For what looked like on paper a pretty tame Saturday of college football, there ended up being some surprising games.

The most surprising? No. 3 Georgia beat No. 24 South Carolina 41-17 in Columbia.

Wait, my gut is telling me that’s not a surprise. Huh. I guess all the hype around the Gamecocks being the real deal team that will snipe the Dawgs early got me. Also, watching the game with my best friend who got his masters degree from South Carolina must have rubbed off on me a little bit.

Honestly speaking, though, I was very happy to see Georgia handle its business on the road against what will likely be the second best team in the SEC East. I just got a little ticked hearing “You know they graduated 33 seniors” and “Roquan Smith, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are gone” over and over, as if Kirby Smart hasn’t recruited benches full of high-end talent to step right in and take their places. Everyone was so quick to write off Georgia as a team that will struggle early while it rebuilds.

Hopefully, Saturday’s win against South Carolina shows the country Georgia is a different team than ever before.

Speaking of different teams, boosters and donors at Texas A&M must be giddy with what Jimbo Fisher was able to do with last year’s Aggies and his new class. They came a 2-point conversion away from sending their game against No. 2 Clemson into overtime Saturday night. Texas A&M lost 28-26. It was a great game, and Kyle Field looked absolutely bonkers on TV. I’m sure the crowd was deafening. If only the Aggies hadn’t missed that field goal early in the first half, we’d be talking about how Texas A&M is a dark horse playoff team. Of course, I’d be willing to bet most of the Florida State fans around these parts were hoping Jimbo wouldn’t win…

Down in Gainesville, Florida let a 31-year streak come to an end. Kentucky beat the Gators 27-16, and ended the game with a weird fumble recovery touchdown that didn’t even seem real until the replay showed it was a turnover. Even the Kentucky player that recovered the ball wasn’t sure whether to stand there with it or run it to the end zone.

There was a Florida player nearby who tried to tackle him at the goal line, but the Wildcats got the ball across and added another 6 points to their already winning score. Strange stuff.

Even stranger is Herm Edwards record at Arizona State. The Sun Devils are 2-0 with a win against No. 15 Michigan State. Herm isn’t surprised, though. “HELLO? You play to win the game!”

This weekend should be really good. Alabama plays a high-scoring Ole Miss team, Auburn and LSU will duke it out on The Plains, Ohio State hosts a decent challenger with TCU and the USC Trojans travel to Austin, Texas to take on the Longhorns.

Thank goodness for college football.