Brent Key’s latest comments, game time change adds a lot of fire to the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry

Most Georgia fans probably don’t remember how this year’s Georgia Tech game ended. The Bulldogs came away with a 31-23 victory and quickly turned the page on Alabama and the SEC Championship Game.

But Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key remembers clearly how the game ended.

“Three minutes and 31 seconds with three breaks left, we’re down eight,” Key said while speaking at a Georgia Tech Alumni Association event. “Muff punt, (Georgia) gets to third-and-3, they run a layup to the boundary. (Linebacker) Kyle Efford is about two inches away from making the tackle.

“I think about it every day. (Efford) thinks about it every day. We talk about it every day.”

Key also made it clear how much he hates Georgia. He does it every day.

The rivalry clearly means a lot to the Georgia Tech head coach. We know it happens to Kirby Smart too. His last game at Sanford Stadium as a player was upset by Georgia Tech in 1998. Key was a member of that team as he went 3-2 as a player against Georgia.

“I know for sure coach (Smart) would be upset if I don’t put Georgia Tech first. Georgia Tech is definitely first,” former Georgia linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said in the 2023 season. “I think Auburn is probably second. Georgia Tech has to be first.”

We’ll learn a lot this year about how much this rivalry means to Georgia fans. Key and Georgia Tech clearly have no problem ignoring the “Beware of Dog” signs when it comes to this rivalry.

Key is 0-2 against Georgia since taking over for Geoff Collins, but the games, to Key’s credit, have been much closer than most expected. The Bulldogs held just a 10-7 halftime lead in the 2022 game before topping Georgia Tech last season.

While the final score in both games doesn’t indicate how close the contest actually was, it’s a reflection that Georgia Tech is at least closing the gap. The Yellow Jackets made a bowl game for the first time since 2018 last season.

There was a bit of cross-pollination in the rivalry as well. Before the 2023 season, Key hired Georgia analyst Buster Faulkner to be the team’s offensive coordinator. The Yellow Jackets have also added four Georgia transfers in the past two years, with linebacker EJ Lightsey and tight ends Ryland Goede and Brett Seither all committing to Georgia Tech this season.

Georgia responded this offseason by hiring former Georgia Tech wide receivers coach Josh Crawford to be the new running backs coach. He replaces Dell McGee, who is now the head coach at Georgia State.

Key’s recent comments about his hatred of Georgia will put clean, old fashioned hatred in the spotlight. It’s rare for a coach these days to publicly show this kind of displeasure with one of his rivals.

With this year’s game being played on Black Friday, it will have a different feel. The game will no longer drop at noon on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The hope is that the prime-time kickoff will destroy the normal sleepiness that accompanies this rivalry game.

Georgia Tech last beat Georgia in 2016. Only the 2023 game was a one-score game. Never mind that Smart has only lost to Auburn since becoming Georgia’s head coach, or that Georgia Tech has a more recent win against Georgia than Tennessee.

While the football rivalry hasn’t always been competitive, we only have to look at baseball’s recent win over Georgia Tech to see how passionate both sides of this rivalry can be when properly invested.

Key clearly hopes to get his first win against Georgia in 2024. Hate can be a powerful motivator, even if it’s not entirely healthy. We’ll find out on November 29 how much Georgia noticed Key’s comments.