Boomo Bugg Show 090426

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, finally, are you ready for some game? And Greg Sanky asks, is there a reason Lane rhymes with pain?

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Football Friday to you. Yes, thank you, God. It's finally here. And I would guess that 15 presidents and athletic directors in the Southeastern Conference would vote right now to kick LSU out of the league. But besides that, our five-day Labor Day football fee started last night. Harold Bugg with the last-second win by Colorado over Georgia Tech. Zach Pounders in the show's sports report previews week three of high school football. And Jimmy is here right now wearing one of the best Polo Bama shirts I have ever seen to give us his keys to a Bama win against East Carolina.

Jimmy Stein, I tell you what, I'm impressed he can afford one. He must be doing well there at Locked On, Bama, part of the Locked On Network. Jimmy, welcome in. Are you ready for some game, Mr. Polo? How are you? I guess so. I guess so. I appreciate it. I'll let my stylist know. There you go. There you go. There you go. Obviously, it is the cusp. The curtain comes up. And if you look at last night, Jimmy, I was just looking at some of the stuff before we get into the obvious about tomorrow's game in the preview.

A lot of folks say Alabama's running game has been down over the past few years, maybe because they missed out on some prime targets. You look last night, he was a running back on both sides. You had Haynes and Young, respected transfers from Alabama to Georgia Tech and Colorado. And neither one really sparkled. They were all that bag of chips coming out of high school, five stars, but they've never really developed. I know Haynes had a run there at Michigan, but a lot of folks said, yeah, but that basically got most of those yards on long runs, explosive plays.

But when the line shut down like he did at Bama, he was pretty inconsistent. The point I'm trying to make is what did we learn last night if why Alabama right now over the last three years has not had a running game heading into this year when they hope to have that problem fixed? Well, it's a good example of what I've said all along about the run game last year. There's so many who want to just point to one group and say, oh, it's the offensive line.

It's the offensive line coach. That's why you can't run the ball. Actually, I think it was about five things that you had to add them all up to be that bad. And one of them is the running back room just not being quite good enough. And not for lack of recruiting. You've got to remember, sure, Justice Haynes and Richard Young were highly rated, highly regarded. Alabama wasn't the only school recruiting those guys out of high school. They just haven't really panned out. Alabama has a couple backs on the roster that, to this point, haven't panned out.

That's just recruiting. That's just football. Every year in the NFL draft, guys are taken in the first, second, and third round that never turn into good NFL players. It's just football. But the good news is, with football, you never really know. And one of the running backs that I think all Alabama fans will be excited to see tomorrow is Treshawn Brown, a true freshman. We'll call him a three-star, really. But, frankly, he's probably a lower star than that. I mean, he had one big-time offer, if you want to call it that, and that's Boise State.

Alabama was the only power four offer. And he got off the bus producing. I'm asked all the time, is he one of the great stories of fall camp? I think the answer is no, because, really, he was a big story of spring practice. I mean, spring training, that's when he took off. Fall camp has just been a continuation of what Treshawn was doing this spring. And he's a three-star that nobody recruited. But, you know, you don't know until the games, but all indications are he's going to be a fantastic player at Alabama.

So you never really know, do you? Jimmy, I was looking at a compilation of all of the keys to win, and I want to get yours in a few minutes. But when you look at it, the number one thing that I think media and fans want to see, play with effort, intensity, physicality. Win the line of scrimmage. Run the football, which we've talked about, all nauseam. How will the offensive line look? Looks like Will Sanders now, at least for the moment. It'll have tackle with Lloyd, Delgotti, Michael Carroll, Jevin James.

[5:13] And there are about 20 people I could ask you about that we're looking forward to seeing. Tompkins, Terrence Green, Woodson, Josh Ford. You hit on Brown. Jimmy, talk about Jimmy Stein's keys to beating East Carolina tomorrow. Well, the key to winning the game is this. Look, you know, one thing recruiting rankings do get right, and that is Alabama's got a lot more good players than East Carolina. Alabama's favored by 28. It's an SEC team versus an American Athletic Conference team. Alabama's got a lot more good players. For Alabama to win the game tomorrow, what they have to do is not give it away.

If East Carolina pulled off some shocking upset tomorrow, it would be about Alabama's turnovers, penalties, special teams, goofs. I mean, it would take multiple large errors. Now, all of these things are possible. They certainly happen in football quite a bit. I mean, I don't know that East Carolina beating Alabama is almost no more surprising than 0-12 UMass beating Big Ten Rutgers last night. So, anything can happen. But for Alabama to lose to East Carolina, I think it would take a cavalcade of errors, including, but, you know, mostly highlighted by turnovers, excessive penalties.

Alabama was pretty good in that department last year, but was pretty bad in 2024 with the penalties. But I think turnovers and penalties is what would spark an East Carolina win. I think Rutgers gave DeBoer and his staff a gift last night because Rutgers came in the 29-and-a-half-point favorite, even more so than Alabama against East Carolina. So, you know that's going to be in the pregame fired-up speech. Jimmy Stein locked on Bama. Jimmy, obviously, how do we call it now? Is it called a depth chart again?

It is out. Any surprises that you noticed on it? I wouldn't say surprises so much as maybe what I wasn't expecting. Like, for instance, at the running back position on the depth chart, Daniel Hills listed the first team back, and then the next three guys were all listed as orders, meaning there's basically three guys that are the second running back. And, you know, Kevin Riley, Trey Sean Brown, we talked about earlier, and E.J. Crowell. Obviously, we're going to see all of those guys play. And there's no rule that requires Alabama to stick to this depth chart tomorrow in terms of the order in which we see players.

You know, there's no telling how down and distance on personnel packages and such. You know, so just because it says it on the depth chart today doesn't mean that's exactly how it will play out tomorrow. But I do anticipate seeing a lot of players, Kane Womack on defense, Ryan Grubb on offense. They like to play a lot of guys. It's going to be crazy hot, as we all know. Alabama's got a significant depth advantage over East Carolina. I think things are lined up to see a ton of guys tomorrow, way more players than are even on that depth chart.

Jimmy, did I see earlier this week on your podcast, I believe it was with Travis, that East Carolina, everybody knows they're an older team. You've got, I think, a 25-year-old quarterback, that 17 of 22 starters are juniors or seniors, or they're certainly a veteran team. Jimmy, your thoughts on East Carolina. Yeah, I think the number that we went over, and it was pretty shocking, five players are true juniors or younger in their starting 22. True juniors or younger. The other 17 starters are older than true juniors, meaning they are redshirt juniors, seniors, or fifth, and in some cases, sixth-year guys.

So it is a very old football team. And, you know, if you were playing a mid-major in basketball, and you're Alabama and Nados, and you're a big favorite, because, you know, you should beat this mid-major team. But when the mid-major shows up with five senior starters, you know, it caused like, hey, this is probably going to be a battle here. You know, football's no different. The very last time Alabama played, they played against an older football team in Indiana, and boy, I didn't go well. Now, of course, East Carolina doesn't have Indiana's talent level, and this isn't that situation.

But it should get everyone's attention that this is an older, mature football team that Alabama's playing. In many cases, you know, Keelan Russell's 19 years old. He's lining up against quite a few 22, 23, even 24-year-olds. Jimmy, obviously, the talk of the camp has been E.J. Crowell, and we all know the narrative by now. He's been missing from action for the most part until this past few days. He's back. You've got two schools of thought. One, make sure you bubble wrap him, because if he lives up to his expectations, he's going to be all that in a bag of chips.

[10:23] The other one's saying he is, I think, as some people have put him, bicycle boy, meaning he rides the injured list over there until he gets playing time. And a lot of Auburn fans are saying, what's the problem with that? They remember a guy named Bo Jackson, who didn't probably show up until breakfast on Saturday morning, and Pat Dye said, that's okay, Bo. Go run the ball, and he did. Where are you with the great debate over E.J. Crowell? To me, that's going to be an interesting story developing starting tomorrow.

Yeah, in terms of a guess, I think he'll be the fourth back that we see, in part because he's missed so much practice. I don't think, despite the fact they're going to be eager to look at E.J. Crowell, the other guys have practiced more. They've been available more. So I think we're going to likely see Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, and Treshawn Brown before we get to see E.J. Crowell. But I do think we're going to see Crowell. And I think they're going to be eager to see him.

And it is a big story that since E.J. Crowell enrolled at Alabama in January, there's been five scrimmages, three in the spring, two in the fall. He was healthy for none of them. He's 0 for 5 and being available for scrimmages. So that's got a lot of people wondering, is this guy just going to stay injured all the time? I don't think that's going to be the case at all. I would also argue that he has missed a lot of practice time in those scrimmages. He's probably pretty fresh.

These are some fresh legs. A lot of other players on the team have used their legs and been hit in this 100-degree heat for a month. E.J.'s probably a little more fresh than those guys, particularly with the fact he's likely to get, I don't know, just guessing, six or eight touches on Saturday. So he'll be fresh. My guess is he's going to be impressive because he's impressive physically. He's a big kid. He can run. He's really one of the better in-state high school running backs I've seen.

I mean, I would say that, you know, I'm not saying he's Carnell Williams, who's probably the best in-state running back of my cognitive life. But he's in that ballpark. I mean, so I think E.J. Crowell, we will see him briefly. Not many touches, but I expect him to be impressive because he always is. Jimmy, final score, Alabama and East Carolina, number one. And number two, where can we get online and get the best podcast for Bama sports, and particularly for the upcoming football season on the planet?

I appreciate that. I think Alabama's going to win 42-10. I think they'll get off to a quick start. I think Keelan Russell is going to have a monster debut in his first game, and he's going to put up some SEC Player of the Week numbers. I'm not going to predict he's going to win it, but I think he'll put up SEC Player of the Week-type numbers in his first start. And you can catch my show, Locked on Bama, six days a week with my co-host, Luke Robinson.

We're on YouTube or wherever you listen to your audio podcast. You can also see me twice a week on Cover Crimson with my co-host, Travis Reier, also on YouTube or wherever you get your audio podcast. Just a short sentence before you go, Jimmy. Tomorrow, H2O and plenty of AC, if you can find it, okay? That's good advice. Thank you, Jimmy. Safe weekend. Jimmy Stiles hanging up with us. Be sure there at Locked on Bama. He's been locked on Alabama over to the rest of the SEC for a long time.

The Vet, Doug Segrist, next. Stay with us. You got a craving they won't quit? Lost Pizza Company shows just dropped something new, and it's only around for a limited time. Say hello to our jalapeno mac and cheese bites. Crispy, cheesy, packed with a little kick, and serve with our house-made ranch for dipping. Paired with the fillet, y'all, our loaded fillet cheesesteak pizza that's quickly becoming a fan favorite. This is for a limited time only, so don't wait. Come dine in or call ahead for to-go. Lost Pizza Company shows, 201 North Seminary Street in Florence.

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Listen to the Crimson Tide Sports Network for Crimson Tide Rewind. Live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in the Stavie Hills, Monday nights at 6 p.m. Tune in and roll tide. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. How about this? Name one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writer Association. His book's called A Storm Came Up. And the only man rich enough to go ahead and afford his man cave from now all the way through January. Doug Segrist, welcome in. How are you?

I am in a UMass kind of mood today. Well put. UMass whooped some masks last night, did they not? It just shows you in 2026, Doug, all week we've been trying to get folks to give us their biggest upset. They said, ah, these lines are too big. Nobody's really going to pull off an upset this weekend. They may be right, but they did it on a Thursday night. I think Rutgers was 29 and a half. And the first thing I thought of was Tennessee fans are probably proud they passed on Shiano.

But it kind of sets its own for the weekend, does it not, in 2026 with all these folks coming in and going out? Yeah. Listen, I think so much can happen now. It's more unpredictable than ever before. When we look at, you know, we used to look at five stars. Now we look kind of at that combo and who's paying what. Yep. Bottom line, you've got to have chemistry on these teams. And you can have the best roster that money can buy. They may be all prima donnas.

That's right. They're me's, not we's. Yeah. Yeah. And then you get a UMass team that hadn't won since, uh, uh, depression. Yeah. You know, they go into a big 10 house and this is supposed to be a much improved Rutgers team. Right? Yeah. Right. So it was, it was phenomenal. So talk to us, Doug, obviously UMass, they were a 29 and a half point dog last night. East Carolina comes in Tuscaloosa. They're only 28 and a half point underdogs. Uh, to me, we were joking earlier in a way Rutgers gave the board and his staff a gift last night.

[20:44] They're not. No, absolutely. You know, if you, if you think you're losing your team and you go back to last year when they came, come out flat against Florida state, this should get their attention. And the thing is nationally, everybody's going, well, this is a cream puff. This is not a cream puff. I mean, this is a team that went nine and four, went to a bowl game. Historically, they've been good, but they just don't get the national respect. So as a coach, you know, all that, but it's hard to convince your team.

And now you've, you've got the evidence right in front of you. Doug Auburn's got a rematch with Baylor. They ran for 300 yards last year in Waco. This time it's in Atlanta. Big NIL game. The Tigers, a seven point favorite. DJ Langway, who played at Florida last year, could really have a major impact in this game if he quits throwing the ball to the opponent. He's had 23 interceptions the last two years. Baylor's had a lot of changes, got a new offensive and defensive coordinator. Big year for Dave Aranda, who was the former LSU defensive coordinator.

Doug, a lot of questions about Auburn, the offensive line. But Byron Brown is a very solid quarterback. Goldich is a good quarterback. I think this is a similar game. I think Auburn runs for 300 yards again in Atlanta, which is a home game for Auburn, and they win by two touchdowns. I think they've got a chance. Now, the asterisk is Lagway because everything that's coming out of Baylor camp is that this is the guy that Florida expected and never materials because of injuries. He's basically played with shoulder injury the last two years.

He has talked about how this offense makes so much sense to him. Everybody's talking about what a great fit he is. I mean, you know, let's not get carried away, but the Baylor people are saying he's the best fit since who? RG3. You know, so we'll see if that, but remember, I mean, Florida basically kept Billy Napier around because Lagway was supposed to be that good. So we'll see. I think, listen, I think Auburn, top to bottom, is the better team. You got a new quarterback, but he's a veteran quarterback.

You also got kind of the interior of that offensive line that's got to protect him. They've all played together before. So I expect Auburn to pull away. Doug, what's your take on what's going on with college football now? Isn't it interesting that you've got, what, 15 guys in the SEC saying, come on, LSU, be real. Then you've got LSU being LSU. I think they're from Louisiana. And we joked earlier about laying rhymes with the word pain. At the end of the day, what's going to happen here, and how is this going to impact college football going forward?

I think once the federal lawsuit, and you don't have any Homer judges involved anymore, this is going to squash pretty quickly. But I think the threat is legit. You'd threaten to kick them out of the conference. I mean, these rules were established, and some of it has happened since the Betty Aco stuff to make sure this doesn't happen again. And listen, Alabama's culpable in, you know, the fact that we're even thinking along these lines. But LSU has a leadership problem. You know, you get rid of the AD who is well-respected because he wouldn't bring back Will Wade.

Then you bring back Will Wade. You know, Kim Mulkey is an incredible coach, but you've basically got a Ukraine player to really count on, and then you don't tell her you're bringing in a Russian. And, oh, I didn't understand, you know, that these countries don't get along. Okay, well, welcome to 2026. And then, of course, Kiffin, you know, after, I mean, it all starts with Jeff Landry, the governor. He wants to be the next kingfish. I'm surprised he's not writing a new fight song for LSU like Huey Long did and building a bridge to get to the stadium.

I mean, what did he say when all this started going down with Brian Keller? He talked about the, you know, the financial incompetence and how they're spending too much money. And now they've turned this, I don't know if they're trying to make profit for the state or what, but, I mean, he's overseeing everything, and it's just not a good look. Mm-hmm. Boy, I'll tell you what, Doug is bringing it today. Keep on going. The only upset that I look at when I look at the slate of dates for SEC teams, Ole Miss is the 6.5-point favorite over Louisville in Nashville.

[25:45] Louisville is a good team. Brom is a quarterback whisperer. They brought in Kine Holtz, the backup at Ohio State. Isaac Brown, the Brown boys, run the ball pretty well, but they got Shambliss, Lacey, and a lot of other pretty good dudes, too. Your thoughts, does Ole Miss win this game in cover? I think they win, but I think you're exactly right that they are ripe for an upset. And the reason is we've never gone in a season where Ole Miss is coming off a college football playoff appearance, two postseason wins, and with expectations, oops, they do it again.

You know, sorry, Brittany. You know, the idea is that they can be even better this year with an interim coach who's, you know, he's not your typical rookie because he got them through some pretty tough times. So I think the expectations, again, you know, this is something Ole Miss hasn't handled since the Johnny Vaught era. So I just don't know what the mindset is. Now, I think Pete Golding and his staff have been pretty down to earth, but you just don't know how that translates. And listen, Louisville, I would put them second best favorite or third best favorite at worst in the ACC.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Listen, we've got to run to an update for U.S. Open Tennis. Get the TV tuned up. Get the snacks. Have a great four, actually five days. Let's do this again real soon, my friend. I look forward to it. Absolutely. The one, the only, Doug Segrist checking in from Birmingham. What do you say we go to New York City and get the latest verdict from the courts called the U.S. Open. You're on Sports Radio 93.9, the score. 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. Western One Sports presents a special tennis update sponsored by Previgin. Previgin made for your brain. Jessica Papagula recovered from a brutal start to force a third set against Canadian Leila Fernandez. Papagula's up 2-1. They're on serve in the third. After that at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Carlos Alcaraz will take on China's Wee Bing Wu.

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In college football action tomorrow, 13th ranked Alabama's at home as they host East Carolina. The Auburn Tigers head to Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They'll take on Baylor in the Aflac kickoff. Tune in tonight 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. With Fidelity Wealth Management, a dedicated advisor gets to know you and your goals to build a comprehensive plan to help grow and protect your wealth. Backed by a team of specialists, they'll analyze all your accounts, even the ones they don't manage, to keep an eye on taxes and provide proactive portfolio insights that can help you unlock your wealth's full potential.

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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. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Let's come back in. He is the man of the Peachtree State, Bill Shanks, host of the Bill Shanks Show on 93.1 FM in Macon, online at thesuperstations.com, and on the tube at 41NBC.

Bill, welcome in. How are you? I'm good. Good afternoon. How are you? Hey, Bill. Man, you've got to be torn. You've got the dogs bringing up the curtain this weekend against one of the former great names set out of college. Jefferson Street, Gillum, Joe Gillum's team, Tennessee State coming into town. And then the Braves with a pretty big date themselves for the Philadelphia Fields. You've got a lot on your plate this weekend, Bill. I do. It's a great weekend. I love the, of course, first week in the football season and big series for the Bravos.

So, yep, it's a fun time of the year for sure. Let's talk a little bit about the Braves first because, let's face it, I mean, come on. Let's be real about the ballgame this weekend. You're going to see kind of who can and who can answer the bill for the football team. It's a nice warm-up act. But let's face it, this is make or break time if the Braves are going to lock down that title in the East. Your thoughts about where this team is coming into an extremely important series of the Fields.

[36:15] Well, they've got four games. The Phillies are up by four, so you don't want to get swept, of course. You have, you know, you have a lot to do here. You've got to face four very good pitchers. They're four best pitchers for the Phillies. He's one of the best rotations in the sport. You know, you really only have one advantage. That's tonight with Chris Sale. But, heck, they've got Chris for Sanchez pitching, and he's been excellent. Yeah, under three with the ERA. Yeah, he's 16-3, so he's done very, very well.

And so, it's going to be a challenge for the hitters. That's the thing. I mean, I'm not worried about the pitchers. The pitching has been fine for this team. I'm worried about – it's going to be curious, and I'm curious to see what the hitters will do against these good pitchers because the Phillies – look, the Phillies are going to have that going into the series. Let's either take three or four or sweep these guys and get, you know, close. And, you know, I would think they would say, let's take three or four, get two wins off the thing, and then come go to Atlanta and win two or three, get another one, and then we're a game back.

And Atlanta's got Tampa Bay at home this week after the series in Philadelphia, and Houston is the opponent for the Phillies, so they've still got to take care of business. So, it's going to be a real tough weekend for Atlanta, no question. That's what I was going to ask you. Can they hit with runners in scoring position? Can they manufacture runs? Again, we know this team's been built on hitting the three-run homer, which they did a good job of that the other day. But, once again, when you get into a postseason series played during the regular season, you've got to hit with runners in scoring position.

You've got to be aggressive. Can they do that? I mean, they're 5-1 this year with the Phillies, but they've got a different manager now than they did early in the season. I agree with you. I think the starting pitching could stalemate itself. The bullpen's got to come into play, but they've got to score some runs. Yeah, we haven't seen this Phillies team. When the crazy Phillies played the last time, Rob Thompson was still a manager. We've not seen them, led by Don Mattingly, and he's been excellent.

They were 9-19 under Rob Thompson, 10 games under .500, and they've been like 30 games over .500 with Donnie Baseball. So, it's been a very good bounce back for the Phillies. And they're going to want to… I mean, I'm telling you, to me, that's their mindset. You know, we've got to take three or four at home, and two or three in Atlanta is going to be in this thing, and, you know, I mean, they know they're in the playoffs because they've got a large lead in the wild card. You know, they're over Chicago now.

They've got the best wild card record there, so they don't have to worry about making the playoffs or not. They're going to do that, but they're going to win the division. I mean, I don't blame them. I mean, look, you know, a lot can happen in 22 games. Rays have shown that over the years. You know, they were 4-13 in a 17-game stretch in late June, and about running their great start they had. So, you've got to take every single game very seriously, and I'm sure they will.

And the Fields have a history of being on the other side of that equation. This goes way back to the 64 season. The Fields had a six-game lead over the Cardinals in the final week, and guess what? They lost the six-game lead in the final week. So, of course, there's a different structure back then as far as making the postseason, but still, you can melt down the stretch, so go Braves. Meanwhile, the Dogs, they take the lid off against State, Tennessee State. Not going to find out a whole lot as far as wins and losses, but over here, Bill, a lot of Alabama fans waiting to see E.J. Crowell and some of these freshman phenoms coming out of high school and seeing how they perform.

Where do you start as far as young Dogs? Names that we don't know now over here that we may be talking about once the season gets rocking and rolling. Well, they've got a couple of pass catchers who are going to be very important to this team, I think. One is Caden Frothro, who came out of high school as a tight end because of the receiver. I had one of my Georgia guests say that he believes Caden Frothro should be on the field 80% of the time this year, which is a heck of a recommendation for a true freshman to be able to get that many snaps, that's for sure.

But he's big, he can catch, he can block, he's, you know, you don't want to compare anybody to Brock Bowers, but they really have high hopes for this kid and still good about his potential. Craig Dandridge is a wide receiver that I think is going to be involved in this. He's got an offensive lineman who's a guard who's going to be starting from day one, not out of necessity, but because he's actually the Kai Hilton, who is going to be the starting guard, one of the starting guards, and he's going to be very good.

He's a very good player. On defense, they've got this kid from Virginia named Valdine Sone, S-O-N-E, and he is, you know, I mean, look, Georgia is really deep, and everybody talks about, well, you can't be deep anymore, and maybe this is the last Georgia deep team they've got, but I'm telling you, this is an abundance of riches, and it's because Kirby Smith, there are good players on this team, and we looked at a couple of them the other day, we're like, how is this kid going to get snaps?

[41:40] And he came back to get snaps, but we've got a kid from middle Georgia here, who played really well late last year on throw-down opportunities, and his name is Zaden Walkery from Sly County. Kid can really play, and I was worried about him leaving after last year, but he stayed, and he's third string, and I'm like, he'd probably be first string on most or not all of the other team that beats the SEC, he's third team for Georgia, so it's kind of crazy what they have, but the Sone kid could be very good, Tyreek Green, a defensive back, I mean, they've got some freshmen that will definitely contribute.

We talked about this yesterday on your award-winning show, the opening weekend for SEC leaves a little bit to the imagination. Quite frankly, the SEC could go 15-1 this weekend. And Missouri looked good last night, Austin Simmons, as they beat Arkansas Pine Bluff 54-14. Certainly, the Omin's Louisville game in Nashville is intriguing. Will Auburn come out in Atlanta with Baylor here, and everybody and his uncle, who doesn't cheer for LSU, won't see Clemson upset the Tigers. With that circus that's been going on, your thoughts about the week one of the SEC slate?

Well, of course, most of them are cast for clunker games, and to be honest with you, I want to drag Greg Sanky into court for that right there, because I think you've got to not allow cast for clunker games. But look, I think they're very interesting games. I think that Ole Miss game is interesting. They better be careful. I think, I mean, they should win, but they've got to be careful. I think Auburn ought to win their game tomorrow. I mean, I just, I can't imagine.

I mean, they say Baylor's down, and so I think Auburn will be okay. Yeah, I mean, there's some pretty decent games, and the LSU-Clemson game, I mean, what a d*** circus. Oh, really? I'm telling you, man. It'd be a circus if all of it wasn't going on because of Lane Kiffin and Dabo Swinney, two peas for the pod, but nonetheless, you know, it's going to be a circus, especially if that tight end right rolls out there and starts playing for the Tigers. It's going to be, when did he, well, I want to know when did Daquan Wright, what, did he go to class today before he's going to play tomorrow for LSU?

Class action, baby. You can guess. You can guess. You know the answer to that. It's a joke. All right, listen, try to stay cool. I know it's going to be 72 degrees with low humidity between the hedges tomorrow. I'm guessing you're wearing a, are you wearing shorts or pants tomorrow? Well, I was on the radio show in Athens yesterday, and I said, I hope the SID guys are listening, and I said, can I wear shorts to the press box on Saturday? I hadn't heard from him, so I guess that's a no, but yeah, it's going to be brutal.

It's going to be like 100 degrees, 98, something like that, at kickoff at 3 o'clock, so I can't give my tickets away. I got tickets, and I just talked to somebody else, and I can't give my tickets away either. I know. You old people, you know, I ain't going to go to a d*** game in the middle of the day, and it's 100 degrees outside. All right, where can we get online, make predictions about this weekend and how bad Alabama is going to beat Georgia October the 10th? TheSuperstations.com, TheSuperstations.com.

Bill, stay cool over there as best you can, and it could be like Brett. He's going to wear camouflage shorts to the Alabama game tomorrow, so we'll see your pictures, okay? Just don't wear jean shorts. Oh, man. Save travels, Bill, and enjoy, okay? All right, guys. Thank you. See you, bud. Bill Shanks, hooking up with us at TheSuperstations.com. How about those Falcons flying high? KJ with the latest snacks here on the Boom on Bug Show. Stay with us. It doesn't matter if you're running grills at the park, playing pickup on a Saturday, or sinking the final putt.

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It wouldn't be game day without loaded nachos with jalapenos and buckets of cold beer. Also, every Saturday, enjoy $3.00 Mimosas and $5.00 Bloody Marys from 11 to 3. And remember, Mugshots is the U&A on the Road watch party place. Happy hour is Monday through Friday, 2 to 6, at Mugshots Grill & Bar. Great food, cold drinks, and your game day headquarters in historic downtown Florence. T-Mobile has an exclusive bundle for customers 55 and up. I'm Sarah Bull. Yeah, I'm Frank Bull. A reliable network is key for us. And with T-Mobile, it's been wonderful.

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Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. Are you familiar with The Simpsons Show? And my little 12-year-old nephew, you remind him of Mr. Burns. Excellent. All fun gone. Weekdays at 3 Eastern on the ESPN app and the SEC Network. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Welcome back in. Word is he is going to be busy tonight. He's KJ, Kevin Johnson, getting ready for the call of the Florence High Falcons.

Kevin, welcome in. Are you ready for the Iron Bowl and the Shoals tonight? How are you? I'm doing well. I think about Wednesday I was ready for Friday night at 7 p.m. It's been a long week. A lot of work to do for broadcasters, for coaches, for players. I think everybody involved in this game could not wait for tonight to get here. Let's talk about the Falcons' flight to this game tonight. The start. Kevin, you've got a better seat than us. I can't imagine things falling in place better for the Falcons so far.

Well, the month of August was really good. Two games and two games. And, you know, you play two opponents that, one, one team with a great tradition like Pinson Valley, but they're not the Pinson Valley of years past. They're rebuilding some. But then you play Jasper team at home, and, again, you're playing some really good talent there. And, again, you come out and take control of the game. So you've got to feel pretty good that your team has the tools to do it. That doesn't always translate to every Friday night.

But so far, so good for Kenny Marson and his Falcons. I know they have to feel pretty good being in the catbird seat 2-0. You know, when you run for 300 yards, four turnovers, pretty good chance you're going to win, which Florence did, 50-21. Who are some players who caught your eye? Well, you know, Brett, you mentioned the stats. Let's make sure we mention it. I think the Florence defense is averaging a touchdown a game right now. That's about right. And they have. They've scooped and scored twice and got a safety and really almost had a third one.

So they have really turned it up, and that defense is the key. And I would say, you know, Jaden Martinez is a kid that we don't hear about a lot, but he and Bo Burski are the outside linebackers. Those two have really stood out to me on the outside, doing a really good job of just pinching everything in, making plays. Bo Burski caused the fumble on the quarterback last week, and it was Martinez that scooped it and took it all the way back to the two-yard line.

So those two guys have been outstanding. And then on the inside, I think Chase Winkles and Jaden Irons, the inside linebackers, those two have been outstanding. We hear a lot about the defensive line, but I think those four linebackers have really been really good about getting to the ball and tackling. That's a lost start in high school football. It's a lost start in all of football, tackling. And these guys tackled the football very well. And so that's been impressive to me. I think that's something that really stands out to me.

And then on the other side, you've got three running backs that I cannot sing their praises enough. And, you know, it doesn't happen with an offensive line that's been great. But just to be honest about Elijah Hines and Carson Johnson and Kayon Williams have been quite impressive early on. And usually a high school may have a great outstanding back and a good second back to come in. And then that third back is a drop-off. For the Falcons, there's not a drop-off between one and three. And honestly, I don't know if there's a starter.

[52:47] Any of the three could start at any time. So each of them, I balanced in carries. I think last week, one got 12 carries, one 11, and one 10. So that gives you an idea of how good they are. And the good thing about this Falcons run game so far is they have found the end zone a lot. But tonight, it's a whole different animal. I guarantee you that. When you go to multiple shows, you're about to face one of the best defenses around. Let's talk about that, KJ.

I apologize there. Obviously, this is a rivalry game. They cross the river. Obviously, Muscle Shoals, a brand-new coaching staff for the first time in almost two decades. They come in 0-1, but don't let that fool you. They lose to probably the top brand of the entire state, Hoover. Not only that, they had last week off, so they got an extra week of preparation. So talk to us about the X's and the O's coming in tonight against Muscle Shoals. Well, you said five words that I've heard more than any this week.

Don't let that fool you. That is exactly what has been said all week long because that Muscle Shoals team just played the best program in the state of Alabama in the past 20 years and went toe-to-toe with them. That's all you've got to know. And they have, you know, yes, there's a transition in coaching, and yet there's not a transition in coaching. It's what Scott Basin has built. He's turned it over to Coach Darden. Coach Darden is a fabulous coach. I'm telling you, this is going to be a knock-down, drag-out, four-quarter battle, no doubt about it.

There's still Muscle Shoals. There's still as good. There's still the top of the heap. And it's going to be a great game. It's what high school football is supposed to be like. I think the X's and O's, if you want to know, I think it's in the trenches. The side of the teams that win the trenches, we hear that often, but whichever team can control that line of scrimmage wins the game tonight. And obviously, the other thing is you've got to take care of the football.

Muscle Shoals is great at taking away the football. And another little secret about Muscle Shoals is always in the back of my line. They are one of the best teams at blocking punts in the state of Alabama. And a special teams play can turn a game in a heartbeat. So, I think those three things, line of scrimmage, taking care of the football, and win the special teams. If you do that, I think you've got a chance to win either side. Tell us about pre-game, kickoff, and then an abbreviated coach's breakfast on Saturday morning.

Well, we'll do a pre-game meal at Lost Pizza tonight, which is nice. They are a sponsor for our meals on home games, and they'll take care of us tonight as well. And we'll be on the air for the TNT fireworks pre-game at 6, kickoff at 7. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson, Jeffrey Jones, John McDaniel, always bringing the call. A big shout-out to my friend Tim Underwood over at Muscle Shoals, who has been very hospitable, getting everything set up for us to be there. So, it's going to be a fun game.

And it's what high school football is supposed to be like. They're already saying that they're probably going to have to turn people away tonight. Already talking about that. Because it's going to be such a crowd. So, it's going to be one of the great high school football out in the spares. I can't wait to get there. If you can't get there, listen in on 93.9 The Score. Literally a hot time in the old town tonight. KJ, I have another great call, you and the guys. And thanks so much for your time today.

Thank you, guys. And go Falcons. Thank you, bud. KJ, Kevin Johnson, getting ready for the call for the Florence High Muscle Shoals game. Later on tonight, you're at 93.9 The Score. But you don't have to wait that long to find out what's going on across the country this weekend. Mike Huganen and more straight ahead here on the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. President Trump has chosen an Alabama native to become the next U.S. Secretary of the Army. This comes on the heels of Dan Driscoll suddenly resigning earlier this week from that position, reportedly due to the tension occurring between him and the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Now the president has chosen Adam Tell to become the acting U.S. Secretary of the Army. Tell has been in the position of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. President Trump called Tell a great patriot who is respected by all. He's a native of Northport who has worked for Tennessee Senator Bill Haggerty and Mississippi Senator Tad Cochran before he assumed the role within the Army of Civil Works back in 2025. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Some of the greatest blessings is just having the 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. An investigation is underway in Mobile County after a pedestrian was struck by a freight train at a crossing in Irvington.

An employee at a nearby gas station told WKRG News that two men who appeared to be under the influence of a substance were seen jumping between the tracks. The train crash delayed the Amtrak Mardi Gras service due to the fact that it uses the same tracks. A weapons detection system that employs artificial intelligence has now been launched at Calera High School for its football games. The AI weapons detector will be used as football fans enter the stadium. This past July, the Calera City Council approved this new security method.

[58:10] I'm Andrea Tyson. 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. Hey everybody, Bill King, Bill King Show. Listen to me, 9 until noon, 93.9, The Score. Monday through Friday as we talk college football like nobody else does. Because he listens in Florence. Our show's, Charlie, our show's on down there. Bill King Show, Monday through Friday, 9 until noon. Every league, every big topic is covered. 93.9, The Score.

The focus is not on them to repeat in the way it has been in years past. Because we're all looking at the Rams now. They're the villains of the NFL. They are loaded with stars. Everyone, if you're not a Rams fan, wants them to fail. And we're all going to be focused on them. And that allows Seattle, I think, some grace here that most Super Bowl champs don't get. On Sportsmanlike. Weekday mornings starting at 6 Eastern. On ESPN Radio and on ESPN2. 93.9, The Score weather. Today, a 20% chance of afternoon showers.

Sunny and hot with a high around 100. Heat index values as high as 105. A heat advisory is in effect. Tonight, mostly clear with a low near 75. Tomorrow, sunny and hot with a high around 100. Tomorrow night, mostly clear with a low near 75. And for your Sunday, sunny and hot with a high around 100. Your weather from 93.9, The Score. Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tide.

Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score. Welcome back in. I want to do a little bit more Bug Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And for Mike Huganen taking time out of his busy schedule there. It's National College Football Slash Basketball Analyst. Mike, welcome in. Are you ready for week one of college football? Oh, definitely. Last night, two interesting games involving Power 4 schools. We got a couple ag games today.

And then tomorrow, obviously, the season truly kicks off. So, it is a little bit disappointing that there is not a few more marquee games. Mike, obviously, we were saying earlier, the UMass-Ruckers game with me was very interesting because I think Rutgers came in like 29.5 point favorite. It is 20-26. I go back, and I'm not trying to get carried away here, but the principles I'm trying to establish. In the modern era, can you sit here and basically say, well, this is UMass and Rutgers. It's going to go 29.5.

We saw Indiana last year. Where are we as far as college football now? And I've always said, wait until about three games in any time, especially in this modern era, until you see these rosters starting to gel. I think that's, to an extent, that's true. At the same time, this is a Big Ten school playing at home. Two guys expected to go in the first 50 picks of the draft playing against a UMass team that had lost 16 in a row and had not beaten a power conference foe in 1978.

So, that, I think, it was the first Thursday of the season, but it's going to end up being, I still think, one of the five most unreal upsets of the year. Even if Rutgers is horrible, you don't lose a home to UMass. UMass' home to UMass last night was playing NAIA ball last year, and he rumbled through a Big Ten defense. So, that's just an embarrassing loss. Mike, very interesting game tomorrow. Both teams kind of reformed themselves, metamorphosis. Auburn, the seven-point favorite over Baylor in Atlanta.

This is a big NIL game. Auburn with Golesh brought a lot of players, brought a lot of coaches. Byron Brown, I think, is a very good quarterback. They're going to run the ball. They ran for 300 yards last year, and Baylor in Waco and won that game. D.J. Lagway is a real wild card here. Will he improve 23 interceptions in two years? Would the Baylor defense be better? They allowed nearly 200 yards rushing. Auburn's seven-point favorite in Atlanta. Do they win in cover? Yeah, I think so. Dave O'Reilly is counting on D.J. Lagway to save his job.

[1:03:21] I'm not sure that's a terrible revelation to be in. You mentioned Byron Brown, led the nation last year in total offense. I believe 10 USF guys, 10 USF offensive players came with him. Worth noting, though, in two games against power four schools last year, Brown totaled 529 yards total. That was about 90 yards per game, fewer than he normally averaged. That said, Baylor, I don't think, is very good. Their defense was really bad last year. I don't know how much it has improved in one offseason. Goalish certainly is talking big.

Yeah, I think his initial game with Auburn is going to be quite successful. But I think a lot of that has to do with the opponent. I just don't think Baylor is very good. And let's face it, it's an Auburn home game. I know they call it neutral, but come on. If you ever been to the Dome, Auburn basically is right down the interstate. So that's basically a home game. Mike, we know what Vegas is saying about Bama's date with East Carolina. What's Mike Hugan saying about it?

Yeah, I think if I'm an Alabama fan, I'm looking at two things. One, how Keelan Russell, how calm and in control he looks. And secondly, I'm thinking if we don't run the ball effectively on East Carolina, that is not a good sign. East Carolina, they had a solid year last year. They lost a bunch of dudes to the portal. You know, that's the life of a group of six school now. But, yeah, I don't think Alabama is going to be sweating at all. Well, the heat is going to bother them.

But this is not a game I think that they should worry about. But, again, I think there's two aspects to look at. How well does Russell play? How in control does he look? And you've got to think that after two years of sort of inoffensive rushing attacks, Alabama wants to run the ball better this fall. Mike, Notre Dame and Wisconsin is kind of an intriguing game. When you look at it on paper, Notre Dame should win and cover the 20-and-a-half-point spread. But, once again, you've got to play the game.

I hear that Wisconsin is supposedly better. I heard that last year. They're going to be more physical. Colton Joseph is their quarterback. But, C.J. Carr is really good. They're secondary intercepted. 21 passes last year. But, can Wisconsin keep this game a little closer and be more competitive? Yeah, I think so. Wisconsin's defense last year, last half of the season, played extremely well. They went with sort of a youth movement. It paid off. And Wisconsin has finally spent some money in the portal. Colton Joseph, you mentioned him, played against Indiana.

Indiana last year, had a big game, ran for more than 100 yards. He is a legit quarterback. The question I have is about Wisconsin. Okay, you spent money. You got a quarterback. Do you have any receivers and how good your running game is going to be? I think the Wisconsin defense will do its part. Wisconsin's not going to win, but I think there is some intrigue about Notre Dame. You mentioned C.J. Carr. Well, C.J. Carr last year handed off a lot. He had two first-round running backs behind him.

And he was able to focus on those guys. Passing game opens up. Okay, let's see how well Notre Dame runs the ball this year. Sort of a revamped offensive line. New running backs. I'm still not 100% convinced that the Notre Dame wide receiver core is all that good. Let's see what C.J. Carr does without two first-round running backs. Again, I think Notre Dame wins, but that is a large spread. I think it's 21-and-a-half. I would take Wisconsin in the points. Great insight, Mike. As always, let's go from 21-and-a-half to 22-and-a-half.

USC tonight, matter of fact, taking on Fresno State. A lot of folks make this a trendy pick for an upset. Your thoughts about tonight's showdown with USC and Fresno State. Yeah, I don't think. Fresno State's always a pretty solid program. I think it helps that USC has a game under its belt. You look at the score from last week, you're like, oh, my God. USC gave up 27 points to San Jose. Well, I think USC led 35-0. They did. Right. They just led 28-0. So I'm not worried about the USC defense that much.

Jaden Maiava looked quite good. He did. The receiving core looks good as well. It's been rebuilt quickly. They spent a lot of money on their freshman class. It's paid off. The running game is solid. I think the big thing for USC, Maiava and Lincoln Riley are extremely comfortable with each other. And every time Riley has a quarterback he's comfortable with, he puts up a boatload of yards and points. Fresno State does not have the firepower to hang with USC. I think they can make things a little bit more difficult for SC than San Jose State did.

[1:08:42] But I don't think this game is going to be that close in the fourth quarter. Mike, Labor Day night, SMU is a three-point favorite over Florida State. Kevin Jennings is a very talented quarterback if he'd play with a little bit more consistency. He does have, I think, a better running game this year. But Florida State holds on last Saturday night to beat New Mexico State. The New Mexico State quarterback shredded the Florida State secondary. In fact, they dropped a touchdown in the end zone. Bama plays Florida State in a couple weeks.

Mike, does SMU win and cover the three? Yeah, I think so. FSU, this game went into the fourth quarter last week. FSU, New Mexico State, and it wasn't decided. And that's an example of how far FSU has fallen. They had trouble along the line of scrimmage with New Mexico State. Ashton Daniels, the former Auburn quarterback, is not a good passer. FSU has really good running backs. They have a solid receiving core. They have two new linebackers who are pretty good. The rest of the team is not good.

You mentioned SMU. Kevin Jennings, if he has time to throw, I think will torch the FSU secondary. They brought in Kendrick Raphael, a transfer. He is a high-level running back. And one guy to watch for sure is Randy Pittman, the SMU tight end. He is an FSU transfer who began his career at UCF, transferred with Gus Malzahn to FSU. I think Pittman could have a – Pittman conceivably could feast against FSU's linebackers who are not good in coverage. So, I think that – I've seen – I think the Athletic picked FSU to win, and I'm wondering why.

SMU, supposedly the second or third best team in the ACC, I think they are that on paper. To me, FSU is one of the five worst teams in the ACC on paper. I think Mike Norvell leaves this game even more on the hot seat than the audience. You're amazing, Mike. You've got tremendous memory, though, all these rosters. Let's talk about the obvious game. Clemson and LSU, we know the back story this week. Yesterday during the show, a federal judge was dropping hints. Maybe the SEC and Greg Sankey was in the lead on the scoreboard.

And, of course, last night we found out the local judge said, not so fast, my friend. I like my boy down the road here in Baton Rouge. Where do you start breaking this down? The off-the-field issues and what it means for college football and where it's going to ultimately wind up. And, oh, by the way, the X's and O's between Clemson and LSU. Yeah, I think that the most interesting thing to me about this game, I don't think a lot of college football fans like Dabo Sweet.

But I think everybody in the world other than hardcore LSU fans are calling for that. Craig, right, right. I don't think there's a more, you know, Texas Tech a couple months ago was extremely hated. How can you play a quarterback who gambled on his own team? Oh, my God. Yeah. At least he's not playing. And now you've got LSU. You've got the governor and the attorney general weighing in on how great it is. The LSU might help these three downtrodden players. The kingfish. The kingfish. You're right.

Huey Long reincarnated. It is. Jeff Landry is, well, let's not go there. But this would be understandable to me in some respects if these three players were hardcore stars. They're not. And I don't know why LSU and Kiffin feel the need to sort of blur the lines here. Two of these dudes were in NFL camps three weeks ago. In what world should these guys be allowed to play college football in? And, you know, maybe LSU will come to its senses like Texas Tech did and say this is not worth it.

If they do play them, I think there's going to be repercussions down the line. I think it's obvious that Sankey's kicked. I think it's obvious that the SEC presidents are kicked. And as bad as Kiffin is, the FSU basketball team with Will Wade, their entire roster is made up to play pro ball overseas or elsewhere in the United States. So, this is the black hat school of all black hat schools. And the fact that Kiffin is the way he is, again, Davo Sweeney is a sympathetic figure.

[1:13:49] And it takes a heck of a lot to make that happen. And Lane Kiffin has made it happen. Absolutely. Listen, have a great weekend. It is just hot here as it is in Orlando. Maybe a tad more. But with football on the doorstep, it makes us feel a little bit cooler. Mike, have a great weekend, buddy. Let's do this again next Friday. Excellent. Thanks, guys. Have an enjoyable weekend. Thank you, bud. You too. And a happy Labor Day, by the way. Back to you, Mike, you're going to check it in from Orlando, National College football slash basketball analyst.

Coming up, you mentioned, go ahead and get plenty of water and fluids and a ticket to a high school game near you tonight in the show. Zach Pounder is the latest next day with us. Hello, Scholes. It's Elmer Pierce from Garner Pierce Autos. Are you tired of being told it will take two weeks to service your vehicle or even to look at it to tell you what's wrong with it? Are you tired of being told that it's going to be $200 to $300 an hour for labor? At Garner Pierce Autos, we have four full-time certified and trained technicians that have over 75 years of automotive service experience.

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Calls for the four-man scramble is $400 per team, and breakfast, lunch, and mulligans are included. It's a 9 a.m. shotgun start with prizes for longest drive, closest to pin, hole-in-one, and first through third place teams. Call 256-760-1581 for more information or to register. That's the Women Life and Feeding America Fight Hunger charity golf tournament from Blackberry Trail Golf Course, Monday, October 12th. From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today. It's a daily update on Bama sports, and it's brought to you by Vector Security Champions Lane, the best pregame fan fest in college football.

For more information, visit championslane.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. Here are thoughts from Alabama defensive lineman, Devin Tompkins. Let me tell you, like, Coach Clem, I was at SC with Coach Clem last year, so I already had the, you know, you know, his personality is one of a kind, so I like to talk mess to him as well. Coach Grubb, energetic guy, too. Coach Womack, the same. And that's something that I like about, you know, being at Alabama. I didn't have, you know, some of the presence wasn't felt some of the time when I was at the previous school.

But, you know, the coaches are into it as well, and I think that carries on throughout the players when they're playing on the field. So, you know, the energy from the coaches when it goes to the players, you know, we just go back and forth, offense to defense, and, you know, that's what makes the competitive practices that we have. I'll have more in a moment. Are you ready for game day in Tuscaloosa? Don't miss the ultimate pregame experience this season at Vector Security Champions Lane, opening four hours before each home game.

[1:18:59] This fan fest has everything. Located next to the Walk of Champions, you'll enjoy live music with our great concert series, plus player autographs, food trucks, giant LED video boards to watch games, and ice cold beer at Legends Lounge, where there is never a cover charge. Check out ChampionsLane.com each week for the latest updates. Roll Tide. We've got you covered for Alabama football on Saturday against East Carolina. Kickoff at 11 a.m. You can listen on our full radio network, the Varsity Network app, as well as watch the booth cam, streaming on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN.

Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Vector Security Champions Lane. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. This is Roger Huber with the Crimson Tide Sports Network. Join me and Tyler Watts this fall on Monday nights at 6 p.m. for Crimson Tide Rewind. Live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Vestavia Hills and on this great station. Tune in and roll tide. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Brett, some good news about the forecast tomorrow in Tuscaloosa.

The heat index is now down to a mere 107 degrees. Boy, that makes me feel better, Harold. Hot time in the old town tonight and throughout the entire Shoals area for high school football. Zach Panner's got an eye on that and a whole lot more. There is the founder and editor of the Shoals Sports Report. Zach, welcome in. How are you? Doing good. How are y'all? Hey, buddy. Are you ready for it? We just referred to it there as the hot time in the old town tonight.

Doesn't get any better than this. Florence and Muscle Shoals. Zach, where do you start breaking it down? I'll say it's the most anticipated matchup. 22 schools, 2021. That was probably the last time Florence had a good chance to win this game. With all the Muscle Shoals talents come through. And both sides are feeling high right now. And I think at this point, it's going to be if Florence gets down early, can they respond and play past the logo and the tradition of Muscle Shoals? Kind of like Deshaun and Larder County College basketball.

If you get down early, can you play past the Peck Preppers tradition, the tradition of winning, the standard and all that, and get over that to stay in the game? You're exactly right. In fact, that's your game of the week. And it should be Russellville, 2-0. Daryl Higgins gotten off to a very good start. Playing a Hartzell team that got, maybe use the word, upset by Coleman last week. Trip Cleveland, the quarterback at Russellville, has played really well. 11-15, won 79 as they beat Morris Hill and ended Daryl Higgins' former team's 21-game winning streak.

Horace Davis has been running very well. But this Hartzell is a very good football team, as you well know. Burton Newton does a great job there. Russellville traveling to Hartzell. I know for a fact, and I'm pretty sure this is the biggest goal coach he's ever pitched against, and Florence will be the biggest goal coach he's ever pitched against next week also. So that's going to be something to watch. But I also say this, at this point in the season, it's a bad season to have a streak going.

We've had two weeks so far. With the streak ended each week. With West Morgan, Columbia, and Morris Hill's streak in the last two weeks. But for Russell or Muscle Shoals, it's like, can you play into the streak and keep the streak alive this week? Because Coach Jesus has a 22-game winning streak now from the time of Morris Hill and Russell. And Muscle Shoals has a 10-game streak over Florence on the field. But with Russell or Hartzell, I think Russell and Florence are in an interesting spot where it's all about in college football, where a game day is trying to pick a game for next week to go to, but they need both teams to win this week instead of next week.

So if Russell and Florence both win this week, I think the winner of that game next week, if they get to 4-0 in one of those, it's going to be a team on the radar statewide in North Carolina State. And if you've ever been to a game at Hartzell, you know it's one of the best high school environments, unless you're wearing a visitor's jersey, and it's probably the worst place to play a high school game. You mentioned West Morgan. Boy, I tell you what, things can change in a hurry.

What are your thoughts about the 0-2 Rebels taking on the 1-1 Brooks Lions tonight? I feel like who they play, first of all. They play Athens and Madison Academy. Athens and Madison Academy are not just in the slouch out. I mean, they play up with Athens, who is a 5A, who is basically a 6A in the old classification system. And Madison Academy is a 5A, 4A range school. So, it's played up, played good programs. It is what it is at this point. Get the region to play.

I've seen teams go 0-2 and then finish 8-2 and win the region. Yeah. We talked to you back during the summer, and I asked you one show, who was your surprise team this year? And you mentioned one of them is Wilson. Well, Central is traveling to Wilson. Central is 1-0 with Heathwood. Wilson with Trey Lane is 1-0. Wilson beat Haleville last week. They had 286 yards on the ground. Central beat Phil Campbell 49-14. And Lucas Price ran wild. Seven carries, 204 yards, three touchdowns. In fact, he had 72-51-29.

[1:24:34] Malik Ball had 1-2. Very interesting game tonight. Central and Wilson. Speaking of streaks earlier, Central has a streak here. I think it's eight straight wins for Central in this series. And with Wilson, if you want a service academy football, Army, Navy, Air Force, type of football, the option, triple option type of ball. Yep. That's what Wilson is. They're going to run it down the field. They threw one pass last week. It ended an interception. So, technically, they're one-for-one on passes, but they're the wrong team. But they ran the ball over and over and over.

It's a kind of football where if you get knocked over when it's like 50, 60 degrees at night, they can run it to the point where you can just break the team down mentally. And then they can run the clock also. They ran the clock a pretty good bit last week. And late first half, both teams had a turnover. But Wilson's offense was, they can just run and drive the clock down. Yep. If Wilson wins this game, there's a very good chance. They've caught the first half of the season.

3-1 or 4-0 even. With the next couple of weeks before Lawrence County comes in, in that non-region week in the middle. And if Wilson wins this game or not, I think it's one of those teams that will be on the radar up here at least in this part of the stadium. Zach Banners, the show of sports reports, talked about Lawrence County first. They've got to take on Desher. Very interesting way they leveled their record at 1-1 last week, taking on Calvert County. Desher led 52-0 at the half.

Yep. I think they won. Your thoughts tonight between Desher and Lawrence County? Yeah, I looked at the end of the first quarter, it was 28-0 at Desher-Calvert County game. Now, imagine somebody, if 58-6 right or 52-0 right, whatever, he said yes. They pulled the starters at halftime though, played the back-up during the game. But that's one of those games you play for the money, both sides coming in from the gate. But Desher-Lawrence County, though, is one of those match-ups that we're going to look back on in basketball season, baseball and softball season, and it was a lot of talk about it there.

I think it's a mismatch for Lawrence County in football. Even though Desher is down this year, losing a lot of talent from last year, I do like Desher to win this game tonight and be 2-1 entering next week's game in Hamilton. Yeah, I went to that game last week, left at halftime when it was 52-0. Bryson Williams just did a phenomenal job for Desher this year. And, of course, they tried a two-point conversion against Russellville. You and I saw that and failed. Listen, we've got to run to a break for the tennis, but another great job.

You do the standings, you do the previews, you do the recounts. You also cover flag football. We'll talk about that as we get into the season. Where can we get online tonight, tomorrow, this weekend, get previews and recounts? Facebook, Scholes Sports Report, and on Twitter, at lowercase, S-H-O-A-L-S-P-O-R-T-S. And on Twitter, post notifications, you can turn those on. It will send you your phone at the ESPN app or Fox News or CBS app with. Sounds great, Zach. Gatorade's the word. Enjoy it tonight. Zach Patterson, you're going to be with us.

This is about our net for the Scholes Sports Report. The latest report from the U.S. Open next year on 93.9, The Score. Westwood One Sports presents this special tennis update. Jessica Pagula, the top-seeded American at number three, is on to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open for the fifth consecutive year. She rallied to beat Canadian Leila Fernandez, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Elsewhere, two-time defending champ, Arena Sabalenka won in straight sets. American Taylor Townsend could be next for her. Townsend's up a set on the 15-seed Diana Schneider, and Townsend is serving to force a second-set tiebreaker.

On the men's side, defending champ Carlos Alcaraz and Wee Bing Wu are underway at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Alcaraz started off with a service break. Also, American Tommy Paul and Alexander Bublik are one set apiece. Coming up tonight, the Williams sisters play their first U.S. Open match together in four years, round one of doubles. They've teamed up for two U.S. Open titles, 1999 and 2009. Americans Francis Tiafoe and Ben Sheldon also play tonight. With this tennis update, Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports. Business moves fast. Orders roll in, deadlines close in.

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Aggressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9, the score. The Auburn Tigers are in Atlanta tomorrow. Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They'll take on Baylor in the Aflac kickoff. Number 13 Alabama is at home at Bryant-Denny Stadium as they host East Carolina. North Alabama is on the road this week. They'll travel to Fayetteville and take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. South Alabama is home tomorrow night at Hancock-Whitney Stadium as the Jaguars take on Southeastern Louisiana. And Troy will play at home tomorrow night as they host Sam Houston. That's the season opener for both teams.

Atlanta Braves in action tonight. The Braves head to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The take on the Phillies. Chris Sale will start for Atlanta. He is 13-9 on the season. Tune in tonight 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. This Labor Day at Lowe's, get up to 45% off select major appliances. Plus, deals on select materials and tools to keep the job moving. Right now, get a free DeWalt 20-volt max battery 2-pack when you buy a select DeWalt 20-volt max tool.

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[1:35:10] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states or situations. Hey, it's Michelle Smallman. Coming up Monday from Week 1 in college football, all the U.S. Open action and everything in between will react to it all during my Upon Further Review. It's on Sportsman, like 6 a.m. Eastern, right here on ESPN Radio, ESPN2, and ESPNU. The Score. Welcome back in. Lots of folks wondering how in the world do you beat the heat for this opening weekend, first big weekend in the way of college football?

I think the Auburn Tigers, the Baylor Bears, and Justin Ferguson may have it all figured out. Justin's there with the Auburn Observer. Justin, welcome in. What's the forecast for Auburn and Baylor's game tomorrow? Yeah, 72 and comfortable. Yeah. That's what it's supposed to be. Yeah, I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be real nice. You know, Auburn, you know, still in this home game, there was a lot of backlash to that. And I think a lot of the reasons for it are still valid.

But I think as we get here tomorrow, I think people who have tickets to this game aren't going to complain that they're going to be in the game. No, no. Yeah, at all. So, it's a silver lining for sure. Yeah, no, actually, it's going to be a gold lining because when you get the payout, I'm just saying the bean counters for both sides, they're going to like that as well. Justin, obviously, it's Friday. Been a lot of talking about this game. Where are you starting talking about the X's and O's and Jimmy's and Joe's for the game tomorrow?

Yeah, I mean, I think from the Jimmy and Joe perspective, I think Auburn's got the more talented roster. And, you know, this Baylor team, they got a lot of, you know, DJ Lagway, the Florida transfer, you know, coming in. They rebuilt on that defensive front, brought in some new guys there. But then you look at kind of the rest of the picture, you know, for this Baylor team. And it's just like, you know, it's not a ton of, like, can't miss transfers or anything like that.

So, I do wonder how much of this game is going to come down to, you know, can Auburn really prove their strength, especially the line of scrimmage. You know, we're the bigger and the better and the deeper team. We're the SEC team against the Big 12 team at the line of scrimmage. I think if Auburn does that, they're in a good position to win this one. I think Baylor's got a good coaching staff. Jake Spavital's a great offensive coordinator. I think Lagway's going to fit in really well with that offense over time.

I like their new defensive coordinator they got from Kansas State. I think it's going to be a different game than the one Auburn played last year. But, you know, I think for Auburn, it's just can you win at the point of attack? Can you win at the line of scrimmage and really show your kind of talent disparity there? Because I think if you can, you're in a pretty good spot to win what should be, you know, pretty close to home game tomorrow in Atlanta. So, you know, I'm really looking at the line of scrimmage as, you know, maybe the big determinant factor in this one.

Let me ask you about the line of scrimmage for Baylor. I thought it was interesting. They've got two guys from Alabama. UAB transfer Logan Moore is going to get the call at left tackle, starting 11 games at right tackle last year for UAB. And then Asher Hale, all 6'5", 326 of him, a South Alabama transfer. They've got Nate Kibble, I believe, a Texas transfer. But we've talked with you so much about the Auburn line of scrimmage, but with Baylor's line of scrimmage, they've got some new guys there.

Can Womack, Sigler, Walker, and friends, and particularly the linebacker unit, get pressure on D.J. Lankway, 23 interceptions over two seasons? Now, I hear that he's healthy, and if he is, he's a very good player. But your thoughts on the UAB, UAB, the Baylor offensive line, and can Auburn get Lankway on the ground? Yeah, I mean, just eyeballing it. You can't be blown away by that Baylor offensive line. They returned one starter left from last season who did give up a good number of pressures. They were really hoping that another transfer would have started for them at center this year.

Instead, he didn't get cleared, and so he's not able to play, so they plugged in their sixth man. And then, yeah, you talk about the three transfers that they have. I mean, look, no disrespect, but UAB and South Alabama weren't necessarily a great offense in the last season, so it's not like you're picking from the top of the crop, so to speak, when it comes to those offensive linemen. So I think for Auburn, it's a really big opportunity for this defensive front to come in and try to establish, hey, this is how this game is going to go.

You know, this defensive front has had a really good last couple weeks, those pass rushers have, those linebackers can get, you know, and they've got to be able to, you know, make sure Lagway, you know, stays in that pocket and you get to him because he's a guy, he's not a great runner. He doesn't rack up a ton of, like, yards as a runner, but he does play pretty well off-platform, so, you know, keeping him pinned in is going to be big. And then one of the biggest things from last season, if you look at this game, is that, you know, Auburn beat Baylor by running the ball.

[1:40:12] Baylor couldn't run the ball at all. And so even though they threw the ball a lot and threw it really well with a lot of guys who aren't here anymore, it ended up kind of being empty calories because they couldn't really finish drives. So for Auburn, it's just can you go back to, like, hey, stop the run and then get pressure on Lagway, but keep him contained, keep him in the pocket because the fact of the matter is DJ Lagway's got a great arm. He just hasn't been very consistent.

And, you know, his interceptions can sometimes come when there's no pressure where he's just trying to force something or, you know, you think there's a window there and it closes real quick. So for Auburn, it's just don't let him get off schedule and let him get out and run and kind of pop it around and get in a rhythm that way and kind of play that style. For this defensive front is get after him, keep him contained, but also use all that speed to really slow down anything they want to do in the running game.

It's the latest attacker talk with Justin, Justin Ferguson, the Auburn observer. It's always fun, speaking of observing the first game of the year, every team's fans out there want to see the new guys, the new kids in town, as the Eagles would say in song. For Alabama, it's E.J. Crowell. Who would be the equivalent for, in the eyes of Auburn fans, who is the one guy that they can't, outside the transfers, as far as freshmen, who's the one guy they can't wait to see? Yeah, that's a great question.

I think for freshmen, it's got to be Deshaun Spencer. You know, here's a guy who's probably going to be in the rotation as a slot receiver, as a true freshman. You know, Auburn goes and gets all those USF transfers, a wide receiver. They go and get, you know, Byron Brown and all these USF pieces. And that's going to be the bulk of this all this year. But for a guy like Byron, for a guy like Deshaun Spencer to get into the rotation, to look as good as he did in the preseason, he's a dynamic little slot receiver.

And, you know, I think he's, you know, he might be a guy that they say, hey, let's get the ball in his hands a few times tomorrow and see where he goes. He had, obviously, was the 8A MVP. He had a really good fall. And people are really excited about him because he's kind of a steal, you know, for Auburn that, you know, he, this staff was already recruiting him at USF. He was too good to go to USF, so he was going to go play power conference ball.

Well, lo and behold, these coaches are now at a power conference school in state, and they get to keep him at home. So, you know, he's definitely the guy a lot of people are going to want to see tomorrow. Are you in particularly also looking for, well, people say, well, Justin's seen Byron Brown. Well, this is tackle football. Are you in particularly looking forward to see what he can do? Oh, 100%, especially running the ball. We have not got to see him run the ball yet. And, you know, that's the thing with him is that it is such a big weapon in his game.

And, you know, there's, he's, I think he's seventh in the country in active career rushing yards, second best among quarterbacks in college football. That's such a key part of his game. And I look at this, you know, Baylor defense. Obviously, they gave up a lot on the ground last season to this Auburn team. I think that's going to be different. But if you look at their new defensive coordinator from Kansas State, Joe Klanderman, there were three games last season where, you know, Kansas State had a good defense, but they kind of got torn up on the ground in a few games.

Each one of those games is because the other team had a really good running quarterback. And so that, that is something I think is a really interesting dimension. You know, I think Byron Brown has the potential where if he gets going early, I think he's going to be the upgrade that Auburn's really been looking for a quarterback for these last few years. I think he's got a chance to, you know, rack up yards and point, put points on the board and put on a show and get people excited.

But I'm really excited to see him run the ball and kind of play real football because, yeah, most of the stuff we've seen from him here in the fall has been, it looks really, really good. But, you know, it's guys, you know, throwing the wide receivers with maybe just the corners on the field or, you know, nobody can get near him. You don't want a pass rush or anything like that. So I'd be interested to see what he looks like when he's fully on the line because Auburn's got a real luxury.

This is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in college football. And he knows this offense inside and out. Justin, I get the impression this may be a tough question for you to answer, but what is your biggest concern for this team tomorrow outside of the obvious turnovers and penalties? Yeah, I'm really interested to see if Auburn's offensive line can make the grade tomorrow. I think this Baylor defensive front is going to be better than they were last season. They got Jose O'Wheeler from Indiana. They got a couple of other big transfers.

Kind of the talk all week has been how much better Baylor has been, you know, on the defensive front here in camp. And I think Auburn, that has Auburn's full attention. I think Auburn's offensive line has potential to be a solid one this year. Take a step forward, be a good one. But it's new, right? You know, we can say Cole Best has played in this offense a ton at center and Cole Skinner has played a good bit. But the majority of the people who are going to be on the field for Auburn on the offensive line on Saturday have never done it in this offense in a game before.

So until you see that, it's just kind of a question mark, right? I think Baylor's biggest improvement has come on the defensive front. I think Auburn's biggest question marks on the offensive front. So that's the spot of the game where I think, okay, this might be, you know, that might be where Baylor really slows Auburn down and gives themselves a chance to walk out of there with a win. So a lot's going to be on this Auburn offensive line to go out there and set the tone.

[1:45:18] Well, I know you feel like you've been writing about this game for three years. It seems like it takes forever for it to finally get here. Thank you, God, that it finally is. Give us your prediction, young man, for the final score. Wednesday emails, Friday mailbag, the podcast, all the other great stuff. Yeah, auburnobserver.com. Check it out there. Got a ton of stuff. Plenty of breakdowns and analysis on this Auburn-Baylor game from every angle. You have the mailbag, got the podcast previews, have columns up.

We're going to be in Atlanta this weekend covering it. So plenty of stuff coming to the site. You can subscribe there. We email everything out to you as soon as it drops. As for my prediction, you know, give me Auburn by two touchdowns. I really like the way this team was operating here towards the end of camp. I think they're coming in with a lot of confidence. I see Baylor with Nunes on both sides of the ball, and I see Auburn, you know, plugging in those USF guys but also bringing back a lot on that defense.

You know, I think this could be one of those games where, you know, it's a real tight one early. Teams got to feel each other out and adjust. But I think Auburn's got more talent. I think Auburn's got more depth, and they're going to have the home field advantage in Atlanta, so I can see them pulling away in the second half and get a good win to start the Alex Coles here. Sounds great. Listen, Justin, happy laboring through that Atlanta traffic on this Labor Day weekend.

Safe travels to and from, and thanks so much for your time today. Yep, appreciate it, y'all. Thank you, buddy. Justin Ferguson, the Auburn Observer. Ah, could it be that it's back, those picks and the stupid underdog pick? All straight ahead and stay with us. Bush Light is cold and smooth. I'm 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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All of your favorite shows and teams are waiting. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back again, Brett Beaird. Time to show your hand, but please, no more, okay? Absolutely. Arkansas is a 40-point favorite over UNA. What a great win, but UNA beating Sanford, holding the Bulldogs to eight minus yards, rushing. Eight former Memphis players are quite familiar with Ryan Silverfield schemes, but the Hogs have got too much SEC talent. UNA is getting $550,000 for this game, but for UNA, run the ball, short the game, get out healthy.

Arkansas 38, UNA 14. Furman and going to Tennessee. Tennessee is a 46-and-a-point favorite, 230 in Nayland. No TV. Deshaun Bishop controls this game, runs for 150 yards. Brandon makes some big plays, gets a little confidence. Tennessee runs for 250. Tennessee 42, Furman 6. Auburn versus Baylor. I love the sound effects. In Atlanta, Auburn is a seven-point favorite. But Byron Brown, we'll see what kind of a game he has. I think Lagway makes some plays, but Auburn runs for 200 yards, 107 yards less than last year. Lagway does throw a key interception. Auburn sacks Lagway four times.

The Tigers win 28-14 in cool Atlanta. East Carolina at the Crimson Tide. That is going to be 11 o'clock. Get off to a fast start. Going to be a big key for Bama. Run the ball for over 200 yards. I think they can. But I didn't approve the offensive line. Russell throws for 200 yards. Yeah. Got to get ready for bubble screen, slap passes. But the Bama defensive front gets four sacks. That will result in Alabama winning 35-14. And my stupid underdog pick. Yeah. UCLA is a two-and-a-point favorite over Cal.

Not so fast. Tosh LaPoi, former Saban recruiter. Cal upsets UCLA tomorrow for the stupid underdog pick. Woo! Thanks for taking my stupid underdog pick. In the 20 seconds that's got left, ladies, I know you don't hear this often, but I hope this man is wrong this time. UNA, the David in this Goliath battle with Arkansas, 45-17 hogs. UT and Furman, please. 58-7 if we have to. Auburn and Baylor, I think Gullish is on adrenaline here. 42-17, Bama in East Carolina. Can they run the ball? Let's see.

35-17, Bama Rose in that one. And I was going to pick Cal and UCLA. But guess who spoiled that? I'll take Wyoming over Colorado State, 25-23. Pastor James, can we hear a, ah, please? There you go. That's going to take care of this for now. By the way, if you're out working on those roofs or putting sheets right up and everything on this Labor Day weekend, hats off to you. You're the heart of Labor Day weekend. Be safe out there. BB, Florence, hi tonight. Are you ready for some great high school football?

Florence, most of the shows here on 93.9 The Score. And, of course, tomorrow morning, it's Bama and East Carolina, the bacon and egg special. Kick back and enjoy your Labor Day weekend. It's going to take care of this for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James, whoo, Blair, and the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again next time, noon to two, for the Boomer Buck Show, you're on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. Woo!