GA Tech

Aniket Tank, editor-in-chief

Georgia Tech’s (GT) football team last beat the University of Georgia (UGA) in 2016, and since then, they have lost the rivalry game every year. In 2024 they came close; the game went into eight overtimes but ended with a UGA victory. This year Georgia Tech will beat UGA. 

The game in 2024 was the closest it's been in nearly a decade. It's safe to say that this year UGA fans will be a lot more worried about their team losing than last year. This season, Tech already upset Clemson 24 to 21, Duke 27 to 18 and are currently undefeated at the time print.  

Quarterback Haynes King and Head Coach Brent Key have built tech up to be more competitive on the national level. They focused on the basics and built connections with local high schools to improve recruiting.  

“Coach Key has put a lot of emphasis on keeping people loyal to the program,” says Georgia Tech student Wilson Fisher about why Georgia Tech is seeing this success. “It also helps that GT has continued to improve their record over the past few years, which makes more players look to them as a viable option for their collegiate career – in essence, a snowball effect.”  

This year's game is at Mercedes Benz Stadium, which in the past has been favorable for UGA. Since the game is taking place in neither Athens nor at Bobby Dodds Stadium, the crowd should be more neutral.  However, Mercedes Benz is in Atlanta, which is basically the Yellow Jacket’s backyard. 

It's hard to say who, if anyone, will feel a crowd advantage but either way it will be an exciting and competitive game. While UGA has the reputation for football, Georgia Tech cannot be overlooked especially after last year's game, and this year's historic performance. 

“We play extremely well when we are underdogs, which up to this point has been most of our games through my college career. I don't know if on paper we are better than UGA’s team, but we do have the determination and grit.” says Max Fleischer, a senior at Georgia Tech. 

Besides football, Georgia Tech is one of the best public universities in the country and in recent years has been considered a “public ivy.” Its engineering program is the best of any public university, only behind Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Caltech and Stanford, according to Niche. 

“[Georgia Tech] is better than UGA primarily because of its academics; having the reputation that it has, it draws a large number of the smartest kids in the country,” says Fisher. 

Georgia Tech is one of the fastest growing public colleges in the U.S. and is the top public research university according to their website, with over one billion dollars awarded for research. Despite its reputation and focus on STEM programs like engineering and computer science, Tech has a growing Liberal Arts program. 

“The STEM aspect often overshadows a really great liberal arts program – this contributes to a very well-rounded curriculum that caters to a huge audience,” says Fisher.  

The diversity in programs that Tech offers is why it is a better option than UGA; they balance sports, academics and campus life.