Throwback Dawg Day: The Other Teams From Tennessee

Welcome to Throwback Dawg Day, a glance back into Georgia’s history tying into this week’s matchup.

Saturday’s season opener against UT Martin will give the Dawgs a chance at three wins in a single season against teams from the state of Tennessee.

The Skyhawks’ nickname is fitting because their campus in west Tennessee would require a flight to quickly get from there to those of Georgia’s SEC foes, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Saturday won’t be the first time that the Bulldogs have played a school from Tennessee besides the Volunteers and Commodores. In fact, one of the program’s earliest opponents was way, way back in 1894 against Sewanee of which Georgia held a 5-7-1 all-time record against.

But two of the more notable Volunteer State opponents in recent years hold some significance. In 1982 and 1984, Georgia played Memphis State, winning in 1982 34-3 during what would be Herschel Walker’s Heisman season while winning again 13-3 in 1984.

Georgia, which also shutout Tennessee Tech 38-0 in 2009, played Middle Tennessee State in a pair of seasons that Georgia fans hope will have a similar result this year- a trip to the SEC Championship Game.

In 2018, Georgia easily handled the Blue Raiders 49-7. But the 2003 29-10 win was much more contentious, more so due to the context before kickoff.

A week earlier, Georgia’s depleted roster went across the river and dominated Clemson on national TV, ramping up expectations for Georgia to pick up where it left off against a lesser opponent in MTSU.

That didn’t happen. The Dawgs needed a Michael Cooper touchdown to lead 10-3 at the half, inching ahead 20-3 through three quarters on the way to the win.

The reason for the struggle was simple – Georgia committed a horrendous 18 penalties on the day, making it hard to put points up despite nearly 500 yards of offense.

Until next week…

Go Dawgs!