When I arrived in Athens as a freshman in 1956, Georgia football was mired in a depression brought on by losing seasons and seven consecutive losses to Georgia Tech. The streak would become eight that fall Between the Hedges when Tech defeated the Bulldogs 35-0.

    UGA had reached its nadir. There was no hope—just cursing, carping, and “gnashing of teeth.” Even Dan Magill, the ultimate loyalist, didn’t know what to say.

    If a football program needed to pull itself up by its bootstraps, it was Georgia. There were few positives. The program was awash in red ink. Attendance never brought about any smiley faces even though the Bulldogs competed in the prettiest stadium in the country.

    I went to the spring game in 1957 and enjoyed watching the headliners —Theron Sapp, Nat Dye, Cicero Lucas, George Whitton, Jimmy Orr —without any inkling that they would bring about a new day for the Bulldogs on Nov. 30 at Grant Field.

    The drought would end when Sapp scored from a yard out late in the game to defeat the Yellow Jackets, 7-0. It brought a classic celebration across the state that seemed it might never end.

    From that memorable victory, the Bulldogs would enjoy a four-year win streak to usher Butts into retirement. He went out in fine style after suffering through the leanest of years, although he would become entrenched in controversy in his final days. His heyday in the 40s was very productive, but the 50s were not kind to him.

    It has been a different story since that era, with Georgia having the upper hand. In that period, the Bulldogs have been dominant, holding a 48-17 record in the series. During this period, the Bulldogs have won almost 75% of the time. While Tech had that eight-year streak, there have been two seven-year streaks for the Red and Black.

    This rivalry has been best described by the late Bill Cromartie, who authored the book, “Clean Old-Fashioned Hate.” It is a hard-fought rivalry but it has been classy for the most part.

    Nothing like Alabama-Auburn where you are expected to state whom you are for when you settle down in “Yellowhammer” state. You can’t be neutral. You must declare that you are for one school or the other.

    Perhaps, one of the most bitter rivalries in the SEC is the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry. There have been forgettable incidents, which have marred this rivalry over the years.

    One of the most colorful rivalries has been Clemson and South Carolina. I remember two of the most notable back when this game was played on Thursday of the state fair week at Columbia and commonly known as “Big Thursday.” One had to do with a guy walking, ground level, in front of the Gamecock section in the stands. He had a chicken held aloft which caused a great stir among the Carolina fans.

    Suddenly, the man with the chicken proceeded to wring the neck of the chicken and toss it to the South Carolina fans. A real donnybrook took place afterwards.

    Another time, as the stadium was filling up, a team, purporting to be Clemson, took the field and a character who was a Frank Howard look-a-like with his hat pulled down low on his head. The team went through warmups and had everybody fooled until the Clemson band began playing “the twist.” The players then paired off and began twisting. That brought about another donnybrook.

    One of the most famous incidents in Georgia’s rivalry with Tech, according to Magill, came about in the early 50s. A feature in the Tech halftime show one year was a guy who had a model airplane painted in Tech colors, go through a series of stunts including the buzzing of a bulldog.

    After the plane went through its acrobatic maneuvers, much to the delight of the Tech http://supporters.It was brought to an impressive landing, which stimulated robust cheering from the visitors.

    Lurking on the sideline was a colorful and passionate Bulldog fan, named Howard Moss. He sprinted out to where the Tech model airplane made its impressive landing. He then stomped the model airplane to pieces, much to the delight of home team fans.

    A couple of Tech partisans raced to confront Howard, but he dashed into a phalanx of state troopers, most of them Bulldog aficionados, where he found a safe haven.