Sidelines & Headlines

Host Blake Giles wanted to talk about crinum lilies, but co-host Jim Hardin insisted that they revisit Auburn’s 27-24 win over Georgia. The flow of the game reminded Blake of Georgia’s 1976 visit to Oxford, Miss., the week after a 21-0 shutout of Alabama. The Bulldogs got up on Ole Miss 14-0 and wrongly assumed they were the greatest team in the history of college football. The Rebels came back and won. Georgia’s inability to run effectively was a critical factor in the game. The depth at running back may be the most vulnerable position on the team. But Auburn’s win over No. 1 Georgia was just the tip of the iceberg in a chaotic day. Brigham Young held off Notre Dame, Florida went to Texas and handed the Longhorns their second straight loss, Tennessee did the same to Alabama, and Miami was fortunate to beat Florida State. Ohio State escaped with a narrow win over Indiana. A toe-tap touchdown catch last year saved their undefeated season. The toe-tap failed this year. All the upsets threw college football fans into a frenzy. Would fans have been as engaged if it was a 24-team college football playoff? Time will tell. Who is going to make it to the “last” SEC title game? If the season ended today, it would be Georgia and… Kentucky? It’s still a wide-open race to Atlanta. Another big weekend looms in the SEC with Tennessee at South Carolina, Texas A&M at Alabama, Ole Miss at Texas, and Vanderbilt at Kentucky. South Carolina had a week off. A&M and Alabama are two desperate teams. Texas is trying to keep from losing its third straight game of the year. Welcome to a 9-game conference schedule. Jim’s alma mater, Presbyterian, escaped with a wild comeback (multiple times) win over Stetson. Wait till you hear the details. Blake aims his spotlight at the service academies, which for the most part represent a no-passing zone. And finally, the guys look back at the Back Yard Brawl where Prince Avenue Christian took advantage of a young Athens Academy team. This week features a top-10 matchup when Commerce visits PACS. The winner will most likely win the region.

Hosts Jim Hardin and Blake Giles discuss the big call in the Alabama game. Hey, officials make bad calls all the time, in every game. You will not find any support here for the proposed 24-team playoff apparently coming in 2027. How good is Georgia? Very good. The defense is great, the receivers have quieted the doubters, and quarterback Gunnar Stockton is playing like the best quarterback in the SEC. Don’t forget the impact of kicker Peyton Woodring, the latest in a long-line of great kickers at Georgia. This week the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry re-news. Can it be a rivalry if one team has won nine in a row? There have been many great games in this series. Elsewhere, is Texas merely an average team? And what is the best 2-point strategy in overtime. Kentucky has gone for two in the first OT and won its last two games by identical 35-34 scores over South Carolina and LSU. Oregon’s strange 2-point approach backfired in its loss to UCLA. Speaking of Kentucky and UCLA, are they this year’s “Indiana” or a flash in the pan like Vanderbilt? On the high school front, the bug game locally is the “Backyard Brawl,” featuring Prince Avenue Christian at Athens Academy. Finally, Jim goes home with a couple of pieces of 16-layer chocolate cake—it’s legendary—made by Jan Giles. Get off the sidelines and make some headlines, folks.

Host Blake Giles catches up with Tra Battle, who had a game to remember 20 years ago against Auburn University. Tra was an all-star athlete in Forsyth, walked on at Georgia, earned a scholarship, was named All-SEC and third-team All-American. He played professionally for six years. Now he is a cybersecurity specialist in the Air Force and he recently launched a clothing line: CBTB (Covered by the Blood). He relates his first college game at Clemson. He talks about pass interference (everybody else is), having seen it on his phone. He recalls the impression that Kirby Smart made as an assistant coach at Georgia. And he shares how God reminded him of his mission in life to be a light.

Host Jim Hardin catches up with long-time friend Bill Waldrep, who has quite the following as a farmer through videos on social media. He is a third-generation farmer in Monroe County, where he raises vegetables and cows. Ag policy is high on the list of his interests. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and was a high-school ag teacher for 30 years, mostly at his alma mater, Mary Persons High. He and his wife, Sarah, raised three girls, and they have one granddaughter.

Host Jim Hardin and Blake Giles look ahead to the Georgia-Alabama football game. But first, they look back at local high school results, and what happened in college football last week. Including the emergence of another ex-Auburn quarterback (they’re everywhere). Auburn lost to Tennessee in an uninspired game. Vanderbilt looked like the best team Georgia has played so far, but that will change this Saturday with the visit to Alabama. They both agree that youth baseball is out of control, and Blake shares his recipe for Graham Cracker Toffee, aka brown-sugar meth.