Boomo Bugg Show 121025

[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. New 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 in to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where we know how folks in Alabama feel about Oklahoma.

Out of the folks in Oklahoma feel about the folks here in Alabama. Stay tuned as the staple singers would say and sung, we'll take you there. Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Wednesday to you and the listeners. We have two head coaches on the show today. Tony Pujol, UNA men's basketball coach, gets caught up to date with UNA Lions and Daryl Higgins of the 3A State Champions Mars Hill Bible School. As you alluded to, Brandon Drum of OU Insider talks about Bama in Oklahoma 2.0 and we're always delighted to bring in Kevin, who is here right now to talk about Bama in the college football playoffs.

Auburn's new coach and his expert anchoring of the off-the-field coverage once again of the Super 7. Move over, Babe Ruth and the rest of the guys. Home run, Kevin Scarbinsky and their crew. Kevin Fein, columnist, got all full of awards there with the AL.com family, part of the Birmingham News. Award-winning writer, he's on TV, he's on radio, and he's also behind the podcast, Skarbo Nose. Kevin Scarbinsky, welcome in. How are you? Well, guys, I feel privileged to be on the show with two championship coaches, Daryl Higgins from Mars Hill.

I get the privilege of talking to all the coaches before their championship games, and he's done just a fantastic job there at Mars Hill going back-to-back. And Tony Pujol, what he's done at North Alabama in basketball, has just been fantastic as well. So I feel like I'm in great company today. We're humbled to have him, I guarantee you, Kevin, very much so. Listen, before we get into a little chalk talk and some of these specifics, I've been a day or two on TV, and when I see you guys put together these games, I mean, my goodness gracious.

Talk about knocking it out of the park. Number one, whoever signs off on this to make that commitment to bring it statewide for folks who can't make it down, grandmas, grandpas, and the rest of us. But to do it at the level you do it, it's phenomenal, Kevin. And I'm not blowing smoke. It's phenomenal. Great job of you guys. Well, I am part of a great team. Vincent Early and his Alabama High School Athletic Association TV Network team, they've been doing this for years on a weekly basis, playoff basis.

But Alabama Public Television signed on and brought me on board three years ago. This was our fourth year of doing the Super 7 and APT, bringing it across the state to every corner of the state. And just, I mean, everybody, you know, the stagehands, the producers, the field directors, the camera folks, my co-host, everybody that comes on the show with us. It's just, it is a blast. It is, you know, those three days are three special days for me every year. And I hope we can continue that tradition for as long as my voice holds out.

I'll tell you what, the games may not have been as competitive as years past, but you saw some of the most incredible talent I've seen in the state of Alabama in years. Of course, you've got to start with EJ Crow at Jackson, 304 yards, five touchdowns in the 52 to nothing route of a good Aniston team. And I thought Aaron Fry of Clay Chalkville kept the week off, 192 yards rushing, 167. And I could mention four or five others, certainly Jackson Penn to Morris Hill and Hudson Higgins and Trent Seaborn to Thompson.

You saw firsthand some very good talent in this state. It just reinforces how good high school football is across the state at every level. And look what Maplesville did to Wadley and Jacquez Wilkes, who sadly got hurt in that game. I have not heard an update. Hopefully he's okay. He signed with Auburn, of course, to play defense, which is pretty strong considering a year ago he ran for 312 yards in the 1A championship game to beat Maplesville. But Maplesville, man, were they ready for that rematch, and they took it too Wadley.

[5:01] But there are so many good players. And you mentioned the running back duo from Morris Hill. I don't know what Coach Higgins has put in the water up there, but the way they run the ball is just so impressive. And those guys, Jackson Penn, Hudson Higgins, and it seems like it's year after year, and the faces and names may change, but they run hard. Those guys are very difficult to tackle. And I've been telling my UAB friends to be excited because Hudson's going to play for the Blazers.

And I think they got a special player, and they got a winner, which is what they need more of in that program. Talk to us about the program at Morris Hill. Here's a program that, roughly speaking, I mean, it's young. It's a baby compared to some of the traditions across the state. But it shows you what happens when you get a community together, you get the right folks in place, and you commit as a community, as a student. It's a relatively small student body. But to go back-to-back and to do it in dominant fashion, here's the next part.

Will they stay at 3A, or will they, as they say in TV, be moving on up once, I think, what, Monday is when the reclassification news comes down the pipeline? Yeah, we're about to find out the classifications for the next two-year cycle. We'll see if competitive balance comes into play where Morris Hill is concerned. When you have the kind of success they have had, and we've seen it with Montgomery Catholic, a lot of times when the private schools have that kind of success, sustained success over time, they get bumped up to the next classification.

And what you typically see is they are successful at whatever classification they put them in. That's right. Because they have, as you said, they've got great community support, and they've got the right head coach in charge to pull it all together, and they certainly have that. You've had two very good articles about Alabama and Auburn, and particularly Alex Golich. What we know, what we don't know, we'll see about the future with him. I mean, we'll get to that in a minute, but Harold and I have been trying to pick up the pieces this week of the demolition job that Georgia had with Alabama.

And to be fair, I know that by the time they got to the fourth quarter, they had eight starters who were not playing. And I give a lot of credit for Georgia on that block kick. They knew that LT Overton was out. They were able to come through that gap and block it, but as you mentioned in your article, will Alabama be healthy enough? And Kalen DeBoer mentioned a lot of those guys will be back for Oklahoma. Your thoughts on the game and where Alabama goes from here this year?

Well, I've said it before, and obviously many people have this opinion that Kirby Smart is the best coach in the country in college football right now. Georgia is the best program, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win another national championship. They are peaking at the right time. But when is the last time you saw anyone give Alabama a good old dose of joyless murder ball, the way Georgia did, which Alabama used to do to everyone, including Georgia, year after year after year? That was definitely a throwback game.

It was defense. It was the running game. It was field position. The average starting field position was so heavily tilted in Georgia's favor because of Georgia's special teams. And that's something Alabama has to try to clean up in the next week or so before they go to Norman. And I don't know how much you can change your spots this late in the season. The biggest thing, you've already mentioned it, that Alabama has going for it is health and the additional time for players to get healthier, to get back on the field and get closer to 100%.

That was a big talking point when they sent out a sheet with a full list of talking points on Saturday night to remind people why they should be in the college football playoff. And this is something that the college football playoff is supposed to consider based on its stated criteria, and that's player availability. Whether guys weren't with you earlier in the season when you lost the game, or they were with you earlier, and then you lost them, and then you fell off in your performance. And certainly that's happened to Alabama.

So we'll see. I don't know what we're going to get other than this. We're going to get a rock fight because it's Oklahoma. And because that's Brent Venable's style of play. He's been a thorn in Alabama's side going back to his days at Clemson as the defensive coordinator there. Can Alabama find some answers? Now, they did find answers in the middle of November in Tuscaloosa. They moved the ball. Ty Sensen had success throwing the ball. But obviously turnovers were the difference. And that's what Oklahoma counts on.

They know you're going to get them at times. You're going to hit them for a big play here and there. But they count on getting you with a pass rush, an exotic blitz, maybe a strip sack, maybe an interception. And that's what they've done to Alabama the last two years. So how much did Alabama learn from those games? How many adjustments can they make? And can Ty Simpson play with confidence? It's hard to have confidence when you're running for your life every time you drop back the pass.

[10:14] And that's been the case. So I expect Alabama will look much better than it did against Georgia. That's hard to look worse. And I also, though, expect that this is going to be a rock fight. It's going to be a low-scoring game. I think the score will be in the teens. I don't know if the temperature will be in the teens. But I expect it will be chilly out there on the plains of Oklahoma. So we'll see. Again, it's what you would expect, I think, from an 8-9 playoff matchup, two teams very evenly matched.

Scott Roller knows the place to get it with Kevin Scarbinsky. You mentioned Plains. What's the future of the gang on the plains under a new boss, Kevin? Well, again, it should be improved. The Ufreeze experiment did not work. And it just became a case of it had to be in the minds of the players subconsciously. How are we going to lose this game? How are we going to fall short this time? Because they played everyone tough. They played four playoff teams. And they were in the game in the fourth quarter.

They either led in the fourth quarter, were tied in the fourth quarter, or trailed by no more than three points in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma, A&M, Georgia, and Alabama. And that tells you that the talent was much better than the performance, and the talent was much better than the coaching. If Alex Golesh is putting together the right kind of staff and some of these guys, I don't know. I don't know their names. I don't know their histories. I'm going to be studying them as time goes on in the offseason.

But you know what I like about him? Yeah, there are some questions about his resume. I pointed them out. Auburn fans didn't like it. That's par for the course. That's normal and natural. But he has an edge to him. He has a – and I don't know how to say it better than that. I think he has a little bit of that SOB in him that an FEC head coach has to have to be successful. He has to be able to say no to people. He has to have a work ethic that is not normal for most human beings.

And you freeze, let's be honest, just didn't have that at this stage in his career. I think Alex Golesh has it. Now, will that translate into competitive performance? Will it get them back up the ladder in the SEC? They've got a long way to go. They're a lot closer to the bottom than the top. And they've got a brutal schedule next year. He didn't come into a Notre Dame schedule, let's just say that. Ouch. Yeah, we're going to find out about 2026 tomorrow night on the SEC Network.

Everybody knows about the drama with Lane, and now the SEC, even Kentucky, has finally got a coach after Mark Stoops, quote, stepped down. After everything said down, we know how good Lane Kiffin is. In your opinion, who made the best hire in the SEC? Florida. Yeah, I agree. I think Jon Sumrall. I think Jon Sumrall has every, I have every expectation that he will be successful at Florida. I don't know if he'll be Steve Spurrier successful or Urban Meyer successful, but he will improve that program.

He will get them back to competing. He will get them back in the upper half of the SEC. I mean, my goodness, look at the guy's track record. Four years as a head coach, four conference championship games, three conference championships, and that one college football playoff. It doesn't get much better than that in terms of consistent performance, and he certainly has an edge to him. He doesn't care what you think. He will say what he believes, and I think he gets the best out of his teams.

Look, I saw Tulane in person a year ago come to Birmingham and beat, admittedly, a bad UAB team 71-20. 71. They hung 71. So we know John came up on the defensive side of the ball, but if you think that his teams are going to be as boring as Billy Napier's or at Florida, you're sadly mistaken. And he hired a really good offensive coordinator from Georgia Tech, so he wants to be explosive on offense and locked down on defense. It's a hard thing to do. Not many teams achieve it, but that will be his goal.

That is his goal from day one. So I think over time it will be borne out that he was the best hire of this cycle. I can tell you've been covering coaches for decades in the SEC when you insinuate you need to have a little SOB in you to be successful in the SEC. Listen, congratulations again on tremendous you and the team, on tremendous coverage of the Super 7, certainly proud of you and the efforts there to highlight and spotlight high school football in the state of Alabama.

Where can we get online and get all of your great stuff? Well, as I always say, the best thing to do is follow me on Twitter slash X at Kevin Scarbinsky. Many people did over the weekend, had some spirited conversations. That way you can keep up with my columns on AL.com and in the Birmingham News. You can also keep up with my podcast. I appreciate you mentioning that. Find it on YouTube, Kevin Scarbinsky-SkarboKnows. Things that you can say to Kevin on Saturdays, you can't say Sunday morning in church, I would imagine.

[15:30] Kevin, listen, man, thanks so much and have a great week, okay? Thank you, guys. You have a great week as well. We'll see you. Thank you, buddy. Kevin Scarbinsky, it's called Scarbinsky. We know what they're saying in Alabama, what they're saying in Oklahoma. We'll take you there with Brandon Drum on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show next. Hi, I'm Jill Bobo with Alabama Land Services. We'd like to wish all of our friends and customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We would also like to thank you for your business and we look forward to serving your land title and real estate closing needs.

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As we prepare for Alabama against Oklahoma in the first round of the college football playoff, here are thoughts from the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Kalen DeBoer. Important day for our program, getting a chance to have a berth in the CFP, the playoffs here. Just something our guys have been working for, you know, going back really to the beginning of January. So 11 months and, you know, the work paying off and everything we did this season leading to this opportunity. Obviously, a team that we know well with Oklahoma, one that, you know, came here and obviously was a battle, was a physical game and, you know, came out on the wrong side.

But looking forward to, you know, third meeting in less than two years or really just probably 12 or 13 months. So each team knows what to expect, know each other well, and I know it'll be a hard-fought game. I'll have more in a moment. Hello, Tide fans. This is Chris Stewart for Conecuh Sausage. Conecuh's an Alabama fan favorite we all know and love. It's made from the finest cuts of pork, their patented blend of seasonings, and smoked over a pure hickory fire for that true hickory smoked southern flavor.

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The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Really appreciate free ride around the Tennessee Valley. So, basically, about a week and a half away when Alabama gets back to playing, and this game is all over the boards, BB. Earlier, I think it opened, Alabama was favored by a point and a half. And then I checked earlier this morning, Oklahoma had flipped in one of the services. They were the one and a half point favorite. And then I checked once again after that, and guess who's back as the point and a half favorite.

So, does Vegas know what's going on, BB? Well, this is a pick-up game right now, Harold. Oklahoma's, we'll get Brandon Drum on here in just a minute. Oklahoma's defense, very effective. Boy, this is great news for the Alabama offense after running for negative three yards against Georgia. Oklahoma's run defense ranks number four in the nation, only giving up 81 yards a game. Alabama fans would be happy if Alabama ran for 81 yards against Oklahoma. What do you think they're going to do differently, BB? When you look at it, to me, the answer to that question is pretty easy to answer.

It's cut down the turnovers. I mean, if you just saw the stats and you watched the game and you didn't see the full story, you'd say, wait a minute, this offense had over 400. You had over 200. You're playing at home, what's the problem? To me, it's easier said than done, but somehow, some way, that's where it all starts, BB. Well, the first thing they've got to do, Harold, is those eight starters that they lost by the beginning of the fourth quarter, they've got to get the majority of them back.

But, and again, they're not going to solve the running issues by Oklahoma. That's going to begin in January in the weight room and the strength and conditioning in spring practice with the mentality and a mindset to run the ball. But all they can do right now, Harold, they get these guys back. Cam Miller, and they're a little more innovative in the offense. I do think they can run some. We've been hearing about folks here talking about Oklahoma. What are the folks in Oklahoma talking about? We'll take you there with Brandon Drum.

He's a co-owner and co-publisher of OUinsider.com. You've guessed it all over the Sooners there. Brandon, welcome in. How are you? Good. How are you guys? Good, man. We're doing all right. Let's start with a big question that seems to be on everyone's mind. How's the weather today in your backyard? And what's the weather forecast to be on the 9th or the 19th in Norman? Oh, man. I honestly, I will tell you, I don't know what it's supposed to be that day. But I will tell you right now, it's a spry 55 degrees outside.

Wind is not very heavy. So it's good. You are looking at December 19th. I'm looking at it right now. It's supposed to be the high 56. Kickoff will be around 50 degrees. Wow. By 10 p.m. About, you know, around 47, 48. But in that stadium, it's actually kind of warm because it's closed off. So as long as you're not up there at the top of the upper deck, because I know you guys have been there before, but that triple deck on the east side, yeah, it's brutal up there because you're about 500 feet up in the air.

Yeah, it's a nice stadium to go to. Well, the thing is, obviously, the weather is kind of crazy out there. And any time you get this part of the year, that's one thing that's different now. Back in the day, it was warm weather, Florida, Southern California. Now they're playing on campus at opening rounds. That's always going to be a question. But let's talk about, at the end of the day, that sounds like football weather. We were joking earlier. I think these two coaches have seen each other more than their senior wives.

Well, this is three times inside of its X number of months here. Where's Oklahoma now? What was it just last month? They faced each other in Tuscaloosa. What's the mindset in the senior camp this time around? Chippy. I think they felt slighted. You know, Venables had his press conference after, like everybody else did, you know, after they got announced to be in the CFP. And there was a question to him that essentially was like, you know, what's the mindset? And BV, being who he is, was not about to let his team rest on the laurels at all and opened it up in front of the world and said, we've seen everything that everybody said about us.

[25:53] How we don't belong. Do you think that's fair that we get treated that way after the gambit that we went through as far as the schedule that they had? And they had arguably, well, statistically, they had the toughest schedule in college football as far as win-loss percentage. They went first opponent. And he said they came out 10-2 and they're still not getting any credit for it. He goes, we see that, we're taking notice of that, and the team's got a chip on its shoulder. And, you know, there was a couple back and forths with the media that you could just tell he was chippy and he was setting the tone that they're not going to be, well, they won the last time around and they've won the last two times they've played Bama.

So that can't be the mindset at all. It's got to be 0-0, reset, start. And he said that over and over. He goes, season's over. It's 0-0 now. We are 0-0. We have done nothing. And from mine being told from people that have been around the program, that's been the mindset from the start, just straight hit 0-0. They have to win to keep playing. And if they don't, their season's over and they understand that. Brandon, one thing we do know is this Oklahoma defense is very good.

They lead the SEC in sacks with 41 tackles for a loss with 115. In fact, in November, they had four sacks and five tackles for a loss against Alabama. In Tuscaloosa, Kip Lewis leads Oklahoma in tackles with 72. Very talented player, Mason Thomas, doesn't even play against Alabama, 6.5. Peyton Bowen, the defensive back. This is a – and they're only giving up 81 yards per game rushing. This is a very talented, good Oklahoma defense. Yeah. Yeah, they are. Look, they've only played 12 games. Indiana has played 13, and they're still behind them in tackles for losses.

They're in 12. OU's averaging 10 TFLs a game. They're averaging four sacks a game. In the month of November, they're averaging, I think it's like three and a half turnovers a game or something like that. And people think that, and they're like, well, how are they still 70th in turnovers in the country? Well, it's because the first five games, they dropped every interception, every fumble sack or strip sack that they got for some odd reason. They just kicked the ball or – I mean, they did what Kobe McKenzie did against you all in Tuscaloosa where he kicked the fumble out of bounds where they got – I can't remember who it was against, what running back it was against.

But that's what happened for the first month and a half of the season or two months of the season. They could not, for the life of them, get the ball. Then all of a sudden it happened and the floodgates opened up. They probably should have about 35 turnovers this year, but they don't because of just bad luck. And now they've got that thing going. Now, look, the defense is good. The run game is what they're good at. But teams that are one-dimensional is where BV really, really kind of, I guess, shows his worth as a defensive coordinator because if he can get you to be one-dimensional, if you can't run the ball and he can pin his ears back against you and get really exotic with blitzes, that's where he's going to be able to showcase how good the Oklahoma defense really is.

And, look, that's probably what happened in Tuscaloosa. I don't think that's going to happen again. I think you're going to see more balanced offense. Yes, Alabama was minus three against Georgia. They struggle running the ball, but, look, these teams have seen each other so much that something's going to give one way or the other on both sides. And I think that's what's going to be interesting to watch. Brandon Drum, OUInsider.com. Brandon, someone the other day said it best. The team that wins is going to be the team that's the healthiest because at this point in the season, especially with NIL, depth is no longer what it used to be.

How healthy is Oklahoma coming in? They're actually going to be really healthy. That's the crazy part. That extra week, I mean, they're going to have been almost a month without playing football. Essentially three weeks, three and a half weeks. Yeah, they're looking to be a lot more healthy. They were getting more and more healthy by the week. The funny thing is, and Alabama may actually get lucky again with this, is the fact that our Mason Thomas got rolled up on, on the sidelines against Alabama. You know, and two weeks prior to that, he was almost back.

He was supposed to be back the next week versus Missouri, right? Yeah, versus Missouri. That didn't happen because he got rolled up on at Alabama and it set him back. So he never could come back by the end of the year. They're hoping he's going to be back. They think he's going to be back with his quad, but he's going to be rusty. We'll see how that goes. There's a good chance they get Jacob Sexton back, who missed almost the whole season. I mean, he missed the whole season outside of the first drive.

[31:03] And he was the starting left tackle before they gave it to Michael Fasusi. And he took off as a freshman All-American. So, but he also plays guard. And he's a really, really good offensive lineman for Oklahoma. So they're going to get him back. But can he stay healthy is the key. Jake Michael has been out for OU, their starting center. He had an affection. They think he's going to be back, but it's unsure, 100%. But they think he's going to be back. And ultimately, running back Xavier Robinson got injured against Alabama.

He has not been the same since that. He has not even come close to being what he was leading up to the Alabama game, rushing for three weeks in a row over 100-plus yards. They think he will be back in close to 100% at that time as well. So Oklahoma's finally getting healthy again after struggling for most of the year. But that's what will happen when you have nearly a month off. So we'll see. I'm going to show you what is Alabama. I have no idea. Like, are they still banged up?

Yes. Yes. Very much so. I didn't hear that. I want them both to be in full strength. Brandon, just quickly before we let you go. So John Mateer, of course, nobody knows, had the injury, came back to play against Texas. How is he doing now health-wise and in a comeback from the injury? He's never been the same. I think he's overcompensated a lot mechanically because of the thumb. He still wears the tape. He still braces it up. So you can tell he's still injured. But he plays.

And the thing about him is that he's super inconsistent right now. But in big moments, he makes big plays. That's just kind of who he is. It's like, okay, well, a play needs made. And every OU beat writer, every OU fan kind of knows if the chips are on the table, 10 is going to make the play that has to be made. And he does every game. But up to that point, it's so annoying to watch. He's up and down. He's throwing picks. And you're just like, what is this dude doing?

And then all of a sudden, you're like, why couldn't you do that all game? Like, why are you doing the last two drivers of the game? Why do you have to make it so dramatic? But that's what he does. That's John McTeer right now. So we'll see. I think, you know, obviously another three and a half weeks off that they got is probably going to be really good for them and good for his health, you would think. But we'll know a lot more tonight after we go talk with them post-practice.

Brandon, always good to catch up with you. You've got a great sight. There are, believe it or not, some Oklahoma fans in North Alabama. I see some car tags. Where can we get online to get yours and the team's good stuff? Yeah, you can go to ouinsider.com and type it in your URL. Or you can go to our Twitter, at ouinsider, at ouinsiderofficial on Facebook and Instagram. Or you can follow me at bdrum__rivals. And if you want, you can join at ouinsider.com and type it in your URL.

And it's $1 for the first few days. And it's worth it. There's a lot of recruiting information, a lot of team information that we're dropping right now. Brandon, I echo the sentiments from Brandon Taylor. Thanks so much for your time. Stay out of the upper deck and hope the forecast holds true, okay? Yes, sir. Thank you, guys. Thank you, bud. Brandon Drummond with us, ouinsider.com. Brandon, you know, BB, you mentioned a lot of Oklahoma fans. You're not blowing smoke. Was it Dot? Remember, one of the sweetest fans in the world?

Absolutely. Yes. I was a big Oklahoma fan, fan of the show back in the day. Coming up, we talk to Oklahoma. Time to talk tie with Rodney Orr on deck. Stay with us. Is your business insurance tailored exactly to your individual needs? Are you getting the best coverage for your money? That's what the Michael Noe Agency is for. They're your local independent insurance agency that specializes in helping you protect your business, including liability and property, commercial, auto equipment, and workers' compensation, all while ensuring you're getting the best possible rate.

Visit your local independent agent, Michael Noe or Bill Cochran, on Mobile Place in downtown Florence, or call 256-767-4237. Christmas greetings to you from Bigby Steel. Thinking warmly of each of you and wishing your family an extra measure of comfort and hope this Christmas season. Have your best Christmas from your friends at Bigby Steel. This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We invite you to support our Friends of the Foundation campaign. As a friend of the Foundation, you can contribute any amount to help fund classroom needs in Florence City schools.

Please visit our website at FlorenceEducationFoundation.org to explore our new giving levels and the added perks available. We want to wish Coach Burleson and the entire Falcon basketball team good luck this season. Hi, I'm Beverly White. And I'm Hope Stamps. On behalf of our Alabama Health Guidance family, we would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. This Christmas season at Creative Jewelers, it's not just about sparkling diamonds or shining gold. It's about something even brighter, the joy of being together.

[36:26] Hi, I'm Brandi Hammock, and we want to spend this holiday with you. Yes, you. Our neighbors, our friends, our community. Whether you're shopping for a gift or just passing by, we invite you to stop in this December. Come share a cup of cocoa, a cookie or two, and a smile. And although we're always happy to help you check off all those gifts on the list, no purchase is necessary. Just bring yourself, your family, and that old-fashioned Christmas spirit we all treasure. Because here at Creative Jewelers, the greatest gift we can share is fellowship, warmth, and the simple joy of Christmas.

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College basketball, Alabama facing number one, Arizona on Saturday in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide are ranked 12th and have won four straight games, while Arizona unbeaten at 8-0. This is part of the C.M. Newton Classic. Auburn will face Chattanooga on Saturday in Atlanta, part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving Tournament. The Tigers are ranked 21st at 7-3. They're coming off a loss to Arizona Saturday. College football, Alabama preparing for their first-round playoff game against Oklahoma. That game will take place in Norman. The Crimson Tide looking to avenge a loss to the Sooners during the regular season.

The winner gets Indiana at the Rose Bowl. The Veterans Bowl in Montgomery will take place on December 16th. Between the Troy Trojans and the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, both teams went 8-5 this past season. The sports update brought to you by Progressive. Bundle auto and home, renters or condo and save with Progressive. I'm Tony Dazzieri on 93-9, the score. The holidays are back at Starbucks, so share the season with a peppermint mocha. Starbucks signature espresso, velvety mocha, and cool peppermint notes, topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls.

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Learn more at cvshealth.com slash Investor Day. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The score. Welcome back in. Just heard from the folks out in Oklahoma country. What about the team that's got that in their sights right now, the Alabama Crimson Tide? We take you there to Tuscaloosa with Rodney Orp. He's the founder and editor of TiderInCenter.com. And by the way, his book is called Bigger Than Bama, if you're looking for that perfect stocking stuffer for Christmas. Rodney Orp, welcome in.

How are you? I am doing well, Harold and Brett. How are you guys today? Hey, bud. Probably not as crazy as you, and I say that in a good way because how is the family at TiderInCenter.com? Saturday night, can you share what was said from the Bama Nation Saturday night? Comparing that to what was said about this Alabama team early Sunday afternoon with the selection of where they're going in the playoffs. Rodney, a crazy 12 to 24 hours for you. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, obviously most, at least the reaction we got, most everyone was pretty disappointed with the performance that Alabama had in the SEC championship game.

You know, but then again, like I wrote in the column early Sunday morning, as soon as this, you know, bid comes down and Alabama is headed to the playoffs, which is what we expected, that I'm sure that, you know, a lot of minds would be changed and the focus would go to, you know, the next game. And that's kind of what's happened, Harold. It's kind of unusual. It's different. Times have changed. You know, that people have certainly haven't forgotten necessarily that performance of the head against Georgia.

[41:51] But really, it's almost now like, what does it mean? And, you know, for the short term, anyway, it really doesn't mean a whole lot. You're headed to play Oklahoma in the playoffs. Well, Nick Saban, we've all heard that name. He said, don't waste a failure. And I can't imagine. We've seen a lot of Alabama games, a bigger failure in a long time than the one Saturday night. What did Alabama learn from that failure, Rodney? Well, you know, again, I don't know what Alabama's exact mindset was going into that game.

I can tell you what Kirby's was, and it was pretty obvious. They were ready. They were prepared. They were focused. And I'm not really sure because all I heard around here was, well, will we get help? Be in a couple of weeks, you know, what kind of team we're going to be. So, I mean, I'm kind of confused exactly what the mindset was going into the SEC championship. Really? Did they go in totally focused? Were they dialed in? You know, I would say defensively, you can't really complain.

But offensively and on special teams, I just thought that they looked really, really bad. They got dominated, in my opinion. And it's kind of, like I said, there's only one way to phrase it. It was an embarrassing performance. Rodney, Georgia scored on drives of 12, 21, 39, and the longest was 57. In fact, on drives that started in their end of the field, I believe they scored once. And you can't overlook, I know people think it's excuses, but you mentioned the injuries. By the time they got to the fourth quarter, they did have eight starters who were out.

There were at least two or three that happened during the game. But Alabama was outcoached. They were outplayed. And, Rodney, even if you're shorthanded and it doesn't seem like it's your day, you've still got to execute. They dropped six passes. Go ahead. No, no, no. I was just going to say this, that, you know, you can say shorthanded, but at the same time, Georgia was beat up. They lost probably their most important offensive player in the center, Bobo. I didn't hear them talking about that. I saw them get a player ready to step in and play.

And all we've heard all season is about how Alabama's played so many players that when they got into a situation when they needed to plug some in, these guys would have experience. And then all of a sudden now, you know, we're running into excuses. But, you know, again, like I said, I know they were beat up. I know Josh Quavis is really important. You know, there's no doubt about that. He was missed in the game. I know that Jam Miller has, you know, been pretty solid for them.

He's certainly a leader that they have. And, you know, he was a miss in this game. But at the same time, I mean, you know, for the most part, they've played how many offensive linemen throughout the course of the season on a regular basis? So I don't think that they were necessarily should have been considered shorthanded there with Cam Dewberry out. I just think that, you know, one team went in prepared to play and the other one obviously did not. Well, you either make excuses or you make a way.

And, I mean, here's the deal. Anybody can win poker if you've got a royal flush. The key is how do you win with a handful of deuces and trays? You've got to play the hand you're dealt. Be that as it may, Rodney, your thoughts now. Everybody right now, believe it or not, Tulane and James Madison's got to get a chance as Alabama, Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio State, because everybody's starting from scratch. We know these two teams are familiar with each other. Statistically, we know what happened the last time around, but we also know who ended up winning the ballgame.

What's going to happen in the rematch in Norman a week from Friday night? Well, you know, look, this is the third time these teams play, you know, obviously in the last 13 months, which is crazy. You know, but going on the road, it's going to be obviously a difficult circumstance there for Alabama. I think that in this game they played here in November, on November the 15th, Alabama looked like clearly the better team to me. They just turned the ball over, you know, and gave Oklahoma a lot of points in those turnovers.

You had a pick six. You missed a field goal. You fumbled at your own, what was it, 28-yard line. They converted it into a touchdown. So, again, no excuses. I just think that one team played clean, the other one didn't, and I think that's probably what it's going to come down to in this game. It looks to me, Harold and Brett, like Venables and his coaching staff have decided to basically take the game out of John Mateer's hands because, you know, I think that they brought him in to really kind of help them with their passing attack and become more explosive, but he was turning the ball over a lot, and now they just kind of pared that back a little bit, and I think that they've played really clean football.

They've relied on their defensive special teams, and then when their offense has had an opportunity to convert, they've done a pretty good job of that. So, it's going to be tough for Alabama, and I say that because, only because, you know, it's up there, but this offense, Harold and Brett, I mean, it just looks like a mess to me right now, and I'm not really sure how quickly they can get back on two feet. Rodney Hoare, founder and editor of tighterinsider.com. That's exactly the question.

[47:13] You mentioned the coaching staff at Oklahoma says, this is the reality. Obviously, if we're talking about it, you assume this coaching staff knows that Alabama's had problems at the quarterback spot in the second half of the season. How healthy is Ty, and what happens if, at the half, we see more of the same of Ty over the last two, three, four ballgames? What kind of adjustments, if any, would Alabama do to try at least give a spark to this offense? Well, you know, it's a really good question.

DeBoer seemed reluctant to, you know, to make a quarterback change. I mean, we saw last year when Milrose struggled, and part of the reason for that was I don't think they felt like Ty Simpson, even though he was the number two guy, was ready to go into the game. So they didn't want to necessarily ruin Milrose's psyche, and at the same time, throwing a young guy and potentially ruin his, too. I don't know if that's the same situation this year or not, but I really feel like in this last game against Georgia, that he wasn't contemplating a quarterback change because he knew he would need Ty Simpson in these playoffs.

And like I said, you know, you could really kind of mess with a kid's psyche by pulling him out, and I think that was something that was a consideration. Ronnie, one thing this coaching staff can do is recruit or at least get guys committed and signed in the class. Alabama picked up a 20-27 tight end, Colt Lumpress. In fact, you had got a commitment from him yesterday, but you went back earlier this week and looked at the class again. Bryson Cooley was a nice pickup for the offensive line.

They were able to flip him from LSU. They've got what looks like, as you put it, a very solid offensive line class. I think they've got a solid defensive line class. You don't think they've got a war daddy, but that's something else. Maybe they can get in the transfer portal. Crowell is something else as far as potential, Xavier Griffin, et cetera. Ronnie, now that we've had a week to get through it, pardon me, your thoughts again on this class. Yeah, no, I mean, I think it was really solid.

I mean, obviously they had, depending on who you kind of follow in these recruiting networks, four or five, five-star type players. So it was really at the top. I mean, it was really strong. I don't know that anybody got more. And then I think, you know, kind of the middle of the class was really good. And even I think the guys they evaluated that were maybe not the most highly rated are guys that I had as some of my big sleepers, like Malik Franklin out of Daphne, the defensive lineman.

He's been coached by Kenny King, former Alabama standout defensive lineman in NFL, too. And, you know, Kenny's real high on him. I know I talked to Kenny about a week ago, and he's really high on Malik. He's about 6'5", 250 right now. He's got the frame to get a lot bigger. His first year as a defensive lineman, he was a backup offensive tackle heading into his senior year. But he had 98 tackles, 23 tackles for losses, and he broke Kenny King's sack record at Daphne with 11. So, you know, he had a really good year, obviously.

And I think Bear Fretwell, offensive tackle out of Georgia, is another one that's, you know, I know a lot of people really like his potential, 6'7", about 280 right now. But to go with that offensive line that you mentioned, and I thought Bryson Cooley, flipping him late was really big. Yeah. Because, again, he's another guy that's 6'6". He's a legitimate offensive tackle. He was, you know, pretty heavily recruited, obviously. So, I think they did really pretty well in the trenches. And you mentioned some of the other players.

They did an outstanding job in the secondary again. That just doesn't seem to be a spot where they struggle at all when it comes to secondary guys. Yeah. Two great corners, Zion Gibson and Jordan Edmonds. And then, of course, they went to Baltimore and got one of the top safeties in Jaira Edwards. And I think Raheel Kelly out of Cincinnati was a huge pickup at safety, a long, athletic guy. And, you know, I think one of the more interesting pickups, too, was Trey Sean Brown, the little running back out of Huntsville, Texas.

You know, just kind of came out of nowhere a little bit like Josh Jacobs about 10 years ago. But he's a really impressive kid on tape. So, they seem to have done, you know, overall a really good job with this class. And, as you said, I think there's going to be interesting to see how they do in the portal. Quick, quickly, Rod, if you don't mind, if we jump off, what are you hearing as far as key guys coming back from the injured list? You know, nothing official yet that I've heard, but the expectation is, and again, DeBoer said it right after this SEC championship game, that we're going to be a different team in two weeks.

So, I think that means pretty good news from the injury standpoint with Clavis and Jam. And, you know, we'll see with LT Overton. I know I get a lot of questions about that. I couldn't answer that one. But it sounds like, Harrell, for the most part, they're going to be pretty good. Well, we'll see if when they get back, Rodney, if they execute. That's going to be one thing that is going to be – we'll wait to see what happens. As you mentioned, 24-7 has been on fire, your message board.

[52:40] Basketball, big game with Arizona Saturday night. I think they go back to practice again Friday, and then the coaches will release the board and make a few more comments. Where can we get online and get one of the best sources of Alabama sports for a very nominal price? Right. It's only $48 a year, as you mentioned there. tighterinsider.com. You can get instant access with your credit card if you prefer. There is an address there to send a check. That gives you all our premium information. We had some little thought piece on Ty Simpson in the Alabama run game this morning.

And, again, our all-sports forum. That's the community of Alabama fans there. I mean, it's been pretty much nonstop. Rodney, as always, a busy boy. Thank you so much. And, again, the book is called Bigger Than Bama. Quickly, where can we get it? You can go to rodneyohr.com or you can go to amazon.com. Just plug in Bigger Than Bama, and you'll find all the details. With Christmas coming, that's music to a lot of ears. Rodney, listen, man, thanks so much. Stay safe and warm down there, okay?

Okay, guys. Appreciate it. Take care. Thank you, bud. Rodneyohr, tighterinsider.com. And, again, the book is called Bigger Than Bama. Coming up in the next hour, we're going to be taking you all over the place. Rudy Armand is going to be in the huddle with us. The pair of coaches that call the Shoals home. Daryl Higgins at the Mars Hill. And Tony Pujol over at UNA. All straight ahead. Stay with us. Hey, this is Russell from Medford Jewelers reminding everyone as we celebrate our 80th Christmas in downtown Florence that we have you covered.

If you need a pair of two-carat lab diamond studs, we've got them on sale for $599. We have a two-carat lab tennis bracelet for $995. We have a $35 custom cookbook easel where you can bring in a handwritten recipe of your grandmother's, and we can engrave it for you. If you need our bit-of-me custom ornament with a child's voice on it, we've got you covered. We have Van Cleef bracelets for $125. We have lab-grown station-to-station diamond necklaces starting at $195. And we have two-carat moissanite studs for $49.95. Whatever your needs are for this Christmas season, Medford Jewelers has you covered.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from your friends at Medford Jewelers in downtown Florence since 1945. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Patterson Properties and Auctions. Booking auctions for spring of 2026. Let us turn assets into cash. If you're ready to downsize or if you inherited property and would like to cash it in, call us. Thanks to all our clients and customers for a great 2025. License in Alabama and Tennessee. We also work in Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida. Daniel Patterson. Alabama license 1182. At Target, great memories start with great prices.

Get gingerbread house kits for just $12, plus all the Wondershop baking must-haves. Gather the whole fam, grab some gingerbread kits, and start building sweet moments together. Then keep the joy rolling, baking up tasty treats with Wondershop that'll make the season a blast. Make unforgettable memories with incredible prices on gingerbread kits and Wondershop baking essentials. And step into the holidays only at Target. Restrictions apply. You like saving money, right? We all do. That's why Allstate just lowered the price of car insurance. Not, but wait, there's a catch.

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If you decide to drink and drive, you could get a DUI or worse. That one decision to drive impaired could change your life and the life of others forever. If you're going to drink, the only way to be the MVP this holiday season is by planning a safe and sober ride home. Don't risk it. Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by NHTSA. If your appliances can't handle the holiday hosting heat, December deal drops at Lowe's makes upgrading easy. Get up to 40% off select major appliances.

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Rogers is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and just last week he said that he and others on the committee would look into the strikes and the reasons behind them. Rogers now says he has received all the answers he needs and will not be probing the incident any further. Rogers also confirmed that he spoke directly with the former head of the U.S. Southern Command, Alvin Holsley, about why he stepped down in October. Rogers says that Holsley left for personal reasons and it had nothing to do with the legality of those military strike orders.

I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Some of the greatest blessings is just having people that care about you, to have someone that's just going to love you and make you feel important. They encourage you to be in church, they encourage you to be in prayer, they encourage you to be in your Bible. Now it's a part of my day every day. My house parents planted seeds in me that you can see where those seeds have sprouted in my life and helped change my life.

Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance. A Dale County woman is being placed in the Alabama Department of Mental Health for shooting her husband, Sean Watson, while he slept. Annie Huffstutler will undergo treatment for competency restoration at the request of a Dale County judge. A state psychologist found that Huffstutler is not mentally fit to stand trial. Krispy Kreme is offering its Day of Dozens this year. On Friday, December 12th only, a customer can get a dozen donuts for only a dollar after they order the first dozen donuts at regular price.

I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. Scott Graham here from Thursday Night Football on Westwood One. Jason Benetti and Kyle Rudolph have the call this week when the Buccaneers host the Falcons. Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay are 7-6 and share the NFC South lead with Carolina. But they're coming off a loss to the division rival Saints. And now face another.

Join us for Atlanta at Tampa Bay on Thursday Night Football. Kevin Harlan here from Monday Night Football on Westwood One. Join us all season long for primetime action on the road to the playoffs and Super Bowl XVI. Each week, Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner and I will have the call of great matchups, along with Mike Golick, senior and junior in the studio. Don't miss out on the great NFL tradition. That is Monday Night Football. 93.9, The Score, weather. Today, sunny with possible gusty winds and a high around 55.

Tonight, mostly clear with gusty winds continuing overnight and a low near 30. Tomorrow, sunny with a high around 50. Tomorrow night, mostly clear with a low near 35. And for your Friday, sunny with a high around 60. 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. The Boomo Bugg Show. New 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 in our tour to the Boomo Bugg Show. Thanks so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. I'm Harold Bugg. That's Brett Beaird. And he is the UNA head basketball coach, Tony Pujo. Coach, welcome in. How are you? Hey, guys. Doing great. This is here in my second office over here in downtown Florence over at Turbo Coffee. A place owned by Scott and Jericho Whittle. And it's my second office watching a little bit of film, getting ready for Alabama. Well, save us not a cut, but a pot.

[1:03:38] Coach, Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but you guys left everything on the hardwoods out there. Congratulations. Talk to us about if you're going to go that far from home, you may as well bring a big win back home when you did. Talk to us about the win at San Francisco. Yeah, I think if obviously the viewers were watching the game, they saw the rough start we started off with. And to be honest with you, it wasn't really a rough start. It was a lot of credit needs to be given to San Francisco.

The way they run their offense, the pace in their offense was really, really getting to our guys. But I thought our guys just stuck with it. And I'll be honest with you, their connection was extremely, extremely good. There was never panicking in the huddles. They just stayed together and saw it through. So when we were down 24-6 with eight minutes to play to be down two at halftime, just showed a lot of resiliency from our guys. Let's talk to us about not only the win and the way you did it, but where you did it.

Because a lot of teams struggle. We're all human. People don't realize it. What is it now? It's what, 106 here? It's 1106 there. The point I'm trying to make, sometimes the body rhythms get out of whack when you cross those time zones like that. This has got to pay dividends in more ways than one at the end of the season. If you have to travel back out there, now you know what it's going to be like. No, that's exactly right. And to be honest with you, what was kind of unique about this trip is we also played the day before or two nights before at Jacksonville State.

So I believe we played on a Monday at Jacksonville State and then had to turn around and, or hold on, I may be off with dates, but I know it was, we played at Jacksonville State, traveled to California, and then, boom, played the next day. And for our guys to make that turnaround and get two road wins, I thought this, again, spoke a lot about the character and the connection that this team has. Tony, Dante Bacchus was named the A-Sun Player of the Week. Offensively, 20 points one night, 19 the next night, 14 rebounds combined in the two games.

But it's the dirty work, and I mention this a lot when I talk to you. Offensively, he had three steals, a block, and only had one turnover in two games. That is winning basketball. No, no doubt. And then, you know, again, you know, if you guys remember last year, Dante really came on strong at the end of the year with our team. And, you know, obviously this year he's got a different role with our team. And you want to talk about a young man that has taken advantage of his opportunity.

You hit the nail right on the head. Not only does he value possessions, but his quality of shots have been fantastic. You know, which, again, lends to now his, you know, his percentages being just so high, right? Leading scorer on the team. Very efficient when he has the ball. And the other thing that people don't realize is he also guards a multitude of players. He guards out on the perimeter, can guard in the post. So his versatility defensively also, I mean, he's a great asset in our program on both sides of the floor.

You and a man's basketball coach, Tony Pujo. Coach, forgive me if I'm old-fashioned here, but if you're going to win basketball games and certainly have a hope of winning the big one, you better be good at the charity stripe and you better be good crashing the boards. I think you guys answered that in spades this last time out. Talk to us about the importance of free throw shooting and old-fashioned getting in there and have some elbow sandwiches on the boards for rebounding. No, that's right. And, you know, I think one of the guys from a rebounding standpoint, obviously, when you've got a top-ten rebounder in the country in a guy like Cornelius Williams, obviously that helps your cause.

But if you seriously look at this last game against San Francisco, who, by the way, was top-75 team in the country rebounding, for us to be plus-15 in that game on the boards was really significant. And you would think if we were plus-15, Neil must have had 20 rebounds. Well, he had eight, but we had Jamal Albritton with four. We had Darkon King with four, Dallas Howell with four, Tank Washington with four. I mean, we had a multitude of guys that just – and that's this team, right?

That's this team. It's like you said. It's lunch pail guys. And then at the charity stripe, like that's something that we emphasize, right? Look at Cornelius Williams from last year, mid-60s. He's at 80% already this year. And a kid like that who plays inside, if he can shoot at an 80% clip and maintain that for the rest of the year, you can almost guarantee a double-double every game. Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about Darkon King. He came off the bench and scored eight. I know he had a tough foul call that was upgraded to a flagrant two.

[1:08:47] But any time you've got guys coming off the bench and contributing like that, it's a big help. It's huge. It's huge. And like I said, I mentioned other guys before, right, Jamal Albritton, who came in and rebounded the ball and tanked Washington, who at the end of the game guarded their best player, also rebounded the basketball. I thought Darkon came in and sparked us with two big threes, hit a hook shot on the baseline when he was guarded by a smaller guard. We took advantage of the mismatch, and he made the play.

Yeah, it was a little bit unfortunate of the call. I thought it was even questionable to be a flagrant. But, you know, that's not my job, right? That's the job of the stripe guys. They've got to take care of that. And we heard what they had to say, and we moved on, and we had other guys step up. And I'll be honest with you. Again, it just kind of shows you the character of the team and where we're headed. You and a men's basketball coach, Tony Pujol.

Coach, I would imagine as a coach, this is kind of the part of the schedule. That you start getting a good personality of this team. You have an idea in the preseason, and then you're going to see how they gel together. You can have a lot of individual stars, but how they're going to play as a team. And to me, when you went on the road to Jack State, a proud program, and go west to San Francisco, as you had mentioned, that says a lot about the character.

Your thoughts about now, relative to the preseason, some of the things that maybe you had some question marks, and now you're saying maybe we might be able to take care of that bigger than I thought in the preseason. Yeah, and I think if you look at the dynamics of this team, and if you look at even the scoring, right? We've got four guys that are scoring in double figures. That's been like a trademark of our program since day one, right? It's a multitude of guys. If you think you're going to take one guy away, somebody else can step up, right?

Somebody else can make, right? So, you know, at the beginning you had Kevin Dekovicic. He was the one that was kind of, you know, just doing things from an offensive standpoint. But then all of a sudden now Dante, or if it's not Dante, it's going to be Neal. If it's not Neal, you know, you've got to be careful with Ken and Jefferson. So it becomes something where it's balanced, and it's really hard to kind of get ready for. So I think that kind of has been a trademark of ours.

But one of the things that I have noticed with this team, more than anything, is its ability to defend and rebound. The way they can switch one through five, exactly. The way we can switch one through five, the way we have guys that are so versatile on the defensive end of the floor. They can guard on the perimeter, they can guard on the block physical enough. We've got guards like Cortez Graham, who's 6'5", weighs 210, and can guard, you know, guard big down low. So switching one through five for us is something that we can do if we need to.

But then the rebounding aspect, right? Like, I mean, this is one thing that is something that we've known. When you rebound the ball on the offensive side, it improves your numbers offensively. And defensively now, you're giving less opportunities for other teams, allowing you to get on the break. It's just something that I think, like you said, it not only helps you at home, but it also travels on the road. So those are the two areas that I think defending and rebounding is something this team can truly do.

Tell us about the schedule. This time of the year, a lot of universities and colleges are going through finals, practice a little bit scattered. Next game is going to be Monday, December the 15th at Alabama A&M, 7 p.m. Tip-off. What kind of schedule do you have this week? Yeah, so this week, you know, we had practice this morning. Tomorrow we'll practice again at 8.30. In fact, tomorrow after we practice and we do weights, we're bringing the team over here to Turbo Coffee. Scott and Erica have been fantastic supporting our program.

And we're going to do a little promo with them and do a little, because obviously we're partnered up with their business. And we're very fortunate to have them part of the program. So we're going to do that tomorrow. We'll give them off on Friday. And then we'll two-day prep Saturday, Sunday for Monday's game. Well, listen, enjoy the week. Tell Scott we said hello. He's a good guy. Certainly enjoy running into him at Turbo or Lost Pizza. He seems to be at one or the other, quite frankly.

Listen, have a great week. We always enjoy talking with you. Good luck Monday night. Guys, always great being on here with you guys. Sam, right back at you. Save us a cup or two at Turbo Coffee as well. There you have it. UNA men's basketball coach, Tony Pujol. Now the fellow that knows all about winning, Mars Hill boss, Dale Higgins on deck. Stay with us. Wishing you a season of gladness, a season of cheer, and to top it all off, a wonderful year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at Hendricks Glass.

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You don't get an opportunity to do this much. That is, talk to a coach who's won a state championship. Even rarer to win, talk with someone who's done it back-to-back. But that's just Daryl Higgins, another day at the office, head football coach at a Mars Hill Bible School. Coach, welcome in. And again, congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate y'all having me on the show. I know it was last week, Coach, but have the feet touched the ground yet for you and the Mars Hill Bible family? Well, we're fired up.

I mean, the whole community, the team, everybody's just really excited. It's a great thing to be able to win the last game. Coach, a lot of folks, a lot of coaches listening now, they want to get the blueprint from you how to win a state championship. And they probably want to follow up with a sequel, how do you win back-to-back. It's an easy question to ask. It's a hard one to answer, but what is the secret to the sauce from Mars Hill Bible? Well, I wish I knew a secret.

There's really nothing we're doing any different than everybody else. We just try to do it extremely hard every day. We try not to take any shortcuts, anything that can be done to help us get better. What we're going to do, we're going to find everything possible to help these guys be the best players they can be. Then we want to be a great teammate and be able to put the whole thing together on a Friday night. Darrell, I had the opportunity to see three of your games this year.

[1:19:22] The last one I saw was Geraldine, where you scored on three of the first five plays of the game. I mean, it still amazes me. I know Jackson Penn did not get a chance to play last year in the state championship game. Boy, has he ever made up for it. But Hudson Higgins, your son, of course, in Jackson, ran for a combined 4,089 yards. That's 13.6 yards a carry. Every time they touch the ball, they're making a first down. They combined for 68 touchdowns. Jackson had 38. Hudson had 30. But they don't get that unless that offensive line in front of them are opening the holes.

But, of course, as you know, John Passerell and our good friends and Harold. And we were talking about how fast these guys are, 4-3 and 4-4. But the rushing was amazing. Ran for 398 against Bayside Academy. But I'll tell you one thing. Those two guys are absolutely incredible. But they get there because your offensive line belongs in open holes for them. It's just an unbelievable season. We talk about a perfect season. It was a great recipe of these offensive linemen that are big, strong, and can really get down the field and do their job and get the backs that, you know, if they had any kind of running room at all, it turned into a big play.

I thought we punted four times all year. And when we started the year out, you know, we didn't really know what we had as far as we had a new fullback, new quarterback, some new guards, some very important people in our wing tee offense. But they just came together and everybody, you know, took a lot of pride in doing their job and doing it hard and being the best version of their self they could be. And it turned into this unbelievable team. Coach, I watched the game over the weekend.

I saw a team punt four times in the first half. Let's talk about the wing tee, Coach. Obviously, if people want to sit here and do this and do that, but what's your saying? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Talk to us about the magic of the wing tee. I believe it's the best high school offense that there is. I mean, we've proven that over a long period of time from the way we've ran it all the way back at Dasher till now. And it's fitting any kind of system that you want.

If you have a great fullback, tailback, wide receiver, tight end, whatever it might be, you can be very successful running the ball, throwing the ball, getting your playmakers the ball. And the best thing about it, though, is it's got to be precision. Everybody has a job to have to do it exactly right. So no matter where you're at on the team, it's not just throw it out there to one person and let them beat everybody. Everybody has to have a part in the play being successful or unsuccessful.

And so it puts a lot of ownership on everybody in that huddle. Darrell, I talked to Jeff Mason of Launderdale County after your game about midseason. And he said, Brett, we had some young linebackers who are going to be very good. They're good now, but they just could not keep track of the misdirection of the wing tee. And they got confused numerous times. That's the magic of the wing tee. Absolutely. I was just talking to the Piedmont coach. I'm actually a Mississippi coach in the Alabama All-Star team versus Mississippi.

I got some of the best kids you've ever seen down here playing this game. Number one running back in the nation. Number one receiver. If you're an Alabama fan, you need to be very excited about some of these kids coming. But I talked to the coach from Piedmont on the way down here. And we were talking about a play. Jackson Pien ran up the middle. This is what we call a trap play. His middle linebacker ran right past him. And he said, Coach, he was within one yard of tackling.

And he ran right past him to go chase the tailback who was faking a buck sweep. And he said, you know, I told him all week, don't look into the backfield. But when the game starts and the kids start playing, they start looking at the wrong things. And we really take a lot of pride in carrying out our fakes, getting all the way down the field. The guy that doesn't have the ball and needs to be running harder than the guy that's got the ball. And so all those things help us, you know, help us be successful.

I think that kid must have seen my old game film back in the day. Let's talk a little bit about that. You mentioned, since you brought it up, I mean, you know how to evaluate talent. It's easy to sit here and get caught up in stats and say, boy, this kid's good. But sometimes it's all relative to the competition. Let's be honest. How good is Crowell, in your opinion? Well, down here, we're the best of the best in the whole state. And he stands out at a whole different level than everybody else.

I mean, he is that good. I've never really seen anybody this close up of things he can do. So I can almost guarantee Alabama's going to run for a lot more yards next year than they're doing right now. Darryl, talk about your staff. As you know, Harold and I know John Paciorelli. You've been putting up with that rascal for a long time, Josh Willingham. I got a chance to talk some more of your staff at the Geraldine game. You can't do this by yourself, as you well know.

[1:24:43] Talk about your staff. Our staff's so amazing. They almost really don't need me out there. I mean, I'm just out there just kind of walking around talking to everybody. And they're coaching like crazy. And we haven't talked a lot about our defense, but our defense is really what made this team so unbelievable. And they gave up very few points, maybe four touchdowns in all the playoffs. And just really hard to move the ball on. And our defense coordinator is, I don't want to tell too many people because I don't want to try to come hiring, but Will Kilpatrick is our defense coordinator.

And he has coached two years for our defense and two state championships and does a tremendous job of getting the guys ready. They play hard for him. They're always in the right position. They work like crazy getting everybody ready, you know, for the week. They do a great job game planning. So, you know, we have a tremendous staff. There's actually four Kilpatricks on our staff. Will's dad is one of our defensive line coaches, two brothers, Hunter and Brian Jr., also a coach on our staff. So, we have four Kilpatricks along with all these other guys.

Coach Daryl Higgins, I don't think they're going to be running you off anytime soon, Coach. Talk to us about your schedule this year. I always said, do the right thing. Go out and test yourself. You did it. You played the Madison Academies. You went on the road to Scottsboro. That's always hard to play Scottsboro anyway. A tough game there, bigger classification. They got a proud program over there in Jackson County. And then Monday, what do you expect? Have you heard anything about, I think Monday is the date.

You're probably closer than we are as far as reclassification. You've dominated where you've been. What are you hearing about Monday maybe moving on up, Coach? Well, we'll be moving up to 4A because of the competitive balance rules, which one of the games do that. So, we're really excited about that. We had a lot of great competition in the 3A and ready to get 4A shot. But we like to play the best people we can in our non-region games. So, we want to play people that are better than us, faster than us.

I mean, if we don't play our best, we're going to get beat. So, we try to schedule up and schedule people that can really play ball. Well, you schedule Coleman, yet you had a very tough loss to them. And then Scottsboro, I had a gentleman sitting in the stands. He's a Geraldine fan. He just couldn't believe what he was saying. He just kept saying, wow, wow, wow, what a team. And I said, look, you don't need to feel bad. They beat Scottsboro playoff team by three touchdowns.

So, no, we're quite familiar with that. Listen, we sincerely appreciate you taking some time. We know you're busy. Good luck. That should be a fun game. Yeah. As far as the All-Star game. Again, congratulations to you and the staff and the players. God bless them. Have a great week. And hopefully, we can do this again with you soon. Hey, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me on. Thank you so much. There you have it. Back-to-back head football coach. Got that blue mount back in the case.

Daryl Higgins that admires the old Bible. Coming up, time to go to Double D. Drew DeArmond, he's on Dex. Stay with us. Hey, this is Russell from Medford Jewelers. Reminding everyone as we celebrate our 80th Christmas in downtown Florence that we have you covered. If you need a pair of two-carat lab diamond studs, we've got them on sale for $599. We have a two-carat lab tennis bracelet for $995. We have a $35 custom cookbook easel where you can bring in a handwritten recipe of your grandmother's and we can engrave it for you.

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That game on December 16. Both teams won 8-5 this past season. Alabama and number one Arizona will play in the CM Newton Classic in Birmingham on Saturday. The Crimson Tide ranked 12th. They've won four straight games while Arizona is unbeaten at 8-0. Auburn will face Chattanooga Saturday in Atlanta, part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving Tournament. Tigers are ranked 21st at 7-3, coming off a loss to Arizona Saturday. The Sports Update brought to you by Progressive. Bundle auto and home, renters or condo and save with Progressive. I'm Tony Dazzieri on 93-9 The Score.

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Just calling my busy boy these days. Drew Jarman. Amongst his duties, host of Talking Ball on Huntsville's 97.7 FM The Zone. Drew, welcome in. How are you? I'm good, guys. How are y'all? Hey, man. We're doing okay, Drew. But now we know the story from Saturday night. But in some ways, it's crazy in 2025 the way things are now compared to back in the day. The worst of the taste of maths on Saturday night. And now, basically, you still have everything in front of you if you're the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Your thoughts about what a difference the day makes in Tuscaloosa. Well, you know, certainly Alabama accomplished, I think, one of their goals. And that is to play for a national championship. They did not win the SEC championship, you know, but I think that was in front of them. They didn't get that done. But the ultimate prize is, and that's to win the national title. And even a year ago, I mean, we know that Ohio State didn't win the Big Ten. And they went on and, you know, won the national championship.

That's the system that you have. And Alabama has that opportunity. And now they should be super motivated against Oklahoma, a team that they haven't had a lot of success against since 2018. And it's a program that Kalen DeBoer is 0-2 against. But just nearly two weeks they're going to get off should be immensely important because they have the chance to heal up because they were a beat-up football team and just look like they were out of gas this past Saturday. So getting a chance to heal up and have more guys available would be huge for them.

[1:35:28] And certainly I think that's the biggest key to the game right now as far as the rematch. We know Alabama nearly doubled them up in yardage. And, you know, and if it wasn't for extremely poor special teams and then, you know, just basically a pick-six and turning the ball over, they very likely beat Oklahoma. So if the game they can win, it's certainly not going to be easy because the Sooners are as good as any team Alabama's played all year defensively, and that also includes Georgia.

But still, it's a great opportunity on the road to have a chance to advance and then play the number one team in the country in the Rose Bowl in Indiana. Let's talk about that because it's almost like you could say the same thing in the Oklahoma games again in Georgia. Special teams messed up and they turned it over with, in the case of Oklahoma, a pick-six. If that's the problem, how are they going to fix that this time around? Because this is two games where special teams have been anything but special.

And let's face it, a lot of folks are wondering about Ty. How healthy is Ty Simpson? He's healthy enough to play. Certainly he's beat up and he's taken a lot of punishment this year. But he'll be available. I mean, I'll be stunned if not. I think he's, certainly I think he has a back issue. I think that's well documented. But he's played through it, certainly. And, you know, I'll just quote Nick Stade, but they need the people around the quarterback to play better. Certainly, Ty needs to play better, needs to throw the ball with more accuracy.

But, you know, when you have six drops and, you know, when your offensive line does not protect very well and your running game generates negative yardage, it's not going to help your quarterback very much. I don't care if you've got John Elway in his prime or Joe Namath or whoever. So, they need to play better around the quarterback. And then, you know, you bring up the kicking game, the kicking game. And I don't think that's been given enough criticism, I guess. Yeah. Alabama's, you know, field goal kicking has been up and down and inconsistent.

Blake Dowd has been okay, not great. The long snapping has not been good. And then, when you go back and look at it, Alabama has not, you know, they have not really created an explosive play or return, either via punt or kickoff all year. Right, yeah. Now, they've given up a few, but they haven't done it themselves, you know. And then, you know, I had someone tell me, well, the closest thing, I guess, to an explosive return was Ryan Williams against Oklahoma. And we know what happened at the end of that play.

So, a turnover, and the Sooners ended up getting a short field and scoring. So, Alabama needs to play better in the kicking game. There's no doubt about it. The last game, I felt like that they at least did enough good to win was against LSU. But that seems like an eon ago. Yeah, Cole Adams has had some near breaks, breakouts as far as returns. But, as you mentioned, it just simply hasn't happened. D2, the defense, I'll say this, has held their own. Georgia's scoring drives were 12, 21, 39, and 57.

And, again, Georgia was more prepared. Again, they had their injured players. The next man up, they were more ready. But, Justin Hill caught my attention. Yonsei Pierre, they played a lot of players. Wilming's played a lot of players during the course of the season. And, again, this defense, unlike the offense, has had gradually improved throughout the course of the year. Yeah, it has. Now, they were missing a very key cog on Saturday night. The guy that made probably the biggest play in helping Alabama win 24-21 in Athens.

And that was L.T. Overton. That was another very, you know, unfortunate loss for Alabama. And based upon what we know, you know, Alabama has not, you know, said anything specifically. They've said medical condition. But what I've heard through the grapevine, the kind of situation he's got health-wise, I'm not sure we'll see L.T. Overton, you know, play for Alabama again. That's unfortunate. But they at least have a long-term plan where they now, where you can prepare without him. They're going to have to have, you know, other guys step up in his stead.

You know, like a Jordan Renaud, they're going to have to step up Keyon Keeley. And they've got – it's unfortunate, but that's just the way it is. Because, you know, life is more important than football. And certainly we – I hope that L.T. can – something can be done where he can have a professional career. Because I think he had created that opportunity. But, you know, when you have the rumors of blood clots and things of that nature, that's extremely, you know, unfortunate and just scary. And so, prayers out to L.T., but hopefully Alabama can make an adjustment there.

[1:40:51] And like you said, Brett, they still played, I thought, well enough defensively to win the game. They did. And they're going to need that kind of effort, you know, in Norman a week from Friday. Drew DeArman, 97.7 FM, The Zone. Drew, let's face it, everybody knows Oklahoma. They make the money off their defense. And we talked with some of our friends from Oklahoma Nation. And especially when they can make a team one-dimensional. Well, it doesn't take Einstein to see that Alabama's pretty one-dimensional right now. Look at the stats, passing versus rushing.

A lot of folks didn't even think it's possible for any team, especially a team with Alabama full of guys in the NFL, to rush for a total of minus six yards. You've got to go back to Vietnam, 1968, to see that with that program. To me, that's where it all starts. We talk about field position. You talk about a team that loves to key on one-dimensional offenses. What does Alabama do to fix the running game? Well, they're just going to have to get healthier up front. I mean, they certainly need Parker Burrellsburg to be healthier.

In the last few weeks, he's been playing on one leg. Yeah. You know, they need Cam Dewberry to be healthy. And then they need to get a hat on a hat. I mean, you know, they did run the football well against a pretty good Auburn defense the week before. And look, Georgia's an elite run defense, especially this year. So it shows Oklahoma. But I think a lot of people forget that Alabama rushed for two touchdowns against the Sooners. And really, Daniel Ville had a nice game with 15 carries and 60 yards.

They're going to have to try to generate some sort of running game in that way. They're going to need to use Todd Simpson's leg. They're going to have to get creative. You know, and whether it be in the rounds, even a reverse or something of that nature, they're going to have to, you know, just stay with it. And they're going to have to try to produce maybe an explosive run. I do think one thing they're going to have to do in this rematch is they're going to have to make a couple of 40 or 50-yard plays.

Because Oklahoma's so good defensively that a lot of it is just going to be like, you know, body punches. And then you finally land the haymaker. That's what Alabama's going to have to do. And then, you know, right now everybody talks about the running game. It has been non-existent. But, you know, this football team going into the season, we talked about the strength being the quarterback and the receivers. And it was the first half of the season. But lately, Alabama, you know, they could use a new sponsor called Need a Sack because wide receivers have been dropping too many balls.

And then we'll see about Josh Cuevas and see if he's healthy and available. I'm not sure he will be. But, you know, you've been playing Marshall Pritchett. You've been playing Caleb Edwards. And so at least you've got some young guys that you've gotten into bigger roles and gotten comfortable going into Norman. Yeah, I agree with you. The lack of explosive plays. I've been saying this for a while. Alabama, basically, their offense operates in a 25-yard box. Now, I know they've taken some deep shots. Ryan Williams showed a little bit of something, came off a milk carton, and did a few things against Georgia.

They've also got to get better on third down. They were 3 of 14 against Georgia in 2.0. Back in September, they were 13 of 19, and a lot of that, D2, is getting more on first and second down to be more successful on third. Yeah, I mean, no doubt. I mean, that's why they beat Georgia the first time. They were so good on third down. But, you know, Kurt Smart, he was more aggressive this time on third downs and came after Ty Simpson. Alabama hasn't handled pressure-wear well most of the year, and we know Brent Venables is going to be very aggressive.

So, Alabama, they've got to be better prepared to be able to beat the blitz, period, into story. We'll see if they can do that. If they can, then Alabama's going to have a chance to win the game. It really is rather simple. I mean, they're going to have to win the plus-minus. They lost it on Georgia, minus one on Saturday. They've got to find a way to generate a couple of big plays and run the football, you know, in some form or fashion. They're not going to be a gargantuan running attack, but if they get J.M. Miller back, it certainly will help.

You know, and then, again, they have to try to create some sort of advantage in the kicking game. But it needs to at least be a stalemate because Oklahoma is solid in that area. If there's a distinct advantage, you know, for the Sooners on the kicking game like there was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama's going to be in a world of hurt. Yeah, man, and the facts show that they just got All-American status of some of those kickers out there in Norman. To me, Georgia showed the blueprint for Alabama.

When you don't have the line, and by this point in season, if you're still asking the question what's wrong, and the coaches who are getting paid millions of dollars don't know the answer, then you've got to question that. Georgia, to me, had the answer. Don't worry about the 40-50-yard explosive play. They did a lot of swing passes, jet sweeps, things of that nature. Keep it simple, stupid. Soften up the defense so maybe the running game will have a chance. Would the Alabama coaching staff ever consider maybe, instead of going for all of it, take shorter steps and go to the shorter passing game?

[1:46:20] Well, you would hope so. They need to create some sort of, you know, go against their tendencies. It's going to be hard against that Oklahoma pass rush for long-developing passes. Yeah, exactly. Because the Sooners have a chance to get home and rush the passers. But I will say this, you know, they did try some of the short passing game against Georgia. And look, A.K. Deer dropped the ball. They dropped the ball. You've got to make those catches. And, you know, I know the fans have been clamoring for A.K. Deer all year.

He's got his chance to come in. I told you guys last week I thought he would have to play because of the injury situation and fell back because, you know, hopefully Jan will be back and Daniel Hill will be healthier. But you still probably won't have Kevin Riley. And they had to go to A.K. And he went the wrong way a couple times and then dropped the football. So you've got to be ready to go. And so it's going to have to be all hands on deck for this game against OU.

And certainly, I mean, this time, you know, Alabama, you know, they nearly turned over John McTeer two or three times. And if they had, I think it would have been game-changing and result-changing for Alabama. They're going to have to create some turnovers. They didn't do that against Georgia. And, you know, and they didn't do it against OU. And this defense has been very opportunistic. If they can create turnovers, then I think Alabama can get a win in Norman. D2, one thing we do know, this is a pretty good Alabama men's basketball team.

They routed Texas-San Antonio, the Roadrunners. Good to see Jaleel Bethea, 21 points. London Jemison, Phylon with 20 apiece. Boy, they got a tough challenge Saturday night at 830 in Legacy Arena at the CM Newton. Classic against number one, Arizona. But if they can get all these guys healthy, they can rebound and continue to play a little bit of defense. This is certainly going to be a top-10, top-5 team, maybe eventually. D2, in a few minutes, your thoughts on Alabama basketball and where can we get online to get all your great stuff?

Well, I mean, Noah Peet's going to be a beast. And don't forget, you know, Bradley, Jaden Bradley, the former Alabama point guard. He's had a good run at Arizona for Tommy Lloyd. And it's going to be a really tough matchup over, you know, in the BJCC in Legacy Arena. It should be a great atmosphere. They just moved to number one in the country. They routed Auburn earlier, so this is a very talented Arizona team. Alabama needs to get back to full strength. Hopefully they'll have Aiden Holloway back.

McGill Wright's going to go back against UCSA, but it was definitely rusty. You know, but hopefully they'll get him back. I don't know about Bristow. I know they don't want to rush, rush him back, but they can certainly use him against that front court of Arizona. That's for sure, no doubt. But Aiden Joel's been playing well lately. Blocked Scott. I thought he'd done a good job offensively. And then they need Taylor Bowl Bowen back as well. He unexpectedly missed the last game with back spasm. He's a really good fit for Alabama's system and, you know, going to have to defend and rebound a little bit better.

But he's certainly capable, you know, of doing that. And then it was good to see Zalilbethay get cooking, so to speak. He had 20 points. He's going to be back in the lineup in the rotation now. Alabama should have his deep perimeter rotation as there is. Certainly they need Houston Millett. He's going to continue to always play hard, but to knock down some shots. And I think Alabama's got a shot in this game, especially considering, you know, it's in Birmingham for the CM Newton Classic. But it should be another great test for Alabama.

It should be very similar to an NCAA tournament-type atmosphere. And, you know, NATO continues to test its team, you know, with an unbelievable out-of-conference schedule. And if they want to follow me, they can follow me at 977 ESPN. We're still trying to get my, you know, ex-account back from the Iranians who hacked me last week and basically stole my ex-account. So I do not believe in cryptocurrency. I do not have a new house. I do not have a new car. And I don't have $54,000 in the bank.

So I wish I did have all that stuff, but that's not me. So don't believe that, but you can certainly follow us at 977 ESPN. And if you miss any of our content on Talking Ball, you can find it at our 97.7 The Zone SoundCloud page or 9770ESPN.com. And we always enjoy being on with the souls with you guys and talking some ball. Well, you may not have all that, but you did stay in the Holiday Inn Express last night. Drew, it's always good to hook you up with you.

[1:51:20] Thanks so much. Stay safe out there, okay? Watch out for, you know, possums, man, because I just got one removed from my vehicle, by the way. Greg didn't see that. He's seen the proof. I have victimized data over here by a possum that did force me to have some car repairs. We have been warned. There you have it. Drew German, 97.7 FM The Zone. BB, do you have any final words, my friend? No, after that, Harold, I really don't have a unique follow-up. You're the possum. That's going to take care of business for today.

On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow at noon to two for the Boomo Bugg Show. Back here on Sports Radio, 93.9 The Score. We'll see you next time.