To hold a ticket to watch the Yellow Jackets play was highly valued and was difficult to obtain. During the games, Bobby Dodd sat in a folding chair at a card table on the side line, rarely standing or showing interest in the game. Dodd took his seat and left the pacing to his assistants. When a crisis arose, Dodd would decide which plays to be run and the designated players to run them. Dodd sometimes made unusual substitutions, as in the 1952 game against Georgia, when Georgia Tech seemed about to be upset. Dodd sent in a small halfback who had been frequently injured during his career, who then broke to the right faking a run, stopped, threw a pass for a touchdown and returned to the bench. What Dodd brought to Grant Field was a kind of unbruising football other coaches couldn't understand: runty halfbacks; lightweight linemen; rarely a classic quarterback. Once free substitution became possible, no one made more use of it than Dodd. Georgia Tech had an intense rivalry with the University of Alabama which ended during Bobby Dodd's tenure as head football coach. Until that time, the matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Yellow Jackets was a fall football classic. The two teams have met on the gridiron a total of 52 times with Georgia Tech coming away victorious in 21 of those matchups, with 3 ties. Bobby Dodd's football teams won 7 of 17 games played against Alabama. The contests were annual events until Georgia Tech withdrew from the SEC. Dodd considered his two biggest victories to have come against Alabama, including a 7–3 victory in 1952 and a 7–6 victory in 1962. The former victory secured a perfect season for Georgia Tech which led to a national title. The latter victory came against a top ranked Alabama team and cost the Crimson Tide another national title. Alabama head coach Bear Bryant once said that he would rather look across the field and see anyone other than Bobby Dodd. Dodd also understood the deep-seated rivalry with the University of Georgia. His teams won 8 games in a row over the Bulldogs from 1949–1956, outscoring the Bulldogs 176–39. This 8–game winning streak is still the longest winning streak for either side in the series and commonly referred to as "The Drought" by UGA football fans. Dodd would finish his career with a 12–10 record against the Bulldogs. By the end of his coaching career, Dodd had built a reputation not only as a good coach, but also as a lucky one. Georgia Tech often played teams that were physically superior but Bobby Dodd would still find a way to win.