By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
OCT. 4, 2022 | It was an unbelievable weekend for sports fans in Atlanta.
The most unlikely of all was the Atlanta Braves sweeping the New York Mets to take a two-game lead in the National League East, and move toward their fifth straight division title. Now the Braves face three games in Miami to end the regular season, with them odds-on favorites to take the title, and get a first round bye in the playoffs.
But almost as unbelievable was the Georgia Tech football team’s upset over Pittsburgh, 26-21. The Engineers led the entire game, and convincingly won their game. Two late Pitt touchdowns made it look closer. Coming just after Tech fired Coach Geoff Collins, it showed that the firing was the move Tech should have made long ago. The Yellow Jackets looked like an entirely different team under interim coach Brent Key. Tech is now 2-3, while Pittsburgh is 3-1.
Then as we went to bed Saturday night, the Georgia Bulldogs were losing convincingly to the University of Missouri in Columbia, 16-6. And the score at the start of the fourth quarter was 22-12, in favor of Missouri. Obviously, the number one Bulldogs had a formidable opponent.
Then on arising Sunday, lo and behold: Number One Georgia had finally awakened in the last quarter, pulling off a 26-22 victory over Missouri. Stetson Bennett and his teammates had done it again! Georgia fans suddenly were giddy in victory, after it looked mighty bad for most of the game, with the Bulldogs still undefeated.
However, on Monday the Bulldog fans found that the come-from-behind game cost the Georgia team in another way: Alabama had regained the lead in the college football standings, with Georgia now ranked No. 2. Though Arkansas had given the Crimson Tide a good game, the final score was (49-26 ) strong enough for Alabama to get ranked higher than Georgia.
Atlanta football fans also saw another Atlanta team score a victory. Georgia State went to West Point and thoroughly licked Army, 31-14 for their first victory of the season. So far this year their record is only 1-4. Georgia State football has become progressively stronger in the last few years, with bowl games becoming on the Panther fans’ mind more and more. But they have a slow start this year.
Two other Georgia teams lost this weekend. Georgia Southern, upset victor over once-mighty Nebraska in Lincoln a few weeks back, fell to Coastal Carolina, 34-30. And the always tough Kennesaw State lost by one touchdown to Jacksonville State, 34-28. Georgia Southern’s record for 2022 is 3-2, while Kennesaw so far is 1-3.
One more game of local interest: coming-on strong Mercer beat long-time rival Wofford in a road game by a whopping 42-7. The Bears of Macon have a 4-1 record, losing only to Auburn. Of their four games, they have scored readily, their closest victory being 17-0 over The Citadel.
As for the other Georgia teams next weekend:
- Georgia faces Auburn (3-2) in Athens.
- Georgia Tech plays Duke (4-1) in Atlanta. Duke’s only loss was a 35-27 loss to undefeated Kansas in Lawrence.
- Georgia State hosts Georgia Southern in Atlanta. Georgia State leads 5-3 in games between the football teams.
- Kennesaw faces North Alabama at home.
- Mercer plays Western Carolina in Macon.
With cooler weather in the air, football in Atlanta is going strong.
And again, “How ‘bout them Braves!”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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