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Rivalry Overview: Florida State leads the all-time series 12-9-1. The Seminoles joined the ACC in 1992 and had a strangle hold on not only Georgia Tech but the entire conference for years. The late 1990's was an especially heated time for the rivalry but more on that later. When the conference expanded, what was soon becoming a heated contest between the two schools, took a break as FSU went to the Atlantic Division and Georgia Tech moved into the Coastal Division. Finally, in 2008, the Yellow Jackets broke through the glass ceiling and beat 'em 31-28, commonly referred to as the Miracle On North Avenue:
Tech went on to prove that one game was no fluke and went to Tallahassee in 2009 to win a helluva game 49-44. We will meet Florida State next in the 2011 ACC Championship Game. ;-)
What Makes The Series A Rivalry: It's a rivalry for Tech fans because of how close we've always been but were never able to get it done and claim the victory. We have to go back to 1999 to properly understand the situation, back to the tail end of Joe Hamilton and the beginning of Ge orge Godsey. Things were finally starting to turnaround for Georgia Tech. George O'Leary was taking the program somewhere and accumulating victories. And Every year, Florida State was on the calendar surely circled. Starting in 1999, the games starting getting competitive, they started coming down to the last drive of the game. But, whether it was a failed 2-point conversion in 1999 or last minute interception in 2002, Florida State stole the game away time and again. It's the competitiveness and excitement that drove, and drives, this series.
Personal Rivalry: I was just coming into my comprehension of college football and learning about my love for these type of games right when Georgia Tech was starting to get better under O'Leary. The Florida State games back in the early 2000's was what the Virginia Tech games are like today: loud, intense, and exciting and the one that every fan looked forward to. I remember the game back in 2002 when Tech was down by eight and driving down the field. We started on our own 28 and drove the ball 63 yards in 1 minute 20 seconds to the FSU 9 yard line. I was sitting in the Upper West Stands, North Side, right in the middle of the FSU crowd (we had secured last minute tickets through the ticket office somehow) thinking that this game was finally going to be THE GAME we broke our FSU curse. And just as we expect to see a touchdown!!.....AJ Suggs throws an interception in the end zone. I've had a personal grudge against FSU football since. When expansion was announced, I was very disappointed to see Florida State on the opposite side of the conference. See you in 2013.
And this is just awesome:
What are your favorite FSU stories? Your best rivalry moment?