Georgia ready to avenge last year's loss to Georgia Tech

ATHENS -- Georgia deals with a lot of rivals on a yearly basis.

South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn are teams that appear each season on the schedule, with the Bulldogs having a long and storied history against each of those programs.

But none of those games match how the Bulldogs feel about in-state rival Georgia Tech, Georgia's opponent Saturday.

"It's a hate game," senior offensive lineman Kolton Houston said. "I don't think anybody on our team cares for them."

The lack of love from Georgia's players made last year's 30-24 loss in overtime that difficult to take.

In that game, the Bulldogs went up by three points with only 18 seconds remaining. Head coach Mark Richt called for a squib kick, a move he said he regrets, and Georgia Tech got the ball on its own 43.

After a 21-yard scramble from Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech place-kicker Harrison Butker hit a 53-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. The Yellow Jackets went on to win and snap a five-game losing streak to Georgia.

"It took me a good two or three weeks for it to exit out of my mind," outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said.

With Georgia possibly getting a tad comfortable in the rivalry, considering Richt has only lost to the Yellow Jackets twice in his tenure, the Bulldogs are intent on exacting revenge this time around.

"We've got to avenge last year," Houston said. "This is the most important game on the schedule for me every year. I don't really like those guys, so we've got to get that Governor's Cup trophy back up here."

"When we lost, it was an eye-opener," nose tackle Chris Mayes said. "You really have to take each and every game serious. Guys are more motivated; they want the trophy back. Younger guys want the trophy to be back home."

Houston said it was tough to hear Georgia Tech's players and fan base brag about defeating Georgia. And losing to Georgia Tech in last year's regular-season finale was tough to deal with in the moment because Georgia had to wait a month until playing Louisville in the Belk Bowl.

"All last December, you were stuck with that loss to them," Houston said. "All offseason, you hear about them raving about winning the game. We've got to beat them this year."

Senior inside linebacker Jake Ganus, who spent his first three years with UAB, has been reminded time and again about the importance of beating Georgia Tech. All week, the Governor's Cup has been brought up, with Ganus wanting to return it to Athens in his lone season with the program.

"I've heard the way they lost last year, to lose to your rival like that in overtime, on senior day, it's probably the worst way that a football team can lose," Ganus said. "I kind of feel that through everyone. No one really talks about it, but I can just tell as we go through meetings when Tech gets brought up it means a lot to them. Obviously it means a lot to me now. I feel sick from that game and I wasn't even here."

The Bulldogs are aware of how important this year's game is and aren't taking the 3-8 Yellow Jackets lightly. This is the kind of game in which a win can erase the lowlight memories from this year and erase last year's loss, as well.

"This is one of the games the Georgia fans and alumni have circled because they have so much hate for each other," Jenkins said. "This is one of the ones you have to win for the alumni and the state."

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Georgia ready to avenge last year's loss to Georgia Tech ."