ATHENS — The longest game in Georgia program history took place against Georgia Tech last season. The two teams played for eight overtimes before Georgia finally emerged with a 44-42 win.

“It was a long game, so I’m sure I was tired running on an adrenaline high the whole game,” Georgia wide receiver London Humphreys said. “But it’s one of those ones, like, you won’t forget, like, being a part of, but it was a fun experience, for sure.”

The win for Georgia was another in a long line of victories against the rival Yellow Jackets. Georgia has won seven straight against Georgia Tech, with the last loss for Georgia coming in Smart’s first season back in 2016.

Georgia has come to dominate the rivalry in the 21st century. That was not the case last year, with the Yellow Jackets getting out to a 17-0 halftime lead.

But the thing about the old days is they are the old days. And Georgia doesn’t expect the past to have any impact on Friday.

“The teams are trying to win the game, regardless of what happened last year,” Smart said. “I don’t know what eight overtimes would make people want to win more or less this year. I assure you, they want to win the game just as much as we did, regardless of the outcome last year.”

It’s hard for the Georgia Tech game to feel any bigger, in part because Georgia has so many rivals. When you throw in Florida and Auburn, and even Tennessee, it’s easy for Georgia Tech to get lost in the shuffle.

Smart rarely lets the public in on how he feels about other programs, other than the customary “lot of respect” he offers at the beginning of his weekly press conferences.

Smart’s final game at Sanford Stadium in 1998 was ruined by Brent Key and the rival Yellow Jackets. While never publicly acknowledging that fact, Smart’s players are well aware of what happened and what that game means to Smart.

“I was pretty happy being able to beat the team where I’m from,” linebacker Quintavius Johnson said. “That school is like, I wanna say like seven minutes away from my home. So just being able to have that chip on my shoulder, knowing that I beat them. And there’s guys before me that I wasn’t able to beat them like Coach Smart, things like that, and knowing that feeling. How it would feel it took a L to those guys.”

As for this year’s game, Smart has said all season that this year’s team is different from the 2024 team. That group, which won the SEC championship game and went to the College Football Playoff, had a propensity to play with its food.

This Friday’s edition of Clean Old-Fashioned Hate features teams heading in opposite directions. The Yellow Jackets have dropped two of their last three games, including a 42-28 defeat to Pitt at home last Saturday.

Georgia hasn’t lost since Sept. 27 and enters this week riding a seven-game winning streak. What’s more is that this Georgia team has played its best football in November, including a 35-10 beat down of Texas.

Yet Friday figures to be the type of game where the record books are thrown out. That includes last year’s eight overtime epic and any other past rivalry game between the two in-state programs.

“I definitely remember from last year, definitely this game being physical. So this year we’re just focused on this game, Friday,” linebacker Chris Cole said. “So I have great preparation throughout the whole week, be ready to play.”