“I knew right when we lost (to Tennessee) I was going to have to deal with a fight,” said Jamon Kessler, a University senior and a doorman downtown. “And sure enough, an hour later, I had to kick somebody out,” he said.

Capt. Clarence Holeman, an Athens-Clarke County duty officer for Friday and Saturday nights, said he didn’t think the football team’s performance plays a role in the number of fights downtown.

Instead, he blamed another culprit: alcohol.

“People drink all day, even if we win, so we make sure to have more staff downtown on the nights of gamedays,” he said.

But some students said they are more likely to vent their anger after a loss.

“When we lost (to Vanderbilt), there was a greater chance of me fighting that night,” said Corey Turner, a sophomore from Atlanta.

“After we lose, a lot of drunk people let their emotions get the best of them.”

After this year’s loss to Tennessee on Oct. 7, Craig Giliam, a visitor from Nashville, said he had a bad experience with a Georgia fan feeling the effects of defeat — and alcohol.

Giliam and his girlfriend, Jean Barnwell, were walking out of a student section tunnel when Giliam heard rude comments from a crowd of Georgia fans behind him trying to hustle Giliam and Barnwell out of Sanford Stadium.

“I turned around and said, ‘You guys need to calm down.’”

In response, the group of fans pushed Giliam, pulled his hair and forced him to the ground.

“I wasn’t that hurt, but I’m just mad that my girlfriend got hurt in the process,” he said. “She got a concussion.”

Giliam believes that the fact that he was a Tennessee fan contributed to the incident. “I was wearing a Tennessee shirt,” Giliam said. “And it definitely had something to do with all of this.”