Boomo Bugg Show 120525

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, we start out today with breaking news out of Happy Valley and the big question closer to us, can the underdogs knock off the Georgia dogs?

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Football Friday to you. Yes, Matt Campbell looks like he is going to be the next football coach at Penn State. I don't quite know why it took so long for them to ask him if he wanted to be coach. The SEC approves a jump from 85 to 105 for football scholarships. We discussed that with Ryan Fowler yesterday. Mike Eugen and Pete Cordelli will preview championship weekend and delighted once again. Jimmy is here right now to give us his keys to Bama beating Georgia in the SEC championship game.

A lot of folks are locked on Bama, but no one more so than Jimmy Stein. That's because he's a co-host of Locked on Bama, part of the Locked On Network. Jimmy, welcome in. Happy TGIF to you. How are you? Oh, doing great, guys. Thanks for having me. Hey, Jimmy. And we appreciate you taking time out. First of all, let's go ahead and Canada Board says, do you believe me now? I told you I was never interested in all those media guys across the country trying to get some clicks, and I'm sure a lot of them did.

Not interested in Penn State, Matt Campbell says, I am. Let's go. So this thing, when you have a premier job like that, a lot of questions out there, including DeBoer at one point with some of the media folks. But can we finally put this baby to rest? Looks like it, and I don't know that any other really big jobs will open during the cycle. This is probably it, so everyone can rest easy. It's like Kalen DeBoer will be the head coach at Alabama in 2026, regardless of what happens the rest of the season.

But, you know, two years at Alabama, again, I think I said back when all this started about three weeks ago that I was confident that Kalen DeBoer would be back next year and that he wouldn't be leaving for Penn State or any other job. But I also said, you know, there was an above-zero chance of it happening, and that's simply because Alabama's not for everyone. There has been a couple of instances in the long-ago past of Alabama coaches just voluntarily leaving for various reasons. So you never know in college football in this modern, modern time.

But Kalen DeBoer's got a good job, and he seemed happy. He got the question during the SEC Championship game press conference. He got the question, finally, about the Penn State job. He seemed happy to get it and happy to put it to rest, eager to tell all fans of Alabama football that he and his family are very happy at Tuscaloosa. And that's a big part of it, too. Let's start with first things first. He can make a lot of Alabama fans happy, including his family, with a win tomorrow.

We know Vegas says the odds are against him. Before we get into some of the chalk talk, let's talk about something that no one wants to see, and that is the big news with Overton. Had a big game against Georgia the first time around. Looks like he's out. Jimmy, where do you start breaking it down with Overton? Yeah, that's a big loss because, I mean, L.T. Overton's one of Alabama's best defenders. He certainly came up big against Georgia the first time around. He's a senior.

He's from Georgia on top of everything else. But he has an illness situation that means he'll be out for this weekend, and we'll have to see going forward how that's going to shake out for him. But Kane Womack rotates a lot of players. The guys that will rotate in an L.T. Overton spot are names that Alabama fans probably know well simply because they have played quite a bit. That's Jordan Renaud, who I would expect would see the start in L.T. Overton's place at Bandit.

He's backed up by Keon Keeley, who's looked really good in situational pass rushing roles. His role might expand a little more with Overton out. So Renaud and Keeley will really be the beneficiary in terms of snaps of L.T. being out. However, one thing to look for in this game, guys, Georgia plays a lot of 12 personnel as much as anybody in the league. Alabama has consistently combated some 12 personnel packages by using two outside linebackers, two of the Wolves. And you do have Clay Roussau back from injury.

[5:03] I think you'll see quite a bit of Clay Roussau and Yonse Pierre on the field at the same time with no true Bandit on the field at all. They might have done some of that even with Overton healthy. So that's just a way that Kane Womack has sort of taken on these offenses that run a lot of 12 personnel. So you can look for all of that to happen. Renaud will play some. Keeley will play some. And then you'll have the packages with both outside linebackers on the field at the same time.

Jimmy, I think any time you look at an Alabama-Georgia game, the first question I've always had over the years, can Alabama match the physicality at the line of scrimmage? And they've been able to do that. Again, winning an amazing 10 out of 11. We know this is a new year with a new team winning the turnover battle. Alabama didn't do that against Oklahoma and got beat. But Alabama's a plus eight. Georgia is a minus one, which I think that surprises a lot of people and explosive plays. Georgia had 194 yards on eight plays in the first game.

Alabama has not had the explosive plays they had in September and October, and particularly with Ty Simpson connecting on some deep passes. Jimmy, what is your keys to Alabama beating Georgia? Well, a couple things, but I'll start with running the ball. You know, Georgia ran it pretty well against Alabama the first time around, but Alabama's run defense has improved since then. I don't know that you're going to get away with winning again if Georgia has such a significant advantage on the ground. You sort of dodged that the first time.

I think Georgia ran for around 220. I think if you let that happen again, it might not go as well. I don't know that Alabama's got to outrush Georgia. I don't think that's a fair ask. Georgia's been really good on the ground most of the year, but Alabama's run game has improved. I think one thing for me is can Alabama sort of keep it close on the ground? Can it do better than you did defensively the first time around? Hold Georgia to that 160, 170 area. And at the same time, rush for maybe 120 or 130 yourself.

You know, just kind of be in the ballpark and not have Georgia have such a significant rushing advantage. Second thing, those explosive plays Brett was just talking about, they've been absent. They have to come back. If they don't come back, it just seems unlikely that you're going to drive the length of the field multiple times against Georgia without explosive plays from the wide receiver group. I think you need that. It's going to have to happen or it won't go well. The good news is there's every reason to think that it can happen.

Kai is certainly still more than capable. You still have Jeremy Bernard, Ryan Williams, Lotseer Brooks, Isaiah Horton. It could happen, and it needs to happen for Alabama to have success in the game. You don't have to do it all day long, but you're going to need a few. Jimmy, you mentioned Ryan Williams. He has been on a milk carton of late. Your thoughts, when you say Georgia and Alabama, Ryan Williams has etched his legacy in stone there, obviously from last year. Talk to us about Ryan Williams in this game.

Yeah, we'll see. You know, against Auburn, famously, no receptions, no targets. Only played about 30 snaps. I think that's the key right there in terms of what's going on with Ryan. I mean, he's been banged up. He's not 100% healthy. He's not injured, or you'd see him on the availability reports of somebody that potentially may not play in the game. It's not that situation at all. It's more of a typical situation where just about everybody on the field is banged up to some degree. When you get to game 12, everybody's dealing with something.

Ryan has to fight through that. I think another thing that's affected Ryan a little bit is while he's been maybe not 100%, maybe not himself, now you have the emergence of Lottier Brooks at the slot, where Ryan was sort of projected to play most of his snaps. Lottier has been really good and more of a natural at that slot spot, and maybe Ryan has struggled there. And then outside, you're like, well, just put him outside where he was. Well, you have Jeremy Bernard. You have Isaiah Horton out there.

You have Rico Scott out there. So I think it's the combination of not being 100% and then getting a little frustrated because he's having to share more snaps, and then frustrated with himself for the early season drops. I think it's all of it. But primarily, if you want to ask, okay, why hasn't Ryan had the sophomore season everyone was expecting, well, he's been hurt. Jimmy, the defense, you mentioned the improvement. I think him particularly, the defensive line, and that's a real key to me is the number of players that Womack has been playing, and I think that's really beginning to pay off.

[10:15] I know Malcolm Simmons had two big runs after the catch against Alabama last week, but I thought Keon Salb played really well. Well, Zabian Brown, people forget about him sometimes, but he had a master class against Kemp Coleman, holding him to 43 yards, and Georgia Tech dropped eight and held Gunnar Stockton to 70 yards passing. Georgia's offense did not look very good. They have certainly during the course of the year. Jimmy, your thoughts on the secondary and what else? We talked about slowing down the run game. Can they draw a page, disguise some coverage, and once again, slow down Gunnar Stockton?

You know, Georgia's offense is both very good and perplexing at the same time. They make you defend everything because they run the ball really well, so you better defend Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens in the run game. They'll arch you there. They can throw the ball to the tight end. I mean, Oscar Delp is one of the more, you know, one of the better tight ends in the league at running routes, getting open and catching the ball. I mean, Delp's a threat at tight end. Outside, they feature Zachariah Branch, who's as good as anybody in the whole league at making plays outside.

So, I think they lost Colby Young, who's sort of their version of Isaiah Horton. I think that's hurt them a little bit. But they have other guys like Noah Thomas. And then, of course, Gunnar Stockton, a quarterback who, over the course of the season, has been really, really good. So, it's almost perplexing when Georgia doesn't score a lot of points or struggles to move the ball. You're like, how is this happening? I think Alabama has that same question at times. You know, like you seem to have better personnel than the scoring indicates.

I think some of it, guys, is just simply how many good defenses there are in this league. I think that has something to do with it. Georgia lost their center last week, Drew Bobo, in the Georgia Tech game. They had to replace him in-game. That seemed to be a big struggle for them and is going to be a big question for them tomorrow. As much as Alabama's availability report was lengthy, Georgia's not quite as lengthy, but still pretty impactful. Losing their starting center and now a backup center that they're not sure of has to take on Tim Keenan for 60 minutes.

So, advantage Alabama there. Jimmy Stein, Locked On Belmont, I was going to ask you about that. Obviously, you know that caught the attention of Womack and his staff. How will they attack that? Well, you need to assume that, obviously, you can really attack their A-gaps and keep Chauncey Bowens and Nate Frazier out of the middle. You would think so. And you could probably just do it with Tim Keenan. You're probably not going to need a lot of extra help there. So, you can defend other things.

You've got to remember, Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens both had good games against Alabama, particularly Bowens. I think Frazier had a fumble. But Bowens really had a day against Alabama. They've had too many explosive plays, you know, in terms of what happened last September. That's going to have to be limited. And I think when you win those battles in the A-gap, that can help you limit explosive plays. So, sure, that's an advantage for Alabama. But Alabama's missing some guys, too. At just about every position group, someone is either missing or banged up.

Jimmy, there was a question from media and a lot of fans. Could Kaelin DeBoer recruit? Well, we saw a pretty good class come in last year. And this class is fifth or their fourth and two, fourth, seven. Fifth and on three, they added a running back to get to 21. Treshawn Brown out of Huntsville, Texas. Bryson Cooley, I know there are some projections. Andrew Bone of BOL still thinks he may end up going to Alabama at Laurel, Mississippi. Jimmy, I think Kaelin DeBoer has answered the question.

Yes, we can recruit. He sure has. I think a lot of credit goes to Courtney Morgan, of course, and his staff. He has such a new age of recruiting where the general manager and his staff have as much to do with it as anyone. But no question. It's two years in a row, really. I mean, this was a good class. Last year was a good class. And you see how many of those true freshmen like Dijon Lee and lots of your books are out there playing significant roles for Alabama.

Michael Carroll, this class looks to me just as good or better. You know, it's not the Nick Saban classes. No one needs to confuse it with that. It's not going to really compare player to player with the groups that Saban was able to sign throughout a lot of his tenure at Alabama. But the whole process has changed. The whole system has changed. And to be completely honest, those Saban classes that he signed, you can't sign those classes anymore. It costs too much money. You'd be over the cap.

[15:33] There's literally a salary cap now when it comes to recruiting. There's only so much you can spend. And some of those classes were so star-studded. There's no way you could have gotten them all under what. So, obviously, the bar is lower for everyone. And it's a new world for everyone. And Alabama's still finished, you know, in the top group. And I think it was really impressive. I'm glad everyone recognizes that, you know, hey, times have changed a little bit when it comes to recruiting. What we expect has to change just a little bit.

But I think what DeVore and Courtney Morgan did was fantastic. Jimmy, great stuff, as always. We'll see where Alabama ends up come Sunday about 1 or 2 o'clock. Jimmy, where can we get online to get the best podcast on the planet with you and Luke Robinson? And Locked on Bama, you can find us on YouTube if you want to watch the video of the show. Or just listen to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts, Spotify, iTunes, everywhere. Locked on Bama, part of the Locked On Network.

Jimmy, it's time. Before we get away, folks want to know, final score quickly tomorrow in Atlanta. 23-21, Connor Talti with three field goals to win it for Alabama. Oh, wow. The new king in Tuscaloosa by the name of Talti, right? My, how things change. Jimmy, thanks so much for your time today. Enjoy and safe travels to and from, okay? Thanks, guys. All right. Jimmy Stein, I got with us. 23-21. Bama fans will take it. Jimmy Bigger there at Locked On Bama. Coming up all over the SEC with Blake Lovell on deck.

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I'm Roger Hoover. As we get ready for Saturday's SEC Championship game in football, here are final thoughts from the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Kalen DeBoer. What's your final word to the fan base? SEC Championship. Here we come. And guys are excited about, you know, the journey we've been on. And like I said, their job, according to them, the job's not done. And I love that. And, you know, we're giving everything we have to have a great Saturday. We know it's not going to be easy, but we're going to give everything we have, just like we have all year.

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Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in quickly another congratulations to the Mars Hill football team. State champs in 3A again. Right now, 4A underway. Jackson leading Aniston 30-0 at the half. That guy, Crowell BB. Three mega-long TD runs. In fact, he broke more tackles than you did hearts back in your Don Juan days. Well, you know, that's debatable, but I'm not going to argue with you. But, yes, Harold, he is the Gatorade player of the year in the state of Alabama.

Quite frankly, Kalen DeBoer would like for him to come on over to Atlanta tomorrow and see if he could suit up. But he is a heck of a player, and Jackson has a heck of a team. Absolutely. Blake Lovell does a heck of a job there at Southeastern 16, also with the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, the podcast, Establish the Past. Blake, welcome in. How's your Friday going? Yeah, doing well, guys. Good to talk to you as always. Hey, Blake. You too. Before we get into all this chalk talk with the obvious thing going on tomorrow in Atlanta, I think the coaches went to the SEC guys and said, you've got to do something about this.

Nine-game schedule. You want us to bring home the big prize. But listen, we can't build the depth like we did in the old days. We can't afford it. Can you give us more scholarships? And boom, it looks like it's going to go from 85 to 105. I think that's a much-needed move. Would you agree, Blake? Yeah, I mean, like you said, I think it was sort of an obvious thing when you really kind of think about, again, what you're trying to achieve as a whole. And I think that's what it comes down to, is what's the goal here?

The goal is to be able to get as many teams in the playoff as you can. And, again, you're going and adding an extra game. You kind of know the path to get there becomes more challenging. I mean, here's what we were debating this the other day. We were like, all right, let's go through the schedules in the SEC next year. Let's see who's got the easiest schedule. And then as we're going through them, we're like, wait a second. Everybody's got an extra game. No one's got an easy schedule.

It's not the way it's going to work anymore. So, you know, just simply adding one more game does have a big impact. So I think, again, it's kind of an obvious move to make. You have to kind of put yourself in a position, like I said, to feel like you're going to still give your conference a team, you know, an opportunity to have the most teams in the playoff. And I think that's really what you're looking at here. And it seems to make sense to me.

Yeah, all you need to do is look at the attrition, the key injuries, Alabama and Auburn Hill for tomorrow in the SEC championship game. And you can see where that's going to play off down the road. Before we get your keys to who's going to win that game, really an historic week in the SEC in football, six new coaches have been added. We've talked about all these. Will Stein, the former offensive coordinator at Oregon, is the latest. We've talked a lot about Alex Golesh at Auburn.

Pete Golden taking over at Ole Miss, of course, the one and only Lane Kiffin at LSU. John Summerall at Florida. Who made the best hire? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, it's hard to say that the highest upside doesn't go to Lane Kiffin at LSU. But I think the one that, to me, has my attention the most and that I'm maybe most intrigued by, and I think that's Alex Golesh at Auburn, because I feel like he is kind of that guy that we used to make the jokes of, well, if you breathe the same air as Nick Saban or Sean McVay at one point in the NFL, if you just breathe the same air, you've got a chance to go get a big job eventually.

You can just kind of go out and prove yourself. And I think with Golesh, if you look at kind of the impact he had on Tennessee's ascent with Josh Heupel, and you just kind of understand, I think, and let's put it this way, too, sometimes there's such an urge to course-correct from going from the offensive guy to a defensive guy. I think in Auburn's instance here, I'm glad they didn't do that, because they just didn't say, well, Hugh Freeze was supposed to be an offensive guru, swung and missed on him, so let's go the defense route.

No, like, Golesh is different now, because he is kind of seen as one of those up-and-coming, like, star-type guys, and I think if you just kind of do the research on it, he's a chance to have a ton of success here. And so I think, to me, he's probably the one that maybe some people wouldn't answer at the top of the list, but I'd put him right there, because I do think he's got a chance to have a lot of success. And, of course, you know, Arkansas fans don't want to hear that.

[25:54] They thought he was going to be their next-head coach. But I think it works out better for him to be at Auburn, because I think he's got a chance to really have a lot of success there. Blake Lillis, Southeastern 16, his job at Auburn is to do what Alabama is trying to do tomorrow, and that's win an SEC championship and beyond. Blake, where do you start talking chalk when it comes to Alabama and Georgia Part 2? Yeah, I mean, look, the obvious thing when you start with, you know, kind of understanding that, obviously, it's long odds for Jan Miller to be back on the field, and that has an impact, but I think at the same time, you know, it is kind of one of those where I think it's easy to forget, and I think as looking at some previews and listening to some people this week, we can't forget that this game has been played before this season.

And I know we want to talk about the historical aspect and all this other stuff, which, again, is also in Alabama's favor here, but I think you have to remember that this is one where we've seen Alabama in the spot. Now, yes, it's kind of a different scenario, but I think that, to me, is kind of where you begin, is to go back and sort of look at some of the things the first time around and some of those plays that Alabama was able to make, and quite frankly, the lack of big plays.

When you talk about Georgia and not being able to get some of those key ones, especially in the passing game the first time around, and I think that, to me, is what this comes down to, right? I mean, football is simple sometimes. Hey, you look at kind of the trajectory of the two quarterbacks. I know some people have wanted to see a little bit more. Ty Simpson has played. Like, Gunnar Stocks has played well. We understand that, but it's also, again, a matter of matchups here, and I think this is one where, you know, they're in this game for a reason, but I do think, at least from the standpoint of understanding the challenge ahead, Alabama has more confidence heading into this game because they've already beaten this team once and feel like they at least have somewhat of a blueprint to work with there.

Well, let me ask you, Ben, of course, key injuries. Brenton made a good point there. You get this point, you're nicked up. Alabama's going to be without Overton, the key guy on defense, and Georgia's going to be without a big guy on offense, Drew Bobo, because you don't hear that name as a household word, but he apparently is the brain to that offense. Yeah, and I think, you know, that's the thing. When you get in these kind of games, right, we can talk about the first game, and I do think Alabama can certainly take a lot away from it, but we are at a different point in the season, too, where you, again, have guys who are not on the field, are not going to be able to make the same kind of impact, and I do think that, you know, is going to change some things, probably matchup-wise schematically in terms of what these coordinators are trying to achieve and their play calling and those things, too.

So it is, it's a fascinating one, and I think that, you know, it always does because it's Georgia and Alabama in this era, but I still, you know, right now, guys, I do kind of give somewhat of an edge here to Alabama, and I know that's not the popular pick because everybody's like, well, I know what the history tells me, but I just think Georgia's a better team, but I think there's some things, again, going back, and I did this recently, you know, seeing that game again and just kind of dissecting it a little bit more, I think there's a path here for Alabama that feels pretty attainable, and, yeah, I just, I'm looking forward to it.

If Alabama wins, do they go to number four in the rankings, and if Alabama loses, do they drop to 10 and need a prayer vigil to stay in the playoff? Yeah, you may need that for this committee, period, because I don't ever know what they're going to do, to be honest with you. It's going to be interesting, and we always say, like, you can't, this isn't a black-and-white thing, like, it definitely matters how you win and how you lose in this game, and there's no question about it, and I think that's the important thing here is it's going to matter.

Like, if you're Alabama, if you beat Georgia, how you win will probably, like you said, determine do you move up to four, do you kind of be, are you sitting in that spot? Certainly, you know, if you're getting one of the buys, that's a significant thing. Or should you lose, and let's say, you know, I don't know, you lose by two touchdowns or something like that. How does that impact things a little bit? Because, again, I would not trust this committee at all. There's no telling what they could do in that kind of scenario.

So I know this isn't like what we're used to saying in football games, but just keep it close, and you're going to be okay. But, you know, everybody's trying to win here, but at the same time, I would not want to put in this committee's hands any sort of idea, like you said, Brett, not just moving them down, but, you know, flirting with the idea somehow that I just, I don't know, guys. That's all I'm saying. I know you talked about it at Nautium this week, but there's a lot of ways this could play out probably.

Absolutely. We'll get into basketball with you a little bit more in the upcoming weeks, but the SEC wins the ACC Challenge 9-7. And I know they won it last year 14-2. Alabama and Auburn, Alabama 6-2, Auburn 7-2, Auburn playing Arizona. Auburn is going to play them next week. It may be the best team in the league. Here we go again. The Vanderbilt Commodores, who are undefeated at 9-0, they haven't played Alabama's schedule, but the job Mark Byington has done there is truly remarkable. Blake, where can we get online, my friend, and get your tremendous podcast about football and basketball?

[31:29] Yeah, I always appreciate it, guys. Yeah, find us, Southeastern 16, on YouTube. Any podcast app you use, you can find us there. Of course, lots of coverage this weekend for the SEC championship game and also lots of big SEC basketball games coming up as well. So, yeah, we'll have it all covered there at Southeastern 16. Sounds great, Blake. Listen, man, thanks for your time, Dan. Have a great weekend, okay? Thanks, guys. You too. Blake Love will check him out, Southeastern 16. I wonder what's going on with Georgia's biggest fan this weekend.

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[36:51] Coverage for dogs and cats is included with the purchase of collision coverage and subject to policy terms. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Of course, Alabama goes to Georgia tomorrow. We bring the biggest fan from Georgia here today. He's Bill Shanks. He's also busy there as host of the Bill Shanks Show on 93.1 FM in Macon. Online at thesesuperstations.com and on the tube at 41 NBC. Bill Shanks, welcome in. How are you? I'm totally objective. No question. I'm proud you said that because Brett and I, we were scratching our heads today, Bill, again.

We want to make sure we're clear on this. Did we see on X slash Twitter that Bill Shanks said Alabama is going to win by two touchdowns? Did we misread that? Yeah, I think you did. We just want to make sure, which leads to part two. If you could talk to an Alabama fan, Bill, what would you say? And, Brett, if you could talk to a Georgia fan, what would you say? Go ahead, Brett. It's your show. Go back to September. Go back to the last 11 games.

Things change. Teams change. But history might be on Alabama's side. How long do I have? You just go right on ahead. First of all, there's no question that historically, starting with 2008, when Bill Shanks embarrassed himself and walked out of the press box down 17 to nothing all the way back to his car to calm down before he murdered Mark Rick and then went back to the press box only to see that Alabama had scored two more touchdowns to make it 31 to nothing. And then that night, because I showed my a**, it's been a real bad situation for the Georgia Bulldogs.

And there is no question that if you go to 2012, there was some devil on the shoulder of Mark Rick that told him not to spike the ball that allowed Alabama to win the game and win another championship. When, if he had done that, who knows what would have happened? And the history has been on Alabama's side, with the exception of one glorious night and four degree weather in Indianapolis, where it was proven right then and there that it's tough to beat a team twice. So, you fast forward to now when in September 27th, if Georgia had kicked a field goal like Coach Shanks was saying in the press box, they would have tied that game and then gone on to win because of the fact that Georgia was shutting down the Alabama offense compared to the first half.

And then you have the fact that since that game, Alabama's running game is a dumpster fire and Georgia's defense is getting better. Georgia, even though they had a very difficult game last week with the much improved state rival, the Georgia Tech, Yellowjack, has played very, very well. And Gunnar Stockton is looked at a lot differently than he was looked at then. And the running back who fumbled against Alabama back up to September 27th, well, he was waterboarded the next week and punished for his defense. And he has played extremely well since then, Tomont Nate Frazier, who I believe is third in the country behind Jeremiah Love and Ahmaud Hardy as far as football focus rankings since the beginning of the season.

And you've got much improved pass catching group with the Georgia Bulldogs. You have Alabama's offensive linemen, L.T. Overton out. You've got their tight end out, which somebody on my show yesterday said was the biggest loss of all. Jam Miller is probably not going to play. And Kaelin DeBoer is thinking about running the Notre Dame box. And so you've got all those factors. And objectively, I come to the conclusion that Georgia is going to win by two and a half touchdowns. Oh, so it's Georgia by two and a half, not Alabama.

Let's make sure we're clear on that, Bill. Yeah, that's fake news. I don't know where you're getting that from, Bob. Let's clear that up. In a semi-serious note, this just happened. It's been a little bit of breaking news. When Roy Kramer threw out the ideal of an SEC championship game in 1991, a lot of people thought he was absolutely crazy. Gene Starling certainly did. We see where it's going, but about five minutes ago, Chuck Dunlop of the SEC office just sent out a tweet that Roy Kramer ironically died this morning in the age of 96 years old.

[42:04] We will see where this game goes because, again, that's a lot of the scuttle, but why do you continue to play championship games? I think it is a big deal to win an SEC championship, but, listen, we've seen a lot of these over the years, Bill Shanks. It's amazing where this game has morphed from 1992. Well, it's eerily ironic that Roy Kramer does that. It is. It is. It is. I mean, I saw that, and I'm like, that can't be because of how spooky it was that I might be the last one.

And it's like, dang, look, I know there's a lot to figure out in this sport. This has not been a good week for college football. No. I just think it's been a mess, to be honest with you. Yeah. And thankfully, tonight when the games start and then tomorrow, we're going to be kind of saved by the action that we love the most, which is the game. But, look, I love the championship game, and I love for there to be a crown champion. Now, you know, Brett, you and I are probably going to think this because our two programs are there a lot.

You know? And so we're going to value it more than a lot of other teams that might not. And I get it. I understand that. While I don't agree, I completely – and, look, one of my best friends is like, God, I can't believe we're playing this game, yada, yada, yada. And I understand what he's saying. I just can't get past the fact that, look, Georgia went two decades and didn't win an SEC championship from 1982 to 2002 when they beat Arkansas 34-3. And so the fact that Georgia has been in eight SEC championship games in the ten years of Kirby Smart, that's hard for me to say, oh, I don't care about the SEC championship games anymore.

And it's going to be hard for Alabama fans to say the same thing because of how many times they've been and seen it and enjoyed it. So, you know, I understand all of the – and you wish there was somebody logical that could figure it out, Brett, to where the conference championship games could still be relevant enough and important enough to not discard. But I'm leery of that because I think you're just going to throw them away. But the fact that Roy Kramer died today is just – Wow, it is.

I mean, God bless him. And what a life. And he lets his legacy, and tomorrow might be the last one on it. Yeah, wow. Talk about the circle coming, full circle on that one. There you have it, the Bill Shanks, the host of the Bill Shanks Show. Check him out, thesesuperstations.com. Bill, you mentioned Overton. That's going to be a big loss for Bama and Cueva. It's going to be a big loss for Alabama's offense. Let's talk about the mass report for the Dawgs. At this point in the season, everybody's going to be nicked up some more than others.

Your thoughts, starting in the middle of Georgia's offensive line with Mike Bobo's son, how big a loss is that, Bill? Well, it's huge. And I've said all week, Harold, the injuries, and I assumed it more about Jan Miller, but even taking what Brett said in consideration of it being equally or more important to lose the Quavis young man, the tight end, and then the injury to Drew Bobo. So it's almost like, all right, well, the team that overcomes these issues wins. These are significant injuries for these two teams.

There's no question about it. You know, and there was a lot of panic because, look, Gunnar Stockton early in the year struggled, and he struggled, in my opinion, to some extent. I don't know how much, but to some extent because in the third series of the first game of the year against Marshall, the offensive line had two people get hurt. Same series, the third series, and Ernest Green and Juan Gaston both got hurt, and the next couple weeks, you saw a revolving door of offensive linemen, and to me, that's why when Gunnar Stockton didn't look too great until the Tennessee game, when he threw that pass, he threw a pass to London Humphrey that was about the prettiest pass all year long.

Before that, there were Georgia fans on social media wanting to tar and feathering to have to back off after that play. But the offensive line issues, when they cleared up for Georgia, Gunnar Stockton all of a sudden got into the high of the conversation. That's how big of a deal it was for the offensive line to be healthy. So, consequently, when Drew Bobo got hurt last week, everybody was panicking, and I understand. You know, you're right, what you said. I mean, you get to this point, and whether it's Jam and Cuevas and Elberton for Alabama or, you know, I mean, Georgia lost his leading receiver earlier a couple of weeks ago with Colby Young.

[47:13] They now have lost Drew Bobo, and they've had issues, like all teams have. When you get to this point, Game 13, it's next man up. You have no choice. And so the good thing about what Alabama and Georgia have at their disposal are prospects and players who come in highly regarded and highly recruited, and it's not like the replacements for any of these players are going to be two stars who we don't know who they are. And it's just a question of which replacement can step up and do the job.

So, you know, look, I don't know. Everybody's saying, well, you know, over here, the big question over here is can they be okay without Drew Bobo? Funniest thing is to me, guys, is that in September and August, they were like, Drew Bobo sucks just like his dad. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I kept on saying, you guys are nuts. Because, and I'm not an offensive lineman officiant, I know, but Kirby's one ain't putting no daggum offensive lineman in there just because his dad's the offensive coordinator.

No. And if Drew Bobo, his last name was Drew Rasmussen, people would have thought differently about him. But I'm so happy for that kid to shut everybody up. And now that he's out and gone, they're panicking, which is kind of funny. Here's the thing about it also. Not only has he been consistent, things you could depend on. Think about it. Every night he goes home, how many kids get to go home and talk to the offensive coordinator right, left, and in between? You see it on the high school level.

Anytime you get a kid who plays when his dad's a coach, they're always a step ahead of everybody else. Absolutely. No question. And, you know, I saw enough in August that in a scrimmage I went to, I'm like, that kid's fine. I don't see anything that's glaring that's like. And I'm always crazy about when the center is changing hands. I mean, that to me, when you replace your center from the previous year, that can be as impactful as replacing the other. Exactly. Inside out. When you replace both of them, though, which is what happened to Georgia this year with both Gunnar Stockton taking over, Carson back, and then Jake Bobo, a group of other coming in, that was a worry.

But, you know, that was the least of worry compared to the injuries, and that allowed Drew Bobo to do his job. So, look, I mean, tomorrow, Malachi Tolliver, it was hurt a little bit earlier in the year. He's back. You know, I asked the people who look at the offensive line a lot closer than I do, what do you think about that kid? And they said, well, I don't think he really was the problem. The other guy struggled against Georgia Tech more than Tolliver. They said he did some, had some bad snaps.

And I've said all week long, look, you better be prepared for at least one bad snap that will make you gulp a little bit tomorrow. Yeah. You know, even though I'm sure he and Gunnar Stockton have probably snapped enough to where they felt like they could get married in Vermont, they were so close to each other. But the bottom line is he's not the starter. And so you've got to expect something like that to happen. You hope it just won't hurt him. Because here's another thing to me, guys.

I mean, look, these two teams are close. We know that. And it's all about who makes the mistake. You know, I mean, who can avoid the interception, the big return, the thing that can bite you? That's what these two teams have got to worry about much more than, oh, my God, so-and-so is not playing the bar to me. The two ironic things this morning, we just talked about Roy Kramer's passing, basically created this game. We discussed yesterday, again, next year, the ninth conference game added, how beat up both of these teams are after 12 games.

And I sent you this tweet a little bit earlier today. The SEC approved the jump from 85 to 105 scholarships to where, and again, teams are still playing with a lot of this stuff. But maybe it will provide more depth that we've talked about. Kirby and Nick Saban were the masters in recruiting. Your thoughts of the SEC basically opening the door and adding 20 more scholarships to football? Well, I'm not surprised, and I think it is kind of a, not a compromise, but kind of a bone to throw out there of not having the restriction.

Now, here's the thing, Brett, that is kind of funny to me. You know, we used to be in a situation where we were always counting scholarships. Oh, my God, are they at 85? Are they at 83? We don't ever do that anymore because we don't know right now who is on scholarship. Let's take Drew Bobo, for example, and I may be completely wrong about this, but just using this scenario. Drew Bobo, well, number one, his dad has made a lot of money, right? Mike Bobo makes $1.5 million this year.

[52:21] He's made a good living to where if he had to pay for Drew Bobo to go to attend a couple of classes at Georgia, it ain't going to, you know, Mr. Cableville, and not to mention the family's wealthy. Well, I don't, I'll be shocked if Drew Bobo's on scholarship, so he may not even count against it, and we don't know how that goes on anyway, do we? So it's different than, oh, we count up scholarships and, you know, know what the numbers are. Now, and I'm not saying today's decision is not important because it can be very, very helpful in that regard, but I, you know, I've kind of backed off of that, how many people on scholarship think, because I think it's so difficult to know anyway, because, I mean, who's to say that someone who's making a big daggum bunch of money on NIL ain't paying for his old way?

There you go. We don't know that. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, absolutely. Now, if any of our devoted listeners would like to call, listen to your show this afternoon, chime in, let me know again what time, what hour you're doing the predictions for Georgia Go 1-11 against Alabama, where can they get online and listen to a great breakdown of the game and the predictions? And in an objective manner, unlike some places I know. Well, you know, look, we're going to have fun this afternoon and we're going to have to take predictions starting at 425 Eastern time after we get that Falcons mess over with.

And so we'll start taking predictions on the Georgia-Alabama game. And, you know, we're also taking your numbers because if any of the people in the 205 are calling up and saying anything bad, we know people. We got an eye on the phone. Bill, listen, state travels to and from the Dome. I'm predicting 72 and a dry track tomorrow. Would you agree? Well, yeah, it's going to be some nasty weather, so I'm glad it's inside for sure. But it's going to be a game. I can't wait. And you know what?

I'm glad they're in it and can't wait to see another SEC championship game. Absolutely. Safe travels, Bill. Thanks so much for your time. There you have the one, the only. See you, Ben. Bill Shanks. He has been there at thesuperstations.com. Coming up in the next hour, what are the big coaches saying about the game? Coach Pete Cordelli is going to be on that. Ryan Callahan is going to be talking about big times in big orange country. And Mike Huganen has the national seat at the table.

His thoughts on the SEC title game. It's all straight ahead of the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them. Auto owners works with independent agents who answer when you call. So you can worry about more important things. Like whether your kid is going to run toward first or third base.

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Well, at least your home and auto are protected with a bundle from Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states or situations. 1819 News. The Alabama Department of Workforce has released the numbers on unemployment in the state of Alabama for the month of September. The unemployment rate saw a drop from 2.9% for August to 2.8% for the following month. 9,000 positions were added in the fields of education and health services. And 22,000 positions were added overall to the state workforce. The Department of Workforce also reports that prime age workers between 25 and 54 years of age who are in the Alabama labor force is now at 78%.

[57:59] I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Are you enjoying 1819 News? If so, consider joining 1819 News as a member. As a nonprofit news organization, we depend on the support of Alabamians like you. Memberships start out as little as $5 a month and you'll get access to exclusive content only offered to our members. You'll be supporting independent journalism done by people who cherish Alabama values. Become a member today by visiting 1819news.com and clicking become a member. That's 1819news.com and click become a member today. A search continues in Lawrence County for three children who were in a home that caught fire this Friday morning.

Two adults are confirmed to be dead from that fire. It broke out at a home in Hillsborough Community. The Alabama State Fire Marshal is being brought in to investigate this case. A teenager in Athens is being charged with attempted murder and terrorism. Carson Butler is now 18 years old and is accused of plotting to kill faculty and students at Athens High School. Athens Police, along with the FBI, became aware of this plot in June of this year. The threats were made online. And State Senator Larry Stutz announced this past Thursday that he will be running for re-election in 2026 for Senate District 6.

Stutz has been a state senator since 2014. He's also a physician who has delivered about 12,000 babies through his medical practice. I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the Daily Newsletter. 3-9, the score. Valley Broadcasting Corporation. Alabama, Georgia, for the SEC title again. And Alabama is headed to Atlanta again and plays down the stone. It's the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs for the SEC title. Live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Join us at noon this Saturday on your home for Alabama football.

The Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. Alabama football on 93.9. The score is brought to you locally in part by Hi, this is Chris Stewart, and your home for Alabama football is Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. 93.9, The Score weather. Today, mostly cloudy with a high around 45. Tonight, mostly cloudy with a low near 35. Tomorrow, partly sunny with a high around 50. Tomorrow night, partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers overnight and a low near 35. And for your Sunday, mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers and a high around 55. Your weather from 93.9, The Score.

Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tide. Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score. Welcome back to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Redbeard. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And for Mike Huganen, taking time out of his schedule down in Orlando, Florida, as a national college football slash basketball analyst.

Mike, welcome in. How are you? Doing well. Looking forward to a handful of interesting games this weekend. Obviously, conference championship weekend, but I would argue that a couple aren't really that important. Mike, obviously, one is important in Alabama and Georgia, and who knows how that's going to impact how the Dominoes fall for better or worse after that comes Sunday and beyond. Mike, where do you start in talking about Alabama and Georgia Part 2 this season and two old rivals back at it fighting for the SEC championship again?

Yeah, obviously, a rematch that Alabama won the original game this year. Kirby Smart is not good against the Tide, 1-7. I think Georgia has gotten incrementally better for the most part throughout the season. I think Alabama has had some ebbs and flows. Hard for me to see Alabama winning this game if they don't run for, I don't know, 125 or so yards. You know, that's really not that much, but that's a lot for Alabama this year. So, you don't want the game to come solely down to Ty Simpson throwing the ball.

[1:03:10] You've got to have a modicum of a rushing attack. They need Jan Miller to do something. Now, I think Alabama can hit some big plays, but again, I think they have to have some summits of a running game. And the most intriguing aspect of this to me, yes, Alabama is in the SEC title game. They have two losses. If they have three losses, I'm pretty sure they still get in the playoff. But if they were to lose like 38-10, then it becomes a mystery. And I would be leaning toward, no, they don't get in if they get blown out.

But I don't think this team can get blown out by Georgia. I think that Ty Simpson can do enough to keep it close, though I do think Georgia is going to win. Mike, we don't get enough one and two match-ups, sometimes during the regular season, occasionally in the offseason. But we've got that tomorrow with the Big Ten championship with Ohio State, who looked mighty impressive, beating Michigan in Big House last week against Indiana. Menendez, with the real opportunity to showcase for the Husband Trophy, will Ohio State continue to be dominant?

They were very balanced running the ball. Bo Jackson, Jeremiah Smith, Cornell Tate. Indiana, I still say, is a little bit underrated because a lot of people have not had a chance to watch them very much. Ohio State, five-and-a-half-point favorite, Mike, in Indianapolis. Do they win in cover? Yeah, I think they do. You know, this is like you pointed out. This is number one versus number two, and I don't care. The winner is going to be the number one seed in the playoff. The loser is going to be the number three.

You can't make the loser the number four seed because that means they'd be in the same bracket, these two teams. So, this is important for Mendoza, as far as Heisman hopes. You know, Julian's saying, for some reason, he's getting a lot of Heisman love as well. I don't understand why he is not only – he's not the best player on his team. He's not even the best player on the Ohio State offense. I don't see why people are touting him as a Heisman guy. Well, we all know he's a quarterback of the number one team.

But, you know, they could be playing their number two quarterback. They'd be 12-0. Indiana take Mendoza away, and they might be 9-3. So, again, it's this – yeah, it's sort of – it makes me feel sort of dirty, the fact that it's one versus two, and I really don't care. I think Ohio State does win. I think their depth factor up front on defense is the big differentiator. I think – I'm more assured of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate doing something than I am Elijah Sherratt. Ohio State's defense is going to be by far the best Indiana has seen.

The flip side, the Indiana offense might be the best Ohio State defense has seen. So, there are a lot of intriguing storylines. But, again, you know, the winner's number one in the playoffs. The loser's number three. And it doesn't hold much interest to me, unfortunately. I think you're going to get an Astro College football slash basketball analyst down in Orlando. Obviously, somebody's going to lose there. Another top team runs a chance of losing this weekend. That's Georgia. They're in the top three. If Alabama knocks off Georgia a second time, where do you put Alabama on Sunday?

I think they'll be five or six. I don't think they'll be in the top four. But I do think they'll be probably five. I'm interested in seeing also what happens with Texas Tech, BYU. BYU 11-1 with no chance to get in if they lose. And if you want mass chaos on Sunday, you want to see Duke win. You want to see Alabama win. And you want to see BYU win. It would be wild and wooly for the selection committee in that scenario. But, yeah, BYU, Texas Tech.

I mean, Texas Tech beat them, frankly, easily the first time they played in Lovac. This game will be in Dallas. I don't see much reason to think it will be different. Texas Tech's got better lines on both sides of the ball. So, I think that will be the difference again. Still not convinced that Texas Tech's offense is all that. But that is an interesting and talented defense. Rodriguez is a tremendous linebacker. And Texas Tech, you know, for a program that never learned how to play defense, it's sort of startling to look at Texas Tech this year and realize, my God, these guys are really good on defense.

[1:08:12] And, again, that's the Big 12 game. I can't see Texas Tech losing, frankly. Mike, we have discussed this all week long. It has been a historical week for the SEC, literally turning over six coaches or six coaching hires, which is mind-boggling when you think about it. Alex Golich, of course, we've talked about a good bit coming to Auburn. Jon Sumrall to Florida. A lot of people thought it might be Lane Kiffin, but no. Lane Kiffin goes to LSU. Brian Silverfield to Arkansas. Will Stein to Kentucky. And Pete Golding saying it on me.

Mike, who made the best hire? You know, I think Kiffin has the highest ceiling, though. I will say also that that has the potential to be a train wreck. Kiffin is, you know, Kiffin is used to getting, Kiffin does what he wants. Let's put it that way. You know, all the great stuff during the season. Oh, he's changed. He loves, that was all BS. I hope I can say BS on the radio. Lane Kiffin is out for one person, Lane Kiffin. That's right. The LSU situation is bizarre, to say the least.

You had the governor involved in the firing of a coach. You had the governor involved in the firing of an athletic director. You had the governor saying, we're not given huge contracts anymore. You had the LSU board of trustees saying, we're not paying Brian Kelly his full going away present. But then you realize, okay, we are going to pay Brian Kelly. You know, by the way, we are going to give Lane Kiffin the exact same kind of contract we gave Brian Kelly. And the governor is like, oh, great hire.

I loved it. So, it's a dysfunctional program with a dysfunctional coach. I think Sumrall was a good hire. I don't like Pete Golding hire. I don't like the Ryan Silverfield hire. I think the Will Stein hire could be really good, though. I don't think, you know, we've seen Kentucky at its ceiling. It's a 9-1 team, I think. Goal-ish, I think there's a little bit of mystery there. He did a phenomenal job rebuilding a USF program that was absolutely horrible when he got there. He's got a swagger.

He likes offense. His offense is vastly more watchable than he freezes if he gets the right quarterback. You know, the staffers that he hired, the staffer that Sumrall hired, that will tell the tale. But I think, you know, take Kiffin out of the mix because it's a bizarre situation. But I think the Goal-ish and Sumrall hires are the interesting ones because those programs have shown in the past they can play and win national titles. Not sure these two coaches can do that, but I'm quite comfortable in saying that both these coaches will be better than their immediate predecessors.

Mike, your thoughts about almost a chilling story today. We talked about it earlier today that the guy who was controversial back in his day, Roy Kramer, SEC Commiss, said we're going to have a championship game. Of course, we know Gene Stallings pitched the history of the field. We saw what happened in his very first game against Florida and Steve Spurrier. Passing away, we found out the news, I don't know the exact timetable, but Roy Kramer passing away. Your thoughts about his legacy and how ironic it is that here he is on the eve of this SEC championship game.

And people now may be putting some question marks over the future of championship games. Yeah, but at the time, in some respects, he was ahead of his time. You know, what are you doing? You're playing a title game. You could wreck your team's hopes. Oh, by the way, though, yeah, you are going to make a ton of money. And it's like Jim Delaney and the Big Ten Network. What are you doing? Oh, my God, look at how much money you've brought in. So I think Kramer was ahead of his time.

I met him a couple times when I was working in Orlando. I can remember a Florida Citrus Sports Commission meeting, talking to him beforehand, interviewing him for a story. And I asked him about, do you worry about the potential for there being too many bowls and no one cares? And he sort of laughed it off. But he made a speech. And immediately, the first thing he said was, I'm glad to be in front of people who think bowl games are great. I just talked to a medium member who doesn't like bowls.

And I'm thinking, that's not what I said. But anyway, he was ahead of his time. He deserves a ton of credit for making the SEC what it is today. Sly continued it. Sankey continued it. But I would argue that Roy Kramer, a guy who was a football coach at Central Michigan and an AD at Bandy, deserves a heck of a lot of credit for the SEC being where it is now. He had no problems with expanding when he brought in South Carolina and Arkansas. He had no problems pitching the idea of a conference title game.

[1:13:36] And I would argue that during his tenure is when the SEC took the mantle of Beth Lee and had no let go. I heard this name back in October after James Franklin was fired. But Matt Campbell, really flying under the radar in the job he's done at Iowa State, is not a sexy name. But when you look at what he's done there compared to the resources that he's got, now this morning, according to multiple media reports, he is right now maybe eminent to be named the head coach at Penn State.

And I've been wondering, why in the world did they not ask this guy a month ago? Mike, your thoughts? Yeah, I don't, that has been, you know, they got out ahead of everything by firing Franklin. A guy who was a field goal away from playing for the national title last year. And I can sort of understand why they got rid of him. They thought he didn't see him. But I will admit, if you're firing a coach in late September or early October, this search has been a nightmare.

They've done an abysmal job. And you cannot tell me that they went into this thinking, ooh, we're going to hire Matt Rule. And if that's the case, I mean, Pat Craft, the AD, should be fired. But I think they've bungled the search. And now, to me, it's like they've gone swimming, and they're in a muddy creek, and their toes touched something, and they reach down and pick it up. Oh, my goodness, it's a golden nugget. Because I think Matt Campbell can win big at Penn State.

Your point, Iowa State is a horrendous program historically. Awful, awful, awful, awful, awful program. But he made them legitimate contenders, for the most part, every single season in the Big 12. So give him better resources. I think he'll hire a really good staff. The recruiting aspect will be different for him because he's used to finding sort of under-recruited guys and developing them. I think he can still do that to an extent at Penn State. But I think his ability to hire good assistants is notable. And, yeah, for a school that I think bungled their coaching search, I think they came away with a B-plus or A-minus hired.

It's sort of like they've lucked into this. And like I said, why did they wait so long? Absolutely. Yeah. No question about it. Well, listen, enjoy some of the games this weekend. It will be an interesting Sunday afternoon when this committee lets us know what the heck they've decided. Have a great weekend. Let's do this again next Friday. Excellent. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much, Mike. You're going to National College Football Slash Basketball Analyst State Championship 4A right now. I've got a feeling Jackson's on their way about in the fourth quarter.

45-0. In case you're wondering about Mr. Crowell, he just reeled off another 56-yard run. He's fourth of the day, over 200 yards rushing. I think he's a pretty good guy in the pipeline for Alabama. Coming up, what's going on in Tennessee country? Ryan Callahan, the latest next. Stay with us. Nugget bills, nugget bills, nuggets all the way. Hi, I'm Kylie. I'm John. And I'm Garrison. And a little thing we love about the 30-count Chick-fil-A nuggets is sharing them when we cut down the Christmas tree. We will pack the car with gifts.

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This advertisement was paid for in partnership with Cars RS and Find the Children. United Way of Northwest Alabama is thrilled to announce the return of its signature fundraising gala, Shoals Royale, on Saturday, February 21st, 2026, at the Renathon Shoals Conference Center. This black-tie optional casino-themed event brings all the glitz and excitement of Las Vegas to the Shoals, complete with live entertainment, gaming tables, prices, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar, and all for a great cause. Now in its fourth year, Shoals Royale has become one of Northwest Alabama's premier charity events, uniting local businesses, community leaders, and residents for a night of luxury and purpose.

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How are you? Doing well. How are you? Good, Boone. And just sitting here looking at how things can change. How did Tennessee fans feel about Josh Heupel when they went to bed over the weekend Saturday night compared to how they felt about him when they went to bed Wednesday night after National Signing Day? You know, it's a good question. I think they feel a little bit better about him right now. I bet they do. But, you know, at the same time, though, that loss to Vanderbilt is so fresh on fans' minds that I don't know that even an impressive finish on early signing day does a lot to totally take that away.

So, I think that one's going to sting fans for a while. And I think there are a lot of people who see that signing class and say, okay, that's great. But is that going to fix this team for next year? Because, obviously, not many freshmen come in and make that much of an immediate impact, especially in a program like Tennessee that's pretty well established now. So, I think a lot of people are still kind of in wait-and-see mode and want to see what changes are going to be made or what the approach is to make things better next year after what was a pretty embarrassing loss for Tennessee fans that aren't used to seeing Tennessee get run out of its own building by Vanderbilt.

Talk to us about that. What happened there, Ryan? Because it's one thing to lose. Our friend over in Memphis, Brent Norsworthy, he put a very deep thought together. He said, on any given Saturday, somebody's going to win, somebody's going to lose. That goes without saying. But when you lose by three touchdowns to Vanderbilt on your home turf, you've got some head-scratching. And, by the way, this comes after losing to arch-rivals Alabama and Georgia, starting with Vanderbilt. What happened there? Yeah, you know, honestly, first of all, I picked Tennessee to win that game.

I shouldn't have. Everything in my gut told me Vanderbilt was just the better team, and that turned out to be the case. Now, that being said, I don't think Vanderbilt should have beaten Tennessee by three touchdowns on its home field. I think that was a game that sort of got away from them. You know, at halftime, they're tied. Right before halftime, they're up by seven. That's the amazing part is you lose a game by 21 that you had in pretty good shape and looked like you were going to be in a dogfight to the finish at halftime, and then the second half just goes that terribly wrong.

They lost the middle eight minutes of the game, and that really changed things completely. Vanderbilt scores a touchdown with 12 seconds left in the first half, gets the ball to start the second half, goes down the field, makes it look pretty easy, and takes some time off the clock in doing so. And before Tennessee gets the ball back, you know, probably 40 minutes of real, actual time had passed, and those guys have, you know, they're kind of out of the routine at that point. You know, they've been sitting on the sideline just watching for a while and in the locker room.

[1:23:56] So I think they come out, they're a little bit stagnant on one drive. That opens the door for Vanderbilt to make it a two-score game. And then they get a chance to cut it to three there, and just kind of a catastrophic sequence there inside the red zone that leads to a field goal instead of a touchdown. Mike Matthews dropping a touchdown pass across the middle, and that just kind of stuck the wind out of their sails, and they were never the same the rest of the game.

So just kind of a few things that snowballed on them, but the bottom line is Tennessee's defense was terrible. They gave up 582 yards of total offense. Diego Pavia is playing amazingly well right now. He's on a heater. Tennessee got him to throw two interceptions, but otherwise he did plenty of things that were just tough for them to stop, and that defense had trouble all season. So Tennessee's got some real issues to work out defensively, and that's, I think, where the disappointment lies for so many Tennessee fans.

They watched a top-10 defense in most categories take Tennessee to the college football playoff last year, and they lost some key pieces from last year, but I think there was every reason to think they were going to have a good defense again this year, and for that to be such an Achilles heel for a team that had a really good offense for most of the year, that's a pretty big letdown for fans. I don't think they expected it to look anything like that and to see the finished product and what ended up costing them so many games.

I think that's a tough one to swallow. I know the Vandy game put a damper on National Signing Day, but I've seen some reports this may be or are considered to be the best recruiting class in 10 years for Tennessee, and when you look at some of the players that Tennessee was able to bring in here, Falzion Brandon, the five-star quarterback, five-star receiver Tristan Keyes, Gabriel Ascenda from the Baylor School, and you just go on and on, and Tennessee flipped some guys, including J.J. Finch, who was a commitment to Alabama, flipped Tennessee, Legend Bay, who flipped a couple of times, Carter Gooden, Jordan Carter, you just go on and on.

I know they are 7 and 24-7, at least I looked this morning, and 7 and on 3, and again, I understand the disappointment, but this was a stellar class that may really pay dividends down the road. Yeah, absolutely, and that's in a year where Tennessee, I was getting questions from people in early June, maybe even mid-June, what's going on with Tennessee and recruiting? Even people in my business were kind of wondering, where's Tennessee? They usually start faster than them. They were ranked in the 50s nationally, in the team rankings at one point in June.

Had gotten off to a bit of a slow start, and some other teams had just kind of gone on bigger runs than they had. They were just sort of waiting at that time, and it looked like they were waiting on a number of guys they were going to get, but there were still a bunch of irons in the fire that you just didn't know if they were going to pay off, and one of those was Tristan Keyes, who was committed to LSU at the time, and so Tennessee, give them credit, they made some good reads on some guys that they thought they could flip, and some of them turned out to be right.

Now, some didn't, but they ended up flipping a total of seven guys out of the 28 signees that they landed, so to stay in some recruitment that looked like they were over to a lot of people or looked like they were maybe a shot in the dark or not especially good odds of flipping someone and make several of those happen, pretty impressive on Tennessee's part. And then, yeah, they just kind of stayed after it. They made their summer run, like every team does these days, and then got Tristan Keyes, got Hezekiah Harris, flipped him from Auburn.

So just some of those continued into the season, and before you knew it, they had a top-10 class. It was pretty solidified in there. The three five-stars anchoring the class, I've looked at this before, and I'm pretty sure that's the first time they've signed three five-stars in the internet recruiting era. They've had a couple five-stars multiple times, but that's a pretty big statement for them as long as they finish with those three five-stars on National Sign Day in February. The rankings will change a little bit.

And then seven top 100 players, so just some really good depth to this class, and like you said, the way they've finished, three more four-stars on signing day, three flips from other schools on signing day. So pretty impressive, and especially in the aftermath of a tough end of the season like that, it kind of shows that Tennessee still has some things to sell and is on sort of an overall upward trajectory in terms of improving its roster despite what might have happened on the field this season.

Ryan Callahan, go balls 24-7. Quickly, Ryan, obviously you would assume there's going to be some changes on the staff. Where do you start? Yeah, everyone wants to know that. Now here's the thing about Josh Heifel. We've never seen Josh Heifel fire anybody really. That's what anyone's really seen. So what's he capable of doing? What's he willing to do with his back to the wall a little bit? So this is going to be sort of a learning experience for all of us because we've never seen Josh Heifel really be willing to push someone aside based on subpar performance or anything like that.

He tends to find people to surround himself with that are loyal, that he enjoys working with. He promotes that they have a good culture not just within the players' locker room but among the coaching staff. And so he doesn't work with guys that he doesn't like typically and that leads to a little turnover. So is he willing to maybe fire one of his buddies or one of his guys that he really tries? That's a big question about this. Now Tim Banks, the defensive coordinator, he's the one that's probably catching the most heat right now.

[1:29:21] That's not a guy Josh Heifel had worked with really before 2021. So their five years at Tennessee is the only real history they have. I think they've had a good working relationship, though. They clearly have gotten along well. But I think the bigger question here is what are the fixes to their problems? Tennessee, for instance, they weren't good offensively last year, made the playoff despite having a pretty average offense by Josh Heifel's standards. They fixed some things this offseason and had a much better offense this year, had a much different looking offense.

Are there some changes like that that they could make defensively that would bring similar results maybe and fix some of what's failing them? It depends on what the self-scout is of what their problems actually were. I think there's a case to be made. Their defense is just a bit too complicated and there are things players are doing mentally even after the snap that are kind of slowing them down on the field. If you clean up some of those things and make it a little more straightforward, is it different for players so you get better results?

They've got some tough questions to ask, but yeah, fans obviously want to know if there's going to be turnover and right now all we can say is we've got to wait and see because Josh Heifel is very close to the vest and he does not have a track record of making wholesale changes even in tough situations sometimes. Yeah, I knew Jim Banks was going to be the scapegoat for a lot of the fans. I still say when you lose two all-SEC corners and Jamod McCoy, Ricky Gibson, I don't know how many times we talked to you during the season about defensive linemen being hurt and again, I'm not making excuses, but that's a part of this that you need to put in the equation.

I appreciate you coming on on Friday. I know you were just snowed under earlier this week with the class. Where can we get online in basketball, recruiting, coaching changes, bowl games? Where can we get all the good stuff? Yeah, you said it. We'll find out Sunday where Tennessee goes bowling. Tons going on. Great time to check out the site. 50% off an annual subscription right now to join GoVols247.com. So check out all that and more. We'll start looking ahead to 2027 recruiting and, oh, yeah, the transfer portal just around the corner, too.

So all kinds of fun coming up. Spicy times in East Tennessee. Ryan, I know you've got a close eye on it. Thanks so much and have a good weekend, okay? You guys do the same. Thanks a lot. Thank you, buddy. Ryan Callahan, they're going to be with us. He's busy there at GoVols247.com. This guy named Crowell just wheeled off another 50-yard run, five touchdowns on the day. It's incredible. Jackson over 50 now against Aniston in the state for a championship. I'm putting my money on Jackson, baby.

Coming up, the coach with his picks this weekend. Coach Pete Cordelli on deck. Stay with us. Have you ever seen those halftime scholarships where you have to nail a 40-yard field goal? Yeah, this isn't that. I didn't have to write a long essay or audition or make a half-court shot. I just had to open a bank independent account, use my debit card, sign up for online banking, and have a positive balance. That's it. A 20% scholarship to UNA. When bank independent invests in students like me, they're investing in all of us and the future of our community.

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Heritage for the Blind, where every car donation counts and every person makes a difference. Call 1-800-983-6530 now. This advertisement is paid for by Heritage for the Blind. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. Georgia and Alabama are set to play in the SEC Championship game tomorrow at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Dogs are 11-1, tied 10-2, entering the matchup. The Troy Trojans will play tonight in the Sunbelt Conference when Troy plays at 25th-ranked James Madison. JMU is 11-1, while Troy is 8-4 on the season.

[1:34:58] The two did not play in the regular season. Mids basketball action tomorrow night. Auburn is on the road. They'll play at No. 2 Arizona. The second-ranked Wildcats are 7-0, while 20th-ranked Auburn is 7-2. 12th-ranked Alabama back home Sunday to host UTSA. Progressive is helping veterans drive their lives forward with its Keys to Progress program. Online at keystoprogress.com. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash, presented by Progressive on 93.9 The Score. On the job, every minute counts. That's why Lowe's now has ProBlock Quick-Dry Primer, expertly manufactured by Sherwin-Williams.

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Cricut 5G is not available everywhere. Secret to wireless.com for details. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. You talk about a man who's been there and done that. Former head coach at Kent State. Nick Saban knows about that. Assistant coach at Arkansas, Minnesota. Picking up a thing called a national championship ring under a guy named Lou Holtz at Notre Dame. Pioneer in radio sports talk. His book is called Making the Grade. Coach Pete Cordelli, thanks for helping us make the grade to secure some of your time today.

How are you? Boom-O, I'm doing great. It's always a pleasure to be on with you and Brett, man. You guys do a great job. Well, listen, man. You're the one that took the road grader and helped knock down the trees in this business. I'm sure you don't miss it. You're living the life now, but let's talk a little bit about you've been there and done it as a coach. My, oh, my, oh, my. Putting on your coach's hat, where are you with basically almost half of the SEC changing the leader of the camp this week across the league?

What was it? Six out of 16 going to be coming up with new head coaches. Where do you start in grading the hires, coach? Well, that's a great question, but I remember a year ago, there were zero. Zero? Yeah. Well, they smart the end and dumb now, or vice versa. So we go from zero to six in a hurry. But, fellas, back when I was in coaching, you know, most times when a guy would get a head coaching job, the new school they were going to would say, you've got five years to get this turned around.

But, again, that was before the portal and NIL. That's back when guys still had to sit out for a year if they transferred. Some schools were still paying guys under the table, which is a fact of life. And, you know, now, as Barry Switzer said, NIL, now it's legal. So he's just putting it above the board, you know. And, but today, in today's climate, you've got three years. And you have to be productive. And the issue is, in a conference like the SEC, they cannibalize each other.

Two years ago, Kentucky beats Ole Miss. Florida beats Ole Miss. Florida beats Texas this year. And, you know, Vanderbilt beats Alabama. We've seen teams that have been in the bottom half of the league rise up and win games. And with more frequency than we've seen in the past. The fan base today, because everything is in a nanosecond, you can get the news. That's right. You know, all these people want to beat everybody to the story, so they're putting a bunch of stuff out there. A lot of it's not true.

You know, it's based on speculation. But in the coaching world, with the salaries, what they are, because of the TV money, most guys have three years to get this thing turned around, get it done. So the only thing that's really increased in football departments are their analysts and their portal staff and their high school recruiting staff. And that's a direct trickle-down from the NFL, who has a pro scouting department and a college scouting department. So the pro scouting department for college is basically the portal. You have a group of people working on players that once January 2nd hits, man, there's going to be a big run on players because they have two weeks to get it done.

[1:40:24] We just saw the early signing date from college players this past Wednesday. And Jared Curtis making the biggest change going from his commitment at Georgia going to Vanderbilt. And yesterday, his team won another state championship here in Tennessee, and he accounted for six touchdowns. They won 9-7. But, you know, Georgia will find a way. Kirby Smart always has. And other schools will be doing the same thing. But in today's climate, man, you've got three years or you're out the door. Pete, of the six that were hired, and again, I think everybody realizes that even though it was a circus, Lane Kiffin will be successful at LSU for many reasons.

We've talked a lot about Alex Golich, who a lot of people thought Jon Sumrall might be going to Auburn. That did not work out. And they went to plan B or C. And then Jon Sumrall at Florida. Pete, your thoughts on Alex Golich and Jon Sumrall with their future and their respective schools now? Two great guys. I have all the respect in the world. I think it's home run hire for both Auburn and Florida. Alex Golich, I got to know Alex when he was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee, and I was coaching here at Lipscomb Academy.

He had Middle Tennessee as a recruiting area, and we used to talk at length about philosophy and different things. And you talk about a guy who's 24-7, 365 football. It's Alex Golich. And, you know, he started out as a G.A. at Ohio State. So he's seen bigger programs. He looked what Tennessee did with that offense when he was there. But I promise you, and then what he's done in South Florida, he took over a complete mess down there, fellas. And he got that thing back, and the quarterback's playing very well, but he built the roster.

Just because he's an offensive guy, he knew how to build a defense, an offense, a team. Jon Sumrall's the same way. Sumrall, you know, played at Kentucky, coached in the league at Kentucky at Ole Miss. When he was at Troy, fellas, that Troy team, I believe he was 21-5 in two years. And his defense, the two years he was there, they were in the top five in the country both years. The two guys he's hired to be coordinators at Florida now, Buster Faulkner and Brad White from Kentucky, they are excellent.

Florida's going to get to turn around. Auburn's going to get to turn around. So I believe the SEC got better with these hires. Brian Kelly got fired at LSU. Lane Tiffin, because of his agent, Jimmy Sexton, knew he was going to LSU a week later. That LSU thing was done the first weekend in November. Yeah. But it's because of the agents. There's no control of the agents right now, and there's nobody more out of control than Jimmy Sexton. Guys, do you remember when Nick Saban was messing with Texas?

Part of what Jimmy Sexton wanted was 10% of the Longhorn Network for Saban to go from Alabama to Texas. Hey, guys, these, you know, everybody goes, well, you know, it's because of the calendar. This stuff has been going on for years. Agreed, man. Guarantee. Coach, obviously, we know about the other side. To me, the most interesting hire was Pete Golden. We were joking earlier this week. Who would have ever thought that Pete Golden would be coaching in the playoffs before Lane Kiffin? Your thoughts about the hire at Ole Miss?

I got to tell you, Keith Carter at Ole Miss did a tremendous job holding that thing together. And he spent a lot of time talking to players. And the players went to Keith and said, we want Pete Golden. Yeah. And so now he's going to keep the defensive staff. To me, the key hire is going to be who his offensive coordinator is. And I hear he's talking to Bobby Petrino about being the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss. How about that? So, now when you put a guy like Bobby Petrino with that talent there, I mean, look out.

That Ole Miss job, I don't think they miss a beat if they can get a guy like Petrino to be their offensive coordinator. As you can imagine, we have talked Alabama and Georgia a lot this week. I still like the SEC. It's still a big deal to me to win an SEC championship. Fundamental football, win the line of scrimmage, run the ball, stomp the run, don't turn the ball over. We all know that. But you know these two teams well. What happens in Atlanta tomorrow? Well, this is a credit to Georgia.

[1:45:37] Since 2016, in the last 10 years, Georgia has been in this game eight times. This is their ninth appearance. The only year they haven't been in the SEC championship is 2020 when Alabama played Florida. That, to me, that's a remarkable accomplishment for the Georgia program. Nine of the last 10 years, they're playing in Atlanta. So, and they're three and five. I know Kirby said his problems with Alabama. But the question mark I have about tomorrow is how many guys are hurt on both teams. Yeah, two guys. Georgia has six guys out, one questionable.

And the big one is Drew Bobo to me, the center, you know, who calls all the protections. When he came out on crutches and his foot in a boot last week against Georgia Tech, it was like, uh-oh. Now you've got to go play in the SEC championship game. But the key is going to be when do they get them back. If Georgia wins tomorrow, they won't play again until December 31st, which is three and a half weeks. So you've got some time to recover. If Georgia loses, they're hosting a first-round game in 14 days.

Yeah, huge. But, and then on the Alabama side, they have eight guys out and four questionable. And the biggest question mark is Jam Miller. You know, the running back, he got hurt again. But also L.P. Overton, the defensive line is out. That is really huge. And then you don't know if Dewberry's going to play. And both tight ends, Cuevas and Lewis, you don't think they're going to play. But there's a young freshman you've got to look for. His name is Marshall Pritchett, number 14. Marshall Pritchett's father played for us at Notre Dame and was a captain, Wes Pritchett.

And Marshall went to Raven Gap, same place Governor Stockton went. Well, Marshall Pritchett is a freshman tight end in Tuscaloosa. Look for him tomorrow to play a big part in that game. I just think that Georgia knows what's at stake. And, you know, you get to a point, enough's enough. I think Georgia's going to end up finding a way to win this game tomorrow and get one of the top four seeds and have three weeks to recover before the playoffs start. So, the other side of that coin, Coach, if that's the case, that means Alabama loses.

What happens to Alabama on Sunday as far as the playoff party? Well, they better hope that BYU doesn't upset Texas Tech. Right. Because if BYU beats Texas Tech, Big 12 gets two in. The other game you've got to watch tonight is James Madison against Troy. Because if James Madison puts up a big number, they might get the 12th seed. And the two teams that are on the bubble then, well, there's really three. Miami, Notre Dame, Alabama. But Miami beat Notre Dame. Miami and Notre Dame have two losses.

Alabama goes to three. Alabama may get left out if they lose. I don't mean to interrupt, Pete, but can you imagine, in effect, they're saying James Madison is better than Alabama if that's the case. And they're going to say, well, that's the system. Well, we'll change the system. No, no, no, no. Let me tell you something. I've never been for a committee. Never in my life do I like a committee. Because there's too many biases and too many people. I wish we'd go back to the BCS way.

They put the information in the computer. Hey, guys, it actually happened. The Mountain West had four teams tied. And they went to the old BCS computer way. And that's how we got Boise State and UNLV. And guess what? Nobody's raising h*** about it because there were no humans involved to blame it on. Bumo, I'm with you. It is a travesty. Here's the other thing, guys, that I don't like. We should learn from college basketball. Yes. Number one, we just saw the SEC-ACC challenge. If you're concerned about strength of schedule, do it in football.

SEC-ACC, football, Big 12, and every two years, rotate it. So now you're guaranteed a group of four schools, a power four school. Okay? The second thing is, all right, the basketball selection committee, there's about 30 games in basketball. They look at the last 10. So, really, a third of the schedule is what they put their most emphasis on. With a 12-game college schedule, if you looked at the last four games, that's the final third. College football is behind the eight ball in September. You don't have jamborees and scrimmages like high school.

[1:50:46] You don't have preseason games like the NFL. It takes the whole month of September to get your team right. And so now, how are we doing in the last four games? And don't blame it on the players. All they can do is play the schedule that's presented. But guess what? If they're beating everybody's brains out in November, they need to be rewarded because they're getting hot at the right time. Football's got too many fingers in the pie. Pete, you make too much sense. It's just ridiculous.

Guys, there are answers out there. We're making this a whole lot more complicated. That's exactly correct. We don't need a bunch of folks going to Dallas, Texas every Monday night and coming up with a rank. I was going to say, preach on. Pre-chon. In the SEC, we've got the smartest football fans in the country. They see great high school football on Friday night. They see great football on Saturday. And then they see bad football with the Saints and the Titans on Sunday. So, you know, what can I say?

Listen, before we let you go, tell us about making the grade. I think it would be a great Christmas present for a young man. It is a blueprint for sports and particularly football. But it's a great blueprint for a young man in middle school, high school on trying to get to the next level. Well, I appreciate that, Brett. You know, and here's the thing. As we're going into the portal, you have the position specifics. So, if you want to grade a quarterback, you've got 20 different categories to grade them on.

Is he going to be good in everyone? No, but you know what? As soon as he can make those average parts of his game into strengths, you have a pretty good player. Same thing with all the other positions. And you're right. It's a roadmap to find how to have better success and develop yourself. But the biggest thing is you have to have your grades. Your academics have to be first and foremost. Because without those, you don't qualify for a scholarship. So, make the grade in the classroom and then make the grade on the field.

Man, you'll have a wonderful life. Well, we just graded your performance. You get an A+. You made the honor row again. Listen, Coach, thanks so much. Have a great and safe weekend, okay? Hey, guys. Always a pleasure being on with you. And who knows what's going to happen in Atlanta tomorrow. It's going to be interesting. Yes, it is. Stay tuned. There you have it. Coach Pete Cordelli, breaking news. Recruiting front, Bryson Cooley says, Thank you, Lane. I'm flipping my commitment from LSU to Alabama. That happened just moments ago.

He's a four-star offensive lineman from West Jones High School in Laurel, Mississippi, BB. That's a big pickup for Alabama to finish off that class. Why are you picking for tomorrow in Atlanta? I am picking the Alabama Crimson Tide, 27, and the Georgia Bulldogs, 24. That is different than what Bill Schenck said earlier. Yes, it was. I will agree with you, but not necessarily that big a number. 24-21, Crimson Tide. Rolling question is, what's going to happen Sunday? We're going to be talking about that Monday along with everything else.

But in the meantime, enjoy the weekend, including the call tomorrow with Chris and the guys here on 93.9. The score is going to take care of Esports today. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Parallel Bug, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again Monday, noon to two with the Boom Will Bug Show. Back here on Sports Radio from 93.9. The score.