What Was Said: Georgia Tech talks matchup with UGA

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate lives up to the name, especially on the Georgia Tech side of things. The Yellow Jackets aren’t fond of the Bulldogs, and the dominance on UGA’s end certainly has a lot to do with that.

Georgia has won six straight in the series. Georgia Tech’s won just three times since 2000, and all-time, a 30-game advantage is in favor of the Bulldogs. Needless to say, that stats show a series that’s had the Governor’s Cup in Athens more often than not.

Checking in on the team in Atlanta ahead of Friday’s meeting between Georgia and Georgia Tech, that sentiment is still true. There’s definitely disdain towards the Dawgs. It starts with the head coach, who played in this rivalry, and carries down to his players. Here’s what Georgia Tech players and head coach Brent Key had to say about the Bulldogs…

HEAD COACH BRENT KEY (11/25/24)

Opening Statement: “So we’ve got a big game this weekend on Friday night. For us with the schedule, the way the week is, it doesn’t matter what day you play on, we just back it up from that day. So we got a lot of work to do this week, a lot of work to put in.

They’re a good football team, and there’s a reason why they’re a top ten team. They got really good players, really good coaches. They’re well coached, they’re disciplined, they go out and they execute. And they’re especially hard to play at their home stadium at nighttime. So we’re ready for a challenge. We gotta prepare this week and have our best week of preparation to be able to go out there and play a good, clean game on Friday night.”

On importance of winning a game like this: “Yeah, winning games, that’s why you play games, for the opportunity to win. But we don’t talk about winning games. We don’t talk about anything other than playing to the best of our ability, every play, one play at a time. I can’t sit there and tell a team, there’s no scoreboard, don’t look at the scoreboard, we’re not outcome oriented – and we’re not – and then sit up here and talk about winning a football game. That’s not the way we’re wired, that’s not the way this team’s built. That’s why we’re able to have adversity hit and be able to continue to play through it, because it’s all about playing the next play.”

On Georgia’s defense: “Yeah, like I said, they have good players, they’re well coached, really good coaches on the defensive side of the football, as well as offense. But you have good coaches and good players, it’s a pretty good recipe for success.”

On Georgia’s offense: “He’s (Nate Frazier) a good running back. Their offense is explosive, Carson Beck is a phenomenal quarterback. They have the ability to hit the explosives and create explosive plays down the field, throw the football, but also line up. I mean, it really starts with the guys up front. They have a big physical offensive line.

And it’s gonna be a huge challenge for us, really a huge challenge. I mean, the running backs, regardless of who they put in there, I mean, they’ve had a lot of success. And they’re gonna want to establish the run, and it doesn’t matter. It’s not a yardage you’re looking for, or that they’re looking for. I mean, they want to be able to line up and impose their will. And the best way to show that you can do that is by running the football. So, we’ll have to have a really good plan, a really good week of prep because I mean, they’re well coached and very talented.”

OL WESTON FRANKLIN (11/26/24)

On growing up in Georgia, this rivalry: “Everybody from my hometown is a Georgia fan. There’s very few Tech fans. So I’m glad to be part of a Tech family. It’s a big game for us, but we’re focused on us. We’re ready to play the game.”

On assessment of Georgia defensive front: “Definitely got a lot of good players. I know a lot of those guys over there. I’ve played with a few of them. I know Chaz very well. I went to a lot of camps with him, played with Warren at IMG, came on a visit here with Nazir. They’re just all good players. They have their specialities and we’ve got to figure out how to attack them.”

On what he feels when he thinks of Georgia, what it would mean to win: “When I think of Georgia, it’s a strong dislike of that program. I’ve never liked it. Never wanted to be there. Where I grew up, all was different for me. Everybody around me was a Georgia fan, and I just didn’t like it. It wasn’t me. I never liked red. For us as a program, it’d be a huge goal checked off for us. That’s a goal we have every year and that’s what we plan to do.” 

OL JORDAN WILLIAMS (11/26/24)

On growing up in Georgia, this rivalry: “It would mean a lot. It would mean a lot because, yeah, I mean, I grew up in Georgia. I grew up around all the fans and everything but I was never like a fan or anything. I followed the wave of just being here and just being a Georgia fan because I always tell people I came from like a family of engineers. So when I was growing up, my dad was always watching Georgia Tech basketball and football. So when I’m just chilling with him, it would just be on. So I would just always watch it.

So when I’ll be playing like NCAA back in the day and everything, I’m immediately making a running back, sending them to Georgia Tech. But yeah, I mean, it would mean a lot to everybody. It would mean a lot to our fans, but most importantly, it would mean a lot to, you know, the players around this building, the ones who’ve been here for a while, the ones who just got here. Cause you know, we building something special at Georgia Tech. So just going out there, playing for each other, making sure everybody know that we got each other back going into this game. And yeah, really just do it for the man next to you.”

On when he realized this rivalry is different: “Probably the first time I heard somebody bark. I don’t know, cause I’m from Georgia so you always gonna hear it, but like I said, always growing up liking Georgia Tech and everything, whenever you just hear that, it’s always like a, “Ewww.’ It’s like, yeah, something like that.”

LB KYLE EFFORD (11/26/24)

On what he thinks of when he thinks of Georgia: “I think of hate, of rip. But I mean, really and truly, I mean, it’s a football team. It’s still guys that fell in love with the sport that we love. So, I mean, at the end of the day, it’s hate, but it’s still a little bit of respect there because it’s still the game that we love.”

On when he realized this rivalry was different: “I’d probably say when I committed, I knew it was a thing, it was a rivalry but I didn’t really know for real until I kind of committed here and I was just talking to the guys. I think I might have brought up Georgia about something like, ‘What? We don’t talk about them, bro.’ So I just kind of realized, okay, yeah, I messed with that time.”

On Georgia”s offense: Yeah, I mean, they’re an explosive offense. I mean, per usual, we just gotta come out there and play our brand of football and notice, but we’ll be able to stop them, play our best.”

On growing up in Georgia, this rivalry: “Yeah, I mean, it was more when I got to Georgia Tech. I mean, I knew the rivalry growing up. I mean, I wasn’t a Georgia Tech guy, I wasn’t really a Georgia guy. I just love football. So, I mean, funny story, my oldest brother actually went to Georgia. But he’s all Tech now, so it ain’t no house divided, none of that. We all Tech, so it’s ready to go, ready to play some ball.”

LS WILL SCISSUM (11/26/24)

On growing up in Georgia, this rivalry, what it would mean to win: “It’s an in-state battle. It’s us versus them. It’s the biggest game of the year. It would just mean the world to me to beat that team because it’s deep, there’s a long history between us and them. We have a really talented roster, some great players who are very disciplined and tough so it would just mean the world to me to see the joy on my teammates’ faces as we beat them. It means a lot to me.”

HEAD COACH BRENT KEY (11/27/24)

Opening Statement: “Excited to go play a good football team in a very challenging game, a hostile environment. It’s going to take everything we have and all of our players firing on all cylinders, to play with the fundamental basics of football that you have to play with. Can’t try to do anything extreme or over our heads. We’ve got to play a solid game. We know it’s going to be a challenge, but we’ve had challenges this year and we’re going to go out there and go in Friday night and play to the best of our ability.

It’s a very talented football team. Defensively they’ve got a lot of guys on there that have played a lot of football. Very opportunistic group that’s done a good job all season. There’s a reason they’re a top 10 team. Offensively obviously quarterback is one of if not the best quarterbacks in the country. They’ve had some injuries of their own this year but I fully expect those guys to be back and firing on all cylinders on their end. Kirby’s done an unbelievable job there building the program, his alma mater. I know how much it means to him every single day when he goes in and works and how important those kids and that school are to him. I feel like we’ll definitely get their best shot Friday night.”

On Carson Beck: “It starts with him. He’s a good player. Really good player. Very experienced at that position. The most snaps you take in real time with those guys barreling down on you, seeing coverages the better you’re going to be. He’s got unique talent and a skillset. He gets all the credit for the way he throws the ball and the passing offense but this is a kid, I remember him coming to camp when he was in high school and he’s a 4.6 (40) kid. He can run. He can get out of trouble. And then they’ve got really good players on the outside that can run and make plays. A good group of tight ends in the middle that they can distribute the ball too and a massive, big offensive line that works to wear you down as the game goes on. Pass rush becomes less because of the way they lean on you and wear on you and it makes them more and more effective. It’s a complete package. It begins with him, but they’ve got a complete package around him.”

On Georgia’s defense, differences: “It’s the same schematically. There’s always tweaks year to year, game to game but look, I don’t care what happened in the last game. I full expect those guys to come together and bring their best and play their best and for this to be a very formidable challenge in being able to establish the line of scrimmage. They’re good. They got good players. It’s a good scheme, and they’re very well coached.”