Boomo Bugg Show 090326

[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 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 the question is, are you ready for the curtain to come up on week one?

That's week one of the college football season. Hello and how are you? Happy Thursday to you and the listeners. Yes, it is time to play football and talking season is over. Thank you, God. Benjamin Ray, voice of the UNA Lions, will preview a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Caleb Suggs of the Decatur Daily previews week three. Yes, week three of high school football. And BB is here right now to preview week one of college football. BB, you know, back in the day when he was in college, all the ladies, they saw Bill.

And now he is being sawed by every voice out there when it comes to telling us what's going to happen on the gridirons for week one of college football. When he's not busy doing that, he is the voice of the sporting news. Bill Bender, welcome in. How are you? Harold, Brett. Well, Brett said talking season's over, but they're talking in a courtroom down here right now. So it's not quite over, but I can't wait for that to happen. Judge, what in the world is going to be the verdict?

Are we tired of that mess? What is it going to take for us to say, it's just like kids fussing, and mommy and daddy comes in and says, do I have to stop this car? Well, what's it going to take for us to stop this car? I mean, is Lane and his crazy nuts down in Louisiana going to win the war here? Are they going to wear people out, or what's the deal, Bill? Well, they could win and still lose. You know what I mean? Because you can win in that courtroom.

But I think, you know, it's kind of what I thought about the Brendan Sorsby case earlier this summer, where you can lose in the court of college football opinion. And I think that's very real with what we're dealing with right now. I want it to be over. I don't want there to be NFL players on the sideline. I thought the reactions, Harold, from NFL GMs and coaches this week are like, what are you guys doing down there? You know what I mean? That's a bunch of kids that just basically everybody wants to keep their own toys.

Bill, obviously, week one is here. We say it that way because a lot of folks said I thought it started last week. Well, if you go by the modern era, it was week zero. This is week one. It starts tonight. And amongst the games on the menu is the opening act for an SEC team, Missouri. I don't think we're going to find out a whole lot about their opponent tonight, Arkansas Pine Bluff. But what grabs your attention for week one of college football across the country?

Down your way, Keelan Russell. Here's the thing. We wrote an article, and you can see it at Sporting News. It was titled The Seven Teams That Can Win the National Championship, and Alabama is not on that list. But if you read down to the SEC part, I say very clearly, I struggled with this one because if Keelan Russell is who I think he's going to be, they're the wild card. They're the eight that I would put on there because I know the talent's there. And I'm not saying it because I'm on your radio station.

Some others might prefer LSU or Ole Miss or Oklahoma, and I get that. But of that noon slate, by the way, 100 degrees down there. How are you guys going to look at that? Yeah, at least 100. At least 100, Bill. I chuckled out loud on the weather update when I heard 100. I'm like, what's it feel like, 130? Guys, be safe. Make sure you're drinking water down there. Exactly. Yeah, we've joked about it for years that the legislature needs to pass a law that you cannot kick off a college football game in the South in September before 6 o'clock.

I wish they would have passed that law. Auburn, Baylor, Alex Golich debuted for the Tigers. Baylor, basically a new team. D.J. Lagwe, the transfer coming from Florida. 23 interceptions in the last couple of years. And the Baylor Bears, who Dave Aranda is a defensive guru or used to be, gave up 197 yards rushing a game last year. Everybody's got to work out the Kings for the first game. Auburn, the seven-point favorite, do they win in cover? You know what, Alex Golich, I want to say something about him first.

You guys are figuring out down there what we know up here in Ohio from his time in Dublin. He's a really good human being. The video of him this week that's been circulating, what an amazing guy. You know, just I think he's the right fit for that program. It's an interesting first matchup because Baylor wore them out last year. There is some fascination, at least for me, on how D.J. Lagwe plays. But it's one of those deals where it's going to be interesting to see how Byron Brown translates and if that home field advantage is there.

[5:33] But, you know, if you're rooting for a guy like him, I'm one of those guys that have done this long enough at SN where I like rooting for good people. And I'm hoping he succeeds there. Well, if that's the case, Bill Benner's going to win. He's a good man there at the Sporting News. Bill, it's interesting. Alabama kicks, at least in our times, on 11 o'clock by year's noon. Fox, Fox got in on the act. They know how to market things. The big noon kickoff. And who have they got?

The defending champs. Five years ago, we probably laughed at this. But Indiana taking out North Texas. The reason to bring that up, what's going to be realistic about this team there from Bloomington? And, Bill, will we really know until the end of the season? Because Indiana really makes no bones about it. Let's just go out and basically schedule a pretty easy maze to the playoffs. And then we'll get serious. Your thoughts about the Hoosiers? Yeah, they're going to be pretty good. We're not going to learn too much other than, you know, what Doug Hoover is and Turbo Richard, Nick Marsh, some of these offensive additions I'm sure will make some plays.

You know, as for their soft schedule, that's the way they do it. We can agree or disagree with it. But they'll get into the heart of Big Ten schedule with a 3-0 record. Yeah, and I mean, for Cignetti, it's interesting you say that about the big-name kickoff, that normally that's reserved with their Big Ten ties. They're normally in Ann Arbor or Columbus for that. But, you know, it's a good spot for Indiana. They are capable of winning it all again, though. I really do believe that.

I like their defense a lot. Mm-hmm. Isn't it interesting? It's great to have Labor Day weekend because you've got football five days. Yeah. Sunday night is one of the best slates I've seen in a while. The Apple Cup is at 3 o'clock on NBC, Washington State, Washington. Huskies are 23-and-a-half-point favorite. Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Lambeau Field, the home field of Bill Bender's favorite NFL team. The Irish, 20-and-a-half-point favorite. I keep hearing Luke Fickle has a better, more physical team. And then, again, a lot of people are looking forward to the top 25 matchup.

Number 9 Ole Miss, number 24 Louisville, 6-30 on ABC. The Chicks have a point favorite for Ole Miss. That's a very impressive Sunday night slate. Yeah, I'm excited about it. You know, the Ole Miss-Louisville game there in Nashville. Louisville, hot sleeper in the ACC. Good quarterback, good running back. And they'll test Ole Miss. And then Pete Golding in his day, his actual debut, right? That Green Bay, I keep joking all week, Brett, that Notre Dame and Wisconsin are just warming up that field for the Super Bowl champions.

Not too frozen, is it? So, they're keeping that field warm for my Packers next week, even though they're on the road. But, you know, you hit on it. Wisconsin last year was 5-2 against ranked teams against the spread. 2-5 in those games. But, even when they played Alabama, you have to work for it. And I'm wondering if you can't. There's one of two reactions that could happen. Either they slow that game down, make it muddy, and hang around. Or, you know, and a lot of people are picking Notre Dame to win this whole thing.

Yep. Across all the sites. I'm seeing it everywhere. Or Notre Dame beats them 42-10 and we start proclaiming that they're the national champs. Bill, we want to stay with the SEC for, obviously, but let's step outside just a second and fast forward. Brett alluded to it. Five nights, starting tonight, of college football is a dream for all of us fanatics. It'll be kept with Florida State and SMU. SMU obviously comes in the heavy favorite. I think it was something like, I don't know, I've forgotten now what the exact point spread was.

But Florida State, what happens if Florida State not only loses the game, but gets blown out in this game? Well, then there'll be unrest about Michael Vell and that blowout at Florida State. Or that buyout, not blowout. That's right. The blowout will lead to a buyout, right? The blowout and buyout could be mutually exclusive at that point. It is a big buyout, though. 50 million. I think I've been really leery about this game all week because the easy thing to do is take SMU. They're the better person.

You've got the quarterback. Florida State didn't look great. The college football thing to do is just be aware that Florida State might have their back against the wall. And I always never underestimate. When you tell 18 to 22-year-olds, they're terrible all week and they're going to lose, they will respond at home. So, it could be a good game. Or, this is horrible analysis, by the way, it could be a really good game. Or SMU could do to them what Boston College did and embarrass them. And then we're going to have to have all those conversations about what Florida State is with Mike Norvell because they play Alabama pretty soon, too.

Yeah, you've got SMU beating Florida State 31-21. Bill Bender also has LSU beating Clemson 28-24, but they don't cover the 10.5-point spread. Clemson had nine players taken in the NFL draft last year and finished and won seven games. Cade Klubik is gone. Vizina, I believe, is the new quarterback. Chad Morris is there. The circus ringmaster will be on primetime Saturday night. You know, Thursday, the court today, as you mentioned, and then on the field Saturday. But you've got LSU only winning 28-24. You think Clemson can keep this game closer than the experts feel?

[11:07] Yeah, I do. They have to run the ball better than they did last year. They only had 31 rushing yards in that game. Clemson, by the way, has lost three straight openers, which is a weird stat. Duke, Georgia, LSU last year. I have, Brett, a little bit of a fascination factor here with Vizina, though, tall quarterback. I was watching some of his limited sample today, and if he throws the ball down the field, handle the environment, which will be chaotic in four ways than one, right? Especially if there's NFL guys on the sideline.

But, you know, and I wonder how Lane handles all this. We wrote, you know, the reasons that we love college football today, and I put that out there for us today. And one of the pieces I love Lane is because he is annoying. And he is, you know, one of those guys that, you know, love him or hate him, anything in between, he gets a reaction. He really burrows into your brain a little bit. And I think a lot of, I'll tell you this way, everybody up here in the 10th country, my buddies, they're all rooting for Clemson.

Lane is that boy that sat behind you in school and flipped you in the ears and the teacher wasn't looking. And then, golly gee, threw his dimples at the teacher and said, me? A little old innocent, me? I couldn't do that. Bill, obviously, every year we have that giant killer. In your opinion, Bill, if you want to go there, who's going to and where's going to be the biggest upset this opening weekend in week one? I don't see too many. And I'm not dodging the question.

It's just because there's so many 20-point spreads. I mean, hopefully there's a curveball in there somewhere. One team I'm going to watch, Michigan opens with Western Michigan. Western Michigan picked to win the MAAC. But, you know, you could say, I just think this can be a little bit of a different vibe around Michigan with Whittingham than they had last year with Sharon. It's one you keep an eye on, at least in the first half. Michigan has sleptwalked through their opener the last few years. They didn't play real well against Fresno State and New Mexico.

So that's why I'm kind of, I could see them coming out and blowing the doors off. But I don't see one out of the blue this week, which means we'll probably get a couple strikes away. I agree with you. I'm going to be curious to see if Fresno State can keep that USC game a little closer. That's tomorrow night. On Fox, you've got USC winning 42-17. Those USC freshmen, Trent Mosley, the receiver, and Dixon Wyatt and Alston were quite impressive. Gary Patterson, they gave up 26 points in the fourth quarter to San Jose.

That's going to, but I agree with you. I don't think there are many upsets this weekend. Great stuff. Get online and look at your predictions for the top 25, the top seven teams who can win a national championship, and everything else. Where can we get online and look at it and have a great five days of watching football? It's all at sportingnews.com. I love talking football games with you guys. And, Brett, Harold, I hope you guys have a great weekend. Stay, you know, cool as you can.

And be good down there. I'll talk to you guys next week. I appreciate it. Sounds great, Bill. If you don't mind sending some of that northern weather, we certainly would appreciate that, too. The double B, Bill Bender, the national voice of the eSporting News. Coming up, it's hard to believe, three weekends already in the house after this one for high school football. The latest with Caleb Suggs on deck. Stay with us. The YMCA of the Shoals would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the generous sponsors of our annual benefit golf tournament.

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I think everyone started to deal with each other around the same time. I would say like midway through spring and, you know, it's only been going uphill from there. And, you know, that's really going to help us when we get on the field. But I would say this is a close-knit group for sure. One of the closer ones I've been around to. And we know you're thrilled to be at Alabama. I mean, you put the script A on your body. How soon afterwards do you get that?

For sure. Yeah. I got it. I would say it was like May 8th. I think that was the day. I got it because, sure, I got that SC one too, but I got this one because it's obviously where I'm going to be drafted out of. And, you know, I felt a real brotherhood already since being here, and I felt like it's going to be a part of my legacy that I'm continuing to build every day. So, you know, I had to get that script A. I'll have more in a moment.

Hey, Bama fans. It's Ron Coleman-Williams. It's Tuesday and Thursday at 2 p.m. Central. Join Roger Hoover live for Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR. This live streaming talk show features the latest on Alabama athletics with exclusive conversations with Bama student-athletes, coaches, and media members. Given their perspective on Crimson Tide, you can watch on YouTube, Facebook, and A's. Roll Tide with Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR. Join us this afternoon for Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, streaming live at 2 p.m. Central on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN.

Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Crimson Drive. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. What's happening this week in college football? The Lindy's Football Report has the answers. 30 minutes of college football discussion on the biggest matchups of the week. Concise, engaging, accurate, with opinions thrown in from some of the most knowledgeable reporters in the business. The Lindy's Football Report. Check it out. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back, Ken. Isn't it amazing?

We've just been talking, talking, talking about week one of the college football season, about to get rocking and rolling. And believe it or not, by the time college football gets rocking, high school football will be through week three. You heard right. Caleb Suggs has been a busy boy following it all there at the Decatur Daily. Caleb, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good, guys. Technically, it's week two. If we want to be technical about it. Nope. But, yeah, it's the third game. Yeah, a lot of us fail math.

[21:46] And I think the folks in Montgomery could be counted in. If it's the third game, it's week two. Then it must be the modern math. But, Caleb, be that as it may. It looks like it's rivalry week, including one there in your backyard, Decatur and Austin. Very interesting records coming in relative to the last few years. Decatur comes in, even Steven, at one and one. And Austin is still looking for their first win of the season. Yeah, if you had told me that coming into the third game, Austin would be winless, I never would have believed you.

If you told me that before the season, it's been one of the biggest surprises to see them kind of struggle early, offensively and defensively. I think they've had some shaky QB play, which isn't normal. I've seen Coach Perkins' teams have, you know, someone to have a new starter, some uneven quarterback play. They usually get that hashed out. The defense is what's been surprising, just seeing them give up 45 to James Clemens, 38 to Spartan. That's just very unlike them. So, it's just to see if they can get it kind of fixed.

And then you look at Decatur, you know, it's been a struggle very lately. And I think they've since an opportunity. You know, I feel like they've been better offensively. They kind of were okay last week, but their quarterback was out. He'll be back this week. So, I think that's going to be a push. But, you know, you look at this game the last three years, they've only scored nine points total. So, something's got to give. Either Austin's got to be better defensively this week, or Decatur's going to finally have that offensive breakthrough they're looking for in this game.

One of the best matchups in North Alabama tomorrow night, Russellville, Golden Tigers undefeated under Daryl Higgins. They beat Desser when Desser failed to convert a two-point conversion at the end of the game. Then beat St. Morris Hill. Daryl Higgins knows that team pretty well. Their first regular season loss in 21, actually 21 games. And you hit on this last week. Everybody thought Hartzell was going to go and win and beat Coleman. I've heard Coleman was improved, and things happen when you go to Coleman. Well, they did last week to Hartzell.

They ended that game on the five-yard line. Manic Southern, 73 yards. Mara, 71. They ran the ball pretty well. Russellville, Tripp, Cleveland, their quarterbacks have a great season for them. This should be one of the best games, I think, in North Alabama. But Russellville, 2-0 at Hartzell, 1-1. Yeah, and I'm excited we're getting this right way back. You know, I can remember back when in the 2000s, around the time that, you know, I was playing, you know, this was a huge deal, one of the biggest games in all of Alabama.

So, excited to see it back. I'm not surprised that Higgins already has Russellville looking really good, beating two really good teams. Obviously, though, this is a bigger step up in competition when you're going to play Hartzell, especially at Hartzell. And then you look at Hartzell, you know, like I said last week, I knew it was going to be tough. And I think that, I think you got exactly what you normally get out of a young team. They had a huge win that I think caught a lot of people by surprise over Bob Jones.

And then they had a little bit of a sophomore slump on the road in the second week. They played not very well in the first half. I think they had some missed opportunities in the second. So, I think they're kicking themselves. I expect them to be back to more of what you saw week one. So, you know, I think this is going to be a really good game, I think. But I'm not sure Russell's quite there yet. But it's not going to take long for them to get there.

And you may see glimpses of that this Friday. Caleb Suggs, and now with us, the Decatur Daily. Caleb, first things first, as we talked about rivalry games, if you're over in Limestone County, you know this, Athens and East Limestone, your thoughts about tonight's matchup? Well, my first thought is, some of the stuff we use AI for is just hilarious. I saw a picture where they put East Limestone's big field house, they put home of Cody Grossfield or something like that. So, stirring the rivalry up there.

But yeah, I mean, it's exciting to get this rivalry back. I think they haven't played since 2023. Athens, you know, they beat West Morgan week one, went on the road last week, lost a tough game to Bob Jones. I'm interested to see, I think East Limestone's better than I thought they'd be two weeks in. I know you're thinking we're 0-2, but they're ahead of where I, you know, Coach Jawan Simpson, he's a great coach, so they're ahead of where I thought they'd be. So, and this is a rivalry game, it's a home game, East Limestone's first.

You know, I expect Athens to win, but if East Limestone comes out and plays good and competitively, it's not going to surprise me. Brooks, 1-1 at West Morgan. I had to look at this twice again, 0-2 after a 34-game regular season winning streak. West Morgan has made some mistakes in their first two losses. They've got a stable of backs. Wiggins, Stover, Taylor Stevenson, as you mentioned. Brooks, Speedy Coffee, what a name for a running back. Tavion Casey is a good quarterback, 174 yards last week. It would be hard for me to envision West Morgan starting the season 0-3.

[26:52] Yeah, that would be crazy, you know, 0-2. I mean, it's just crazy in itself. I mean, credit to them for going out and scheduling two really good, you know, out-of-region opponents. And this is unfamiliar territory for them. None of these players on the current roster know what this is like to lose back-to-back games. I mean, literally, they don't. But Coach Drew Phillips is one of the best motivators out there. And so, I'm sure he'll get it turned around. And I think this is going to be a very exciting game.

Absolutely. Listen, great stuff. I really like the stance, the previews, your predictions. Where can we get online and get tonight's game, tomorrow night's game, and certainly the recap on Friday and the weekend? Yeah, you can get online at decatordano.com and find all that stuff. Sounds great. Caleb Suggs picking up with us. Be sure there with the Decatur Daily. Coming up, got a whole lot of rocking and rolling news going on down in Tuscaloosa, getting ready for one of the hottest dates in memory in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

But first, let's go courting with the latest from the U.S. Open here on Sports Radio 93.9. Tide fans, join the Crimson Tide Sports Network this fall on Wednesday nights for Hey Coach and the Kalen DeVore Show, presented by Alpha Insurance, live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Tuscaloosa. The show starts at 6 p.m., and you don't want to miss it. Roll Tide. Westwood One Sports presents this special tennis update. After a couple days of rain, a full slate of second-round matches today. At Arthur Ashe Stadium, Naomi Osaka is up 3-love in the third set on Katarita Sinjakova.

Osaka had blown a 5-3 lead in set two. Madison Keys forced a third set with Anna Bondar, but Bondar is up two breaks and is right now serving for the match. The 10-seed Anna Anasimova won the first set against 18-year-old Lily Taggart. She's up a break in the second. The 8-seed Iga Sviatek, already a straight-set winner today. On the men's side, the 3-seed Felix Oje, Aliassime, and Corinne Hatchinoff, they're even at a set apiece. The 9-seed Taylor Fritz will take on Italian Mattia Bellucci later. The night session features Coco Gauff, Sasha Zverev, and 20-year-old American Lerner Tien against Kael Monfils.

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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Number one commercial auto insurer from the NAIC's 2024 national premium data. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9. The score. The Atlanta Braves were winners yesterday as they beat the Washington Nationals on the road 9-0. The Braves had 11 hits and held the Nationals to just two hits. Atlanta Braves are now 83-57. The Braves have the day off today. Atlanta is back in action tomorrow and Philly is the start of the series with the Philadelphia Phillies. 13th ranked Alabama's home on Saturday.

They'll kick out the year against East Carolina. Auburn heads to Atlanta. They'll take on the Baylor Bears at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Aflac kickoff. North Alabama's on the road to play at Arkansas. While South Alabama will open up the season at home Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana. And Troy's at home on Saturday to host Sam Houston. Tune in tomorrow night for high school football as Florence plays at Muscle Shoals. Pregame at 6, kickoff at 7. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash presented by Progressive on 93.9 The Score. Shop the Sherwin-Williams Labor Day sale and get 35% off paints and stains August 28th through September 9th.

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Weekdays at 3 Eastern on the ESPN app and the SEC network. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. How ironic is that, BB, talking about Lane, even as we speak. Bill Bender alluded to it earlier. Busy right now. The SEC says, if you can do it, we can do it. They are formally filing a lawsuit against LSU, including Lane Kiffin, the press down there in the AD. It's been done in the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Alabama. Now, Huntsville has a location.

Birmingham has a location. I haven't seen a specific city, but that is the breaking news happening even as we speak. LSU said, we want to play the pro players. The SEC says it will be after a judge says you can, BB. Well, the roster, you've got to set your roster tomorrow, basically for the season. And this ruling is going to have a big impact on that. But it's very obvious, Harold. The SEC is not playing around with this. No, and you can't blame them. They've got to go ahead and take the lick because if they let the Pandora out of the box here, who knows where it will end.

Where we're going to start this segment is in Knoxville, Tennessee with RC on UT. Ryan Callahan got the Tennessee cover there at Gold Vols 24-7. Ryan, welcome in. Are you in the courts today with Lane? Or how's life treating you, man? You know, I'm happy to not be in the courtroom. Usually when there's something Tennessee involved, it can go to court. So we try to stay out of that as long as we can. But no, not today. No, Tennessee's got Furman on the brain, or do they?

Ryan, how do you sit here? And let's face it, the first game of the season is always exciting. But what is Tennessee trying to learn in this game against Furman in all due respect? Yeah, you know, they do have a lot to learn. And I was just sort of making that point to someone earlier. You know, some people wonder how much can you really take from a game against an MTS opponent. But I think in a game like this, you know, Tennessee's got a true freshman making his first career start at quarterback in Bazon Brandon.

[37:48] That's where you start. You know, obviously a guy that's never taken a snap in a college game. You just want to see how he reacts under the lights and how he handles the environment. And, you know, whether the things they saw on the practice field that allowed him to win the job show up and translate well to playing in actual games. And just how he responds to facing a different team that he doesn't maybe know what to expect from quite as much. And then you've got a few positions that, you know, there's some uncertainty about, you know, one on, at least one on each side of the ball.

I think Tennessee's got to learn a lot of things about. Start with the offensive line. They go into the season with the right side of the offensive line being still sort of unsettled, maybe. We'll see what they do on Saturday. But it's either going to be Jesse Perry at right tackle and Sham Umarov at right guard, or it's going to be Jesse Perry at right guard and Ori Williams, the LSU transfer, at right tackle. And we'll see where that one goes. You've got to kind of sort that out and just see how the offensive line is across the board.

At wide receiver, you've got a third wide receiver job still kind of up for grabs that's going to be competed for during the season. Radarius Jackson, T.K. Keyes, Travis Smith Jr., who comes out of that mix. And then on the defensive side of the ball, I think is maybe the biggest one in some ways. You know, some big questions about that side of the ball after last year, a new defensive staff, obviously doing things differently in some cases, and an unproven pass rush with no really established edge rushers back on this team after the Chaz Coleman departure during the offseason.

How do they, what kind of pass rush can they come up with? And does the defensive line just in general play better than what they had last year when they struggled to stop the run, too? So some major things they've got to figure out. I think we'll learn a lot about all four of those things, I think, on Saturday. We've talked with you throughout the summer about the acclimation to Jim Knowles coming in, one of the best defensive gurus in the country. And I've been asked, well, why did Josh Heupel make a change as defensive coordinator?

With Tim Banks, when you look at it on paper, they were 112th in pass defense, 118th in red zone defense, and 91st in total defense. When I looked at that for the first time this year, I thought I was seeing things, because, again, Tennessee has historically been known for one of the better defenses in the SEC. I think this is a better one, and particularly in the secondary, the corners were so beat up and hurt last year. And you're right, what's the pass rush going to do?

Will the linebacker core be one of the better ones? But I do think we're not going to be seeing Tennessee 91 in total defense at the end of the season. Yeah, that certainly is the expectation. Now, that group did it last year. It was really unexpected that it ended up being that bad, because they had a lot coming back from the previous year on a team that made the college football playoff. Had a lot of veterans on last year's team. And this team, you're replacing a lot of your depth up front in particular.

You're replacing a couple cornerbacks that got drafted this year in Colton Hood and Jermod McCoy. Of course, McCoy didn't get to play last year, but Hood was a guy that was available all of last year and was still part of a defense that had numbers that were that bad across the board. And they brought in several transfers to patch things up. They certainly needed to. That's one of the reasons they feel better about their chances of playing pretty good football across the board this year. And obviously, Knowles is doing some things differently.

I think the system, in some ways, is a little more user-friendly for this group. There seem to be some things that just are allowing guys to play a little more instinctively, maybe not think quite as much after the ball snapped in particular. And I think that's going to make things a little bit more intuitive for guys in terms of run fits and just knowing where to be. There's a lot of things on the mental side of the game that were really taxing, I think, for guys in last year's system.

So I think this year's seems to be allowing them to play faster. And if that shows up in games, that could be a really big deal. So, yeah, it seems like this defense really, even going back to the spring, despite installing a new system, they seem like they've caused more problems for Tennessee's offense than we ever heard about, really, with the former staff. So it does seem like they've referred to Jim Knowles as a master of disguise. He knows how the disguise looks and caused some problems for opposing teams.

I don't think we'll see much of that on Saturday. But certainly, when that's needed, that's the type of thing that could cause some problems for other teams in the SEC, too. That's something that we'll see how much it helps. But I think there's a lot of reasons, and those are just a few of why Tennessee thinks it's going to be a lot better on defense this year. Jim Knowles, the wise man, wear the shoe that fits. Otherwise, you get corns, and that's not very pain-free there.

Let's talk about it. It's always interesting in game one. Everybody's got certain names on every roster that they think they're going to know. It's always fun to see the name that emerges. And one name, speaking of Jim Knowles that he seems to like, is Jeremiah T. Lander. What does he call him? The heart and soul of Tennessee's defense. Yeah, and that might surprise some people who know how much Tennessee has coming back on defense, especially at linebacker, and how much depth there is in that group.

[43:15] You think about Arian Carter being seen as probably the leader of the entire team. You've got Amari Campbell, a Penn State transfer, who's also a senior and has played a good bit of football at a couple different schools. And then you've got Edwin Spillman coming back, who actually led the team in tackles last year. And somebody's got to be sort of the odd man out, at least one, if not two of those guys that's going to be coming off the bench once everyone's available. Now, one thing about this game, Arian Carter sitting out this one because of that two-game suspension that was reduced to one game by the NCAA for what seems silly in hindsight, the flight that he paid back to his agent before he was drawing from the NFL draft.

So, yeah, you've still got to see what that's going to look like. But even with all that, yeah, T. Lander's the one that Jim Knowles is saying that about. And I think that says a lot about how quickly a defense coordinator in his first year like that has been impressed by T. Lander and everything he brings to the table. T. Lander's had a good offseason for starters. He seems to have improved his athleticism by all accounts and has put up some impressive numbers in the weight room and in terms of speed development.

So they think they've got a faster, more athletic linebacker. And a guy that's played a lot of football with 21 career starts already under his belt in T. Lander. And then this year he's doing some different things. It sounds like he's got some versatility to his game. That's one thing we'll have to watch on Saturday, what they'll do exactly to sort of offset their lack of a proven pass rusher. I think one option that's been used quite a bit in the preseason is, you know, some packages that have three linebackers on the field in different capacities.

And one of those might be with T. Lander or someone like that kind of off the edge, rushing the passer a little bit more. And it sounds like he's done pretty well when they've asked him to do that. So he's really shown his value this offseason and I think enhanced his game in some ways that people might not have expected. And he's, yeah, always a valuable part of this defense, but I think even more so this year because he's got multiple ways he can help them.

It was Tennessee, how healthy are they coming into Furman? Injuries certainly on the defensive side of the ball. Farouk out for the year. Jane Harmon. Jadis Richard. Davion Hobbs coming back from a spring foot injury. We talked about Rodarius Jackson. I think one of the best tight ends, Ethan Davies, has been nicked up, hasn't had as much reps. Is Tennessee, obviously, besides the three who are out for the year, are they fairly healthy for Furman? Yeah, relatively healthy, all things considered. They've had some guys who were banged up, as you referenced.

You know, Ethan Davies missed a lot of camp after suffering an ankle injury or what appeared to be an ankle injury the first day of preseason practice. But he's kind of ramped up over the past week and a half or so, and it sounds like he'll be available for this game. How much he'll play against a team like Furman especially, we'll see. But it sounds like he'll at least be out there on Saturday. And then some guys on defense who've missed some time as well. You know, Ty Redman had an illness for a lot of the preseason.

He's worked his way back and is good to go now. So most of the guys who've missed some time are fine now, and it sounds like they're pretty close to 100%. Hobbs, as you mentioned, should be full go, it sounds like, for this game. So, yeah, you can't say it's no big deal, but they've lost those three guys to season-ending injuries. Really, the only one that was expected to play a big role for this team was Idris Farouk, and that certainly was a significant one. But aside from that, you know, they seem to have gotten through the preseason without too much else that's going to affect them once the games are starting to be played.

Brian Callahan, Govall, 24-7, which kind of leads to the next question. As far as depth, in your opinion, where are the coaches saying, please, no injuries because we're kind of thin here? That's a good question. I think, you know, not many teams feel great about their depth on the line of scrimmage. I think Tennessee would probably be in that category. They're not quite as deep as they've been in the past on the defensive line. So I might start there because they've often been 12 deep with guys that Rodney Garner likes to rotate.

This group is probably somewhat, you know, maybe closer to eight deep. So I think an injury up front is going to be felt a lot more with this team, and they've got some young guys that need to step up as it is to fill some of those backup-type roles. Cornerback would be one that's a little bit thinner. We mentioned the Jadis Richard injury, and that was one that was maybe bigger for depth, not so much to the guys that are going to be out there first in games.

But you've got Ty Redman and Kay and Lee, the Auburn transfer that you feel pretty good about. The second pair behind those guys, Trey Poteet and Timothy Merritt, an Alabama native. It sounds like those guys are likely to be, you know, the next two that you would see there. And then beyond that, the depth and experience drops off significantly. It would be mostly freshmen after that point. You've got a couple guys out of the transfer portal that maybe could factor in there, but maybe more likely at the nickel position in Tevis Metcalf and Isaiah Harge.

[48:22] And then, you know, really the true freshmen beyond that that they've signed in the 2026 class are the only option. So corner a little thin. And then, you know, I would probably throw in there, to some extent, quarterback, just because you really can't afford. I mean, most people can't, but, you know, you don't want Faison Brandon to go down, obviously. But George McIntyre's got nine career pass attempts under his belt. And behind that, a Colorado transfer, Ryan Staub, who hasn't played a whole lot. So just the lack of experience makes quarterback, I think, one of those positions where you absolutely can't afford an injury.

You know, we can look at each position and a lot of players, but when you look at the schedule, a lot of people think Tennessee will begin the season 3-0. Well, that game at Georgia Tech is not going to be easy, but Furman and Kennesaw State sandwiched between Georgia Tech. And then, again, you know this, Texas, September 26th, Auburn, both those games in Knoxville, at Arkansas, Alabama, third Saturday, at South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas A&M, LSU, and Vandy. Kentucky, Texas A&M, LSU, and Vandy to end the season in November.

That's a tough schedule. It is. You know, I think when you look across the board, there just aren't any easy schedules in the SEC. So, yeah, I've seen a lot of rankings that have Tennessee listed as, you know, one of the five or six easier schedules in the SEC. And that sounds crazy when you read off Tennessee's schedule, but I think we're just sort of used to thinking about what schedules looked like last year. I think this nine-game schedule is just going to look so different for everybody from one year to the next.

It's going to be really hard. So, there just isn't anything easy. And, yeah, no matter what, you're going to have something you're complaining about each year, I think, when you look at your schedule. For Tennessee, the one thing that is favorable is they play four top 15 teams to start the season, at least in the rankings. And all those teams are possible playoff teams based on all the early projections, Alabama, Texas, LSU, Texas A&M. But three of those four games are at home, and that's not nothing in the SEC, especially where you're going to be playing a lot of close games in all likelihood.

So, we'll see if Tennessee can take full advantage of that. They've traditionally played a lot better at home under Josh Heupel, much better record there. Their two wins over Alabama have been at home. So, they've got a better chance of pulling an upset, at least against one of those teams with those games being at home. But, yeah, there's just going to be a few tough games for everybody, and that's one of the reasons you see Tennessee being widely picked as a seven- or eight-win team, just because that schedule is so much tougher than what they've had the past two years.

The game in the middle of the afternoon. Well, the temperatures dip down into the 90s by then, and I would imagine it's going to be a pretty special day for the 9-to-5 girl, Dolly Parton. I'm sure it's going to be recognized. Oh, absolutely. Tennessee announced earlier this week they'll have a helmet sticker for the entire season with, of course, the butterfly emblem that she's so connected to and her signature across it. And, yeah, we'll see what else they do to honor her. Some people have wondered, will there be a new song at the start of the fourth quarter?

They've been playing a Morgan Wallen song that features a live performance on video from a Neyland Stadium concert. He's a local guy, but, you know, Dolly Parton obviously means so much to East Tennessee. We'll see if they change anything up there. But either way, definitely going to be some acknowledgment there. And people just glad to be back in Neyland Stadium, even if it is that hot. But no question, people need to stay hydrated. It's going to be a steamy one starting at 3.30. No, no question about it.

Well, it is here. Thank you, God. Your staff's done an incredible job of getting everybody ready. Do you still have a special going on? And where can we get online to get the absolute best pregame coverage and postgame? Yeah, just actually launched our season kickoff sale as our preseason sale wrapped up. Now one of our best sales of the year, 75% off an annual subscription for just a few days here until early next week. So definitely no better time at all to jump on that than right now.

You can also sign up for full price monthly subscription, which gets you free access to Paramount Plus immediately, which is a huge perk of being a 24-7 sports subscriber. So that's available throughout the network. Any 24-7 sports site, jump on that now and join. But, yeah, certainly plenty of coverage coming up this weekend and beyond as we get into football season. It's here. So go balls247.com. We'll have the latest on Saturday and, of course, beyond as Tennessee gets underway. Sounds great, Ryan. Listen, have fun this weekend.

Stay safe, okay? You guys do the same. Thank you, bud. RC, Ryan Callahan, go balls247. Coming up the next hour, the beer of the latest from Tuscaloosa, Ryan Fowler. Nathan Keene is going to be talking to the Auburn Tigers and Benjamin Ray on his way to hog heaven. All that and more straight ahead. Stay with us here on the Boomo Bugg Show. Imagine a bank where you feel at home. Real people living right here in your community are the heart of Bank Independent and everything we do.

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Cassidy wrote in a summary of these findings that parents deserve to send their children to a school without concern that there will be indoctrination and the sowing of doubt about the purposes of the U.S. Constitution. The report reads that children in schools are currently struggling to read and do basic math, while the two teacher unions are injecting dangerous anti-American ideology into the classrooms. The Senate committee is expressing substantial concern about these far-left organizations getting money from teachers by way of union dues in order to work against the values and beliefs of both the teachers and parents with children in school.

The committee is recommending that Congress review the NEA's federal charter and provide greater oversight to their political activities. current law here in Alabama prohibits the collection of dues from the paycheck of a state, county, or local employee or an organization that engages in any political activity. However, the Alabama Education Association and the Alabama Federation of Teachers continues to deduct dues from the payroll of Alabama teachers. The news cycle can be overwhelming, to say the least. Andrea Tice cuts you all the noise with The Daily Detail from 1819 News, Alabama, and National News in just 10 to 15 minutes.

[58:30] What you need to know before you start your day. Find The Daily Detail wherever you get your podcasts. Four people were arrested at the Fonday Elementary School in Mobile this past Wednesday after the four adults got into a fight. One person had to be tased by police. The four women have since been charged with disorderly conduct. I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to The Daily Newsletter. This is Roger Huber with the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

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Anthony Edwards loves Matilda, as do I. Never saw it. With the great Danny DeVito? That's a you-must-have-seen kind of movie. Nuno, have you seen Matilda? I have, and I'm going to share this, and I'm probably going to be made fun of. Me and Danny share our same birthday. You and Danny DeVito? Yes. Same height, same birthday. As I said, you know, probably. No, not same year. Yeah, Danny's way younger than Nuno. Unsportsmanlike. Weekday mornings starting at 6 Eastern on ESPN Radio and on ESPN2. Tide fans, join the Crimson Tide Sports Network this fall on Wednesday nights for Hey Coach and the Kalen DeVore Show, presented by Alpha Insurance, live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Tuscaloosa.

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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 in. Now, we're here 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. And quickly, maybe some breaking news. Talked earlier about the LSU folks. They were just going to bulldoze ahead and try to play these pro players coming back from the NFL.

The SEC says, not so fast, my friend. Let's go to court. That's what they did early today. And the freshest layer to that, a judge has basically said to LSU, right now in round one, the SEC is winning. He cites a lot of legal terms here. We're not going to bore you with that. But at the end of the day, right now, a judge says, I don't think it's conclusive. I don't think it's in the ninth inning yet. But early in this rodeo, if you will, the judges look like they're siding with the SEC in this argument.

I kind of thought that's what was going to happen, at least for round one. And that's the best way to coin it, Harold. This may be about five rounds before everything's over again. But again, as I mentioned earlier, tomorrow is the final day to submit the rosters and that's one of the reasons why this went to court, at least went to a hearing today. Nathan King would say, if you're talking courts and Auburn's not involved, that's good news for the Auburn Tigers. That's what else is shaking and baking in Nathan's backyard.

He's got it all covered there at Auburn 24-7. Nathan, welcome in. Would you agree that if you're not talking lawsuit and Auburn's mentioned, that's a good thing? How are you? Oh, it's been fantastic. We've been talking about real football for the last four weeks. Not courtrooms, not lawsuits. I'm tired of hearing the words TRO. We're about to play some real football. Yeah, let's talk RPOs, if we will. Nathan, talk to us about this team. It is the Thursday before the Saturday for the neutral site game in Atlanta with the Bears from Baylor.

Your thoughts about roughly 48 hours away now. Yeah, I mean, like Alex Golesh said yesterday, like, I mean, what, eight-some-odd months of preparation lead you to this moment, and then you've got two days left. You've got to kind of put your head down and keep your head on straight if you're a football player on this team. Like, they'd go play tonight at midnight if somebody asked them to. They're just ready to kick this thing off. I feel like Auburn was fairly confident with the way it closed out fall camp, particularly on offense.

[1:03:42] That was kind of where the focus kept drawing back to because D.J. Durkin in this defense felt like you kind of knew what you had, but obviously this offense drew a lot of the headlines throughout the offseason, like getting a new system in here, getting a guy in Alex Golesh who has a lot of his former players and his former coaches trying to create a sense of familiarity. But it's really interesting when you look at the matchup on their hands for week one and what they're going to have to prepare for because the pictures that they're looking at are not clear.

You've got a new defensive coordinator for Baylor in Joe Klanderman who was a hire from Kansas State. Seems like a pretty good hire. Like, he did a good job there. But Alex Golesh told us, like, you're watching some K-State film. You're watching individual film from Baylor last year, but you're also watching a ton of these transfers on defense. Like, they've got a good nose tackle from Indiana. They've got to go turn on his film. They've got an edge rusher from Southern Miss. They've got to go turn on his film.

And so there's a lot of guesswork in week one. Like, there's no film on either of these teams from this season. And so in that sense, I think one of the most important things Alex Golesh said was, building a blueprint for a game is important, but what does your game plan look like in the second, third, and fourth quarter when you see what the bullets, you know, when bullets are flying and what things actually look like? That's going to determine whether Auburn wins this game on Saturday.

If they can look at Baylor's new defense and a new offense with D.J. Lagway and adjust over the course of the game. Because I do think if they do that, they have the better roster. So if they can make that happen, I think they have a good chance of winning. Nathan, that's the issue with so many teams is, for example, Auburn's got 61 new players on this team. Now, I use that as a caveat. On paper, it's true. But again, a lot of these players are very familiar with Alex Golesh.

They were there in the spring. You had Kemp Golesh for two weeks, and the guys bonded with that. You've got coaches that came with him. And I know, again, that's the question. With so many of these teams, we have talked about the offensive line with you quite a bit during the summer. I think they've had a good spring. Again, Joe Simmons, Plaus, Cole Bass, Cole Skinner, Bramille at right tackle. But again, as you and Harold said, until the bullets start flying, you don't know. What's your gut about the offensive line going into Baylor?

I think they'll have a good game plan for this one. I do think what's interesting is Baylor is fairly confident in the moves they've made along the defensive line, like adding a lot of players there. Josiah Wheeler is probably their number one defensive lineman. He's a nose tackle who started five games for Indiana last year. And, I mean, that Indiana defensive front was no joke. Obviously, it's one of the better defensive lines in the entire country. So he's a pretty decent player. Brought over a Texas State transfer as well who was quite productive.

It's funny, you know, Dave Aranda is going into year seven now. And some of the things he said in the preseason and all-off season was, well, you know, we made the decision to invest in the line of scrimmage. Like, we think that's the most important thing. And it's kind of like, well, yeah, man, year seven is kind of late time to be figuring out that that's the most important investment to make. And obviously, Auburn knows that, you know, right away. And they know that it's the group that has to perform well.

It's obviously the group that, for me, carries the most concern going into game one. I think we'll learn early on whether Auburn is able to run the ball in a comparable way to last season. Remember, last year in Waco, 307 yards on the ground for this Auburn team. And you look at their personnel, a quarterback and running back, I mean, I don't think they're better. I pretty much know they're better. I mean, Byron Brown is a really good running quarterback. And Auburn's deeper in the backfield than they were last season.

So, if they can replicate at least some of that, I'm not saying they have to go for three bills, but, like, if they can replicate at least some of that rushing attack, that's going to take a ton of pressure off this offensive line. The more third and longs you stay out of, I think this offensive line is going to be okay this season, but they are a work in progress, and they will be a work in progress. Keep Byron Brown out of third and nine, third and 10, third and 11, and I think you'll be in a decent spot in this game.

And with Jeremiah Cobb and the Baylor transfer, Bryson Washington there, able to run the football and obviously Byron Brown being a running quarterback, I feel fairly confident this group will be able to do that because, I mean, Baylor's got a lot to prove as a defense. They could not stop a nosebleed last season. I know it's a new coordinator, but they were very, very bad on that side of the ball. So, we'll see how well they're able to contain Auburn. I think the running game will open up a lot of different things for this game.

Nathan King, Auburn 24-7. Hey, Nathan, if Auburn fans saw the Florida State and the UNLV game, they're saying, what in the world were those coaching styles thinking with those quarterbacks who are no longer at Auburn? Brown is. You mentioned pretty much it goes without saying what kind of element he brings to it. And I agree with you. If you've got a good running game, the offensive line says we'll owe you a stake and some change. But let's say that there are some third and longs. How does this receiving core stack up with the ones over the past few seasons for Auburn?

[1:08:47] Yeah, I mean, on the surface, and that's what we've been talking about all offseason, is that this group is not as talented. It's not as high of recruiting ratings. And that kind of goes without saying, because that was Auburn's bread and butter in terms of it's recruiting under Huber. Like, they kind of base the entire team around the fact that they recruited a few good wide receivers. Now, maybe not the best idea to do that. But, obviously, Cam Coleman and Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson are no longer there.

And Bryce Kane is not playing wide receiver for Auburn anymore either. He's now playing cornerback on the team. So, basically, you put all your eggs in that basket, and now none of those guys are playing receiver at Auburn anymore. In my mind, you know, there's so much talent. And Cam Coleman was, I think, he's going to be a top-10 NFL draft pick. And I think Malcolm Simmons can be really good. But it's like, you did all of that, and you had so much, quote-unquote, talent at receiver, and you still couldn't win.

You still couldn't win big games. You still couldn't have a winning record. I think this group, obviously, we mentioned the familiarity and the comfort level within this system. That's what we've been harping on all offseason. But these guys are skilled, also. Like, these are some talented players. In particular, Keyshawn Singleton, they're sort of number one do-it-all wide receiver, led USF in all categories last season. He's been a monster the last couple weeks of camp. I actually have a story coming out of him tomorrow. I talked to his dad this morning, and he said he was at a Saturday practice where Singleton had three touchdowns and just really was kind of unguardable.

I asked Joel Gordon, the offensive coordinator, about Singleton earlier this week, and he said, look, man, he's doing stuff we haven't seen him do in years. And they were with him for three years at USF. And so, if that is true, and he's playing at a high level, Jeremiah Cogar's a really big target. I'm also interested to see how the tight end factors into this group. Like, Jake Johnson, the North Carolina transfer, really big body. Jonathan Echols is 6'6". They have a 6'7", Howard transfer, who could maybe be a red zone target.

Arliss Bordingham is a Florida transfer, had a lot of good production there in the SEC. And so, they definitely have options. I don't think Baylor is the toughest defense you're going to go against this year. So, if they light it up on Saturday and do pretty well, you're going to have more challenges down the road. But I think this group will be fairly explosive on Saturday just because of how well they know this system and also how well we've heard they've been playing the last couple weeks at receiver.

You've alluded to some of this already. You had a very good point in one of your articles. I think it's going to help the Auburn defense because they're facing new starting quarterbacks in their first five games. I think that's huge because those guys are going to be making mistakes, too. What are your two or three keys for Auburn to beat Baylor Saturday? Yeah, you mentioned quarterbacks. So, how about not letting D.J. Lagwe get comfortable, I think, is probably number one when you look at that defense because he's had a rocky couple seasons as a former five-star recruit.

But I think we can all agree he hasn't, first of all, hasn't fully healthy. And he was on a sinking ship at Florida under Billy Napier. So, it's not like all of his context was positive. Like, he wasn't on a very good team. Don't let this be the narrative change if you're Auburn. Don't let people come away from this weekend and say, wow, this is the facelift that D.J. Lagwe needed. Like, you don't want to be hearing that. So, keep him uncomfortable. We're inclined to believe these linebackers can do that pretty well.

On the other side, I think unleashing Byron Brown and using his full skill set in the offense is going to be a big key. Like, guys, he's been on campus for eight months. We've never seen him run the football in the sense that he could be tackled. And so, we've also never seen him run over somebody. But we know that's what he likes to do. We know he's a, you know, 235-pound locomotive of a quarterback. That needs to be rolling. Because if you watched USF the last couple years, like, that's the bread and butter of what they do.

If he's rolling and this running game is rolling, it opens up so many other things. And Alex Gullish talked about it yesterday. Like, you know, game one jitters and execution, like, you know, there's a lot of improvement from week one to week two. Because you just don't know what it's going to look like in week one. And I think that's something they've really been hammering home. And so, you know, you could say it every game. But trying not to, you know, trying to keep the turnovers down.

Like Gullish said, trying to keep the ball off the ground. Like, if it's an incomplete pass, you know, that leads to a third and long, just take the easy wins. I think they're going to have a good game plan in place. I think they'll do a good job in the red zone. But I'd definitely look at both quarterbacks. I'd look at the running game as well for Auburn needs to be established. Because I think they're the better team. I've got Auburn by a couple touchdowns in this one.

But you never know with Baylor. You know, there's a lot of newness on the field. You never know. But I do think it's going to be a home game for Auburn. There'll be 90% Auburn fans there. So they should have that support as well. Something else I love, Nathan, air conditioning for all the Auburn fans who are fussing about moving this game. They're going to be great for at 72 when everybody else around the South is going to be running and shedding pounds faster than a politician running from a scandal.

It's got to work to the advantage to be in that environment for the first game of the season in the South. Yeah, I mean, it definitely levels the playing field, I guess you would say. There's not going to be, you know, the elements of, you guys are going through, I'm sitting here waiting to come on. And you guys are going through the weather in the Tennessee Valley. And it's like, oh, goodness. It's going to be brutal this weekend. Absolutely. Listen, great stuff. Safe travels to Atlanta.

[1:14:11] I know you and Jason and everybody else have been looking at this. It's finally, I'm finally glad it's here. Any specials on Auburn 247? And where can we get online to get yours, Jason, and everybody else? Yeah, for sure. We've got a kickoff sale right now. So if you've been waiting, it's about $4 a month that will run you. And so we believe that's a pretty good deal. We've had a lot of good content this week. Like I mentioned, a little teaser. Got a story tomorrow on Keyshawn Singleton.

He was an unrated recruit who's now making his hometown return to Atlanta. And now he could be Auburn's number one wide receiver. And it's seen you happen. So we'll have a story there on him. And then, you know, all the stuff from Saturday. We're really, really looking forward to seeing what this team looks like, what year one of the Alex Golesh era could look like, and what game one will look like on Saturday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. So if you want all that, if you're an Auburn junkie and you've been looking for some more content, we have you covered at auburn247.com.

Sounds good, Nathan. And have safe travels to and from, okay? Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. Thank you, bud. Thank you. Nathan King, busy there, Auburn 24-7. Speaking of guys on the road, Benjamin Ray with UNA to Arkansas. The latest snack. Stay with us. Bush Light is cold and smooth and waiting for you to get out there. Everyone knows that the classic taste of Bush Light is brewed for the outdoors. So before cracking open your next adventure, grab a case of Bush Light because nature is even cooler.

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The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. It's not often. You can go to heaven. That is hog heaven. Benjamin Ray says, follow me. This weekend, I'll show you the way. Ben is the fine voice of the U.N.A. Lions on their way to Arkansas. Ben, welcome in. How are you? Man, we're off and running. I'm doing great. Excited to be with you guys. It's the first week for some, second game for U.N.A., and we're fired up to head to hog land over there in Arkansas.

Before we look west, let's look east. Your thoughts now that the dust has settled, opening act, you're packing up some miles on the road, are you not? This past weekend, you opened up at Huntsville's Joe Davis Stadium. Your thoughts, what's your takeaway from the game with your boys from Bama-Samford? I think it leaves a lot for U.N.A. fans to be excited about. It was a win North Alabama's been looking for for a while to really just get people excited again. It's been a rough couple years.

A couple tough losses the last handful of years. And Samford's down a little bit, but to still go out and beat an in-state school like you did, and to really walk away feeling like, hey, you know what? We really physically handled them. We dominated that game in the trenches, in the front seven defensively. The offensive line really came together in the second half. But to hold a team to negative eight rushing yards, 10 different players that accounted for 13 tackles for loss, that is a dominant defensive performance.

I don't care who you're playing. And that will win you games at the FCS level. Absolutely. Eight players on the U.N.A. roster right now came to U.N.A. from Memphis. Where did Ryan Silverfield go? The coach at Memphis to Arkansas. Joshua White, Mon Cole, Harris, Neville, Benton, even Xavier Johnson, wide receiver, center wheel French, et cetera. I was reading a report this morning on Arkansas to where Cramsey, the offensive coordinator, has actually changed some signals because a lot, certainly the Memphis players, are very accustomed to Silverfield's system.

How much will this help? Again, it's blocking and tackling, execution, lack of turnovers. The familiarity between the former Memphis players with his system, how will that help? You know, you imagine it'll go both ways where they feel like they probably know the strengths of those U.N.A. guys as well and what they do well and the weaknesses. And you always hope coaches are smart enough to change things like that. But you also know, you know, think baseball. People are pretty set in their signals, right?

And that will be very interesting to see. There's no more paranoid group out there than coaches. And so, you know, I'm willing to bet that they have changed some things up to try to prevent North Alabama from getting that advantage. But you talk about those Memphis dudes, and you never know what's going to happen when guys transfer down or transfer in. And it was just great to see all of those guys perform because we've gotten to know them off the field, and they are all outstanding individuals.

[1:24:45] And to see that come together for them and for them to perform like they did for U.N.A. fans, again, it should make people pretty excited moving forward. Boy, so the Lions, Ben Ray, talk to us about what's realistic this weekend. Obviously, U.N.A. going to SEC country. So what is realistic for U.N.A. this weekend? You want to go out there and give your best showing. I mean, it's a game on the SEC network. I go back to three years ago. We went down to Tallahassee, Florida, to play Florida State.

And it was the last game of the season. And let me tell you, I don't think anybody wanted to go down there. It was actually off of a – it was a bye week, and then we went down to Florida State. And, well, what happened? Well, U.N.A. forever changed the world of college football going up 13 to nothing against Florida State. You could really argue that that moment sent college football down the path that it has been on with the playoffs and whatnot. And Florida State.

You want to go out there – yeah, exactly. You want to go out there and, one, give your best showing. Hey, in this age of college football, if you're a U.N.A. guy and you go out there and you have a strong showing, hey, it might open up doors for you down the road. And then, you know, hey, you want to go out there, grab a lead, win the ball game. That's always the goal. But also for U.N.A.'s sake, we feel like we can be good at the FCS level.

So let's not have anybody get hurt. Let's not lose anybody of true significance in this ball game. And let's go out there and try to shock the world. Hey, why not us? Yeah. Ben, Destin Wade completed 68.4% passes. That's good whether it's in college, high school, or the NFL. But the other thing that U.N.A. was able to do, they were able to run the football, I believe, for 165 yards. Can U.N.A. run the ball and shorten the game some? That'll be interesting to see.

And you look back at the first half against Stanford. North Alabama threw it a lot. Then you look at the second half and the Lions had a lead, and they went to the ground game. And I think one of the most encouraging things was the offensive line got better as the game went on, and offensive coordinator Travis Partridge pointed out to me that you had four guys making their first career starts at North Alabama. Now, they all either transferred in from JUCO, FBS, other levels, so they might have played some.

But that was the first time the bulk of those guys had played together as one unit. And they got better as the game went on. You're going to have to move the football. You're going to have to win special teams to go and win a ball game like this. So, I think establishing a run game, that's always Brent Dierman's bread and butter. I think that'll be a high priority on Saturday. Tell us real quick about the Varsity Network, where we can hear the game, you and Mr. Neese.

Yes, you can catch myself, Brian Neese, Chase Glover, on the Varsity Network app. Super easy to download on any smartphone. You can find any college football game on the Varsity Network app. And then we'll also be on all of our social media channels, Facebook, Twitter. We had nearly 20,000 people tune in across our social media handles last week for the Sanford game. So, we're very excited about what we've got going on, and it's super easy to find. Safe travels, Ben. All the best to you. Thank you so much for your time of day.

In the meantime, the latest from the U.S. Open. Stay with us. Westwood One Sports presents this special tennis update brought to you by Fisher Investments. Two-time champ Naomi Osaka stumbled late in the second set, but dug deep to beat Katerina Sinjakova to advance to round three. The match was definitely really tough, and I don't know, I just felt like I had to fight. I definitely had a couple opportunities in the second set, and I think I was a little bit too hard on myself. So, I took the bathroom break, regrouped a little, came back, and just tried to have no regrets.

Meanwhile, Madison Keyes saved five match points before beating Anna Bondar in a third set tiebreaker. Anna Anasamova is up two breaks in the third set on 18-year-old Lily Tagger from Hungary. On the men's side, nine-seed Taylor Fritz already up a break early on against Italian Mattia Bellucci, and the three-seed Felix Oje Aliasim loses in four sets. With this tennis update, I'm Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports. At Fisher Investments, we may seem like other money managers, but we're different. What makes you so different than the rest of us?

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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9, the score. Thirteenth-ranked Alabama is home on Saturday. They'll kick off the year against East Carolina. Auburn heads to Atlanta. They'll take on the Baylor Bears at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Aflac kickoff. North Alabama is on the road to play at Arkansas, while South Alabama will open up the season at home Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana. And Troy's at home on Saturday to host Sam Houston. The Atlanta Braves were winners yesterday as they beat the Washington Nationals on the road 9-0.

[1:34:58] The Braves had 11 hits and held the Nationals to just two hits. Atlanta Braves are now 83-57. The Braves have the day off today. Atlanta is back in action tomorrow. And Philly is the start of series with the Philadelphia Phillies. Tune in tomorrow night for high school football as Florence plays at Muscle Shoals. Pregame at 6, kickoff at 7. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash, presented by Progressive on 93-9, the score. And Doug. It's so easy to customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual, you'll feel like you can do just about anything.

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The maple sweetness of the waffle. And y'all know the Chick-fil-A chicken is on point, right? And that bacon, I think it speaks to whether you are team sweet or team savory. Order the Chick-fil-A Chicken and Waffles Breakfast Sandwich with a Caramel Cream Cold Brew on the Chick-fil-A app today. Real guests paid for their testimonials. The Alabama defensive line isn't the only one with skills. Ask your Amazon Alexa devices to tune in to 93.9 The Score. Listen to The Score streaming live anywhere on Alexa-enabled devices. All of your favorite shows and teams are waiting.

The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Speaking of waiting, the wait is over in Ryan Fowler's backyard of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Ryan is the host of the game on Tide 109 FM in T-Town. Ryan, welcome in. How are you? Oh, good. Good. I haven't been in a courtroom today, so I guess I'm better than LSU. Yeah. Yet. Yet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, listen. I've told you guys this before. I don't know what I'm covering. Honestly. Honestly, I do not know what I'm covering many times.

It's just a, this is a weird, this is a weird game. Obviously, we've got a lot of weirdness going on, but nothing shocks me. I mean, if the players wind up in, you know, zebra costumes on Saturday. Nah, it makes money. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean, you know, and, you know, I think about this 11 o'clock game. You know, I think about ESPN, you know, they, well, if you, here's the thing. And you say, well, ESPN, you know, they're making money. Well, if you had a million dollars five years ago and you would have invested into their parent company, which is owned by Disney, it'd be worth $475,000 today, five years ago.

So you put in a million, it's worth four. Yeah. Yeah. That's, you know, you'd fire your financial advisor and hire another one quickly. But it's, um, when you, yeah, I mean, I mean, well, yeah, cause you'd have to be trying to find a way to come back somehow, but the 11 o'clock games to me, it was okay during the Jefferson pilot era. Thank you. Exactly. Exactly. You put, but, but now it's like, we need to give some authority back to these. Yeah. And, uh, allow them to, because it's, you know, it's, it's, uh, you know, I, I, listen, we're, we're going to go and we're going to be there and we're going to be excited to be there and all these wonderful things.

But, but I do look at it and I think about, man, God, God, what a health concern. Absolutely. Well, it's, it's, it's ludicrous. The players, the fans and everything else. I mean, it is the world that we live in college football and, you know, but Bristol, Connecticut is, has got us here and, you know, glad to be here, I guess. It's a golden rule who has the gold rules. Uh, and that, and I, I agree with you when they should be given back, but I say no, because they're going to bow at the almighty dollar.

Here's the deal. If you're looking for Brett Saturday, he'll be easy to, to, to find. If you don't mind, Ryan, he'd be the one in the blue jean, cutoff shorts and the muscle shirt, uh, lacquered, if you will, in sunbathing oil. You are right, Ryan. I mean, anybody who's lived anytime in the South, that's ridiculous. I'm going to save him a seat. I know you will. Yeah. I mean, don't be throwing your co-host out there like that. I'm used to it, Ryan. I mean, I mean, I mean, listen, I mean, we get treated with, now, now we may have our own bottle of water, but and we could, and I'm not sure they've cut down the size of the press box.

[1:40:07] We may be sitting in each other's lap. We're going to be in a cool, a cool area. Do you think it's hot now? Or cooler. Well, and, and, and now a cooler, and that's the trick, but now here's the, the part is it's on the East side and we're going to be looking right at the sun. Right. Oh my gosh. But, uh, yeah, they, well, they actually sold. There's a, you know, we were crossed the field in a beautiful press box. And then about three years ago, they moved us over to the corner and we were all complaining, you know, Oh, look here, look here.

And it was a little, it was probably about a third of the size. Well, now that third of the size has been cut down about 50%. I don't know what to expect. I mean, it's, uh, here we are, here we are. And, uh, we'll, you know, we'll, we'll cover it as best we can. And, you know, at some point we're all going to be moved to a closed circuit television. You know, just listen to the word, they're going to move us to a closed circuit television. But this weekend, we've got a little bit of an advantage because we will have some air conditioning.

I do feel for those fans out there that are getting brutal, you know, just absolutely. I mean, cause there's no way that you're going to be able to drink enough fluid. And, and to me, I wish that Greg Byrne had one root card, one root card that he was able to play. And guys, we're not playing at 11 o'clock. I agree. We're not playing at 11 o'clock. So here we are. Absolutely. Uh, okay. Let me clear this with you. Will Sanders is going to be the starting left guard.

Rico Scott is the third receiver. Connor Tolti is going to be attempting field goals and extra points. EJ Crowell is going to be playing at some point in the game as per you off is the punter. Uh, what else have I missed there? Let me say that William Sanders is going to start at left guard in this game. I don't, he's got a chance to earn that position, but I also wouldn't count out Mount Waldo. I think he's still going to play a significant role this season and, uh, something kind of creeped in there at the last little bit.

Uh, I think they're going to give William Sanders the nod, but don't be shocked if Mal Waldo slips back into that left guard spot. It'll be based on the performance. Now, if William Sanders comes out, this offensive line looks like, you know, the 2012 group, then they probably won't change anything. Um, Jaden James is going to start at right tackle, you know, and, and the other part is I don't know what to expect with EJ Crowell because, uh, my understanding is he's no doubt a football player, but he's also part-time cyclist.

If you're reading my language, he likes that bicycle. So just kind of keep them, keep that in the back of your mind. I don't know if they're going to let him ride that bicycle in the end zone, but we'll see Saturday if, uh, if they're going to let him, let him ride that bicycle. If people can read between lines, but, uh, it's time for this young man to, uh, to pay off. We're, we're, you know, we've heard all about it and we're going to see because Treshawn Brown has benefited from EJ Crowell and locking that bicycle because he's taking, he's taking those reps.

I mean, he's, he's getting those reps and he's only got better, better, better, better, better. And, uh, he gives Alabama some quality there. And I'm not doubting EJ cause I've seen him play enough, but, uh, in either they're being super, super conservative with him or he's trying to be a part-time. They're cyclists at the university of Alabama. Then we get the message there, right? What's to be realistic about this game? Obviously on paper, Vegas says it's going to be a blowout 28 and a half. Uh, I don't think anyone is doubting who's going to win the ball game.

The question is how will they win it? Will it be one of those deals where they come out, take charge, live up to the billing, or will they get into the second half, still trying to put them away? Like Florida state did last week against the Lester opponent. What do you expect realistically Saturday? You know, if you look at Kalen DeBoer, he really needs a big win to get this season off to a start. And there's been a cloud that's been hanging over Alabama and it's called the Indiana cloud.

And that's correct. The best way to forget about the Indiana game is to, is, is to go out there and beat somebody that you're supposed to beat by the number that you're supposed to beat them. And I understand Vegas didn't get everything right. Uh, but go out here and beat this bunch, go out here and beat this bunch. And you know, you should be able to push these guys around, establish some balance, be a little creative on the offensive side of the football, but, uh, you know, line up and, and whip somebody that you're supposed to.

[1:45:18] And get some momentum for your quarterback and some confidence going to Kentucky, because regardless of what you think about Kentucky, it's still on the road. It's still the SEC. They've got a lot of new places. I think they played Youngstown state this weekend. So they're not going to have to show too much to be able to beat them. And I don't expect Alabama is going to show everything to East Carolina, but East Carolina is at least a team that you can respect. Uh, I think they won nine football games last year and they got a lot of new faces, but everybody's got new faces.

I mean, Alabama's got four new transfer portal, uh, well, the four new offensive linemen, uh, they took in what four portal guys, Ethan Fields is not going to be able to, but they'll provide some depth, but, um, everybody's got new faces. So we're excited about the game. I'm just not excited about the environment, but listen, we've waited 245 days to get here. We've got to watch it from a sauna. I guess we're going to have to watch it from a sauna. Uh, Ryan, uh, Jimmy Stein is on our show again tomorrow and I was, uh, James Moody and I were watching.

Our producer was watching, uh, their podcast earlier today, and he made the point Eastern Carolina of their 22 starters, 17 are juniors or seniors. They've got a 25 year old quarterback in Mitch Griffiths, uh, and Blake Harrell, uh, who came in and more or less resurrected the program. He's going 14 and five. Again, uh, I think a lot of people feel like Alabama is going to be able to meet, um, uh, the, the point spread, but this is really a veteran team with East, Eastern Carolina. Well, and, and, and what did they do?

They went out and got a guys that, uh, they felt like they could coach up and East Carolina lost a lot of players that went to bigger schools to your power for schools. But they also brought in a lot of guys too. So it's, this is the part that makes it so hard to predict what a team is going to be able to do. And, you know, used to, you would find money in Las Vegas in, in the betting odds. The first couple of weeks is where you could really take the handy, you know, the, the sports book, the handicapper had the advantage because it just seemed like they were still trying to find their odds.

I almost wonder if that swung back the other way because it, it makes it a challenge because it's just, you don't know these football teams that there, there's so many new faces. I mean, listen, well, you know, we, you know, we like to throw shots across the state, but we don't know what Auburn's going to be. And, and we, you know, this team can walk out and look like a, you know, a pot of gold, uh, uh, Saturday afternoon in Atlanta against Baylor, but they can also be the complete opposite.

It's just, it's almost until you get out there in that live fire, you just, I don't think, you know what these teams and these rankings that we do preseason rankings. It's like, I was asked to submit a, what is it? Top 16, super 16 football right association this year, a voter. Yes. I don't have the slightest idea. How am I supposed to? I mean, we don't have preseason games. It's all clicks. It's all clickbait up to this point. I mean, especially until you get through, not only the first game, the first two or three games, it's clickbait up to that point.

Yeah. But I mean, I mean, how am I supposed to vote? I've not went to all these different practices and trying to submit. Yeah. We'll have a better feel, but these preseason rankings don't mean anything at this point. Zero. Nothing. Not one thing. Take him. Take him with a grain of salt. On the other side of the ball, everybody's talking about the offense. Womack says, I've been waiting three years to put my system in. Said he talked with a guy named Savin' the offseason. I don't know why it took that long, but be that as it may, what do, what do we expect on the D side of the ball?

Well, I think that's, to me, I'm pretty confident about that group because there's just so much experience coming back. And, you know, he told us that the first time we had a media available. I know Chris Lowe wrote an article where he had talked with Kane just a couple days ago. But he told us that he had met with Savin' in the offseason, and there were some things. I mean, it was almost the exact same float, you know, that he gave us. But he said he sat down with him, and he said, you know, he really liked a lot of the things.

But, you know, listen, what kind of resource is it when you've got Nick Savin' a couple of feet down the street that you could say, hey, what do you think about this? Do you like the way that we're running this place or this place? Or do you like what we're trying to do here? You know, what is the true challenge of trying to find a way to, you know, line up this football team? And, I mean, he knows how to defend it. He knows, you know, how other people are going to try to attack, which may be the biggest advantage, is that he can show you how teams are going to go at you.

[1:50:27] And, you know, that's where I think that, you know, Nick Savin's still on a consultant basis in Tuscaloosa. He's still drawing a salary. That's probably money very well spent, that he can evaluate your, you know, your players. Your personnel. And, you know, if you're tipping too many things off or you're staying in this. But I think that's going to be the, and I did read where Chris had talked about the different elements of this defense, that they're going to be able to do some things that they've not been able to do.

And I think some of it is they're going to be able to put pressure on the quarterback and not have to bring as much blitz pressure. Now, that's always going to be a part of his defense. But they're going to be able to get pressure on the quarterback without having just to bring the heat every single down. Keep an eye on that because that gives you a lot of options if you're able to put pressure on those guys and not have to bring too much of the heat.

Absolutely. Tell us who's on the show today. Where can we get on line to listen? And there's a rumor floating around about you that you're going to have a suntan stand that sells ice. Any truth to that rumor outside of Bryant-Denny? I thought you were about to go with a suntan because I just looked down to see if I had a suntan. I'm telling you guys, I'm as white as I was March the 1st. I'm a guy that never changes. You know, my wife, she turns into the dark, dark, dark.

Not me. Not me. I'm as white as a polar bear. So I thought you were fixing to say I had a suntan. I was about to say, you got some bad information. But, you know, I'll tell you what. Just for the great fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide, find me in the press box and I'll have some SPF 70. That's the trick. SPF 70. Well, I mean, listen, I don't like it up there looking like a red lobster. So I use the 70 SPF. And if you'll do it, you won't get burned.

And I think it's 80 minutes on the water protection. You know, it's waterproof or water repellent for 80 minutes. That'll at least get you through the first, you know, quarter, maybe quarter and a half. Well, find a shade in the A.C. Have fun in there, Ryan. Quickly, where can we get your show this afternoon, buddy? Tide at 109.com. Tide at 109.com. Rodney Orr. We've got Josh from College Football Nerds. And we've also got Bruce Marshall coming up all this afternoon. Appreciate you guys so much. You guys have a great rest of your day.

You do the same. Find a shade, Ryan Fowler. The game tied 109 FM football tonight. Braves are off amongst them. Missouri gets the SEC rocking and rolling tonight. BB against Arkansas Pine Bluff. Look forward to seeing what Austin Simmons can do. And as you mentioned, no Braves tonight. Lord, they've got a four-game series beginning tomorrow in Philadelphia. Good luck with that. But Kevin Johnson hosting the Florence Falcon Show from Los Pizza tonight. Probably talking to Kenny Morris and some of the players. And that begins at 6. And you can hear it on 93.9, the score.

Yeah, that's great. That's going to take care of bids for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Peril Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two, for the Boom on Buck Show. Back here on Sports Radio 93.9, the score. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time.