There was a time in the 1980s when the annual Georgia-Clemson game was one of college football’s most important battles of the season, and the passionate fan bases of these two proud programs knew every year that it was certain to be a tension-filled, tightly contested clash often coming down to the final seconds.

When Georgia and Clemson played annually, it was a great rivalry. From Georgia’s standpoint, the Tigers were right up there with the Jackets, Florida and Auburn. For Clemson, the Dogs were second only to South Carolina.

The two campuses are just 75 miles apart, Tigertown is located just past the Georgia/South Carolina state line. In fact, Lake Hartwell, where you pass between the two states when traveling on Interstate 85 is visible from the upper deck of Clemson Memorial Stadium, aka Death Valley. There is great familiarity amongst the fan bases and there is a long list of recruiting battles every bit as intense as the actual games on the gridiron. Hey, Clemson has won three national championships. A quarterback from the state of Georgia was the starter for all three titles: Homer Jordan of Athens in 1981, Deshaun Watson from Gainesville in 2016, and Cartersville’s Trevor Lawrence two seasons later in 2016.

When conference schedules expanded and then leagues themselves grew, this once grand rivalry vanished. The two last played annually in 1987, the second of two straight dagger David Treadwell field goals to rip the Dogs hearts out. In 1988, the Southeastern Conference went from six to seven league games. So Georgia, which annually played the Jackets, Clemson and South Carolina, then rotated home and home series with the Tigers and Gamecocks. Georgia played South Carolina in 1988 and 1989, then Clemson in 1990 and 1991 – a tremendous victory under the lights of Sanford Stadium. When South Carolina and Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992, and eight league games were scheduled, that led to the end of Georgia-Clemson after the Bulldogs won back-to-back meetings in 1994 and 1995. At that point, both programs were in dark places, mired in mediocrity, a far cry from the shared glory days a decade prior.

The rivalry hit its greatest heights in 1982, with both teams sitting atop the college football mountaintop, as the 1980 National Champion Bulldogs battled the 1981 National Champion Tigers in a made-for-TV Labor Day night under newly installed temporary lights at Sanford Stadium. The game was originally scheduled to be played two weeks later, but this was too good for TV to wait.

En route to the 1980 title, Georgia edged the Tigers 20-16 in Athens, as All-American Scott Woerner had his greatest day as a Dawg. Woerner returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown, and then took an interception back 98 yards to set up the Bulldogs second TD. At that point, Georgia led 14-3. Clemson had run 34 plays. Georgia had run five. Frank Ros and Jeff Hipp, a pair of South Carolina natives, teamed up for the game saving deflection and interception. It was a massive step towards a perfect 12-0 masterpiece.

The next year, Clemson beat Georgia 13-3 in Death Valley, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over nine times – NINE – and only lost by 10 on the road at the national champs. It was Clemson’s biggest win, and the lone regular season loss for Georgia and Herschel Walker between 1980 and 1982. Of course I was there. It was the first Georgia football game I ever attended. I was nine. I cried. My great uncle played football at Clemson in the 1950s, and I had aunts and uncles who were massive Clemson fans and season ticket holders. My Aunt Sarah always let us come and use her tickets when Georgia and the Tigers played in Clemson.

As a side note in 1981, at the end of the regular season, Georgia was 10-1, ranked second, and locked into the Sugar Bowl as SEC champions. Clemson was 11-0, and in the top spot. The ACC did not have a bowl tie-in. There should’ve been a rematch. But Clemson went to the Orange Bowl and Georgia got beat by Dan Marino and Pitt on a last second touchdown. I was crying again. The deal was, had Georgia won, and had Clemson lost to Nebraska in Miami, it would’ve been a second straight national championship. After Marino sent me to tears, I was back crying in my room. The Sugar and Orange Bowls used to be played at the same time. My dad, in an attempt to console me, ducked back in my room to tell me that if it made me feel better, Clemson had beaten the Cornhuskers, so even if we had won, we wouldn’t have been national champions, I think I cryingly said, “I don’t care, it still hurts.”

I’ve always felt if there had been a rematch, Georgia would have won a second straight national championship.

Round three of the Early 80s Classics would have to wait for that fateful night in 1982, with the whole nation watching. Adding to the intrigue, Herschel Walker was injured, his broken thumb guarded in a protective cast. The Bulldogs found a way that night, clipping Clemson 13-7 en route to a perfect regular season and third straight SEC title. Four and a half days later, Georgia beat Steve Young and Brigham Young 17-14, with my Bulldog Brunch co-host Kevin Butler giving the Dogs the lead in the rain with the clock winding down. That was my first ever game I got to attend Between the Hedges.

I was in Death Valley again in 1983. The two fought to a 16-16 tie. Both would go 9-1-1 in the regular season, with Georgia beating Texas in the Cotton Bowl to finish 10-1-1 and in the top five for a second straight year. Clemson was on probation and didn’t go bowling. Georgia fans were not fond of Danny Ford.

Butler’s iconic field goal of 60 yards triumphantly lifted Georgia over Clemson 26-23 in 1984 (though Clemson had a long return that thank goodness ran out the final 11 seconds – Georgia had to kick off from the 25 due to the celebration penalty for Butler’s herculean boot).

Georgia pulled one out over there in 1985. I was there. Then Treadwell pierced our hearts. I was there for both of those too. Major ouch time for this then-teenager.

Saturday’s showdown is the back-end of a two game neutral site deal that began in 2021 in Charlotte. Since 1995, Georgia and Clemson played home and home in 2002-2003, and 2013-2014.

Perhaps it’s fitting that two of Georgia’s greatest teams broke droughts that dated back to the early 1980s with season opening victories over the Tigers. The Bulldogs of 2002 took a 31-28 thriller and went on to win the program’s first SEC title since 1982.

Chris Smith had the big play, a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Dogs 10-3 victory over Clemson in Charlotte to kick off the 2021 season, a campaign that would end with Georgia winning the national championship for the first time since 1980.

Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney have both led their programs to two national championships, and both believe their teams can be back in Mercedes Benz Stadium on January 20 to play for the national championship. Georgia and Clemson are elite, dreaming big.

It feels quite familiar. And I sure am glad these two old foes are playing again.

In my lifetime, I’ve come to know a few things when the Dogs and Tigers play: It’s usually close, legends shine when these two square off, and some of Georgia’s finest teams have taken significant steps to glory with triumphs over the Tigers.