By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
***centralgasports@gmail.com***

We’re surrounded by people who love misery, who love piling on, yearn to scold coaches and call other people trash and garbage and offers so much other cowardly crap.

At the first since of an issue, they want people fired, and they take great joy in somebody doing their best and being unsuccessful.

Being passionate doesn’t mean you have to be a crappy, petty, substance-free person.

I have a long leash when it comes to firing coaches because I get it, the difficulties and complexities and unpredictability of sports and those dadgum human beings participating.

I grasp this simple concept that they don’t intend to fail, and those failure are not personal attacks on you and yours.

All that said, at this rate, Atlanta has to make a move by Thanksgiving to change the course of this Falcon turkey.

Most never saw this coming, especially the Dolphins’ debacle. I wondered near the end of last season if Raheem Morris might be losing the locker room, and that’s something that’s harder to tell than people think.

If he didn’t then, he is now. Whatever he had of the fan base entering the season has neared the friends and extended family stage.

You have Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier and you run the ball 17 times? Really? And those two get a combined 13 carries?

Wow.

Morris and this staff have so digressed, Michael Penix or not, that it’s hard to find any reason to believe they can turn it around. The 12-5 roster I’ve talked about may be down to 10-7, but it’s run by a 4-13 staff.

The Falcons have gone from a favorite to win the division to a safe bet to finish under .500 again. Again.

And they’ll have wasted a year of good young talent.

We’ll discuss later the overall mismanagement and ownership. There’s plenty of time for that, since it’s unlikely to change.

Bears be ballin’, check ‘em out

It was a Chamber of Commerce day.

The state’s No. 3 team – really, Auburn is No. 2 in interest – had a noon kickoff and had taken care of business early. The state’s No. 1 team was off.

It would have been a good time for locals to check out state’s, oh, fourth-best college football team (The Sagarin Ratings have Mercer about even with Georgia Southern, ahead of Kennesaw State, West Georgia, and Georgia State, as well as ahead of App State, UAB, Oklahoma State, Nevada, and Coastal Carolina, among others).

Alas, there was a festival or two, and music, and yard sales, and yard work, so only about 4,000 or so folks were at Five Star Stadium for Mercer’s game against VMI ((Mercer’s announced attendance is as factual as The Wizard of Oz, so, no, 7,007 people weren’t there).

It was 62-0, and sure, one might think it was boring. But even in a blowout, when one team is playing really, really good football, joy can be found.

Mercer football is one of the many reminders of attractions in Central Georgia that people need to open their minds a little bit and give a chance. Really, it’s worth your time if you like quality football to mosey on down to Five Star Stadium.

At some point, again, it’d be nice for the farcical listing of attendance to be actually close to reality, meaning that between Bibb and Houston County alone, there should actually be 7,000 or 8,000 on hand for a team that plays gratifying-to-watch football.

Context: Mercer is on the level that Georgia Southern was – FCS/I-AA – on when the Eagles became a power.

But as with everything, it’s tougher now than it was then.

The reality is that Mercer is better than a number of power 4 teams. There’s always an overlap among the divisions in sports.

Right now – and there’s not a soul who’d accuse me of being a Mercer homer in any form or fashion – I’d put money on Mercer taking Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and Kennesaw State - all FBS teams – down to the final few minutes, if not outright winning.

Bobby Lamb got it going, Drew Cronic set a fancy table and Mike Jacobs is expanding the offerings. Fundamental, physical and consistent, yes, but what brings a spring in my step is that Jacobs and his staff ain’t scared to try something.

And consider: This is the second year in a row that Mercer has changed quarterbacks to a true freshman and gotten better. Man, that’s huge, a sign of good recruiting, good communication, and good coaching.

Those Sagarin Ratings list 265 Division I – yet another reminder of the structure of NCAA football, and Division I is Division I, split into A and AA – teams, and Mercer is 104th. The Bears are a week or two away from getting inside the top 100.

Monday Morning Quarterback, 2025

🏈 Aug. 18: Teams in transition deserve patience from the peanut gallery; Surprises; Loughdmouthings
🏈 Aug. 25: Southwest and Northeast lost their cool, and then people done lost their minds; Surprises, Loughdmouthings
🏈 Sept. 1: Saturdays will never be the same without Lee Corso; Loughdmouthings galore
🏈 Sept 8: Atlanta again puts the F in … Falconing, but there’s progress even in that; Surprises; Loughdmouthings galore
🏈 Sept. 15: A good Saturday on campus for Peach State teams; Stat stuff, surprises; Loughdmouthings galore
🏈Sept 22: The Falcons, um, well, see, you can, …nope, no idea; Surprises; Loughdmouthings galore (Tech unis, SEC schedule, UAB twit, repping Dodge County, more)
🏈 Sept. 28: Revisiting the Dawgs, Jackets, and Falcons (“oh my”, times 3); Surprises galore; West Laurens’ Cummings; Loughdmouthings: Mercer, screamers, Class A mutes, bummer)
🏈Oct. 6: Nobody knows who’s in the CFP, nobody, so get ready; Surprises, Loughdmouthings (are loaded up, from ball dropping, high schools, fibbing …)

🏈 Oct. 13: Sit down, get some coffee, and let’s revisit the Palooza on the Plains, because it must be done; Surprises, Loughdmouthings
🏈 Oct. 20: What do we know about our main teams in Georgia, near and far? Well, it’s complicated, and entertaining; Surprises, Loughdmouthings (a readable podcast, OK?) galore

That, and the full overall gameday experience Mercer offers, sure is worth a look at least once a year, certainly when they host a playoff game, or two.

Like this year.

Surprises

Few saw Warner Robins taking care of business and Ware County that way, and in a shootout.

Not sure many saw Jones County falling to Eagle’s Landing, and being unable to punch in more red-zone chances.

Houston County-Thomas County Central is a coin flip, whether a surprise or not. For three quarters, it was an even game, but yes, TCC’s 21-point second quarter made it a not-so-even game. Still, it’s worth noting that 31 is the Yellow Jackets’ lowest point total this year, and one of only 11 times in head coach Justin Rogers’ 50 games that TCC has been held below 35 points.

That’s something.

No doubt there were scores of double takes with the FPD-Tattnall score of 3-0. Sure, the Vikings are banged up, but 3-0? Really. Down the line, that close first half and strong second half will pay dividends.

Some of us listed Cairo-Peach County as a potential upset, and it was. Upson-Lee losing by two scores to Trinity Christian? A surprise. So was Westside losing by 12 to St. Anne-Pacelli

Loughdmouthings

As we hit the high school playoffs, remember this: The inability – aka refusal - to get better during blowouts to pass block, run routes, and throw the ball with confidence will do teams in when big games roll around.

As it tends to, especially when the other team has similar talent and coaching. It’s really simple, and yet stubbornly dismissed every single year.

“We work on it every day in practice” has all the substance of the “no new taxes” if you don’t do it during games. Kids sure get confidence for November when they’ve done it a decent amount in September and October.

An open mind is a good thing. Never hurt a soul, never lost a game. …

Yes, the GHSA better be working might hard on the formulas for the postseason rating system, because, well, right now, they’re fun-keeee. …

All the grousing a few paragraphs aside, the inability to tackle properly at all will lose more games than strategy. Book it. Nothing keeps drives alive more than botched, weak tackle attempts. …

The NFL lost a chunk Sunday. Former Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo is just absolutely pure joy to watch, his constant effort and playing to the whistle.

Makes you actually pull for the Giants. OK, almost. …

Random Unrelated Thought: The state and counties and systems released assorted graduation rates recently.

And districts braaaagged and bragged and bragged while people who work in those districts or with those districts criiiiiinged and cringed and cringed.

Sorry, smells like teen fiction. …

Just a reminder: Jackson Arnold scored.

What they wrote

“Did you see where Clay Travis and Stephen A. Smith are set to take the stage together for a debate during a sports summit next month in New York City? Oh, the humanity! The Hindenburg was one flaming gas bag; this debate has two.”

- Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel