Revisiting Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate in 1998

It’s no secret that the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets sit atop the list of Kirby Smart’s rivals. Players have attested to the sentiment time and again in interviews in years past. But, in an era when rivalries are downplayed to the tune of “it’s just another game”, Coach Smart took to the podium Monday with an uber-respectful decorum.

“Our guys are excited,” he said, “This is a huge matchup. This is an interstate rivalry game that’s been a part of history for a long, long time,” Coach Smart emphasized the physicality of the game in years past and made clear that he anticipates that Friday night will be no different. With a new era of player turnover in college football, about half of Georgia players on the roster will take the field for the first time against the Yellow Jackets. When asked how he informs his players on the history of these rivalries, he said, “Every time you have a rivalry game, you explain the rivalry and what it means… When you go to Georgia Tech, they're in our state. They've got a tremendous program, and more and more of our kids have been recruited by them. They know. I mean, they get a sense of the importance of the game from the older players on the team who've played in it and the coaches who have."

Coach Brent Key took the stage Monday offering similar sentiments, adding that the upcoming game in Athens is, “the biggest game of the year.” Of course, on the week of the game, both coaches will speak amicably of their rival 70 miles down the road, but it’s clear to anyone paying attention that a simmering tension boils beneath the surface.

In December 2022, after winning two national championships with the Dawgs, Buster Faulkner ditched his analyst role in Athens for the offensive coordinator position for Georgia Tech. This summer, he received a contract extension after the Yellow Jackets boasted the best rushing offense in the ACC. Over the same offseason, Georgia brought in not one, but two former Georgia Tech assistants to the staff in RB’s Coach Josh Crawford and analyst Andrew Thacker who previously served as Tech’s defensive coordinator only last year. It’s clear in their recent hirings that both head coaches respect what the other is doing at their rival school, but there is certainly no love lost.

At an alumni event in the summer, Coach Key addressed his feelings about the Bulldogs saying, “There’s nothing I hate more in the world… when I say hate, like truly despise everything about [Georgia], I really do.” The Jackets have played the little brother role to a tee for the last twenty years, so it’s no surprise that a lifelong Yellow Jacket like Key might be sick of the Bulldogs’ sustained national success. And while Smart may not be so bold publicly, make no mistake, the former Bulldog safety remembers how Brent Key and the Jackets ruined his final game in pads at Sanford Stadium.

In 1998, both teams entered the final game of the season at 8-2, ranked in the AP Top 25. Star QB Joe Hamilton and the 17th-ranked Yellow Jackets had already claimed a share of the ACC Championship and were set to play in the Gator Bowl after the season. The Bulldogs had reeled off seven straight victories over the Jackets, with their last loss coming during Georgia Tech’s 1990 National Championship run. It was Senior Day for a Bulldogs class that had gone undefeated against the Yellow Jackets and were looking to put an exclamation point to the end of their careers in Athens. While it would be Smart’s last time taking the field at Sanford, a sophomore guard named Brent Key was playing in his first-ever game in Athens.

While slightly favored, the 12th-ranked Bulldogs came out swinging, opting for a double pass on the third play of the game going from Carter to Greer to Brown for a 68-yard touchdown to open the game’s scoring. As Brown crossed the goal line, freshman quarterback Quincy Carter turned to the Tech bench and taunted his way down the sideline to celebrate. But Joe Hamilton didn’t blink, leading the Jackets down the field late in the first quarter looking to even the score. On first down from the Dawgs’ 28, Hamilton bootlegged, rolled left and threw a low ball intended for Dez White. Georgia DB Jeff Harris read the throw and dove behind White, picking the ball off at Georgia’s own 15. The Bulldogs would end up punting the ball away to Charlie Rogers, who after displaying a fair catch signal, scampered up the field to return the punt 50 yards to the endzone. After some confusion, officials deemed that Rogers had, in fact, put his hand in the air to signal a fair catch, bringing the Jackets back down to Earth. It wouldn’t take long for the Yellow Jackets to take flight once again, as Joe Hamilton fired a deep ball to Kelly Campbell who ran it in for a 55-yard Tech touchdown. The voice of the Jackets, Wes Durham was so frantic in his call that his microphone temporarily malfunctioned as Campbell crossed into the endzone. As the second quarter wrapped up, Georgia kicker Hap Hines knocked down a 35-yard field goal to take the lead back for the Dawgs 10-7. 

Hines would knock down a chip shot early in the second half, followed by a short touchdown run from Olandis Gary that made the score 19-7 with a little over 3:00 remaining in the third quarter (Georgia failed the two-point conversion). But the Jackets weren’t finished. On the tail of a methodical 12-play drive, RB Joe Burns rushed into the endzone from 10 yards out to cut the Georgia lead to four after a Hamilton rush for the two-point try. The Tech rushing attack was a problem all day, amassing 236 yards on a Georgia defense that hadn’t allowed that many all year. A quick three-and-out for Georgia spelled another scoring opportunity for Georgia Tech, as Brad Chambers split the uprights for a 49-yard field goal to pull within one.

Following another Dawgs three-and-out on the following drive, the Jackets had the opportunity to take a late lead with a little under four minutes to play. Hamilton led the Jackets into Georgia territory when on 2nd and 14, he stepped up out of the pocket and was met by senior safety Kirby Smart for a short gain, bringing up a 3rd and long from the Georgia 32. Sanford was shaking as Hamilton sent Charlie Rogers in motion towards a two-receiver bunch set on the right side. Champ Bailey followed him in man, but as Hamilton snapped the ball, Bailey got tied up in the muck, leaving Rogers on a wide-open out route that Hamilton saw immediately. He hit him in stride and Rogers darted up the right sideline to the Georgia 19 for a first down. The Dawgs D-Line ran a twist stunt on the play, with the defensive tackle getting to the outside and engaging the right tackle as the end looped around him towards the B-gap. The young, but experienced guard from Trussville, Alabama Brent Key recognized it immediately and engaged the stunting end, giving Hamilton sufficient time to deliver the ball.

Hamilton handed the ball off to Phillip Rodgers on first down to give the kicking team a straight shot at the goalposts. A spike on second down with five ticks remaining brought on Brad Chambers and the field goal team with a chance to break Bulldog hearts from the 18 yard-line. Coach Jim Donnan burned his two remaining timeouts in an attempt to ice the ever-experienced Chambers.

On the call, Larry Munson, in all his wisdom, grievously recognized the futility, saying, “He’s a senior, so he ain’t gonna think much about it.” Chambers stepped up calmly and knocked down the 35-yard field goal to give the Yellow Jackets their first victory against the Bulldogs in seven years. After a useless kick return fell inevitably short, the Jackets took to the midfield “G” to celebrate a huge victory. The win would be the first of three straight for the Jackets in the series, as Brent Key would leave Atlanta with a 3-1 record against their biggest rival. It was the first state championship three-peat for the Jackets since the early 60’s.

Both Key and Smart hold winning records in their playing days of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate, but a loss on Senior Day will stick with you forever. As Coach Key returns to Sanford Stadium for his first game in Athens as the full-time head coach of the Yellow Jackets, in a game that many contend could be the most interesting iteration in years, you can be sure that Kirby Smart remembers when he took off that red #16 jersey for the last time.

Photo Courtesy of UGAA.