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Georgia-Georgia Tech game heading to home of NFL's Falcons in 2025

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Georgia-Georgia Tech game heading to home of NFL's Falcons in 2025


ATLANTA (AP) — Looking to boost revenue, Georgia Tech is shifting its game next season against rival Georgia to the home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

The annual contest, which normally rotates between campus stadiums, will be held at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov. 29, 2025.

Georgia Tech will receive $10 million from stadium operator AMB Sports and Entertainment to move the game from its campus facility, 51,913-seat Bobby Dodd Stadium, located less than 2 miles away.

It will be the first time since Bobby Dodd Stadium opened in 1913 that the rivalry known as “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” hasn’t been played at a campus site. Georgia’s Sanford Stadium opened in 1929, and the game has rotated annually between those two facilities ever since.

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The game next year will end that tradition.

“We know that some of you may be apprehensive that Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate will be played off-campus,” Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt wrote in a letter to fans. “Please know that we understand that concern and know that this was not a decision that was made lightly.”

Georgia Tech has a contract to play one home game a year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium through 2026, though the Georgia game was not part of the initial deal.

Batt said the revamped contract was too good to pass up in the NIL era, which has forced schools to aggressively pursue additional revenue. Georgia Tech recently announced a $500 million fundraising campaign for the renovation of its historic football stadium as well as other campus projects.

“As part of the new agreement, AMBSE will provide us with a $10 million guarantee just to play the 2025 Georgia Tech-Georgia game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a transformative revenue lift for Tech athletics,” Batt said.

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While considered a Georgia Tech home game, the Georgia contest will not be part of the Yellow Jackets season-ticket package. Batt said his school’s fans would receive priority in purchasing tickets, but the Bulldogs’ far larger fan base is likely to turn the game into a de facto home game for the red and black.

“Playing Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be limited to 2025,” Batt pointed out. “The Georgia Tech-Georgia game will return to a renovated Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2027.”

Georgia has plenty of familiarity with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is the site of the Southeastern Conference championship game each year. The Bulldogs also opened this season with a 34-3 victory over Clemson in Atlanta.

“We always enjoy playing in a first-class venue like Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “This move will only enhance the long-standing tradition of the Georgia-Georgia Tech game and will provide another outstanding event for our fans.”

This year’s Georgia-Georgia Tech game will be played at Sanford Stadium on Nov. 29, the Friday night after Thanksgiving.

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The Bulldogs, ranked No. 5 heading into a game Saturday at No. 1 Texas, have dominated the state rivalry since the mid-1960s. They currently have a six-game winning streak over Georgia Tech and a 71-41-5 lead in the series.

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Georgia

Suspended Georgia OL Marques Easley arrested following car crash

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Suspended Georgia OL Marques Easley arrested following car crash


Suspended Georgia offensive lineman Marques Easley was arrested on Friday in Oconee County after he crashed his car into an apartment complex in Watkinsville on Monday.

Easley was booked at 4:35 p.m. ET on Friday and released at 5:04 p.m. on a $1,000 bond, per an online booking report. Easley was charged with three counts of reckless conduct, a misdemeanor, and one count of reckless driving.

Georgia announced that Easley and wide receiver Nitro Tuggle were suspended indefinitely earlier this week. Tuggle’s suspension was due to a separate incident after he had been arrested on speeding and reckless driving charges, both of which are misdemeanors.

Easley’s crash took place just after 10 p.m. on March 17. According to the incident report, Easley’s car, a 2021 Dodge Challenger was traveling west on Redwood Lane in a “reckless disregard.” His car lost control with the back end twisting clockwise, leaving the roadway. Easley’s vehicle first struck a power box. Easley’s car next hit the driver’s side of Easley’s car hit the passenger side of the Hyundai Elantra and then struck the Mercedes-Benz CLA. The driver’s side of the Hyundai struck the passenger side of the Mercedes.

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The Georgia offensive lineman told officers that he was traveling around 25 to 30 miles per hour but an investigation into the crash determined that Easley’s account was inaccurate. Per the incident report, tire marks and evidence suggest that Easley was “laying drag.”

“The investigating troopers found this to be an inaccurate account of (what) happened due to the amount of damage from the crash and the fact that (the Dodge Challenger) had tire marks going back an estimated 200 feet,” the report stated.

Easley is a redshirt freshman from Peoria, Ill. He signed as a member of Georgia’s 2024 signing class and appeared in two games last season.

Easley was taken to Piedmont Athens Regional due to the accident. Details of his injuries were not listed in the crash report. A second Georgia player — redshirt freshman cornerback Ondre Evans — was listed on the crash report among the six occupants involved. Evans was not taken to the hospital.

This is the second arrest of the offseason for Georgia, with Tuggle’s being the first. In total, there have now been 32 incidents involving a Georgia football player or staff member who has been charged with speeding, racing, reckless driving or reckless conduct dating back to the Jan. 15, 2023 death of football player Devin Willock and support staffer Chandler LeCroy in a car crash.

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Illegal immigrant released by Biden admin charged with killing Georgia grandmother in random attack

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Illegal immigrant released by Biden admin charged with killing Georgia grandmother in random attack


A murder suspect accused of strangling a Georgia mother of five in a random attack last week is a Honduran illegal immigrant who was caught and released at the southern border by the Biden administration in March 2021, Fox News has learned. 

David Hector Rivas-Sagastume, 21, has also been the subject of a deportation order since July 2023, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said. 

Rivas-Sagastume is charged with capital murder in the death of Camilla Williams, a 52-year-old mother of five and grandmother. Her body was found dumped in a wooded area, authorities said. 

Williams’ family told local media outlets that she said a man had been following her in the days before she was killed. Authorities have not determined the suspect’s connection to Williams. 

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An arrest warrant states that Rivas-Sagastume assaulted Williams of Marietta, placing her in a chokehold, causing her to lose consciousness sometime between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. on March 12, Fox Atlanta reported.

Once unconscious, Rivas-Sagastume allegedly told police he put both knees and his full body weight on her neck, leading to her death.

David Hector Rivas-Sagastume, 21, was charged with capital murder in the March 12 death of Camilla Williams. Cobb County Police Department

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Rivas-Sagastume entered the United States illegally on March 17, 2021, and was arrested by the US Border Patrol. 

“He was issued a notice to appear and paroled into the country by the previous administration,” the statement said. “A judge ordered him removed on July 11, 2023. On March 18, 2025, he was arrested by the Cobb County Police Department for capital murder and other crimes.”

“ICE has lodged an immigration detainer with the Cobb County Jail. President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow criminal illegal aliens—including accused murderers—to be loose on America’s streets.”

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Camilia Williams, a 52-year-old mother of five and grandmother was found dumped in a wooded area.
Camilla Williams, a 52-year-old mother of five and grandmother was found dumped in a wooded area. Atlanta News First/YouTube

Rivas-Sagastume is being held on no bond, according to jail records.

Williams’ killing has drawn parallels to the murder of Laken Riley, who was also murdered in Georgia by an illegal immigrant who was caught and released by border authorities.

He was later convicted of Riley’s murder.

Riley’s body was also left in the woods. 



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Governor gets wish for 2025 Legislature as bill to limit lawsuit damage awards awaits his signature

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Governor gets wish for 2025 Legislature as bill to limit lawsuit damage awards awaits his signature


It’s official: Legislation to intended limit damages Georgia juries can award is heading to the governor’s desk. Kemp’s legislative white whale, which will overhaul the way Georgia’s civil litigation system functions and make it harder to prevail in lawsuits against negligent businesses, passed in a 34-21 vote Friday afternoon. The bill was forced to return […]



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