I saw Georgia Tech win in Chapel Hill for the first time in 53 years.

Now, that sounds like Tech experienced a lot of futility against North Carolina and that’s partially true.

Georgia Tech enjoyed success against North Carolina, going 9-3-2 against the Tar Heels in their first 14 meetings, but after 1945, the Jackets didn’t play UNC again until 1974 in Grant Field. Not until Tech joined the ACC did the Jackets start playing the Tar Heels again regularly. Tech experienced futility on the road in Chapel Hill. Even in 1990, Georgia Tech’s National Championship year, the Jackets couldn’t win in Chapel Hill, needing a Scott Sisson field goal to escape with a tie.

So it was in 1998 when I travelled up to North Carolina with two fascinating characters, Genay Jones and Ede (yes, his name was Ede, pronounced “Ed”) Kenney. Two weeks before, Tech had been roundly defeated by Boston College and I realized with horror “I paid for tickets and I’m going to drive up to Chapel Hill to watch this team?” But the Boston College game was a wake-up call and in 1998 Georgia Tech would only lose to one more team, Florida State, for the rest of the season.

Kenan Stadium might be one of my favorite college football stadiums. Aside from being located on a beautiful campus (though you can’t go anywhere to get away from that dreadful baby blue color), the stadium sits nestled in a valley such that the surrounding pine forests enclose the stadium. The stadium sits so deep in the valley that the surrounding pine trees stand taller than the upper deck around the stadium. It’s very cool walking through a pine forest to get the gate for the stadium. Carolina is famous for its “wine and cheese” crowd makes you feel like you have lawn seats to Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, not a football game. Our seats were on the 2 yard line, 5 rows up from the field… we were close enough to taunt Dre Bly, UNC’s highly touted cornerback who returned kickoffs… “back to return another kickoff, Dre? Good to see you again!” as Tech scored touchdown after touchdown. The game wasn’t even close, Tech winning 43-21.

I’ve seen other memorable games against Carolina. The 1999 game went to a feverish overtime. In 2003, I had to miss the game because a friend of mine was getting married and I was in his wedding party. While we waited for the ceremony to start, the groom listened to the game on radio in the waiting room. As I walked down the aisle and passed him, he grumbled “Tech is down 10-3 in the first quarter.” During the reception, all the groomsmen stood around and kvetched about the sorry state of our team only to find out later that P.J. Daniels went on a tear, running for 240 yards as Tech dominated UNC 41-24.

But the 1998 game is the one I’ll remember most. I have fond memories of driving up to and back from Chapel Hill. I have great memories of laughing and joking with Genay and Ede. The game was only a couple days before I asked Adriene out on our first date. I remember pondering during the drive if I should ask her out or not. I knew that I was on the verge of something big, but I had no idea what was going to happen next.

Carolina comes to town this Saturday. For the second game in a row, Georgia Tech will face an untested quarterback in his first-ever college start. We’re hoping the results are as good as last week’s.