Georgia and Alabama met for the first time in 1895 in Columbus with the Bulldogs dominating the boys from the banks of the Black Warrior River, 30-6.

Following that game, the two teams continued competition but early games were played in Montgomery, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. They didn’t play in Athens until 1935.

Some of that likely had to do with the fact that Georgia played its home games at its baseball stadium which likely meant there were bigger stadiums in our sister state to the west, especially in Birmingham, which meant more tickets could be sold. A few hundred dollars made a difference in those austere times.

At any rate, by the time Alabama journeyed to Athens for the first time, Sanford Stadium was not only the class of the Southeast, but it was also the prettiest. Over the years, Sanford and the hedges have constantly maintained that status.

There have been many thrilling encounters in the series in which Alabama leads 43-26-4. The first time I witnessed a Bulldog outing with the Tide was in 1957. I was a sophomore at Georgia, and the Bulldogs were coming off a 33-14 victory over Kentucky in Lexington, and none of us living in Payne Hall, the athletic dorm of the day, had any idea who the Alabama quarterback was, Bart Starr having recently graduated and the working with Vince Lombardi to bring glory to the Green Bay Packers.

The ’57 game with Alabama turned out to be a forgettable contest in a forgettable season which had the happiest of endings (Georgia would break the drought against Georgia Tech in Atlanta two days following Thanksgiving. 7-0”. A big end (not sure if Willie Beck played right end or left end, this being the days before split end and tight end terminology), but he broke Bulldog hearts by catching a touchdown pass to bring about a 14-13 victory for the visitors. The Atlanta newspapers made a big deal out of that touchdown in that Beck was from Hahira, a flourishing tobacco community hard by I-75, sixteen miles north of Valdosta. Coaching Alabama that afternoon was J. B. Whitworth, who would give way to Bear Bryant. Whitworth would surface in Athens again when he rejoined Butts for the serendipitous 1959 season.

One of the hidden gems of past games between the two schools came in 1912 with Georgia eclipsing Bama in Columbus, 13-9. In this era, there were frequent bouts of chicanery, at which UGA’s Alex Cunningham was expert. He pulled off a good one, which may have been one of the slickest “sleeper” plays of all time.

Early on in this game, Cunningham had a Georgia player walk down the sidelines in street clothes with a water bucket, purporting to be a manager. Suddenly, he dropped the water bucket and ran on the field to catch a long pass.

A genuine and classic donnybrook erupted. An hour went by before order was restored. It went beyond fan involvement when the Alabama athletic director implored UGA professor John Morris, standing in for Georgia AD, Steadman Sanford, in the name of sportsmanship to ask Coach Cunningham to recall the play. According to historian John Stegeman, Morris refused. “He was flattened by the Alabama AD,” Stegeman wrote.

“On the first play,” Stegeman said, “Bob McWhorter (Georgia’s great halfback and the Bulldogs first All-American), perhaps conscience stricken, fumbled the ball to Alabama. Thereafter the boys of both teams concentrated on true football, with Georgia winning a thriller 13-9.”

In the 40s, there were two memorable matchups between the schools, one in 1942 and then again in 1946. In the Rose Bowl year of ’42, World War II was intensifying. Georgia played Alabama at Grant Field, a decision that was supposed to enhance fan participation with wartime gas rationing firmly entrenched.

The Bulldogs prevailed 21-10, featuring two Youngstown, Ohio, boys—tailback Frank Sinkwich and end George Poschner, who provided the heroics. Northern sportswriters covering the game were overwhelmed by a couple of acrobatic pass receptions by Poschner which spearheaded his being named All-America at season’s end.

Frank Sinkwich, who would win the Heisman Trophy that season, provided an insight into the game when he told Stegeman, that late in the 3rd quarter with Georgia trailing, somebody said, “Wouldn’t Tommy Witt be proud of us now?” Witt was a former teammate who became an Air Force pilot and lost his life in a bombing mission in North Africa. With that, the team caught fire with a new incentive and dominated No. 3 ranked Alabama. The Bulldogs not only won the game, but victory propelled the Bulldogs to the Rose Bowl and the national championship.

In 1946, the nation was pretty much back to normal, following the war. College football was over-the-top popular and fan interest was at an all-time high.

Alabama came to the hedges with their heralded halfback Harry Gilmer. This brought about a matchup of two of the best left halfbacks in college football. Most teams had adopted the T-formation by that time and they all put their best back at the left halfback position which was perfect for players like Charley Trippi and Gilmer. Trippi had a memorable game, leading Georgia to a 14-0 victory. Gilmer did not complete a single pass on the afternoon.

Trippi and Gilmer went on to star in the NFL while their alma maters fell on hard times until Bear Brayant became the Tide’s coach in 1958 and Vince Dooley took over at Georgia in 1964.

Vince’s upstart team in 1965 led by George Patton and the flea flicker triumvirate—Kirby Moore, Pat Hodgson and Bob Taylor—conspired to upset Bama 18-17, which remains one of the most memorable performances in UGA gridiron history.

Perhaps the high point of the rivalry came in Indianapolis, January 10, 2022, when the two teams played for the national championship. In a hard-fought battle, which has become traditional when the two teams meet, Georgia was the stronger, more dominant team in the second half to come away with a 33-18 victory and Kirby Smart’s first national championship.

Aside from playoffs the two teams have never been ranked so high when they have met …that changes on Saturday night …No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama.

Georgia and Alabama met for the first time in 1895 in Columbus with the Bulldogs dominating the boys from the banks of the Black Warrior River, 30-6.

Following that game, the two teams continued competition but early games were played in Montgomery, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. They didn’t play in Athens until 1935.

Some of that likely had to do with the fact that Georgia played its home games at its baseball stadium which likely meant there were bigger stadiums in our sister state to the west, especially in Birmingham, which meant more tickets could be sold. A few hundred dollars made a difference in those austere times.

At any rate, by the time Alabama journeyed to Athens for the first time, Sanford Stadium was not only the class of the Southeast, but it was also the prettiest. Over the years, Sanford and the hedges have constantly maintained that status.

There have been many thrilling encounters in the series in which Alabama leads 43-26-4. The first time I witnessed a Bulldog outing with the Tide was in 1957. I was a sophomore at Georgia, and the Bulldogs were coming off a 33-14 victory over Kentucky in Lexington, and none of us living in Payne Hall, the athletic dorm of the day, had any idea who the Alabama quarterback was, Bart Starr having recently graduated and the working with Vince Lombardi to bring glory to the Green Bay Packers.

The ’57 game with Alabama turned out to be a forgettable contest in a forgettable season which had the happiest of endings (Georgia would break the drought against Georgia Tech in Atlanta two days following Thanksgiving. 7-0”. A big end (not sure if Willie Beck played right end or left end, this being the days before split end and tight end terminology), but he broke Bulldog hearts by catching a touchdown pass to bring about a 14-13 victory for the visitors. The Atlanta newspapers made a big deal out of that touchdown in that Beck was from Hahira, a flourishing tobacco community hard by I-75, sixteen miles north of Valdosta. Coaching Alabama that afternoon was J. B. Whitworth, who would give way to Bear Bryant. Whitworth would surface in Athens again when he rejoined Butts for the serendipitous 1959 season.

One of the hidden gems of past games between the two schools came in 1912 with Georgia eclipsing Bama in Columbus, 13-9. In this era, there were frequent bouts of chicanery, at which UGA’s Alex Cunningham was expert. He pulled off a good one, which may have been one of the slickest “sleeper” plays of all time.

Early on in this game, Cunningham had a Georgia player walk down the sidelines in street clothes with a water bucket, purporting to be a manager. Suddenly, he dropped the water bucket and ran on the field to catch a long pass.

A genuine and classic donnybrook erupted. An hour went by before order was restored. It went beyond fan involvement when the Alabama athletic director implored UGA professor John Morris, standing in for Georgia AD, Steadman Sanford, in the name of sportsmanship to ask Coach Cunningham to recall the play. According to historian John Stegeman, Morris refused. “He was flattened by the Alabama AD,” Stegeman wrote.

“On the first play,” Stegeman said, “Bob McWhorter (Georgia’s great halfback and the Bulldogs first All-American), perhaps conscience stricken, fumbled the ball to Alabama. Thereafter the boys of both teams concentrated on true football, with Georgia winning a thriller 13-9.”

In the 40s, there were two memorable matchups between the schools, one in 1942 and then again in 1946. In the Rose Bowl year of ’42, World War II was intensifying. Georgia played Alabama at Grant Field, a decision that was supposed to enhance fan participation with wartime gas rationing firmly entrenched.

The Bulldogs prevailed 21-10, featuring two Youngstown, Ohio, boys—tailback Frank Sinkwich and end George Poschner, who provided the heroics. Northern sportswriters covering the game were overwhelmed by a couple of acrobatic pass receptions by Poschner which spearheaded his being named All-America at season’s end.

Frank Sinkwich, who would win the Heisman Trophy that season, provided an insight into the game when he told Stegeman, that late in the 3rd quarter with Georgia trailing, somebody said, “Wouldn’t Tommy Witt be proud of us now?” Witt was a former teammate who became an Air Force pilot and lost his life in a bombing mission in North Africa. With that, the team caught fire with a new incentive and dominated No. 3 ranked Alabama. The Bulldogs not only won the game, but victory propelled the Bulldogs to the Rose Bowl and the national championship.

In 1946, the nation was pretty much back to normal, following the war. College football was over-the-top popular and fan interest was at an all-time high.

Alabama came to the hedges with their heralded halfback Harry Gilmer. This brought about a matchup of two of the best left halfbacks in college football. Most teams had adopted the T-formation by that time and they all put their best back at the left halfback position which was perfect for players like Charley Trippi and Gilmer. Trippi had a memorable game, leading Georgia to a 14-0 victory. Gilmer did not complete a single pass on the afternoon.

Trippi and Gilmer went on to star in the NFL while their alma maters fell on hard times until Bear Brayant became the Tide’s coach in 1958 and Vince Dooley took over at Georgia in 1964.

Vince’s upstart team in 1965 led by George Patton and the flea flicker triumvirate—Kirby Moore, Pat Hodgson and Bob Taylor—conspired to upset Bama 18-17, which remains one of the most memorable performances in UGA gridiron history.

Perhaps the high point of the rivalry came in Indianapolis, January 10, 2022, when the two teams played for the national championship. In a hard-fought battle, which has become traditional when the two teams meet, Georgia was the stronger, more dominant team in the second half to come away with a 33-18 victory and Kirby Smart’s first national championship.

Aside from playoffs the two teams have never been ranked so high when they have met …that changes on Saturday night …No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama.