Heat Check: Falcons are unbeaten; Georgia State’s on a roll!
Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon leads the cheers: "Our team is red hot!" (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Truth in advertising: This week’s Heat Check isn’t the most scintillating, given that the bulk of our local teams didn’t actually play. But we press on nonetheless.
FALCONS: They’re the only NFL unbeaten remaining, and here I offer the boldest prediction of my so-called career — they won’t lose next Sunday, either. Forecast: They’ve got a bye, and they could use one to refocus and recalibrate. When you’re 6-0, there’s obviously nothing grievously amiss. But the past three games weren’t nearly as emphatic as the first three.
GEORGIA STATE: The Panthers won a game! And won it big! Thank goodness for Rhode Island! Thank goodness Bill Curry won’t ride off into the sunset on an 0-11 nag of a season! Forecast: OK, back to reality. They play 5-2 Villanova in the Georgia Dome on Saturday.
GEORGIA: The Bulldogs got what they wanted even as they weren’t playing. South Carolina lost to LSU. If South Carolina loses to Florida this week, that clears the deck for the Georgia-Florida winner to take the SEC East. And Georgia, as we know, hasn’t lost to Florida since … oh, way back in 2010. Forecast: Georgia plays at Kentucky, which lost to Arkansas 49-7 in a game shortened by a merciful thunderstorm. The Bulldogs are favored by four touchdowns in an SEC road game. Holy mackerel.
GEORGIA TECH: The Jackets were also off, and they furloughed defensive coordinator Al Groh for the rest of the season, which was probably best for everyone concerned. Even though Tech is 2-4, a slew of winnable games remain. It would take some doing for this team to finish under .500. Forecast: Tech plays Boston College, which just lost to Florida State 51-7 and has beaten only Maine. Say what you will about the state of Atlanta college football, but our teams look better than New England’s.
BRAVES: Didn’t lose all week. Didn’t play, either. Now they get to sit back and watch the Cardinals, who finished six games behind them, go win another World Series. Forecast: It’s silly to try and predict the outcome of anything involving the baseball postseason, but I offer this bit of ex post facto prognostication — had the Braves beaten St. Louis in the play-in game, they’d have also beaten Washington in the Division Series. Moot point, alas.
HAWKS: They’re playing exhibition games. They’re 1-2. The victory came against Miami. The losses came against Rhode Island and Maine. Forecast: The regular season opens Nov. 2 against Houston. Tune in then.
Further reading: The Falcons are 6-0, but certain other numbers don’t add up.
By Mark Bradley
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61 comments Add your comment
Outsider Georgia Fan
October 15th, 2012
3:04 pm
AMEN: BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!!BAN BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!!HERSCHEL BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!!TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!! BAN HERSCHEL TALKER!!!
GEEZ give it a rest dude!!
bulldogbubba
October 15th, 2012
3:09 pm
hERSCHEL TALKER needs a new song. He is against all managers and coaches georgia sports teams have. Maybe he can give us the names of his replacements and we will debate those.GO BRAVES GO DAWGS
The Falcons are 6-0, but certain other numbers don’t add up | Mark Bradley
October 15th, 2012
3:15 pm
[...] Further reading: This week’s Heat Check, with the Falcons chief among our local hotties. [...]
Stinger 2
October 15th, 2012
3:16 pm
Mark: I agree with you about the Braves. Had they won the play in game against the Cardinals, they would have beat the Nats who self-destructed. This was a very good Braves team with 94 regular season wins under the leadership of Fredi. The team played excellent baseball in September with no sign of a collapse. This organization is on the rise with Wren, Fredi and Co. Go Braves in 2013!
Bubbatavious
October 15th, 2012
4:18 pm
East West college players are selected… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODZzSOelss
230gr Full Metal Jacket
October 15th, 2012
7:34 pm
To all of the trolls from Statesboro — Good for you, now go away until you grow up and have the ‘nads to play Div-1 ball. Beating up on Sister Mary’s school for wayward blind girls, and schools that are smaller than the highschool I attended doesn’t impress anyone. You know, there’s a reason why no one cared when you were winning national titles (sic) under Russel and Johnson — because FCS ball is completely irrelevant to everyone except the kids who actually attend the lower-level schools. Ga Southern is anything but a small school, and is in fact considerably larger than most Div-1 schools. Yet ya’ll continue to play in a 13th grade league. Why is that? Grow a pair and move into a Div-1 conference, where you have belonged for decades, THEN folks around the state will start paying attention and having a little respect for your program. Until then, your wins are no more meaningful than those of any other high school around the state (unless, of course, ya’ll whip UGA this season, lol).
Eric C.
October 16th, 2012
2:12 pm
@230gr Full Metal Jacket I’ve been staying out of the “real GSU” debate until now, but I can’t resist replying to your moronic mud-slinging.
I have no problem if GSU isn’t included with the Atlanta area teams because geographically it isn’t on the same page, however this storied program is something you want to learn about…the late Coach Erk Russell is a legend at both UGA and GSU, and I’m proud to say that I had a chance to meet him and shake his hand while he was still coaching the Eagles.
Coach Russell started the program from dust and turned it into a D-1AA powerhouse in just a few years during the early-mid 80s, and I can tell you it was THE most exciting brand of football I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching…especially with Tracy Ham at QB and the “Ham-Bone” offense.
To say this team plays nothing but high-school caliber teams is absurd…they played FSU at Tallahasee (in their glory years) in 1987 and were leading them until late in the 4th quarter. Just last year…they played Alabama at Tuscaloosa and put up close to 300 yds rushing on the best defense in FBS while giving them a real fight. I can think of a lot of “FBS” schools right now that the Eagles could beat…and I’m willing to bet they would give Ga Tech a run for their money.
Once again…I’m not in the “please include the Eagles in the AJC” campaign, but I’m not going to stand by when the mud is slung. The Georgia Southern Eagles have a darn good program and maybe one day they will move up.
Paddy
October 17th, 2012
1:05 pm
I have won alot of $ over the years from guys that say ‘book it’. That term is just like a ‘tell’ in a poker game. It became way too easy! If you tell them they can have either side of the bet they want, they always go w/ their heart and cough up the cash at the end of the day. I learned alot from my grandpa!
Paddy
October 17th, 2012
1:37 pm
Eric C…..I too would like to have Ga So. football coverage from the AJC. But since the AJC is not sold in that part of the state, it just is not going to happen. Ad revnue turns the crank in this senario!
ASHCAN!!!!!
October 18th, 2012
10:09 am
FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC FIRE AJC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eric C.
October 18th, 2012
2:40 pm
Paddy, please read my post a little closer…I tried to make it clear that I was not pushing for AJC coverage. I’m simply defending the integrity of a great football program.