Jay Greeson: 5-at-10: Weekend winners (Hello Kirby) and losers (Hi Coach Khaki), the Braves need just one more

Nov. 1—Weekend winners

Kirby. Yeah, Kirby Smart has been questioned about his Gameday acumen. And it's not been entirely unfair, despite his eye-popping success in these early days as the head coach of his alma mater. And on this Monday, we'll praise the Georgia coach for a couple of reasons. First, he has put together a generational defense. As the barbershop fella said about Randy Watson in "Coming to America" — "Dang those boys are good." Second, Smart has wisely — even if it's clear to everyone since this Georgia defense broke Clemson's will in Week 1 — played to this team's overwhelming strength. No silly chances. No need for trick plays or the feeling to show everyone how Smart Kirby's staff is. That's great self-awareness, which is a key aspect to great decision-making. And maybe most importantly, as Paschall shared here in his SEC wrap column, Kirby is taking time to enjoy the moments like whipping Florida's tail. That's an important reminder in a long, tough and stressful run to his players and the fans that it can't just be 180 straight days of grind. Yes, Kirby's critics are waiting in the weeds, and if he can't land a natty with a defense that likely features 15 draft picks over the next three years, well, then those criticisms will have some merit. But on this Monday morning with the East in the bag and one-sided runaways over rivals Auburn and Florida in the rearview, Kirby Smart certainly won the weekend.

Bo NIx. Yeah, I'm a little biased I suppose because he's taking snaps at my alma mater, but I'm not overly sure I can recall a veteran starting QB handling a critical — and warranted — benching better than Nix did late last month in the Tigers' comeback against Georgia State.

Cooper Rush. On a day when crazy NFL storylines filled our Sunday, Rush filling in for Dak Prescott and leading the Cowboys to a surprise win over a poorly coached Minnesota bunch may have been the craziest. In his first NFL start, he threw for 325 yards and found Amari Cooper for the game-winning TD as Dallas improved to 6-1.

Tennessee Titans. If I asked what you think the most important quality for a successful pro franchise is, what would you say? Maybe talent is the clear 1A answer. But resiliency is a sneaky good one too, and these Titans — and head coach Mike Vrabel especially — have that trait in spades. Down 14-bagel midway through the first quarter on the road against the only divisional foe with even a remote chance to challenge them, the Titans answered the bell like Zac and AC Slater looking for Kelly Kapowski to ask her to the prom. Kudos.

Every senior high school football player who gets to practice today. For most of the country and all of Tennessee, last Friday was the final night of the regular season for high school football. For a huge number of the players in the Class of 2022, when the Friday night lights go dim, they'll never put on pads again. It's a fact and a finality that is harsh and unwavering. But for those that made the playoffs, the chance to go back to work today is the sweetest walk to the practice field you can imagine. Savor it, fellas. The end is looming, so enjoy these final strides.

Bonus pick: The 5-at-10 and 5-at-10 part 3. I took the boy and my cousin to the Loveliest Village for a wonderful college football gameday experience. Good times. Strike that. Lifetime times.

Weekend losers

Mil'Von James. 'Who?' you're asking. Well, he's a high school football coach in California, who unleashed a 106-0 whipping on a 2-8 foe last Friday night that featured his four-star quarterback throwing 13 TD passes in the game, including Nos. 11, 12 and 13 in the second half of the rout. Hey, I'm the first guy to back Steve Spurrier's notion that it's the other team's job to stop you. But leaving your starters in and throwing it all over the yard up 84-0 at halftime — and they went for 2 after the final TD gang — is classless by every measure and through every prism.

Jim Harbaugh. Is this harsh, yeah, probably. But Coach Khaki has burned through all his mulligans and even after years of being tortured to a place that most Michigan fans were refusing to get their hopes up, the Wolverines' start made them believe again. Which built them up right in time for Harbaugh to Harbaugh in the most Harbaugh way possible.

Lane Kiffin. Caveat: I'm a card-carrying passenger on the Lane Train. Really like him as a coach and love him as a play-caller, and his embrace of analytics — especially the modern truth that possession of the ball > position on the field — is ahead of the slow-moving curve. That curve, of course, has been and continues to be set by traditionalists in a game led by tough coaches who demand tough play but are weak-kneed when it comes to being second-guessed about outside-the-box trends and transitions. Regardless, Kiffin is right on his isolated island and history will eventually show that and bend to that philosophy. But, he was too clever by about half Saturday night in Lee County, because no matter the chart or the protractor, the simple need of two scores demands that you kick the field goal, if for no other reason than you force the opposing offense to play with some sort of urgency. Lane so overcoached Saturday night that he was a detriment to his team's chance of winning, and that may be the worst thing you can say, even from those of us who are big Kiffin fans.

Steve Sarkisian. Texas has now lost three straight games in which they have led by double-digits. Read that again.

Atlanta Falcons. First, let's all hope Calvin Ridley figures out his mental stuff. The former Alabama star and Falcons wideout is taking time away from football for personal reasons. As for the rest of the team, they apparently took time away from good football for no reason whatsoever.

My picks. Sweet buckets we melted down Saturday night. Another 2-4 week, and I'm gonna have to get Matt's Venmo I suppose. That said, remember that the numbers that matter the most are not the record as much as the bottom line. Because, let's say you knew someone who wrote a morning diatribe every Monday through Friday, and say it featured five or six things in the midmorning and called it something clever like, 'the Pick-up 6" or whatever. And let's suppose that said Pick-up Sixer, loved, Loved, LOVED Dogs over Gators to a point that it covered all the other losses (especially when a friendly reader offers a winner like UTEP — War Vader) for the weekend. Then, couple in a +300 taste on Freddie to leave the building last night and a +900 sampling of Adam Thielen for the first TD last night, and Violà, the weekend is covered — merch too — despite the 2-4 mark.

Tennessee Titans. Possibly. Or definitely. Late-breaking news for our normal schedule, ESPN and Adam Schefter is reporting that Derrick Henry may be done for the season. Oh my. What a crushing blow if it's the case.

Need one more

Impossible to say the Braves lost the weekend. They won Games 3 and 4 of the World Series to get within one more W of the crown.

Hard to say the Braves won the weekend, too. They had Game 5 in the A-T-L. The Astros were reeling, and boom Adam Duvall goes Grand Slam in the first inning. (Side question: Person who says 'grand salami' — jackwagon or irredeemable jackwagon? Discuss.)

But the Braves could not hold the lead and the Astros came charging back to grab a 9-5 win and send the series back to Texas.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Of course, Atlanta fans are perplexed. The deals were sealed at 28-3 and last year with a duplicate 3-1 lead over the Dodgers in the NLCS.

But I've said it since early August — this bunch has a different feel, a different vibe than the cavalcade of Atlanta sports squads that have trampled more hearts of Southerners than prom queens and college football teams combined.

Paging Max Fried. Paging Max Fried to the "Time to man up and put on your big boy britches" white courtesy phone. Max Fried to the white courtesy phone.

This and that

— Interesting story this weekend about the very real fact that Zack Grienke could very well be the last pitcher to get a hit for a very long time. Grienke got a pinch-hit single last night for the Astros, and with the World Series returning to Houston — which means the DH will be in use — and the very real possibility that MLB will adopt the DH in the NL for next season, who knows when to expect another pitcher to bat, never mind get a hit. Also, how about this stat: Grienke is now 7-for-26 (.269) in his postseason career as a hitter; Mike Trout is 1-for-12 (.083).

— Observation time. As stated above, we went to the Auburn-Ole Miss game. Great time. But know this: I know there are a lot of fan bases that get a lot of guff because of pulling the trigger too soon. Well, OK, maybe so. But when you go to a place like Auburn, Ala., on a Saturday night like this past one, and there are almost 90,000 folks there paying half-a-hundo to park, and lining the bars and tailgate tents and the merch stores and every restaurant from LaGrange to Montgomery, you quickly see that at least a third of the annual GNP of that area is produced on eight Saturdays in the fall each year. And if the coach can't keep the stakes growing, the beer flowing and the crowd glowing, then there's simply too much at stake for those towns to allow it.

— Gary Patterson won, in my view, despite losing his job. Patterson, who had been the TCU coach for 21 years, was given some ultimatums to keep his gig and they did not mesh with his plan. He was offered the chance to finish the year before moving off the field and into a special advisory role. He declined and packed his bags. Yes, he's made generational money, but he won at TCU, which was the punchline program across the nation for years before he redirected the fortunes of the Frogs. From 1970 to Patterson's arrival in 2001, TCU had 11 seasons with 2 or fewer wins and one season with 10 wins, and that was 2000 in Dennis Franchione's final year before Patterson took the clipboard. Patterson had 10 seasons with double-digit wins, and decided the administration's suggestions didn't suit so be walked.

— That said, if I'm Mike Norvell, the FSU coach, considering that there are now openings at USC, LSU and TCU, I'm keeping my head on a swivel when the AD walks through the football building. And how bad was that gambling bad beat for the Seminoles? Oh, buckets.

— They played some PGA Tour golf this weekend and Stephan Jaeger, the former Baylor School and UTC star, finished tied for 20th. That earned a check worth $82,875, which is a pretty nice weekend of work.

— Speaking of the PGA Tour, this story about Jim Knows needing a top-60 finish this weekend to keep his Tour card for the rest of the season and piecing together a T-57 after four consecutive bogeys to start his final round is pretty awesome. "Greatest top-60 (finish) of all-time," the PGA journeyman called it. Who's to argue?

— Prayers up for Ernie Johnson, the TNT Inside the NBA host and all-around good dude, and his family after the death of their 33-year-old son Michael over the weekend. If you know the story, you know. If you don't, well, it's worth your time. And it may make your eyes sweat a little too. l

Today's questions

Weekend winners and losers. Go.

Multiple choice Monday looks like this: Which candy did you steal first from your kid's trick-or-treat stash?

— Reese's

— Kit Kat

— Sucker

— Other

Side question: Is Reese's becoming overrated with all the Halloween love it's getting? We're acting like the Reese's is MJ, and yeah it's a great candy do not get me wrong.

But it's not better than, say Hersey's with almonds, or a handful of others.

Reese's is a Hall of Famer, yes, but to act like it's the no-brainer GOAT is too much for me to take.

As for today, Nov. 1, let's review.

On this day in 1950, Chuck Cooper became the first Black man to play in the NBA when he debuted for the Celtics.

The first known reference to poker happened on this day in 1834. What's on the Rushmore of card games?