Hatred, Bad Blood, Brawls, and Passion

The intensity of rivalry weekend in College football.

The last week of regular games in college football is truly a unique spectacle. It's filled with numerous rivalries, history, bad blood, and passion flowing through the game, and this year was no different. With an eight-overtime thriller between Georgia and Georgia Tech, the brawls after the Michigan game, and the North Carolina State game, these games simply mean more, leading to the best weekend of college football.

In the last weekend of guaranteed games, most schools end their season in a glorious battle against their arch-rival, as we continue the tradition here at Middlesex in our battle against St. George’s. College rivalries are steeped in history and long-standing traditions, like the Yale vs. Harvard game, which has been going on for 140 years and is famously known as The Game. 

Some of the rivalry games this weekend include Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, which was a complete nail-biter as Georgia mounted a crazy comeback late in the fourth quarter to overcome a 14-point deficit and then win the game in the eighth overtime, breaking the hearts of Georgia Tech fans. This matchup has been going on for well over a century, filled with pure hate; the Head Coach of Georgia Tech, when asked about Georgia, said, "There is nothing that I hate more in this world." These words not only sum up the intensity of this game but reflect a common trend throughout most of these rivalry games.

Another big game was Notre Dame vs. USC in the 95th meeting of these rivals. In an entertaining game, the Fighting Irish overcame the Trojans with two pick-sixes in the red zone late in the fourth quarter to put the game away and secure a victory for Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman, who has led Notre Dame back to the college football playoffs this year.

Additionally, Texas vs. Texas A&M, a contentious in-state matchup, was played again for the first time in 13 years, reignited a rivalry that dated back to 1890, filled with passion as 109,028 fans piled into the Kyle Field, home of the “twelfth man,” cheering on their team with deafening noise, as the Longhorns completed stifled the Aggie's offense in a 17 to 7 win.

Furthermore, Alabama played in one of the greatest rivalries in college football, the Iron Bowl, vs. Auburn. The Iron Bowl is the bitter instate game between these two historically strong teams, dating back to 1893. It has been historically one of the most captivating and hard-fought games, with truly iconic moments like the 2013 "kick-six" and many more. This year, Alabama surged to a commanding win over Auburn, establishing a five-year win streak.

Likewise, there are other historic matchups, like Ohio State vs Michigan, which was the largest upset of the weekend, with Michigan being a 20-point underdog in this blue-blood and classic rivalry. In the final seconds of a close and entertaining game, Michigan nailed a field goal for a 13 to 10 win. But after the game, Michigan attempted to plant its flag in the middle of the Ohio State logo, which caused a brawl to erupt between players, with police using pepper spray to end the fight. This game is one of the greatest rivalries in sports because of the immense pride each team places on this game, the utter hatred each team has, and the intensity of play all contribute to The Game and the fight that broke out after this game. 

These fights about planting a flag broke out all across the country, with another significant brawl as North Carolina state planted their flag in the UNC's logo; the same happened when Florida beat Florida State, and after Arizona State's win over Arizona, they planted a trident in ASU's logo, and tensions grew extremely high, but luckily no fight broke out. This situation with the flags is unacceptable and dangerous for the players; the NCAA needs to create harsh penalties to end this disrespectful behavior and mainly stop the fights that ensue because of this form of taunting. After the Michigan-Ohio State game, the star running back for Michigan sums up the situation very well: "For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game. Bad for the sport. Bad for college football."

Timmy Hale