Clemson – Georgia Tech football rivalry The Clemson – Georgia Tech football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Clemson Tigers football team of Clemson University and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team of Georgia Tech . The Tigers and Yellow Jackets first met in 1898 , and have played annually since 1983 . Series history . Through 2011 , the teams have played 77 times , with Tech leading the series 49 – 26 – 2 . The teams first met in 1898 , when Clemson ' s third - year program defeated Georgia Tech 23 – 0 to finish with a 3 – 1 record . The following year , the Tigers beat Tech again , 41 – 5 . In 1904 , Georgia Tech lured away Clemson ' s head coach , John Heisman ( namesake of the Heisman Trophy ) , with the prospect of $ 450 pay raise ( $ adjusted for inflation ) , which was a 25 % salary increase . In 1977 , Georgia Tech , a year before it joined the ACC , decided to end its series with Clemson . George Bennett , a Clemson athletics booster , was determined to preserve the game , as the trip to Atlanta provided a unique experience for the Tigers players and fanbase who had not been to a bowl game . In what was supposed to be the final game in Atlanta , upon Bennett ' s suggestion , thousands of Clemson supporters paid their expenses with two - dollar bill s stamped with the shape of a tiger paw . This demonstrated the large amount of money that the Clemson fanbase regularly pumped into the local economy because of the game . The series resumed in 1983 when Georgia Tech began playing football in the ACC . This has become one of the most competitive rivalries in the ACC with Georgia Tech leading the series 16 - 15 in the ACC era . These games have often been decided at the last minute and by small margins . Nine of the games between 1996 and 2006 were decided by five points or less . When the Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) , of which both schools are members , reorganized in 2005 to form divisions for the sport of football , Clemson and Georgia Tech were designated as cross - division rivals . This means that their football teams meet every season , unlike their other non - divisional conference opponents , which are played less often on a rotational basis . In the 2009 season , both teams won their respective divisions of the ACC . For the first time in the series ' history , the two teams met for a second time in a season on December 5 , 2009 in the ACC Championship Game . The game marked the first ever December meeting between the two teams , as well as the first post - season meeting . It was also the first time the series has been played outside of Atlanta or Clemson since 1899 . Georgia Tech won 39 – 34 , however the NCAA later vacated the last 3 games of Georgia Tech ' s 2009 season along with the ACC Championship due to several starters being ruled ineligible . In the 2011 season , both teams started 6 – 0 . The match - up was highly anticipated until Georgia Tech stumbled losing two straight games , at Virginia and at Miami ( FL ) . The game was 6 – 2 Georgia Tech hosting 8 – 0 # 5 Clemson . This game was the 2011 Georgia Tech homecoming game . Georgia Tech upset the Tigers 31 – 17 . After the game , Clemson fell out of the top ten and Georgia Tech became the # 22 team in the country . Game results . " Clemson victories are colored ██ orange . Georgia Tech victories are colored ██ gold . Ties are white . "