinez got whipped 45-42 in 2008, and Jeremy Pruitt gave up 399 rushing yards in a 30-24 overtime loss in 2014.

Mel Tucker, you're up.

8) Georgia converted 50-percent or more of its third down attempts in this game:

You'd think this stat would've come in a year where the Bulldogs scored a lot of points — like 2012 or 2010.

But, it didn't.

Georgia actually scored just 15 points on a day that saw it go 10-for-18 on third down, with the most important conversion coming on a last second throw to Massaquoi.

It was 2006, and the Dogs won 15-12 in Athens.

BONUS: Tech converted more than 50-percent of its third downs in this game:

This happened a bit more recently, in a game the Jackets lost.

In 2009 (a 30-24 Bulldog win) Georgia Tech finished 7-of-13 on third down attempts.

Since then, it has had a game against Georgia where it converted half of its attempts (8-of-16 in 2014), but never more than half.

9) Georgia Tech had more passing yards than Georgia:

What makes this stat interesting is that it actually happened under Johnson. Perhaps you've heard, but he runs the ball a lot.

The Yellow Jackets out-passed the Bulldogs in 2009, 149-81, but when one remembers the game, it isn't that surprising.

Georgia ran the ball at will that night in Atlanta, cranking out 339 rushing yards in the 30-24 upset.

(Still wishing Reggie had one more year, even though it doesn't apply to this stat.)

BONUS: Georgia had more rushing yards than Georgia Tech:

It also happened in that 2009 game, with the Dogs out-gaining the Jackets in the ground game 339-205.

Caleb King, be proud.

10) Georgia lost three home games in a season:

A win for the Bulldogs would keep them on the right side of this stat, because the last Georgia team to lost three home games in a season was back in 1996, which was, incidentally, Kirby Smart's sophomore season.

That year, the Dogs lost to Southern Miss, Tennessee and Ole Miss in Athens.

It's worth noting that they did rebound to beat Tech 19-10 Between the Hedges to close out the season.

But boy, would all these good feelings about the team and the future vanish if Georgia doesn't win.

***

From what I understand, the Bulldogs opened as a 6-point favorite, only to have the line move quickly down to 4.5 points.

I don't know what to make of it. It's so hard to guage, especially in a coach's first year against the option, though Smart has said they've taken time during camps and the bye week to practice against it.

So maybe there's hope.

My guess: It goes right down to the wire. Whichever defense can force a few turnovers will be on the winning side.

Total shot in the dark, but I'll take Georgia straight up and Tech against the spread.