College Football Roundup

Sports can sure stir up the old emotions. Take the "2025 Atlanta Gridiron Classic". GT screwed up the opening kickoff, the return man stepping out of bounds and takes a knee on the 3 yard line. Then a one yard loss, then QB King is lucky he isn’t called for intentional grounding in the end zone, which would have been a safety. Three plays – all bad for the Jackets. Not the best way to beat the #4 team in the country.

Dawgs ran the ball well in the first half but kept trying unsuccessfully to mix in the pass. Tech played better defense than they did against NC State and Pitt. I would’ve rather seen Tech win those games than beat UGA.
 
Tech needed to play perfect to win, and they didn’t. Too many penalties. But they kept it close. Dawgs were down to one starting offensive lineman. GT TE Brett Seither made catches he had dropped in previous games. He’s one of at least two Jackets who had transferred from UGA. It eventually got to the point where UGA needed to quit making mistakes, and for the most part they did.  

Did not realize that Peyton Woodring is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history. And he's not even a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award. Woodring needs to ditch the Brett Thorson WalMart look. GT kicker Birr cut the Dawgs lead to 16-9 with 3 minutes remaining. Very little offense from the Dawgs in the second half. They’d throw an incompletion on first down, then Tech would stop the 2nd down running play - setting up too many 3rd & longs.

Tech used timeouts too early and too often. So many keepers by Stockton. Dawgs convert the key 3rd & one to take the clock down to the 2 minute timeout. Dawgs were flat out playing conservative, not running any plays they might run against December opponents.

UGA WR Branch is some talent. Transferred from USC. A good attitude and leader. Before Bama played last night, Stockton continued to be the highest-rated SEC QB against ranked teams.

As usual the Jackets came to play against UGA. Not sure why they can’t play that well against lesser teams. They take their final timeout with 1:55 and stopped the Dawgs for no gains on 1st and 2nd down.

Dawgs run the clock down to 21 ticks before having to punt, which takes another 8 seconds off the clock. Lucky for Tech that the punt bounced into the end zone, or the clock might’ve run out right then. Two completions move the ball to the UGA 45 with time for one last Hail Mary. Didn’t work. Crazy game.

Not really a neutral site game, but a home game for Tech played at Mercedes Benz. GT has a 1-5 record when playing in Mercedes Benz Stadium. UGA is 8-5. Pretty sure Tech won’t be playing any more home games in Mercedes Benz.

And I've just about had it with "Good clean old fashioned hate", or whatever it is I kept hearing over and over. UGA has a whole list of more bitter rivalries: Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, even Clemson. It ain't a rivalry when one side has won the last 8 straight. Tech fans need to do a little of that analysis they're supposed to be so famous for. All the nit-picking and complaining just makes for a worse look. 

On Thursday we had the three NFL games on the TV. All were close: Packers@Lions, Chiefs@Cowboys, Bengals@Ravens.

Nebraska sophomore QB Dylan Raiola broke his leg in early November and is out for the rest of the season. His replacement has been playing well. Now Raiola is thinking about transferring. He’s played okay in his year and a half at Nebraska, but hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. More of a game manager than a game changer. Raiola went to three different high schools, “committed” first to Ohio State, then UGA, then Nebraska. Not sure I’d want him on my team.

Ole Miss not cashing in on every opportunity but still comfortably led 24-13. Tough to blow out a rival. Mississippi State has played teams tough this year. Finished 38-19.

Some hate to admit it, but Arch had a little to do with Texas upsetting the undefeated #3 ranked Aggies. For sure Texas A&M had played a much less tougher schedule than Texas had. Despite the cutting wind that many “experts’ forgot about, Arch went 14-29 by mostly throwing deep downfield, with defenders repeatedly committing uncalled pass interference penalties, according to the rules official in the booth.

Arch put the game out of reach with a 35 yard TD run. Too bad for the Dawgs, who must play next week instead of getting a couple weeks rest to recover from injuries. Kirby don’t care.

SC head coach Beamer seems like a stand up guy. Even Dabo likes him. But Beamer pulled one over on me, and I want my money back. I ain’t never gonna trust what he says again. He said his QB LaNorris Sellers was a Heisman candidate. A flat out lie. Guess Beamer had to say that to keep his QB happy, to keep him from transferring. Sellers dad encouraged young LaNorris to be content with the millions the Gamecocks were funneling his way. But the kid is no Heisman candidate. Prove me wrong. Any team that courts Sellers and empties the bank for him will be sorry. Miami? Go ahead and take him.

Sellers played against Clemson, and played poorly. Uninspired. Down the stretch I saw no sense of urgency. Threw a costly pick six. After that play the speedy track star who moonlights as a SC WR didn’t seem too upset. The WR would lose a fumble on the next SC possession. The Tigers took advantage of these and other opportunities, and won easily.

More teams should take Dabo's lead and save special uniforms for special occasions - starting with the orange championship pants. Genius idea. The Gamecocks should be the next to adopt this idea. Carolina's black jerseys and pants didn't look too bad when coupled with white helmets and socks.

Vanderbilt coasted past Tennessee. The win should get QB Diego Pavia a ticket to NYC for the Heisman presentation. He’s not my winner. Ohio State and Indiana punched their tickets to the conference championship game. Will the winning QB therefore win the Heisman? Probably, though that’s not my criteria.

Oklahoma edged LSU. Miami blew out Pitt, the same Panthers who blew out Tech. Lots of teams fighting to make the playoff.

Bama got out to a 10-0 first quarter lead in the iron Bowl. Ten 17-0, but the War Eagles came back to tie the game at 20. Tide score the go ahead TD late. Auburn had a couple of opportunities, but kept putting the ball down on the turf. Tida will be a tough foe for the Dawgs in the SEC Championship Game, what with all the injuries on the UGA offensive line. I don’t think they were sandbagging. 

Never thought that in 2025 Tom Brady would look like Bo Schembechler, or even Jim Harbaugh. The world must be coming to an end.