Maybe it’s because one man’s routine has changed drastically the last decade, but it doesn’t quite feel like Georgia-Florida week.

          For one, the line is 16-18 points, which is five points lower than two years ago, but still pretty hefty.

          For another, yet again, a Florida coach is working for his job.

          For another, it doesn’t have the oomph and weight it used to have when the SEC – back in wiser days – had divisions.

          Of course, put all that together, and it does maybe add something.

          What if Georgia turns in a first-half-against-Alabama performance at the same time Florida players start playing like players at Florida are supposed to play?

          The way this season is going, buying stock in any company owning real estate in Vegas is a much wiser bet than, well, betting.

 This week’s playoff sermon

          I have no idea who’s going to win the national championship, and neither do you.

          It’s getting harder to guess who the final four will be, because it’s getting harder to figure out who the final 12 will be, because consistency – shocking, what with the changes brought on by greedy commissioners, presidents, coaches, agents, boosters, and players – is lacking up and down college football.

          You’d have thought Texas would’ve come out of the Georgia loss on fire, only for the Horns to pull the Vandy win out of their caboose. Ohio State struggled with struggling Nebraska. LSU went backward.

          And Alabama hammers Missouri out of the picture, Texas A&M emerges – I must rid myself of the A&M Jimbo Fisher cooties and take the Aggies seriously – and nudges LSU out.

          Goodness, here we are about to enter November and Miami hasn’t collapsed. We’re getting to the point where it’s time to take Indiana and Iowa State pretty seriously.

* Oct. 23 MMQB: A really good - not epic - win in Austin, with silliness; weekly CFB playoff sermon; Loughdmouthings: Dumb Ho orn (this week) fans, really good HS 🏈slate, Falcons are fine, but …
* Oct. 14, MMQB: Monday Morning QB: Which Nation is the most absurd this week?; HS stat stuff, playoffs sermon; Loughdmouthings galore: stats, QB shoving, tackling, Falcons,and Jerry’s happy-for-us birthday

* Oct. 7 MMQB:  Saturday like most others (really); the new Falcons? They still need O; Loughdmouthings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm …)
* Oct. 1, MMQB: Missing the point - and tackles - on UGA-Bama; Falcons getting there, but about the O …; Loughdmouthings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm …)
* Sept 23, MMQB: Two good weeks of football for Atlanta?; Loughdmouthings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm)
* Sept 16: MMQB: Another black-n-blue battle in Lexington; Loughdmouthings: Falcons, silly second-guessing (UGA, county records
* Sept. 9: MMQB: Suddenly, we saw Ridder and Smith in Falcons black again; notable numbers, on campus, and Loughdmouthings galore
* Sept.8 Column-Not just yet, but brace yourself to think good thoughts about the Falcons in 2024
* Sept. 2: MMQB: Notes, reviews, Loughdmouthings
* Aug. 28: MMQB: What we know and what we’re not sure about; Loughdmouthings galore
* Aug. 16: Sit down, get comfy, and let’s just babble high school football for a bit

Stat stuff

          Who are the top five passers, rushers, and receivers in Central Georgia, and where do they rank among the state leaders in MaxPreps?

          Remember: Information on MaxPreps comes from teams and coaches that type in the information. Period. If your school doesn’t have stats on MaxPreps, it’s not MaxPrep’s fault. Ask your coach why he’s hiding stats (and prepare for an interesting answer).

          As of Sunday night.

          Passing: No. 1, Antwann Hill Jr, Houston County, 2,656; No. 17, Devin Edmonds, Jones County, 1,925; No. 30, Brayden Gay, Westfield, 1,730; No. 38, Zavion Deshazier, 1,683; No. 61, Mac Nelson, Mary Persons, 1,452.

          Receiving: No. 5, Isaiah Mitchell, Houston County, 1,087; No. 6, Jaivon Solomon, Jones County, 949; No. 20, M.J. Mathis, Houston County, 758; No. 25, Ty Hunnicutt, 741; No. 55, Kiel Sparks, Perry, 587

          Rushing: No. 2, Judson Walls, Central Fellowship, 1,662; No. 19, Kadiphius Iverson, Westside, 1,244; 29, Nick Woodford, Northeast, 1098; No. 44, Wade Register, Trinity Christian, 1,018; No. 55, Jalen Stewart, Jasper County, 926.

Loughdmouthings

          Remember last week when you were advised to quit yapping about going to a high school game and actually go to one, because there were a slew of good games all over?

          Sure you do. Remember the list of games?

          ACE-Bleckley County and FPD-Tattnall went into overtime. Of the other seven games, margins were 31, 28, 21, 20, 10, 10, and 7 points.

          Nope, most weren’t quite as close as I expected, but the ones that weren’t gave those on hand some nifty individual performances. …

          From last week’s opining on the Falcons ugly loss to Seattle: “There was nothing really disconcerting just yet, and it’s the kind of game that can get a team back on track.”

          They were quite back on track against Tampa Bay, though they made it a little closer at the end than it should’ve been.

          The biggest shocker of the game was clearly Kirk Cousins channeling Lamar Jackson with that sprint of 13 yards, after which he stunningly didn’t need an IV and oxygen after what was for him almost a marathon.       

          I love when quarterbacks become football players. That’s something Cousins – and most quarterbacks – need to do a litte more of, some keepers, some moving pocket. Make the defense work and think a little more.

          And every game, Bijan Robinson turns in some level of dazzling and eye-catching 6- or 11-yard run.

          Atlanta still needs to knock somebody out, or at least make somebody wobble and stay wobbled. Could come this week against Dallas, because there are few teams in the NFL as wobbly as the Cowkids. …

          High school hotseat update: The guess of how many new head coaches we’ll have next year – in a coverage are of 45 schools, the same 45 schools every year and every sport – is currently six, four specific and two just-not-sure.

          There’s always scuttlebutt, and some of it can be absurd. We’ll address it if it happens. One part of it might happen. …

          Have caught ACE, Bleckley County, Central, East Laurens, FPD, Gatewood, Howard, John Milledge, Mount de Sales, Northeast, Stratford, and Westside this season.

          Teams with losing records have some better players than people think, just not that many.

          I always like watching Nick Woodford play, but KD Iverson at Westside raised an eyebrow against Morgan County, FPD’s Benjamin McElreath had as good a receiving night execution-wise Friday as I’ve seen in awhile, Bleckley County QB Kam Everett is underrated, Stratford’s Stebin Horne is the best among some good Central Georgia kickers, and FPD’s Major Simmons must snore like a fiend hardly coming off the field.

          McElreath on who he sort of patterns himself after a bit:

          “Ryan Williams, Alabama.”

          Hold on, Williams is all of 17 still.

          “And I like Ladd McConkey.”

          Who is, well, 22. OK then. …

CENTRAL GEORGIA’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COVERAGE

 Last week
* Roundup, Houston County battles TCC; Perry bows up again; Northeast, Woodford pop Dodge County; Baldwin O sharp; Mary Persons stuns No. 1; FPD wins region in OT thriller
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games?
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* Central Georgia’s rankings
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week
* Monday Morning QB: A really good - not epic - win in Austin, with silliness; weekly CFB playoff sermon; Loughdmouthings: Dumb Ho orn (this week) fans, really good HS slate, Falcons are fine, but …
* The schedule

Two weeks ago
* Roundup: Perry gets the ‘upset’, HoCo blanked, Baldwin wins on the road; big nights for Upson-Lee, West Laurens, Dublin, Northeast, Stratford, Brentwood; Jasper County gets 3-OT W
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games, coming Friday
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* A breakdown of the playoff pictures, the power ratings for A-AAA and others
* Central Georgia rankings
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Which Nation is the most absurd this week?; HS stat stuff, playoffs sermon; Loughdmouthings galore: stats, QB shoving, tackling, Falcons,and Jerry’s happy-for-us birthday
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

          How are this year’s first-year Central Georgia head coaches doing?

Dodge County’s Phillip Brown, 8-1
Stratford’s Paul Carroll, 7-3
Trinity Christian’s Bruce Lane, 6-4
Wilkinson County’s Jamoski Ward, 5-4
Macon County’s Kurt Williams, 5-4
Baldwin’s Kevin Patterson, 4-3
Howard’s Trey Porter, 4-3
Hancock Central’s Brandon Nolley, 4-5
East Laurens’ Jesse Hicks, 3-5
Twiggs County’s Roderick Cummings, 2-6
Covenant’s Clint Humphrey, 4-5 …

          Cleaning out the notebook, on former Taylor County standout Gunnar Watson, from last year, as his record-setting career at Troy neared an end:

          “Gunnar is one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever been around,” head coach Greg Gasparato said of the quarterback last December after the Trojans. “Gunnar didn’t practice the last couple of days. He was one of the guys that went down early with the bug, so the last two days he really wasn’t around the game involved with much.

          “We tried to keep him away, but …”

          Watson felt better as the game neared.

          “The doctors cleared him, he was good to go. He’s as gritty a human being as I’ve ever been around. He’s tough. He’s a leader, man. People follow him. That’s what you want in life.” …

          Dear coaches on all levels: Tell your players that if any of them come even close to dropping the ball before being three years deep into the end zone, they will be fined (NFL and some colleges), will run like they’re training for a cross country meet, apologize in front of the team after the game and once during the next week, and write “I will not drop the ball” 100 times on a whiteboard.

          Kyle Pitts got away with it Sunday, and Peach County’s Noah Whittington did it earlier this season at Oregon.

          Of all the screwups, it’s among the least forgivable. …

          Wondering about tenure?

          The coaches in Central Georgia who are in at least their fifth season at their current school:

          Mike Chastain at Jones County, Brian Nelson at Mary Persons, Justin Elder at Upson-Lee, Roger Holmes at Dublin, Spoon Risper at Westside, Kevin Smith at Perry, Jeremy Wiggins at Northeast, Von Lassiter at Bleckley County, Joe Dupree at Southwest, J.T. Wall at John Milledge, John Abernathy at Tattnall, Jeff Ratliff at Gatewood, and Jake Walls at Central Fellowship.

          Yes, there are those for whom we wonder if the clock’s ticking, if greener pastures are being eyed. …

          From David Hale of EPSN.com on that long-awaited ACC showdown between SMU and Duke: “This was technically a game between two 6-1 teams, which is a little like saying Dr Pepper and Dr. Dre technically finished medical school.”