I lived in Athens for ~3 years. It's much more Democratic than other Southern college counties for two main reasons: a relatively high Black population (~28%) and a historic art/music scene that attracts a lot of "artist" and "hipster" types. UGA is not really that liberal of an institution; "townies" in Athens is definitely to the left of "gownies." Once you get in Oconee, you lose the hipster vibe really quickly.
And I'm really not surprised how OC votes: Southern, college-educated Whites outside of major metro areas are reliably Republican. Athens is the aberration for how unusually Democratic it is, not Oconee.
Meh, Chapel Hill and Charlottesville/Albemarle are further left
