LSU and Georgia Tech Have Long Gridiron History

BATON ROUGE -- There was a time when football games between LSU and Georgia Tech were common occurrences as both the Tigers and Yellow Jackets were charter members of the Southeastern Conference when the league was formed back in 1933.

LSU and Georgia Tech have met on the gridiron a total of 18 times, however just one of those games ? the 2000 Chick-fil-A Bowl ? has come since Georgia Tech left the SEC back in June of 1964.

As members of the SEC, LSU routinely faced Georgia Tech in conference games as the squads met a total of 14 times over the 31 seasons in which the Yellow Jackets were part of the conference.

In those 14 SEC games between the teams, Georgia Tech won nine compared to just five victories for the Tigers. However, of LSU?s five SEC wins over Georgia Tech, all but one came when the Yellow Jackets were ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation.

An unranked and 1-1 LSU team used a 10-0 victory over Georgia Tech as a springboard to the SEC title that year. The win over the Yellow Jackets was the second of 10 straight wins for LSU as the Tigers closed the year with a 10-1 overall mark and a perfect 6-0 league record.

A year later in 1962, rookie LSU coach Charles McClendon recorded his first win over a ranked opponent when the Tigers upset No. 5 Georgia Tech, 10-7, at Grant Field in Atlanta.

LSU standout Jerry Stovall returned the opening kickoff of the second half 98-yards to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead over No. 5 Georgia Tech in the game in 1962. The Yellow Jackets tied the contest at 7-7 with just over nine minutes left. Lynn Amedee?s 24-yard field goal with just over four minutes left in the contest gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead as LSU went on to upset the Yellow Jackets for a second straight year.

A sold out Tiger Stadium crowd of 68,000 welcomed Georgia Tech to Baton Rouge in 1963 in what would be the last regular season meeting between the teams. The Tigers, again unranked, got all the scoring they would need in a 7-6 win over the seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets on a 4-yard TD run by Pat Screen in the first quarter.

LSU?s defense limited Georgia Tech to just a pair of field goals, both coming in the second quarter, as the Tigers knocked off the Yellow Jackets for the third straight year.

In years following its 7-6 win over Georgia Tech in 1962, which was LSU?s only victory over a ranked opponent that year, the Tigers went on a run, winning at least eight games in eight of the next 10 seasons.

The schools went nearly 37 seasons before meeting again on the football field when the teams were paired in the 2000 Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. LSU, behind first-year coach Nick Saban, used a second half rally to knock off the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets, 28-14.

Down 14-3 at halftime in its game against Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Saban looked to backup quarterback Rohan Davey to provide a spark for the Tigers. He didn?t disappoint as the junior threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns, all in the second half to lead the Tigers to the win.

That bowl win over Georgia Tech in 2000, which came just one season removed from a 3-8 record for the Tigers, served as a signature win for LSU at the time as gave the rest of the nation a reason to take notice at the turnaround taking place in Baton Rouge. A year following its win over Georgia Tech, the Tigers won the SEC title and then beat Illinois in the Sugar Bowl to establish itself as a team to be reckoned with in years to come.

Since that win over Georgia Tech back in 2000, the Tigers have claimed a pair of national titles and won three SEC championships on its way to becoming one of the winningest programs in college football this decade.

The Tigers will close out one of the best four-year runs in the history of the program on Dec. 31 when LSU faces No. 14 Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. Just like in the previous four games between the teams, all LSU wins, the Tigers go into the game unranked while the Yellow Jackets are ranked in the top 10 and bring a 9-3 record into the contest.

The following is a game-by-game look at the LSU-Georgia Tech series:

Date Results Site Oct. 22, 1915 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 36-7 at New Orleans Nov. 8, 1924 Georgia Tech def, LSU, 28-7 at Atlanta Nov. 12, 1927 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 23-0 at Atlanta Nov. 6, 1943 Georgia Tech def. #20 LSU,42-7 at Atlanta Nov. 18, 1944 #9 Georgia Tech def. LSU,14-6 at Baton Rouge Nov. 17, 1945 LSU def. Georgia Tech, 9-7 at Atlanta Oct. 19, 1946 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 26-7 at Baton Rouge Oct. 14, 1950 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 13-0 at Baton Rouge Oct. 13, 1951 #8 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 25-7 at Atlanta Oct. 16, 1954 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 30-20 at Atlanta Oct. 8, 1955 #4 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 7-0 at Baton Rouge Oct. 13, 1956 #3 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 39-7 at Atlanta Oct, 12, 1957 LSU def. #17 Georgia Tech, 20-13 at Baton Rouge Oct. 8, 1960 Georgia Tech def. LSU, 6-2 at Atlanta Oct. 7, 1961 LSU def. #3 Georgia Tech, 10-0 at Baton Rouge Oct. 6, 1962 LSU def. #5 Georgia Tech, 10-7 at Atlanta Oct. 5, 1963 LSU def. #7 Georgia Tech, 7-6 at Baton Rouge Dec. 29, 2000 LSU def. #15 Georgia Tech, 28-14 at Atlanta ? Chick-fil-A Bowl