MATTHEW BROWN: Don’t take my takeaways away

Published 11:00 pm Friday, September 6, 2024

More results like this from the Seminoles, and they will be lucky … no, this is not a repeat of last week’s joke about mid-major football conferences.

(Take two)

More results like this from the Seminoles … but then, I don’t think the real die-hards of the Garnett and Gold see an 0-2 start in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a joke.

(Take three)

More results like this from the Seminoles, and they will be lucky to get an invitation to a bowl in Nashville or Shreveport. Yep, I think we are way past the point of wondering about another playoff snub down in the panhandle.

Takeaways from the first big college football weekend …

Oh, you mean like that sweet interception from Malaki Starks for the Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium? The one that is sure to make him yet another first-round draft pick from the Kirby Smart defense?

How about another big INT in the SEC, this one with Putnam County attached to it? That was former War Eagle Jalon Kilgore, the sophomore safety for the South Carolina Gamecocks, picking off the deflected pass to seal a victory over Old Dominion.

Not exactly the kind of result other Southeastern clubs had against similar types of opposition. The big 3 road foes on the Georgia schedule – Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss – all put up video game numbers in glorified scrimmages (the Dawgs get theirs this weekend; and remember, Jalon’s brother Gerald Kilgore is now in the same secondary in Columbia after transferring from Tennessee Tech, so he will miss out on all the fun at Sanford).

How about that, takeaways on takeaways. Which kind do you prefer anyway? Well, we in this profession must bestow our bits of wisdom to make the audience see things more clearly from their basements (thank you for that coach Nape). In a new era, how do you do this in a more creative style that captures your attention?

Since so many pundits give their views in the format of a show with back-and-forth banter, here’s what it might look like if I state my ‘takeaways’ in the form of an answer to the form of a question.

“So, Mr. B., did any individual performance from the weekend stand out for you?”

“I’ll give you a good one, a name we all got to know real well in the Peach State. Nebraska freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, fresh off a one-and-done season at Buford High, completed 19 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in a Cornhusker rout of UTEP. Next, he will be tested by a Colorado Buffalo defense that will at best high-5 receivers on their way to the end zone.

“Remember last year that Raiola was a firm commitment to Georgia only to flip over to the midwest. I would not trade what we have in Athens in Carson Beck for anyone. A year or two from now? We all know the grass – or in this case the cornstalks – doesn’t grow too much over this QB’s feet. Two years at the big N would be a new Raiola world record.”

“So, Mr. B., since there is an expanded 12-team playoff, so much of the talk is how one can get into the field with two or even three losses. Having already touched on Florida State’s dilemma at 0-2 in the ACC, did anyone else basically see their season end after just one game?”

“Even with a 12-team bracket, anyone with a pulse could guess that probably 75% of the Bowl Subdivision knew as far back as the spring their best outcome is an Orlando, Tampa or San Diego bowl bid. Then there’s that small percentage hoping for a TCU-type story, ironically one of them probably not being TCU.

“The bubble, sad to say, did burst for the Florida Gators, the Clemson Tigers and the Virginia Tech Hokies (shame on you). Maybe not so much for LSU or Texas A&M, good candidates still for No. 13 or 14 with a good conference run.”

“So, Mr. B., does it feel like Texas and Oklahoma are fully-fledged, bona fide, SEC, SEC, SEC?”

“I’m still working on Missouri, which in 2023 only had its third great win total in 12 years as a league member and did beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. But I can’t remember a regular-season non-conference match-up involving Mizzou where everything hung in the balance and the rest of us got solidly behind the Gold and Black.

“Texas has that this weekend playing Michigan. If this happens in any year before this, those die-hards of any original SEC member would have a hard time deciding whom to despise more. Do we realize yet this now holds personal meaning? Do even the Longhorns realize they are defending a brand beyond their own?

“Getting back to Missouri, these are some of the people they have coming up the next 10 years: Kansas, Illinois, Colorado, Army, BYU … there, that’s it.”

“Finally, Mr. B., know anybody who might be sitting outside a roadside diner on the outskirts of Macon or Savannah questioning life choices if the Atlanta Braves don’t make the playoffs?”

“A couple, but I won’t name names.”

(If at all possible, give pet adoption a try through the Animal Rescue Foundation in Milledgeville. Donations of any kind are also in great need. ARF is a little red building at 711 S. Wilkinson St., and more information is available at animalrescuefoundation.org.)