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What was the biggest surprise of the young year in college football? Was it Louisville’s complete dismantling of Florida State? Was it the mastery Ohio State showed against Oklahoma? Was it Alabama’s shaky-looking defense against Ole Miss? Was it Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason’s relative poise in an away game in a Dawg win against Missouri in a comeback? Was it the performance of Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, who looks indeed like a young Michael Vick? Was it Auburn’s anemic offensive showing against every team it’s played this season? How about Tennessee’s lackadaisical performance thus far? Maybe Notre Dame and Oklahoma’s early exit in the national title chase? How about Virginia and new coach Bronco Mendenhall losing to Richmond?

At halftime Saturday last, Missouri looked like I thought, pregame, that Georgia would look. The Tigers dominated the line of scrimmage, and they moved the ball with adroit alacrity. However, it was like Vince Lombardi when his Packers were stumbling about in an important game. “What the hell is going on out there,” he famously shouted from the sideline.

The Rome Braves returned from New Jersey late Saturday night, pulling into State Mutual Stadium to a crowd of fans waiting to celebrate the team’s South Atlantic League Championship. Rome defeated Lakewood 6-1 Friday night to take the SAL championship series three games to one.

Tate Adcock passed for 172 yards, Slade Dale threw for 140 yards and both had a pair of touchdown passes as Berry College opened conference play with a 34-10 win over Rhodes College on Saturday.

Coed 10-and-younger

Since my last article we have filled eight additional cook sites with teams wanting to vie for the title of chili champ of North Georgia. That still leaves us with 49 sites waiting for cooks. Of those 49 sites, seven can accommodate campers or motor homes. In the immortal words of the late Johnny Olson of “Price Is Right” fame, “come on down” and cook some chili.

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Things were brighter this week as my predictions went 8-2 but I’m still 13-7 for the young year. This week features at least three year-changing games, so let the good times roll.

Remembering how good college football’s week No. 1 was, week No. 2 really was embarrassing. Come on, that’s the best we can come up with? Alabama vs. Western Kentucky, no contest. Central Florida vs. Michigan, ridiculous. Georgia Tech vs. Mercer, doubly shameful. Georgia vs. Nicholls, just wait a minute.

Only twice before had Jay Stephenson run in a marathon — the first 20 years ago when he was a teenager and again in 2013 when an injury prevented him from finishing.

Rome Braves manager Randy Ingle knew the players that started the South Atlantic League Championship Series on Monday night were not the same ones he had come to know.

After 13 seasons, there will be championship baseball played in Rome once again.

The Berry College football team not only maintained a spotless record Saturday, it also made history. 

Taylor Widener stood by the RiverDogs dugout across from the first base line, drenched in a Gatorade bath that a duo of teammates had just dumped on him.

The headline in the USA Today Sports section asked this: “Does the SEC have anything else other than Alabama?” And I’m not sure what the answer is after the first week of college football.

At practice Tuesday, every member of the Rome Braves sported a distinctive shirt that read “GRIND’N 2 THE END” with a dragonfly and a raccoon on the front.

Final: Rome 5, Augusta 0

Berry football has made many leaps and bounds in its first three years of existence, but a season-opening win still eluded the program.

Hey there, and it is I again with my 34th straight year of Norman’s No-Nos where I pick the losers in 10 top college games. You’ll note by going back in the annals of my column that my prognostications are unerringly right on. I think I’ve had a success rate of 97 percent. Maybe it was 80 percent. One of those.

Final: Rome 3, Greenville 2

Most of you know what the Power Five Conferences are in college football. They are the “haves” in the sport. The “have-nots” are known as “The Group of Five” and they are mostly the smaller schools.

TUESDAY’S GAME RECAP

If I had the option of either taking a trip to Alaska to fish or winning a chili cook off I would probably want to see Alaska, but a lot of folks in the North Georgia area would rather have the title of “Chili Champ of the TU Chili Cook Off.” Some friends of mine just returned from a trip to Alaska and two of them have cooked in several cook offs and in fact have done very well cooking and fishing.

Final: Augusta 5, Rome 3