Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt

Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt have 38 meetings on file, the first in 1906; Georgia Tech leads the series 20–⁠15–⁠3 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Georgia Tech 8–⁠1. The winner takes home the Gold Cowbell, played for since 1924. Georgia Tech has held it since the 1948 game.

Georgia Tech wins
20
Vanderbilt wins
15
Ties
3
Earliest on file
1906
Longest streak
7 Vanderbilt
Current streak
1 Vanderbilt
Last 10 meetings
Georgia Tech 8–⁠1
Most recent
2024

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s0–⁠2
1910s2–⁠1
1920s3–⁠3–⁠1
1930s2–⁠7–⁠1
1940s3–⁠1
1950s3–⁠0
1960s3–⁠0–⁠1
2000s3–⁠0
2010s1–⁠0
2020s0–⁠1
Average margin
18.4 points; 14 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Georgia Tech
12–⁠9 Georgia Tech’s record at home
At Vanderbilt
5–⁠8–⁠3 Vanderbilt’s record at home
Neutral sites
0–⁠1 Georgia Tech first
Shutouts
15

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Gold Cowbell

Played for since
1924
Held by
Georgia Tech since the 1948 game
Games for it on file
31 Georgia Tech 17, Vanderbilt 11, 3 tied

Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting since 1924 (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). The article names Vanderbilt as the winner of the 2024 meeting. From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on the Gold Cowbell.

Games that tell the story

  1. Georgia Tech’s biggest win1917: Georgia Tech 83, Vanderbilt 0by 83 points
  2. Vanderbilt’s biggest win1907: Vanderbilt 54, Georgia Tech 0by 54 points

Coach against coach

YearsGeorgia TechSeriesVanderbilt
1906–⁠1919John Heisman2–⁠3Dan McGugin
1920–⁠1934William Alexander3–⁠8–⁠1Dan McGugin
1935–⁠1939William Alexander2–⁠2–⁠1Ray Morrison
1949–⁠1952Bobby Dodd3–⁠0Bill Edwards
1964–⁠1966Bobby Dodd2–⁠0–⁠1Jack Green

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Georgia Tech’s side (Heisman 2–⁠3 against McGugin). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt, 1906 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Named most valuable

Diego Pavia Vanderbilt2024

Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

From the newspapers

  • The The Montgomery advertiser's story of the 1906 game: rAsY FoR vANpERBILT.

    1906 · The Montgomery advertiser, Nov 18, 1906

  • The The farmer and mechanic's story of the 1907 game: College Football Games. (By the Associated Press, ,

    1907 · The farmer and mechanic, Raleigh, N.C., Nov 19, 1907

  • The The Paducah evening sun's story of the 1910 game: FOOTBALL GAMES.

    1910 · The Paducah evening sun, Paducah, Ky., Nov 14, 1910

  • The Evening star's story of the 1917 game: Vanderbilt LACED BY GEORGIA TECH Nashville Eleven Given Worst Defeat on Record for That Institution, SO to O.

    1917 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 4, 1917

  • The The sun's story of the 1919 game: GEORGIA TECH GETS STUBBORN BATTLE Flowers Leads Golden Tornado to 20 to 0 Victory Over Vanderbilt.

    1919 · The sun, New York [N.Y.], Oct 19, 1919

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Dec 27, 2024Vanderbilt 35, Georgia Tech 27Protective StadiumBirmingham Bowl
Sep 17, 2016Georgia Tech 38, Vanderbilt 7at Georgia Tech
Oct 31, 200911Georgia Tech 56, Vanderbilt 31at Vanderbilt
Sep 27, 2003Georgia Tech 24, Vanderbilt 17at Vanderbilt
Aug 31, 2002Georgia Tech 45, Vanderbilt 3at Georgia Tech
Sep 23, 1967Georgia Tech 17, Vanderbilt 10at Vanderbilt
Sep 24, 1966Georgia Tech 42, Vanderbilt 0at Georgia Tech
Sep 18, 1965Vanderbilt 10, Georgia Tech 10at Vanderbilt
Sep 19, 1964Georgia Tech 14, Vanderbilt 2at Georgia Tech
Oct 31, 19538Georgia Tech 43, Vanderbilt 0at Vanderbilt
Oct 25, 19525Georgia Tech 30, Vanderbilt 0at Georgia Tech
Oct 27, 19513Georgia Tech 8, Vanderbilt 7at Vanderbilt
Sep 24, 1949Georgia Tech 12, Vanderbilt 7at Georgia Tech
Sep 25, 1948Georgia Tech 13, Vanderbilt 0at Vanderbilt
Oct 18, 194118Vanderbilt 14, Georgia Tech 7at Vanderbilt
Oct 19, 1940Georgia Tech 19, Vanderbilt 0at Georgia Tech
Oct 21, 1939Georgia Tech 14, Vanderbilt 6at Georgia Tech
Oct 29, 1938Vanderbilt 13, Georgia Tech 7at Vanderbilt
Oct 30, 1937Georgia Tech 14, 7Vanderbilt 0at Georgia Tech
Oct 24, 1936Vanderbilt 0, Georgia Tech 0at Vanderbilt
Nov 2, 1935Vanderbilt 14, Georgia Tech 13at Georgia Tech
Oct 6, 1934Vanderbilt 27, Georgia Tech 12at Georgia Tech
Nov 4, 1933Vanderbilt 9, Georgia Tech 6at Georgia Tech
Oct 29, 1932Vanderbilt 12, Georgia Tech 0at Vanderbilt
Oct 31, 1931Vanderbilt 49, Georgia Tech 7at Georgia Tech
Nov 8, 1930Vanderbilt 6, Georgia Tech 0at Georgia Tech
Nov 9, 1929Vanderbilt 23, Georgia Tech 7at Vanderbilt
Nov 10, 1928Georgia Tech 19, Vanderbilt 7at Georgia Tech
Nov 6, 1927Vanderbilt 0, Georgia Tech 0at Vanderbilt
Nov 6, 1926Vanderbilt 13, Georgia Tech 7at Georgia Tech
Nov 7, 1925Georgia Tech 7, Vanderbilt 0at Vanderbilt
Nov 15, 1924Vanderbilt 3, Georgia Tech 0at Georgia Tech
Oct 16, 1920Georgia Tech 44, Vanderbilt 0at Vanderbilt
Oct 18, 1919Georgia Tech 20, Vanderbilt 0at Georgia Tech
Nov 3, 1917Georgia Tech 83, Vanderbilt 0at Georgia Tech
Nov 12, 1910Vanderbilt 23, Georgia Tech 0at Georgia Tech
Nov 16, 1907Vanderbilt 54, Georgia Tech 0at Vanderbilt
Nov 17, 1906Vanderbilt 37, Georgia Tech 6at Georgia Tech

Every game is listed as played on the field.