Georgia-Georgia Tech 1999: One of the most memorable rivalry games of all time

Every rivalry has that one game, the one that, even amid a century of heated battles, stands out. It’s the one still spoken of, years later, in hushed, reverent tones. Or maybe it’s debated with righteous indignation on both sides. Either way, it’s remembered in vivid detail — by the players, the coaches and, especially, the fans.

In Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate — the epic rivalry between Georgia and Georgia Tech — that game came 25 years ago, and the final score — Georgia Tech 51, Georgia 48 — only begins to hint at the myriad twists and turns that made it one of the most memorable rivalry games of all time.

“That was one of the craziest football games that had a little bit of everything in it,” said former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “If you were just a fan, that would be one of the most entertaining games in the history of the world.”

The rivalry has petered out in recent years, as Georgia Tech’s current coach, Brent Key, said. He was an offensive lineman on that 1999 team, the last one, it turned out, to beat Georgia in Atlanta, and as the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets get set to renew Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate this week, his No. 1 goal is to make the rivalry matter again.

It’d be OK, though, if he could do it without quite as much stress as he endured back in ’99.

The game

Chris Young, former Georgia Tech safety: Back then, if we didn’t win that game, it felt like our season didn’t matter because, obviously, the whole state is red and black and only a few Yellow Jacket fans.

Roof: It was super intense. That game, it’s 365 days a year in that state. There’s not a week that goes by where somebody’s not talking about it.

Kirby Smart, current Georgia coach: It’s a huge game, it’s a rivalry game, it’s the end of the year, it’s inner state, it’s conference. You’re representing your state, your program and your conference.

Tony Barnhart, longtime SEC reporter: For people who don’t think the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry is intense, go back and watch that game and the way the game ended.

The stage was set for an epic. On one side was Heisman candidate Joe Hamilton, who’d led Georgia Tech to a controversial win at Sanford Stadium the year before. It was his senior day, and he wanted to go out in style. On the other sideline was a hotshot young QB for Georgia, Quincy Carter. The Bulldogs had opened the season 6-1, but had dropped two of three entering the Georgia Tech game and were desperate for a win.

Joe Hamilton, former Georgia Tech QB: It was my last game at Bobby Dodd. I was very emotional. Being a senior, a leader, I was the last one to get introduced. I remember running out beside [Georgia Tech mascot] Buzz, hyping the crowd up, and I remember running out to my mom and dad and telling them, “I’ve got something in store today. You’re going to see a great game. I am ready to play.”

George O’Leary, former Georgia Tech coach: Some guys have the “it” factor. Joe had it. He never saw a negative as not being a positive. He was always upbeat.

Key: It’s hard to put into context the belief we all had in him. We got in the huddle, we’d be down, and Joe would just say, “Hey boys, we’re going to score, and I’ll see y’all in Buckhead tonight.”

Hamilton: Quincy was the No. 1 quarterback [recruit] coming out in 1996. I was a year ahead of him and was at Georgia Tech already. I took Quincy on his visit when he came to Georgia Tech. He committed to Georgia Tech, and I’m like, “Oh my god, what did I do?” But he made a decision to play professional baseball [for three years] and never enrolled at Georgia Tech, which worked out for both of us.

Hamilton was electric, as Georgia Tech built a 41-24 lead late in the third quarter, but O’Leary knew it was only a matter of time before the Dawgs broke through.

O’Leary: They were a big football team and would sort of overpower us in some areas in the second half. We had to start moving the line a little and put more blitzes on we weren’t used to doing just to keep more heat on them. And they did a good job of taking care of what they needed to in the second half.

Jim Donnan, former Georgia coach: We were able to attack their linebackers a little bit and got more going with the running game. We ran a little more option.

Roof: It was like putting your fingers in a dike and another hole springs somewhere else.

The fumble

Georgia battled back to a 41-41 tie, a score the Dawgs would argue was already the result of bad officiating after Thad Parker was ruled out of bounds on an apparent touchdown catch on a drive that ultimately ended in a field goal. Still, Georgia had the ball late, driving deep into Georgia Tech territory with just seconds left on the clock and a chance to win the game. That’s when all hell broke loose. Rather than kick a potential game-winning field goal, Donnon ran one more play, handing off to Jasper Sanks, looking for a touchdown.

Donnan: We’d missed a field goal from real close the week before against Ole Miss. I just figured we had the power game going and we could run a little more clock.

Young: I thought they were going to kick it, and I was already pouting in my head.

Jasper Sanks, former Georgia tailback: Right before the play happened, I can remember Miles Luckie, our center, saying, “Hey, man, hold onto the ball.” As soon as he said that, the play happened.

Young: I had outside contain. They run the ball, and I saw old Jasper reach for it. When he reached, all I saw was that ball. That’s all I saw, and I snatched it. I think I blacked out, to be honest with you. And then I remember big Jonas [Jennings] grabbed me in the end zone. He grabbed me and swung me, and I just knew I had the ball. And then I ran and gave it to Coach O’Leary, and that was it. They should’ve kicked a field goal.

Key: You’re thinking, “Just make a mistake, make a mistake.” They’re pushing the ball, but you’re thinking, “Something’s going to happen. Something’s got to go our way.” We’d had too many things — that was a crazy year. Just hoping. And all of a sudden it does.

Roof: There was a big pile of humanity. I saw Chris pop up with the ball. The referees huddled up. They pointed that it was our ball, and it was a huge relief.

Hamilton: I remember sitting on the bench with my helmet off and all of a sudden, I hear a roar from the crowd. I didn’t think it was a fumble on the field, but you’ll laugh about this — the refs are always right. He absolutely fumbled the ball! Chris Young recovered it and sold it very, very well.

Kendrell Bell, former Georgia linebacker: He didn’t fumble, he was down. It was obvious. His butt was on the ground, and the guy knocked it out of his hands. Jasper was lying on his back and eating cookies when it came out. It’s no question, and there’s no doubt we were robbed.

Luke Manget, former Georgia Tech kicker: I’m going to say, yes, it was a fumble. I have to say that, right? It was before replay, and Chris Young took it out of his hands. Sure, it was a fumble.

Donnan: Nobody ever says anything about the guy getting tackled in the end zone and it should’ve been a safety. That’s not spilled milk. That’s reality.

Young: It was an SEC crew. Those are y’all’s refs.

O’Leary: It was a lot of shouting and screaming after that game. But it was SEC officials, and they made the right call. When you watch it real closely in slow motion on the film, it was a fumble.

Donnan: Officiating’s part of the game, and I’d never want to sit around saying sour grapes. I give [Georgia Tech] a lot of credit. The thing that people don’t talk about is the umpire who made the call was a University of Florida guy. Deep down, I don’t know — you’d never accuse anybody, but that makes it even worse to lose to Tech with a Florida guy making the call.

Sanks: It was just a bizarre play. It really was. I’ve always told myself at the end of the day, whether the ground caused it or not, I shouldn’t have allowed it to happen.

Young: The football gods were on our side. With replay these days, I don’t know if they’d have given us that ball. But you can’t change history.

The kicks

After Young’s fumble recovery, the game went to overtime, where Georgia got the ball first. Carter, who’d thrown for 345 yards in the game, was still furious over the fumble call at the end of regulation.

Carter: I was like, “Man, good Lord, we’re just getting robbed off our tails.” I just thought it was highway robbery. I did.

Hamilton: Coming to midfield for the coin toss after that controversial fumble in regulation, he’s yelling, “Joe, Joe, you know that’s B.S.” He’s talking to the refs, too. And I’m saying, “Hey Quincy, man, you better settle down. We’ve got overtime.” And he’s yelling, “Joe, you know, you know.”

O’Leary: I could hear him yelling, “Let’s go, Quincy! Let’s get it on!” And Quincy wasn’t too happy about it.

Donnan: You’ve got to go on to the next play. We were totally focused and had a good play, but Quincy decided to go deep on it when we really didn’t need to. It was a great defensive play. We were certainly frustrated, but that happens in games. You’ve got to react to it, and we reacted pretty well by blocking the kick.

Carter’s first throw of overtime was picked off by Marvious Hester, who’d had a critical fumble earlier in the game. That set up Georgia Tech to win it in overtime, but the offense stalled early, setting up a third-and-6 at the 21. O’Leary opted to go for the win then, sending his kicker onto the field on third down.

Wes Durham, former Georgia Tech broadcaster: It was an old Bobby Dodd trick. Bobby Dodd used to kick on third down all the time in case it got blocked.

Young: They didn’t kick the field goal [in regulation], so that’s why Coach O’Leary did it. We were just trying to get the game over with because Georgia — them jokers are good.

Bell: I tried to anticipate what angle he was trying to kick it at. I knew it wasn’t going to come straight up. I knew it had to come off fat a little bit. I figured if I could just get in the gap, and if I could jump high enough, I could tip it or something, and it happened.

Manget: I lined up, and Kendrell Bell got up and got a fingertip on it. It went straight up. I kind of jumped up to try and get it, but I got kind of cleaned out. The ball bounced around, and I looked around and George Godsey had fallen on it.

George Godsey, former Georgia Tech quarterback and holder: It was just my natural instincts. We knew it was third down, so we had another play if we recovered it.

O’Leary: Godsey was the holder and he recovered it and actually made up 7 or 8 yards receiving it.

Bell: Godsey jumped on it like a piece of meat.

Hamilton: George Godsey scooped it with his left hand. That was the play of my whole, entire college career. Think of all the touchdowns I threw or ran and all the great moments — but that’s the greatest play I’ve ever seen. What a genius is George O’Leary. He’s a genius.

Key: George is my best friend. He was one of my two best men at my wedding. But come on, don’t use “George Godsey” and “athletic” in the same sentence. But George has always been a smart football player, and he had the wherewithal to know what to do and pick it up and the rest is history.

Manget: I remember walking off the field because it didn’t even register that I could kick it again. I kind of had my head down and somebody said, “Hey, you’ve got to get back out there. You’ve got another chance.”

O’Leary: Georgia fans were yelling and screaming, but we did it on third down for a reason. That was the only time I ever kicked on third down. I didn’t want to get stuck having to worry about it.

The aftermath

Manget made the kick on fourth down, and Georgia Tech fans stormed the field in celebration. For the next 25 years, Georgia fans have argued the officials got it wrong — and, it should be noted, the crew was suspended by the SEC afterward — and Georgia Tech fans have steadfastly insisted Sanks fumbled.

Referee Al Ford, who headed up the SEC officiating crew, defended the call on Sanks’ fumble after the game, but later changed his mind. “I have seen the game and play since then, and at full-speed it’s close,” Ford told the AP in 1999. “It is a bang-bang play, but when you slow it down, no one I have heard or seen has said it would be a fumble. It isn’t a no-brainer though.” The game’s ending was one of the catalysts for use of instant replay in college football, which took effect nationally in 2005. Regardless of the accuracy of the call, however, the result stands. Perhaps in a bit of karma, however, the Yellow Jackets haven’t beaten their rivals at home since.

Stinchomb: We were robbed, absolutely. It certainly left a sour taste in all of our mouths. [Suspending the officials] is like giving me an apology letter the following week when you submit all the plays they missed. Doesn’t do you any good, doesn’t make you sleep better at night.

Donnan: You can always say “What if,” but from our standpoint, the commissioner called me, the supervisor of officials called me, the referee called me — but what can you do about it? It was one of the all-time blunders for sure, but we had our chances.

Young: I’ve got a lot of our friends who were Georgia Tech fans back when we were playing, but they’re all Georgia fans now. And they still give us crap about that. I talked to George Foster, Champ Bailey — we’re on a group chat because we were all in Denver together [with the Broncos]. George is like, “Didn’t happen, didn’t happen.” But I’ve still got the ball.

Carter: [Sanks] will still talk about it to this day. That game still hurts a lot of us. I don’t even go back to the fumble. I go back to the interception when I pulled a string on that wheel route to Randy McMichael. [Hester] picked that off in the corner. That’s what I go back to, just that one costly mistake. It still hurts to this day.

Sanks: After seeing the paper the day after, where they had photos of the play clip by clip, it was clear I was down. I like to tell people that play kind of jump started instant replay. Looking at it hindsight, it was awful. It stayed with me for a while.

Young: I hate it for Jasper Sanks. Obviously that’s going to be held over his head. But hey, your coach should’ve kicked the field goal.

Donnan: The other thing I’d give them credit for, the next year, Quincy didn’t play and they came here and did a tremendous job against us and deserved to win. They beat us handily. As much as I’d like to think we could have made up for it the next year, they really got after us.

Carter: I’ve got to live the rest of my life knowing that I lost to Georgia Tech three straight times. That still hurts to this day. Coming back home and playing in front of your family was just the biggest thrill, but losing that game still stings.

Young: Them suckers were big and talented. Little us at Georgia Tech, were just guys who were hungry and never gave up. And that’s because of Coach O’Leary. He put that in us.

Key: That’s one of the greatest rivalries in college football that’s fallen back out of the limelight — and rightfully so. It’s a rivalry, yeah. But is it a competitive rivalry if it’s not both teams being able to win the game? That’s what makes rivalries fun is competitiveness.

Godsey: That’s one of three goals of the season. The first goal is winning the conference, the second goal is beating Georgia, and then the third goal is winning your bowl game. It’s earmarked all season long. There is a lot of preparation that goes into that game, just with the short week and the holiday. But you never know which play can make the difference.

Hamilton: These days, with the way Georgia has owned the rivalry as of late — that was the last game Georgia Tech won at Bobby Dodd Stadium. It always comes up talking to Georgia fans. Y’all can talk about Georgia and this and that, but I always tell them I won my last two games, and I have the Governor’s Cup trophy to prove it.