Co-hosts Blake Giles and Jim Hardin offer good luck to new Alabama Gov. Tommy Tuberville before diving into college football, which has perhaps its biggest week of the year this weekend. Blake was at the Georgia-Florida game where the Bulldogs won 27-8. Georgia’s defense was great, but the Georgia offense sputtered in the passing game, against a much-maligned secondary. Meanwhile, Auburn fell flat for the second week in a row, losing to Ole Miss. Southern Cal capitalized on an Ohio State offense missing its quarterback. Is it a statement win for Lincoln Riley? Florida State made a decision to fire Mike Norvell. Is it a premier job? The first College Football Playoff rankings came out. No surprise that Miami was No. 1, but Alabama No. 5 and Notre Dame No. 11. But it is just the first week, and there is a giant slate of games this weekend that will shake up the CFP rankings. Miami goes to Notre Dame, that needs a statement win. Alabama is at LSU, in the daytime to Lane Kiffin’s chagrin. Surprising Kentucky is ranked higher than Tennessee, but an underdog. Texas and Missouri have two losses apiece. All of Utah will be focused in BYU at Utah. Can Oregon find itself at Ohio State? And will Kirby Smart get his first win in Oxford, where he has yet to come close. Trivia question: which two coaches won SEC titles at two different schools? The guys were stumped for a few seconds. Johns Hopkins availed itself of a new rule to beat Moravian on a free kick at the end of the game. People: Get off the sidelines and make some headlines!

Co-hosts Jim Hopkins and Blake Giles preview the Georgia-Florida game. Both teams are coming off open weeks. Georgia lost its last game. Florida won its last game. Who has th edge? Will one team have to score 30 or even 40 points to win? Also, it is a big week for local high schools, who now must finish in the top 32 in the Georgia High School Association Playoff System Rankings. Prince Avenue Christian beat a strong Commerce team. Both are built for deep playoff runs. Now North Oconee and Jefferson square off, as well as Jackson County and Clarke Central. What happened to Auburn after its win over Georgia? A surging LSU. The coaching carousel has started. Will Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann leave a good job for North Carolina State, or elsewhere? And when will someone hire Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner? Entering the last month of the season, there are 34 teams with two losses or fewer. Makes it unlikely that a three-loss team gets in, which means there are a lot of elimination games coming up. Even with a 24-team playoff, wouldn’t there be excitement?

Richard Appleby is famous in Georgia football lore for his end-around pass to Gene Washington to beat Florida 10-7 in the Gator Bowl in 1975. But there is much more to his story than that one play. He visits with host Blake Giles to talk about his memories. The African-American community was excited in 1970 when Georgia recruited its first black athletes in football, including Appleby and two other Clarke Central teammates, Horace King and Clarence Pope, along with Chuck Kennebrew and Larry West. He was reluctant to go to Georgia, because Vince Dooley emphasized the running game, rather than the passing attack. Richard was a receiver. But his mother convinced him that he needed to be among the first who opened the door for more blacks to come to Georgia. Before he was recruited, Richard’s knowledge of UGA and its sports was limited to Squab Jones, the “water boy.” He sold soft drinks at the stadium, and he watched, but he did not consider himself a fan of the Bulldogs. Like many young blacks, he cheered for the other black athletes that played against Georgia, like Paul Gipson at Houston and Jerry Levias at SMU. Originally, he considered going to a HBCU. Breaking the color barrier at Clarke Central proved more problematic. There were two, separate worlds then. He remembered Andy Johnson as an excellent basketball player. Richard’s first touchdown pass at Georgia was thrown by Johnson. The two became good friends, and his death greatly saddened Richard. At Georgia, Richard roomed with Steve Taylor, a Washington, D.C., native. The interaction between blacks and whites at Georgia had some rough moments. Some white teammates kept him from getting arrested for stealing a car, when he was just warming it up for someone else. His position coach, John Kasay, pushed him to become better and better. The two also became great friends. It did not take long to discover that Vince Dooley was in charge. He credits Coach Dooley with the successful integration of the blacks into the team. Coach Dooley taught him how to “look a man in the eye.” The first five were united by spiritual leadership, intelligence and non-violence. Larry West was the real spiritual leader. He had to redshirt when he had a detached retina during practice. He found the Georgia fans very receptive to their contribution to the team. Blake and Richard agree that the officials robbed Georgia at Tuscaloosa in 1973. Later he and Gene Washington roomed together and became great friends. Gene could run the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds. Coach Dooley had been impressed with Richard throwing the football in practice, which set up the game-winning play in 1975. That led to some nice $100 handshakes. Before Herschel Walker, there was Sylvester Boler, who could have been a star. Richard discovered Herschel by watching his high school films. Richard is retired and lives in Hawaii.

Link to documentary on the first five at Georgia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9EOpZ56E_k