Oh Atlanta! Georgia's capital city finally gets a Gators-Bulldogs game

In the song "Oh, Atlanta," the band Little Feat sings of a man pining away for his "redhead dream."

"Whoa hot 'lanta … I said oh, oh, Atlanta, I got to get back to you."

And for the first time in the history of the Florida vs. Georgia rivalry, which spans 122 yards and 104 games (or 103, according to the Gators), Bulldog fans will realize their red and black dream, to play the Gators in the ATL.

The fifth-ranked Bulldogs (6-1) will face the 20th-ranked Gators (5-2) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Oct. 31 (3:30 p.m., ABC) in their first-ever meeting in Atlanta. It's the front end of a neutral-site doubleheader while Jacksonville's Stadium of the Future is under construction, with the Dawgs and Gators playing in Tampa next year before returning to Jacksonville,

the site for the game since 1933, in 2028.

Both will be coming into the game off some unexpected results last week, with a bye week to rest, evaluate and build emotional momentum for their 105th meeting. The Bulldogs lost 27-24 at home to Auburn (and fell out of the top spot in the polls) and Florida upset Texasby the same score in Austin.

It will be the ninth time the game is played in the state of Georgia and the first since 1995 in Athens, the last time the two teams had to stray from Jacksonville because of stadium construction.

That didn't end well for the Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium as they lost to Florida for a sixth game in a row (the streak would reach seven the next year). Florida, under Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook and Urban Meyer, went 18-3 during one stretch but the rivalry has taken another turn in its streaky history and Georgia coach Kirby Smart is going for sixth victory in a row over the Gators and the Dawgs have won nine of the last 10.

Georgia holds a 58-44-2 edge in the rivalry. Florida claims it's 57-44-2.

More on that in a bit.

Florida-Georgia officially remains a neutral-site game and tickets are distributed evenly, just as in Jacksonville. But former Georgia coach Mark Richt spoke for many Bulldogs fans once when he said playing in Jacksonville wasn't a true neutral site, hinting at the advantage for the Gators to play in Florida and travel only 75 miles.

For one year, the Bulldogs and their fans get to see how that feels. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is only 72 miles from the Georgia campus.

The Dawgs have a 5-2-1 record within their home state and are playing their 107th game in Atlanta in school history. Here are the outcomes of previous Florida-Georgia games played in the Peach State.

Information was researched from newspaper archives and the book “War Between the States” (Gridiron Publishers, 1992), Cale Conley’s superb and exhaustive book on the history of Florida-Georgia.

Oct. 15, 1904, Macon: Georgia 52, Florida 0

Was the first Florida-Georgia game really played in Macon?

The Bulldogs' history books say yes. Florida denies the existence of the game mainly because it denies that the University of Florida existed in 1904.

UF history said that the losing team in 1904 was the Florida Agricultural College, based in Lake City. Until the state legislature passed the Buckman Act in 1905, establishing a state university system with the main campus in Gainesville, the institution that came to be known as the University of Florida didn't exist under those terms until the fall of 1905.

Florida recognizes the first game against Georgia as 1915 in Jacksonville, a 37-0 victory for the Dawgs.

Dan Magill, a University of Georgia sports historian, wrote of the 1904 game, "That's where Florida was back then. We can't help it if they got run out of Lake City."

If we're going by the Georgia history book, Macon gets the honor of holding the first Florida-Georgia game, played at Central City Park.

According to published reports at the time, Macon had never hosted a big-time college football event other than Mercer University games. The Macon Telegraph was also clear on the identiy of both teams: "Georgia and Florida meet tomorrow afternoon at Macon — both teams are ready and confident of victory in the tussle."

But the actual outcome was, as the Atlanta Constitution noted, "was a battle of the giants and the pygmies."

According to Conley's book, the first touchdown ever in the rivalry came on the fourth play of the 1904 game, by Georgia's Charles Cox on an 8-yard run.

The rules at the time were similar to pickup basketball: make it, take it, so the team allowing a score had to kick off again. The Bulldogs' Harry Woodruff returned the kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, Cox added three more touchdowns and the rout was on.

The game was only two 15-minute halves and Florida didn't make a first down. It was the only victory for the Bulldogs (1-5 that season). Florida, or at least the version of the school Georgia claims to have played, went 0-5 and didn't score a point.

Oct. 14, 1916, Athens: Georgia 21, Florida 0

A beat-up Georgia team that somehow found a way to start 2-0, blanked the Gators at what was then called Sanford Field. As many as nine key players either missed the game or were hampered by various ailments and the Gators were projected to "give the hobbling Athenians all they could handle and then some," according to Fuzzy Woodruff of the Atlanta Georgian.

After a scoreless first half, the Bulldogs struck with touchdowns by Walter Neville and W.H. McLaws, then another when Tom Thrash returned a fumble for a score.

Nov. 13, 1920, Athens: Georgia 56, Florida 0

The Gators never had a chance against a Bulldogs team that went 8-0-1 and didn’t give up a point all season (the tie, scoreless, was at Virginia). According to the Florida Times-Union game story, "the Gators were hopelessly outclassed in every department."

Six Georgia players scored touchdowns with a backup running back, K.W. Bohren, scoring twice. Two kickers added conversions.

On defense, the Gators had to punt 12 times, had four first downs and never crossed the Georgia 40.

Oct. 30, 1926, Athens: Georgia 32, Florida 9

The good news is that after five Florida-Georgia games in which the Bulldogs outscored Florida 182-0, the Gators finally put points on the board in the 1926 game at Athens.

But both teams limped into the game. Georgia was 2-3 with three losses in a row. Florida was 1-4 (after an 8-2 record in 1925) and lost four in a row. The Dawgs jumped out to a 12-0 lead the Gators scored their first points in the history of the rivalry with a safety, when Willie DeHoff blocked a punt out of the end zone. However, Roy Estes of Georgia scored on a 6-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 19-2 halftime lead.

Gators backup quarterback, the immortal Ernest "Goof" Bowyer, led a touchdown drive to open the third period, pitching out to James Chaplin for a 9-yard score. Bowyer kicked the extra point and UF finally had a touchdown against Georgia, and cut the lead to 19-9.

However, Georgia sealed the victory when George Morton and Herdis McCray scored touchdowns.

In one of many chippy Florida-Georgia games, the Bulldogs won despite 198 yards in penalties.

Nov. 10, 1928, Savannah: Florida 26, Georgia 6

Florida's first victory ever in the rivalry came on Georgia soil in front of an estimated 14,000 at the Savannah Municipal Stadium.

Gators quarterback Clyde "Cannonball" Crabtree broke a 6-6 tie with a 16-yard touchdown run, then later threw a 15-yard TD pass to Carl Brumbaugh. Dale Van Sickle caught a 36-yard TD pass from Brumbaugh, who also converted two conversions. Red Bethea opened the scoring with a 36-yard run.

The game was notable, according to Conley's book, for the use of a public address system in the stadium for the first time in a Florida-Georgia game. The Savannah Morning News called it "The Giant Voice."

Florida had a potent offense for the times. The Gators led the nation in scoring at 37 points per game and Van Sickle became UF's first All-American. UF went 8-1, losing only to Tennessee (8-0-1) in the final game of the season 13-12.

Nov. 1, 1930, Savannah: Florida 0, Georgia 0

The first of only two ties in the rivalry was perceived as a triumph for the Gators, who held the Bulldogs on four trips deep into their territory, two of which reached the 1-yard line.

Wrote Ed Danforth of the Atlanta Constitution: "The score is erroneously reported as nothing to nothing. Instead, it was a victory for Florida and an experience as bitter as defeat for Georgia."

In holding the 'Dogs scoreless, the Gators denied Georgia running back Jack Roberts the end zone for the first time all season. He scored 12 touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 5-0 record coming into Savannah.

Oct. 29, 1932, Athens: Georgia 33, Florida 12

It could have been a lot worse. The Bulldogs ran for a series-record 536 yards on the ground, with four players gaining 92 or more yards. Cy Grant had 123 yards and Bill David piled up 105.

Yet, the Gators proved stubborn. Jack Henderson threw a long TD pass to George Moye and Georgia's Cy Grant answered with a 3-yard score. By the difference of Graham Batchellor's extra point, the Dawgs led 7-6 at halftime.

Jimmie Hughes scored for the Gators just after the half for a 12-7 lead but Georgia then poured in on. Cy Grant scored from 9 yards out, Homer Key from 45 yards away, Grant again from 14 yards and Buster Mott on a 9-yard score.

Oct. 28, 1995, Athens: Florida 51, Georgia 17

Gators coach Steve Spurrier got his wish to score 50 or more points on the Bulldogs between the hedges, which had never been done before.

The Gators had also never won in Athens in four trips between 1916 and 1932. For Gator fans, it was a rout 63 years in the making.

When Jacksonville was awarded the Jaguars by the NFL and the old municipal stadium needed razing and rebuilding, the Florida-Georgia game went to the campus sites for two years. The Gators won in Gainesville 52-14 in 1994, and it was more of the same the following year. Danny Wuerffel threw four touchdown passes in the first half, three to Chris Doering and UF won 52-17.

Wuerffel completed 14 of 17 passes for 242 yards and five scores overall and Elijah Williams gained 143 yards rushing. Eric Kresser came off the bench to complete 6 of 7 passes for two more touchdowns, as the Gators set an SEC record with seven passing touchdowns. Florida's defense recovered three fumbles and had five sacks.

What are the Georgia and Florida records in Atlanta?

Georgia historically plays Georgia Tech in Atlanta every other year and is 39-24-4 against the Yellow Jackets there. The Bulldogs are 7-8-2 in other regular-season games in Atlanta, with a 3-1 record in season openers since 2011, beating Clemson in 2024, Oregon in 2022, North Carolina in 2016 and losing to Boise State in 2011.

The Bulldogs are 6-7 in SEC Championship games in Atlanta and lost one National Championship game there in 2018 to Alabama, 26-23 in overtime. Georgia is 5-3 in the Peach Bowl.

The Bulldogs’ overall record in Atlanta is 57-43-6 (.600)

The Gators are 7-7 in Atlanta, a combination of going 6-5 in SEC Championship games played in Atlanta and 1-2 in the Peach Bowl.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Oh Atlanta! Georgia's capital city finally gets a Gators-Bulldogs game