Week 2 surprises

Washington County hammered at home by a smaller-classification – barely – program? A stunner.

ACE pulling away from GMC on the road, turning in a quality finish? A surprise.

Putnam County leading Baldwin the whole way? An eyebrow-raiser.

Northside putting the hammer down at Peach Count yet again? A mild head-scratcher.

Jones County rolling a 7A program by three touchdowns on the road? The win was expected, being in such control maybe not quite as much. Yet.

Veterans pulling away at Griffin? And winning by 18? Not quite predictable, after sluggish opener.

Week 2 upsets

Jasper County hadn’t won since the middle of the 2020 season, so any win was going to be a surprise. Doing it on the road against a 3A team – albeit one not winning a whole lot either, which doesn’t much matter – is a nice surprise for first-year head coach Ashley Henderson.

The Purple Hurricanes were 13-point underdogs.

ACE was an 8-point underdog and won by 14, a 22-point turnaround.

Northside was a 7-point underdog and rolled by 28, a nifty 35-point turnaround.

Loughdmouthings

Dear colleges and pro leagues: Can we stop with these absurd across-the-ocean games?

Northwestern-Nebraska in Dublin is a head-shaker. It’s OK if another country likes other sports more than what Americans like.

And please get it: We’re not watching games because of where they are, so stop wasting money. We’re watching games because they’re on. Well, usually.

Nebraska’s rivals watched to see the start of Scott Frost’s final year with the Cornhuskers. …

Remember, down the line, when the bullying of the Power-5s takes hold and the schedule gets tougher, that the fans whining to get rid of the money games will whine when 8-4 and 9-3 equals 12-0 and 11-1.

Why? Because the backups who won’t get any experience – because head coaches are clenched when it comes to subbing and building depth and confidence – will suddenly have to start in a key conference game when a starter goes down.

Those 40 snaps they got against Nicholls State or William & Mary or Tennessee Tech? They no longer exist. Nobody knows how the backup or freshman will perform, because they haven’t.

And it’s not bad for those who don’t have tickets all season to get into the stadium. No, it may not be a thrilling game, but from tailgate to postgame socializing makes it a winning day for those who don’t get that chance as often.

Even if you use your ticket, enjoy the whole day even if the game doesn’t go down to the final few minutes. It’s still a very, very relevant game. …

So, um, either Kirk Herbstreit lost a bet, or listened to some very wrong people who said, "Oh, yeah, Herbs, that hair is really you." And he appeared to seriously overdo the tanning lotion, much like ... never mind. Kirk, duuuude, come on.

Google and take a look. You’ll laugh and cringe. …

Here we are, days away from a delusional faction – OK, redundant – of the Georgia fan base starts whining about the quarterback of the national championship team.

Really and truly, about 30 or 40 percent of the Bulldogs base doesn’t deserve to celebrate the title. There was absurd bleeping and moaning DURING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WIN AND FOR DAYS AFTER.

Brains don’t get nearly enough oxygen. …

Georgia Public Broadcasting is streaming games this year with no announcers.

Streaming? Good. No announcers? Good. There are some streaming audio efforts and “productions” that would be better served just being plugged into the public address guy.

And that’s saying something. …

NFL teams are getting ready to make cuts, and hammer dreams and put families in flux.

It’s a good week for bitter jackasses, surpassed only when coaches get fired. We have a large segment of sad humans. …

Dear Fridaynightgamecasters: Please, for the love of God, fall less in love with your voice and blather, and watch the guy with the white hat on the stripes.

He’ll tell you – just be patient, in less of a hurry to say yet again “I don’t know …” or “I didn’t see …” which, well, you should know and you should see – what the penalty was.

Really. All the time. That’s his job. Watch him. …

There’s a debate down here in these parts about Saturday’s programming? Say whaaaa?

A station 80 miles from Atlanta, yes, went to the Falcons-Jaguars and left Northwestern-Nebraska.

Northwestern and Nebraska. In Ireland.

Atlanta, the state team, assorted wailing and whining aside, and Jacksonville, probably the No. 2 team in a large part of the state and with a Central Georgian to watch.

Local pre-empts national all the time. And the reality is this: for all the “yay, college football is here so I’ll talk about watching absolutely any game” chatter, more people around here were going to watch the Falcons, amid a decent preseason, over Nebraska and Northwestern.

Again: Nebraska and Northwestern. Whose season has absolutely no connection to the state of Georgia.

Just like a Midwestern station would pull a Kentucky-Mississippi game for the Bears or Vikings or Lions. It’s just logical. …

Steph Curry had a point during the ESPYs:

“He’s the only guy I know who’d rather get hit by Aaron Donald than hang out with a supermodel.”

Polls

Division 1

(6A-5A-4A-3A)

1. Jones County

The Greyhounds strengthened their hold on the top spot with another good road trip north to take on a 7A team.

2. Warner Robins

The Demons had a week off to get ready for The Rivalry, which now might be a bunch tighter than expected. Or not. Too early to decipher Warner Robins after the Lee County loss, which was no big deal big-picture-wise.

3. Houston County

Beating Perry was big, by itself. How the Bears did it – comeback after comeback and clutch at the end – is more huge. Winning a shootout this early in the season against an upper-level opponent like that accelerates the rebuilding.

4. Northside

Chad Alligood had the face of a PO’d man after the Eagles lost to Jones County. Needless to say, the point got across in practice, because hammering what looked like a hot Peach County team on the road rights the ship pretty quickly.

5. Perry

The Panthers watched a couple leads evaporate to a 6A team that’s been very mediocre the past few years. Not enough to drop them. All the game did was eliminate a 10-0 regular season, while serving as a humbling lesson for a program adjusting to being a target.

Division II

(AA-A-GISA)

1. Bleckley County

The Royals are off to a big-time start, thumping and controlling a pair of quality opponents, one in a rivalry game.

2. Putnam County

In 2016, the War Eagles went 1-9 and were shut out four times. Now, they’re beating nearby Class 4A teams that are used to the playoffs.

3. Lamar County

The first meeting with Upson-Lee was a memorable one, the Trojans coming up with the big defensive play to stop the Knights’ conversion try for the game-winner in the final seconds. Now, Dublin.
4. Northeast

The Raiders were off after the half-game against Mary Persons.

5. Dublin

Sure, the Irish overlooked Wilkinson County last week and looked like it. A week off better have fixed things, because Lamar County is no Wilkinson County.

6. John Milledge

The first out-of-state opponent knows how all those in-state opponents have felt for the last several years.

7. FPD

There wasn’t a whole lot wrong with the romp over a team from Alabama at West Georgia.

8. ACE

The Gryphons did more than just get some revenge on the road. They showed they can handle some success and attention, following up the eyebrow-raising 70-53 win with a more normal, fundamental effort on the road, a good sign of some short-term memory.

9. Macon County

The Bulldogs have found a way to lose two games by a possession (even if the ending of the Clinch County loss was a little shaky administration-wise, though Macon County wasn’t coming up with a Hail Mary).

10. Tattnall

The Trojans came up big down the stretch in a good battle with Pacelli, rebounding well from the heartbreaker against Schley County.