Georgians can smile this football weekend

ATLANTA — From Georgia Tech's first-play touchdown, to UGA's fourth-down miracle, to Matt Ryan's near 400-yard day, football was kind to the state of Georgia this weekend.

Even Georgia State, which lost to fall to 0-3, made the state (and Panthers fans and alumni) proud by nearly upsetting then ninth-ranked Wisconsin.  (GSU lost 23-17 in Madison, where the Badgers have beaten 37 consecutive non-Big Ten teams, a mark that ranks sixth in FBS history.)

So here are a few game balls from this weekend:

Falcons at Raiders: 

Matt Ryan has never started a season 0-2 and his 396 yards ensured that 2016 won't be the first.  Aside from a red zone interception, Ryan was solid, throwing three touchdowns and (for now) quieting his critics by leading the Falcons to a gigantic road win going into a gauntlet of a schedule that includes games at New Orleans, at home against Carolina, at Denver and at Seattle in the next four weeks.  His 396 passing yards were the second-most he's thrown for in his last 33 games.  (He had a 397-yard game in a Nov. 1 overtime loss at Tampa Bay.)

The unstoppable Julio Jones had five receptions for 106 yards and a 21-yard touchdown, consistently showing why he is one of the first names mentioned when it comes to the "best receiver in the NFL" conversation.  Jones has touchdowns in four of his last five games, dating to last season.

Kemal Ishmael once again filled in admirably for the injured Keanu Neal, leading all players in Oakland with 15 tackles.

Georgia at Missouri:

Jacob Eason "grew up."  That was the statement uttered by none other than his head coach, Kirby Smart after Eason led the Bulldogs to conversion after conversion in the most pressure-packed moments in his first college road game.  Eason threw a 20-yard TD to Isaiah McKenzie at the end of the first half to give UGA the lead going into the locker room, and he threw a 20-yard TD to McKenzie on fourth and 10 to give the Dawgs the lead again at the end of the game, allowing Smart to become the first Georgia coach to begin his career there 3-0 since 1938.

Isaiah McKenzie continues to amaze with big play after big play.  McKenzie ranks second in the SEC in receptions with 18 after three games and his 10 catches for 122 yards and two scores (along with a rushing TD) at Mizzou helped the Dawgs stay perfect as they prepare for another raucous road test at Ole Miss.

Quincy Mauger had two interceptions that helped end Missouri threats.  The senior safety has seven career picks and led a defense that shut out the Tigers over the final 28:54 of the game.

Georgia Tech vs Vanderbilt:

Paul Johnson is the picture of aggressive coaching.  I'm not sure what the number is, but more times than I can remember, Johnson has called plays to get the Yellow Jackets a lead, usually via a big play early in games, particularly at Bobby Dodd Stadium.  Saturday's gem-- an 81-yard TD catch and run from Justin Thomas to Marcus Marshall on the first play after the opening kickoff.  It's always impressive to see coaches who make decisions to win, not decisions in an attempt to avoid failure.

Dedrick Mills returned from his one-game suspension for violating team rules to lead the team with three rushing touchdowns.  The true freshman ran hard on all three scoring plays, proving that he doesn't mind the contact from those giant defensive linemen.

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof leads a unit that has allowed a total of 31 points through three games.  The Yellow Jackets defense held Vanderbilt's Ralph Webb (the SEC's leading rusher entering Saturday's game) to just 69 yards on 18 rushes.  But the tests get more challenging in the coming weeks.  Thursday, fifth-ranked Clemson comes to town; a week from Saturday, old foe Mark Richt leads No. 15 Miami to the Flats.

Georgia State at Wisconsin:  

Conner Manning completed 69 percent of his passes and did not turn the ball over in one of the nation's most hostile environments, against the then-ninth-ranked team in the country.  The Panthers held the ball for less than 23 of the sixty minutes, yet Manning still threw for 269 yards and a TD to Robert Davis.

Speaking of Robert Davis, the senior All-Sun Belt receiver provides a steady hand and mindset in places like Madison.  His eight catches for 93 yards and his third-quarter TD had the Panthers believing they could pull off what would have been one of the biggest upsets of the decade.

Glenn Smith's 60-yard catch and run set up Kyler Neal's 9-yard, go-ahead TD run in the fourth quarter that had the nearly 80,000 at Camp Randall Stadium biting their fingernails to the nubs.  Smith finished with five catches for 131 yards in the loss.

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