ATHENS — Georgia Tech will take the field fearless on Saturday night, driven to make history against a No. 1-ranked Georgia football team.

The Bulldogs are a 24-point favorite and haven’t lost in Atlanta since 1999, and Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key knows all about that.

Key was a player and eventually team captain of that Georgia Tech program, back when the Yellow Jackets stung Georgia for victories three straight times.

The messaging has been clear for Georgia Tech leading up to the 7:30 p.m. game Saturday night.

“There is a first time for everything in your life,” Key said. “But guess what? I have beat them, I know what it is, and I am the head coach. They are going to believe as I believe.”

Key and Georgia Tech provided a dose of what such confidence can do last season in Athens, becoming the first team to score a first-quarter TD on UGA last season and only the second team in the regular season to lead Georgia after one quarter.

Coach Kirby Smart works to maintain the same level of focus and effort for every opponent, but even Smart has worked a tad extra this week to hype up the opponent.

“It’s intense, it’s hate week, everything kind of ramps up,” Georgia star safety Malaki Starks said after practice on Tuesday. “Georgia Tech week around here, there’s nothing playful about it.”

Good thing, because Georgia Tech has been waiting all year to get at the Bulldogs.

“When you come into the season, there’s two goals,” Key explained. “There’s a goal to go to the bowl game and there is a goal to beat Georgia.

“It is a big game. It’s not just the next game on our schedule, it is our in-state rival, it is a chance to play for a state championship, it is a chance to have bragging rights for a year. These kids grew up playing against each other and that is what makes it special.”

Georgia fans will be quick to point out the Bulldogs have gone 18-3 against the Yellow Jackets since Key’s playing days.

That is something that Key knows, and frankly, riles him up.

“Damn right it does, yeah it does,” Key said. “Rivalries are not one-sided, rivalries are competitive games between two teams, that is what makes rivalries great.

“This is hands down one of the greatest rivalries in the country. Well, in order for that to be the case, outside of our scope, it needs to be competitive.”