Boomo Bugg Show 091726

[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 Brad Beard. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brad Beard, welcome in. Where the question is, is it true what's coming out of LSU or is it Lane just playing another mind game?

Good afternoon, welcome in, and how are you? Happy Thursday to you and the listeners. I think it's Lane playing another mind game, but we'll talk about that in a minute. The voice of the UNA Lions, Benjamin Ray, will talk about the biggest home game in UNA history Saturday night. Caleb Suggs of the Decatur Daily previews the top high school games in North Alabama. But BB is here right now to preview the top college football games for week three. The man with all the answers, the national voice to the place called The Sporting News.

Bill Bender, welcome in. How are you? Hey, Harold. How are you doing, man? Man, we're doing all right. The bigger question, I guess, Bill, how are your neighbors in Columbus, Ohio this week after, man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde went to Austin over the weekend. Well, you know, it's like living down there where you're at. Every loss is the end of the world there for Sunday morning. And then, you know, I looked at that like they missed an opportunity. They had a missed field goal, got a little conservative offensively at the end of the game.

And, you know, credit Texas, you know, a school that's, you know, if you'd ask me at the end of the first quarter, if there were any chance of them winning, I would have said no. And Arch, the running game, I think one of the keys to that game was they did not abandon the run. Smothers and Brown averaged a four-yard carry, had about 150 yards between them. And that led to Ohio State being on the field too long in the fourth quarter. Absolutely. Let's talk about the game Harold was alluding to.

LSU and Ole Miss, 19 state troopers are coming from Louisiana to try to protect Lane Kiffin. They're a three-and-a-half-point favorite, 6-30. The question is, will Levitt play quarterback? And I think he probably will. Bill, I agree with you. You projected LSU to win this game, 31-24, and cover the spread. Why? Because LSU leads the nation in total defense and sacks. Their defense is really good. I, you know what, I can't predict, Brett, and I did talk about a story and others have reported, talked to the Oxford Police Department, PIO this week, just about those mounted troopers and additional things they're going to have.

I do think it comes down to who controls their emotions in this environment. And not, you know, here's one thing I want to say about the Ole Miss community. I talked to John Talti, thanks for getting me his number, by the way, about his book, which I can't wait to read. I think for all the hype about this is going to be this nasty environment and all that, I'm hoping it doesn't get, like, nasty. Yeah. I'm hoping that Oxford shows what they're really about and that would show that, you know, Lane likes attention.

There's no doubt. Yeah. I'm hoping they don't give him that attention to spark something that would be ugly. I think what will happen, Bill, having spent some time in that neck of the woods, I think there will be isolated incidents. You're not going to stop that because there's too much whiskey flowing through the rivers and veins down there. But, Lane, you've got to watch him. If anything, it's a martyr complex. It's almost like he's got one of those mindsets. It's like, see, I told you so.

But I agree with you. At the end of the day, it's going to be what happens on the field. Well, then, let's switch gears a little bit and go down to an instant ball game in our neck of the woods. Down the road is on the plains, and that's Auburn and Florida. I've seen Vegas. They've come in. They've got the Gators coming in to Jordan-Hare, the favorite. That's rare. But if you've ever been to a game on Saturday night in that neck of the woods, you better bring your A game.

What do you see in that game, Bill? Well, you know, we've had this circled as a game where if both teams were 2-0, it's a chance for a little bit of momentum. I think Florida should be ranked. I do. I've been impressed with the early returns under John Summerall. I know you guys know him very well. Aaron Filo's playing well. Jaden Ball averages 10-yard carry, over 10-yard carry. So, I think they're going to go down there, and if they can handle that and win the game, they'll be ranked going into next week's game against guess who?

[5:08] Ole Miss. So, yeah, I'm not peeking ahead too far, but next week in the SEC is wild, man. That's a really, really good schedule next weekend. I agree with you. Florida State at Alabama, their return game to Tuscaloosa. Alabama a 20-and-a-half point favorite, at least they were, earlier in the year. Ashton Daniels was with Auburn last year. Croma is very good. Deuce Robinson is very good. The Alabama defense leads the nation in third-down conversions, only giving up one of 23. They're also in the top 10 in two or three other categories.

Bill Bender has got Alabama winning 34-16, but failing to cover that 20-point spread. Well, I mean, if they win by more than that, that score I got, then, you know, obviously the speculation is going to turn where it already is, whether or not Mike Norvell is going to be their head coach for much longer. And that's wild, but Florida State won this game last year. Kalen was on the hot seat, and Florida State is five and eight cents. It's one of the most damning stats, guys, to me, is since they were snubbed from the playoffs for Alabama back in 23, they're seven and 18 in their last 25 games.

That's unbelievable to me. Like, if you grew up around Florida State football and how good they were in the 90s. So, I mean, candidates ranging from Jimbo to Deion are going to pop up, and that's the world we live in. I do think Alabama wins by a couple touchdowns, but that Florida State running game allowed them to slow the game down a little bit. I could see it playing out a little bit like Kentucky, maybe with less turnovers on both sides. Bill, your thoughts, one of the big differences, Alabama has a different front seven this time around.

And the other side of that, just talking the chalk here as far as business, I saw a number the other day, Bill. Yeah, the conventional wisdom is get rid of Norvell. That's nice. But I saw where the total package, his buyout, the coach's buyout, bring in a new south, over $100 million for a school right now that basically has had him turn the couch over to find coins in the cracks. So your thoughts just about what's realistic down there. That's what I'm saying. Like, you can buy him out with a negotiated buyout, but, I mean, are you really going to pull in a coach at $10 million a year?

You know, Kenny Dillingham's another one that's a little interesting to me. Brian Hartline, I've mentioned that name. I know it's early, but he's off to a pretty good start there at South Florida. So he could be a guy that they look at down the line. But I do think, unfortunately, and I don't like speculating like this, but I think Mike Norvell's days are numbered there. It's just a matter of what they're going to do. I mean, especially with the athletic director being fired on Monday. And that's the first thing.

If you're a coach and you see that coming, it's like, uh-oh, honey, call two men in the truck and go shopping. Let's switch to a game that's not getting a lot of love across the country, and that is South Carolina and Mississippi State. And all of a sudden, State is sexy over in Stockville. Yeah, I mean, Tamario Taylor is the reason why. He pops up every Saturday on my timeline with, you know, some incredible arm talent, by the way. But Norris Sellers has that, too. So it's a fascinating quarterback matchup.

I think NFL draft writers are going to be really plugged into that game because these are two guys with the physical tools to go out and do that. We'll see more out of Sellers next week against Alabama. But Mississippi State's another team. If they win this one, I think they could be ranked, you know? So that's the depth that you guys have in the SEC. I mean, you've got to bring it every week. Absolutely. SMU ranked number 16 at Louisville. I think this is one of the best games Saturday.

Louisville, two-and-half-point favorite. Came real close to beating Ole Miss. We saw SMU snake out of the Lights Out Bowl with Florida State. Lincoln Kynholz, the former Ohio State backup, has been incredible. 320 yards passing and rushing for 60. Kevin Jennings, I think, had five touchdowns last week. You had Louisville winning 31-28 and covering the spread. This should be a dandy of a game. Yeah. I mean, they're one and two in total offense at quarterback. Lincoln Kynholz has been incredible. Ohio State transfer, really good athlete. Chance for them to win at home.

SMU, Red's got to go in there. So I think it translates into a really good game. You know, both teams need to get their running back on track. Kendrick Raphael, not a great start. Isaac Brown has been kind of bottled up for Louisville, and I like his game. I think he's a guy that could definitely be an NFL running back with the talent he has. So I think you'll watch that and who turns it over. I didn't really – I forgot until I looked at it that SMU really put it on Louisville last year.

[10:27] So it's on Louisville to maybe offer a response here, and I think they will. That's a really good game at 3.30. Bill Bender, the Sporting News. Bill, a lot of folks were high on Oklahoma coming in. They saw Michigan after week one. It was automatic that Oklahoma was going to go up there. It wasn't a matter of winning by what margin. We saw what happened at the end of the game. Is that a one-off for Oklahoma? And your thoughts about the Sooners after that game, and what about Michigan?

Are they the Michigan fighting Phoenixes? Have they come back from the ashes themselves? Well, I think Michigan's defense is going to keep them in every game. You know, like they're going to be a little bit of a Big Ten chaos team. They're going to lose some games, but I could see them losing one they shouldn't, like they should have against Western Michigan. And I could see them knocking off one of the, you know, top dogs. You know, it's kind of their experience. Oklahoma did not look good.

John Mateer did not play well. They missed open receivers. Their defense, but again, their defense will do the same thing. So they're going to win. Well, you better be careful with New Mexico on Saturday. As strange as that sounds, Jason X got that program rolling. Then they go see Georgia. So I think the Sooners are in a little trouble. Mm-hmm. You alluded to an incredible SEC schedule next week. One of those, Tennessee is going to be hosting Texas in Knoxville. Well, they've got Kennesaw State Saturday.

They're a 35-and-half-point favorite. You've got them winning 48-14. I think one of the misconceptions of Josh Haiple, he throws the ball 70 times a game. That Georgia Tech win was the 37th game to where they've run for over 200 yards. They lost their great tight end in Ethan Davis for the season, and they keep getting penalized. They're 131st in the nation in penalties. But your thoughts on where this Tennessee team is going, and we'll know where they're going next week. Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously, you hit it.

A lot of times with teams that run offenses like that, it's assumed that they throw deep every play. I think they've got three good actions in the running game. Freshman quarterback's playing well, too. Brandon's playing well. So, you know, we'll see more next week. I think they'll take care of this business here. But I'm interested. Obviously, there's going to be a lot made about Peyton Manning and Arch Manning. It was pointed out to me by my editor, Bill Troche. He went to the Tennessee-Georgia Tech game last weekend.

He said he was amazed at how many Peyton Manning jerseys there were. And I said, well, I was like, why are you amazed? Like, he's the ultimate – I think of any program. Like, if you were doing a jersey count at games, Peyton's probably got the biggest impact. So, I'm sure a lot would be made of Arch playing against his uncle's team. Before you get off here, Bill, talk to us about your team, Notre Dame. Have they checked all the boxes so far? Yeah, I mean, their defense creates turnovers and is playing well.

I think running back is still a question mark. They play Michigan State Saturday. Pat Fitzgerald, first big test. That's a series I'm glad it's back on the schedule this year. A lot of September memories from when I was growing up. It's kind of like they would play Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State every year. And Michigan State games produce some wild finishes. They don't like each other. Maybe not as much as Ole Miss and LSU this weekend. But it'll be a fun game. This Notre Dame defense is for real, though.

And Marcus Freeman's got to go on. C.J. Carr's playing well. They are a valid national championship contender. Yeah, they do. But you've got the college picks for the top 25. You've got all of the NFL picks, pregame, postgame, wrap-up, of course, on Sunday. Where can we get online to get all the great stuff? Yeah, we've got more coming. I've got some Jimbo Fisher content, Florida State, Baker Mayfield going, facing the Browns this weekend, a little bit of everything. And that piece, John Pulte, I hope people read his book.

I can't wait to. Oh, yeah. He is. Yeah, I know you guys have talked to him in the past, Brett. He is a genuine, awesome, hardworking guy and very, very friendly. I was so happy for him. So, yeah, you can see our stuff at SportingNews.com. We're excited about it. Sounds great, Bill. This is always good to catch you with. You have a great rest of the week and weekend, okay? Hey, sounds great, guys. Thank you. Thank you, buddy. Double B, Bill Bender checking in from the Sporting News.

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They really have been. And this defense has been doing that, not allowing any points to Kentucky in the second half. What was the mood and kind of vibe at halftime? Oh, yeah. We're, I mean, as a team, we were composed. We knew that, like, this is SEC play. You're going to face some adversity at one point in time, and, you know, we did early, but we came back, you know, second half. We had everybody kept their game face on, no one was panicking, and we just knew that we stayed with it play-by-play that, you know, something big will happen.

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[20:58] All things on. Weekdays at 3 Eastern on the ESPN app and the SEC Network. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. If you love sports, and I'm talking about a deep dive into it, I highly recommend checking out Jim Gums. There is the editor of the BlitzSports.com family. Jim, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you guys? Hey, Jim. Man, we're doing all right. Jim, are you, have you got your horse saddled up and ready to go protect Lane Kiffin down in Oxford this weekend?

Man, I don't know if anyone's ready for this. It seems like every day there's something new and kind of a little dig here, a little dig there. But, you know, as far as the, you know, the quarterback being questionable, I'm like, okay. You know, I don't know how much I buy into that, but we'll see. Yeah, you know, the best barometer of that is, forget about what he said or she said, go by what Vegas says. And the line really hasn't moved that much. So, Vegas has been there and done that.

This is not their first rodeo. They're just trying to, remember the old song by John Lennon? He's trying to play mind games. Like, Lane would never do that. But once they get down to business, Jim, what's going to happen on the field down there in Oxford? I think it's going to be an excellent football game. I don't think that either team is heading shoulders above the other one. We all know that Ole Miss had a much better season last year than LSU. But LSU has, you know, they fixed a lot of their problems last year, most notably at the head coaching position.

But this should be just a great football game. I mean, Ole Miss is the home team. I mean, you've got to say that there's a little bit of an advantage being the home team. But that LSU team, you know, we saw what they looked like against Clemson. Now, last week they looked fairly mortal, you know, against Louisiana Tech. So, I do think it's going to be a game that's decided late in the fourth quarter. Mm-hmm. Yeah, they had four turnovers in that game, too, including a long pick six.

Right. Jim, one of the best games Harold and I talked about this week, Florida and Auburn. Florida's had two routes. They look like they're much more physical at the line of scrimmage. Jane Ball's one of the best running backs in the SEC. For now, Brown had not one but two punch returns for a touchdown. Dallas Wilson's real good. Byron Brown had a much cleaner game. And we know how raucous the environment is at Auburn at night. But this is a pick-em game to me. A lot of people have had a problem picking a winner with this.

What does Jim Gums say? Well, I'll tell you what. I love – I used to love watching Florida versus Auburn when they used to play on a semi-regular basis back in the day. They were usually very entertaining games. And, you know, I like the direction both programs are heading, who's ahead of who at this point. Now, the fact that Auburn is playing at home, you know, there's an advantage there. But, man, Florida looks like the real deal to me, guys. I'll have to admit, I've seen a little bit more of Florida than I have of Auburn.

So, maybe I'm biased towards the Gators because I've seen a little bit more game footage of them. I think Florida might be just a smidge ahead of Auburn right now. But I love what Goldish is doing there. And I think this is going to be another great game. And I'm like you guys, this is a sneaky good game. The winner of this game, I suspect, will be ranked in the top 25 next week. Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see. But, no, I think that they're both playing really good football.

I'm just a little bit more sold on Florida right now. Jim Gomm hooking up with us. Obviously, they're at the BlitzSports.com. Jim, obviously, let's stay with teams from Alabama, taking on teams from Florida. Alabama, this time, will wear the home jerseys against Florida State. We know what Vegas is saying. They're not giving FSU much of a chance. But that's what Vegas is saying. What's Jim saying? Well, I watched a lot of that Alabama-Kentucky game. And I was just, you know, a little bit surprised that it took Alabama as long.

But, eventually, they got it rolling. And in the second half, they were clearly the better team. And they just kind of just sputtered a little bit at the beginning. I'd really like Alabama to win this game fairly comfortably. Florida State, Liz, I think Norvell is basically a dead man walking right now. I don't think his future is very bright there in Tallahassee. No, I think Caleb DeBoer has got things going there. I've been sold on this Alabama team. A lot of people beginning this season were like, yeah, I'm not so much sold on Alabama.

I'm a believer in the Crimson Tide. So, I think Alabama wins this game by three touchdowns. Jim, let me ask you about Kentucky. Do they rebound? They're going to College Station to face Texas A&M, who had a pretty good battle last week with Arizona State. They forced four turnovers. Reed seems to be a little bit better. Kentucky, I think, will be a good team. I think they'll improve as the season goes on. Texas A&M is a 16-and-a-half-point favorite, Jim. Are they going to win and cover that spread?

[26:20] Well, I don't know if they'll cover it, but I really feel strongly about them winning the football game. This is a really good Texas A&M team. We know what happened last year. They were undefeated all the way to the end. Texas beat them, and then they got beat in the first round of the playoffs. But Mike Elko is a really good coach, and I love Reed at quarterback. I think Texas A&M is going to have a really strong season once again this year. I do think that next week against LSU is going to really test them, but I think A&M rolls pretty comfortably.

Do they cover the 16-and-a-half? I don't know, but if you were to ask me to do one or the other, I'd probably lay the points. Jim, obviously, by the way, welcome in if it's your first time, and if it is, you know Jim lives in the state of Tennessee up there in Chattanooga, which is right down the road from a place called Knoxville. Jim, I would ask you about this Tennessee team, but how do you know so far? Is it safe to say maybe we may have to wait another week before we know just how good this UT team is when they take on that other UT team?

Yeah, I think that Tennessee, you know, obviously the key this week, just like week one, it's just get out of there with nobody getting hurt. Obviously, everyone is so pumped to have the number one ranked team in the country coming to Knoxville. And listen, Tennessee's got themselves a true freshman quarterback. Bazon Brandon has looked okay. His accuracy has been off at times, but when he's on, man, he's a special player. He can race two times. He's won SEC freshman of the week. Wow. He's a really good quarterback.

He's a true freshman. And that's the one thing that I think Tennessee is, you know, next year, I think they're going to really be dynamic. But right now, he's going to make some freshman mistakes. Don't know if Tennessee's ready for the prime. Well, of course, it's noon kickoff against Texas. That's crazy. Yeah, we'll see how Tennessee fares. But obviously, they'll be just fine this weekend. But no, everyone's pumped for having the Longhorns come into Knoxville. Jim, what about two teams trying to get out of the bottom tier in the SEC?

Mississippi State at South Carolina. Kamario Taylor is the star so far of the SEC, thrown for nearly 600 yards. It's a big game for South Carolina. Now, Dylan Stewart is coming back from an injury. Lenore Sellers, will he step up his game? South Carolina is favored by seven. Jim, your thoughts on a very intriguing below-the-radar game. It is a very intriguing game. Mississippi State looked really good against Minnesota last week. They did. And, of course, everyone remembers the two big SEC Big Ten showdowns, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Ohio State, Texas.

But Mississippi State was very impressive. I think this is a sneaky good Mississippi State team. And I like South Carolina, don't get me wrong, but I would not be surprised at all to see the Bulldogs go into Columbia and come away with a win. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Mississippi State here. I was very impressed with them last week. Ring a cowbell here, right, Jim? Absolutely, man. Absolutely. Jim, tell us about the Blitz. I'm sitting here looking at it.

Great stuff. Protect College Sports Act. You've got the nuts and bolts for that. The top 30, decade by decade. That's fascinating. Weekly AP poll, standings, schedules, both college and NFL. Tell us more about it and how our listeners can become a subscriber. Yeah, I mean, you can email me direct is the most effective way. I mean, we've got various ways, but just email me, or you can even call me for crying out loud, but email me, jimgum.blitz at gmail.com. That is the best way to reach out and be successful, get in touch with me.

But, no, we're excited about this football season. Obviously, the NFL has got one week under their belt. College football has two. I'm excited about really starting in week four of college football, then it's pretty much conference versus conference play. And that's when it really gets interesting. But excited about this coming week. And I hope everyone enjoys the content we put in there. And my favorite thing is every week what I put on page two. I love putting all that stuff in there because I do a lot of that research during the summertime, and it's very, very time-consuming.

I would never be able to do it in one week's time, but doing it during the summer and I put it in each issue, it's fun, man. Love the passion. Keep it up, Jim, and thanks so much for your time today. All right. Y'all have a great day. You too, bud. Jim Gumm, in case you missed it, that's Jim Gumm, that's two M's, G-U-M-M.blitz at gmail.com. If interested in hooking up with Jim there at theblitzsports.com. Coming up, high school football ready to rock and roll again in our neck of the woods, Caleb Suggs on deck.

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Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9. The score. The Atlanta Braves fell short yesterday. The Braves lost in Chicago to the Cubs 8-4. The Braves had eight hits in. The loss, J.R. Ritchie took the loss. He's one and three. Braves are 89-64 on the season. The Braves are currently four and a half games up on the Phillies in the NL East Division standings. In the NFL on Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons are at home as the Falcons play host to the Panthers.

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Welcome back in. What a time to be alive if you love yourself. Some football, college action, heating up, and the same story when it comes to the high school scene. Nobody does it better than covering it. And Caleb Suggs over at the Decatur Daily. Caleb, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good, guys. How are y'all? Hey, man. Hey, we're doing all right. Thanks for asking. Caleb, I don't know if we call it week four, week five. We know this, that after this weekend, for the most part, it'll be five down and five to go in the regular season.

What has been basically the good, bad, and ugly basically here at the midway point for the high school boys? Yeah, I think, you know, you look at the good. I think in our area, we've got a couple of undefeated teams in Price, Manhattan, who have been really good. And, you know, I thought they would be really good. They've been even better than I expected. I think they're a title contender and Priceful, you know, with a new head coach. It's kind of just picked up right where they left off.

And then I think you look at what's more good as well. I know they're 2-2, but I think they're just as good as they always are. You know, had some young players, played some tough games those first two weeks. But the last two weeks in region play, they've been dominant. The ugly is definitely Austin. I've been very surprised with just how much they've struggled, you know, coming in. I thought they were going to be a favorite in that region. And a team that could, you know, have them moving back down to 5A, could contend for a state title.

They just have some quarterback problems right now. And they've got to get that fixed up, figured out. So we'll just kind of see how that goes. You know, you had a good article. What have we learned through four weeks of high school football? And I had to look at this twice. Muscle Shoals and Hartzell, who ironically play tomorrow night, two teams that have dominated the region for the last eight years, are a combined three and six. Austin and Decatur are both one and three. On the other hand, Florence is four and oh.

We'll get into them with Decatur in a few minutes. But you hit it. I agree with you about Hatton. We'll talk about their team. But it still amazes me. Muscle Shoals and Hartzell, who have literally been region champions for years, are three and six. Yeah, I think you, well, first of all, I do think, I think it was three and five, maybe. I think I might have typed that record. Well, I'm sorry. No, it was my fault. It was my mistake. But, yeah, I think you just look at it.

It's, you know, they, two teams, you know, obviously, you know, they've been two of the most consistent teams in North Alabama for decades. But, you know, they just had a lot of changes going into this year. Hartzell lost 30 seniors. Muscle Shoals has a new coach for the first time in almost two decades. So, and then they played some really tough teams, you know, early in the week, early in the year. And so, you know, I know the records look bad. I still think these are two good teams and two teams that will be playoff, you know, teams by the end of the year.

So, you know, it seems weird going into this game because normally it's a game that's deciding the region. But, you know, I still think it's going to be one of the better games in North Alabama. And, you know, two teams that by the end of the year will look vastly different than the way they look now. And, you know, I think you'll start to see that in this game. Read all about it with Caleb. Caleb Suggs, the Decatur Daily. It's always fun. In the preseason, you can sit here and think we know what's going to happen with this team or that team.

But until they start rocking and rolling, you never know. It's always fun, especially here at this point. Now that we've got a good sampling to come up with, I guess the best way of putting it, sneaky teams to watch. If we ask you the question, Caleb, who would be on that list of sneaky teams to watch in our neck of the woods? Well, you know, I think you look at, you know, East Lawrence, they're 3-1 for the first time since 2020. I think they've got a lot of talent there.

Bound in 3A, you know, Hatton is definitely the team to beat in that region. But, you know, East Lawrence is kind of there, too. And so we'll kind of see how it goes. And then Tanner in 2A. You know, I know they did have the loss to Culver County. But I really like the talent they've got there. You know, as far as sneaky teams, I think that's probably it as far as for me. Because all the other teams, I think, are either having success, you know, they're just not going to be the teams that are going to sneak up on you.

I'll tell you, team, that to me has been a pleasant surprise. And we talked to Cody Gross back during the summer. As you've noted a couple of times, Athens lost a lot of players. But they're 3-1. They're hosting a disappointing Austin team, as you mentioned. But these are two of the best coaches in North Alabama. Jeremy Perkins at Austin. Cody Gross, amazing. Jeremy Perkins, 16 seasons. Cody Gross, 11. Cain Bledsoe has had a tremendous season. 524 yards today in the home of Athens. Their quarterback, Donovan Jarmid of Austin, has done the best he could.

[42:27] 301 yards passing. But Athens is playing very well. Big game tomorrow night for Austin to try to stay in it. Yeah, I think, you know, I like what I'm seeing from Athens. I like their kind of, their growing up, you know, with a young team. I think the schedule was really beneficial for them early. You know, they played West Morgan, you know, 4-18. It wasn't quite at their best yet. And then they played East Lomestone and Decatur, who look like the two, you know, worst teams in that region, you know, in their first two region games.

So now they're 3-1, young teams growing up. They're gaining confidence. They get an Austin team who, if you would have told me, would have been 1-3 going in this game in the preseason, I would have laughed at you. Yeah. But now here it is. So they have a chance to go 4-1. And then you get into the meet where you're going to be playing hard, muscle, souls in Florence. You know, and those are going to be really tough games. But, you know, you go in at 4-1 and you're starting to feel really confident.

So it looks, the season outlook looks a lot different than I would have thought it would have in preseason. So, yeah, good job there. And we'll see if they can keep it rolling. A couple of those teams you just mentioned, we'll take on each other this weekend, this week. Hartzell and Muscle Shoals. We said, once Muscle Shoals get some points on the board with offense, they're going to be tough to handle. We saw that in the last game. And now they've got the home cooking, always a tough place to play.

And Hartzell, a proud tradition. But like a lot of teams right now, when you have changes on the roster, you've got to get your legs under. Andrew, your thoughts about the Tigers and Trojans this week? Yeah. Well, first of all, you hit the nail on the head. It's one of the toughest places to play. So that's always an advantage. You know, I think the jury's still out a little bit on Muscle Shoals. You know, they scored eight points in the first two games. Obviously, they played two really good teams.

Last week, they scored 26, but I still don't really know if the offense was much improved because Austin turned it over four times. So they, you know, really helped, you know, and credit to Muscle Shoals, they, you know, took advantage. But at the same time, it's like, I didn't really get to see, like, was the offense improved or was Austin just helping them? So that's still going to be a question mark coming in. I do know some others, the quarterback got dinged up a little bit last week, too.

So I don't know how that's going to play out. Hartzell, I think their issue has kind of been turnovers as well. It gets Coleman and against Russell. They had three against Russell. Had a key turnover against Coleman. So if they can cut down on that, I like, I think they're going up, too. I like what they have. It should be a really good game. Obviously, it could go either way, just like every single Hartzell, Muscle Shoals game. But it should be pretty exciting. I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Best game in the Tennessee Valley tomorrow night. Priceful 4-0 at Dessler 3-1. Austin Burke 4-0 in his first season at Priceful. Patrick Malone in his filth at Decatur. And the point you made with Priceful, they normally run the football, but this year they're throwing the ball a little bit more. Garrett Wilson is a very good receiver. Jack Eubanks is. I've seen a lot of Dessler. They lost the first game, could not convert a two-point conversion at Russell Bowl. But, boy, they've been rolling ever since. They're averaging 44 points a game.

Armani Jones has been running wild, 166. Bryson Williams, their quarterback. The air horns will be blowing at Dessler tomorrow night in what I think is the best game of the night. Yeah, I agree. I'm really excited for this one. Howard Chapel is, in my opinion, one of the best places to go watch a game at. Just such a cool and unique stadium. It's going to be a great atmosphere. Priceful travels really well, so that's going to be a great crowd there. So, I think this is going to be a really good game.

You know, I think the question I have is Priceful has been really good, but they've also played, you know, not good teams. You know, I think their teams they've played are a combined 2-14. Now, they've done what they've had to do against those teams. You know, they've ran away from each one. But they just, you know, they're not really faced a challenge. But when you look at Dessler, like you said, they played Russell Bowl, almost beat Russell Bowl in week one. And then last week, you know, they beat Hamilton, who's another good team, who was ranked at the time in a thriller.

So, they're battle-tested. They're at home. This is going to be a really tough challenge for this Priceful team, you know, with a first-year coach. So, I think it's going to be a wild game and a really fun one to watch, that's for sure. Caleb, obviously an interesting year for the Farmside Falcons. Off to a 4-0 start. We talked with Kenny Morrison yesterday. Very emotional game. One of the what's homecoming for the Falcons. They're trying to go to rarefied air, go to 5-0 with a start. Taking on the aforementioned Decatur Red Raiders.

And the reason I bring that up, it's an emotional game for Kenny in more ways than one. He cut his teeth with Jerry. Jerry Adcock over the years. Spent a lot of time there as an assistant with the Red Raiders. And now he's going to be hosting them tomorrow night at homecoming, trying to remain unbeaten. Your thoughts about that one? Yeah, I mean, you've got to be impressed with what Florence has done. You know, I heard it a lot in the offseason. You know, other coaches, other people telling me that Florence had definitely the most talented team in the region.

You know, just had to see if it came together. You know, they've had some talent in the past and it's not come together. But they finally seem to have gotten on top of it and are playing really well. You know, I just don't see that change in this week. Decatur has just, they just can't figure out offense. It's been a struggle for the last three years and it's not gotten any better. And, you know, you're talking about, you know, Muscle Shoals couldn't score any points on Florence.

[47:39] And Russell, you know, scored, I think, 21. So, I think it's going to be an uphill battle for Decatur. And Florence will probably get a homecoming win. Tell us a little bit more about your dad. Jamie Suggs with East Lawrence, 3-1 for the first time in six years when they finished 9-2. Kane, McClure, and Bolding have a combined 902 yards. Bryce Young, not that Bryce Young, but another one. Their star receiver. Talk about your dad's progress so far this year. Yeah, well, I don't want to hop him up too much.

I don't need him walking around the house with a big head. No, you know, obviously I'm very proud to see what, you know, what he's been able to do in his first year. You know, it's been crazy to see. But I think it just goes to show there was a lot of talent there. They just, you know, needed someone that could get them going in the right direction. And, you know, Kane McClure is a talented running back. They have Chandler Boland, who's a young running back.

They've been very hard to stop. And then, you know, you mentioned Bryce, he came back. He missed the first three games, comes back, calls in three catches, 120 yards, two touchdowns. So that's just another weapon. So a lot of talent this year. I'm interested to see how it does this week. You know, they're going on the road at Haleville, who's also three and one. Yeah. You know, a lot of hype and, you know, a lot of praise being thrown their way, which is good for the program.

But those kids, you know, you know the history of he's smart. They're not used to it. So, you know, we'll see if they can handle it. You know, I know they've got a big game coming up with Hatton in a few weeks. There's already a lot of hype surrounding that. So we'll see how they handle to the success and, yeah, just see how it goes going forward. You mentioned Hatton. Their 4-0, their average margin of victories, nearly 30 points. Cade Parham, the quarterback, 7-65 in 10 touchdowns. Severius Evans, one of the best running backs in North Alabama.

Nazi Gamble, they've combined for 914 points. The defense only allowing 11 points a game. You mentioned it. This is a playoff team and a very good team. Yeah, I mean, it's not just a playoff team. This is a team that I expect to go 10-0, win the region. And I honestly think they're a state title contender team. I think they're right up there with the best teams in 3A in the North, you know. I've been so impressed with just how good they've been. I knew they would be even better in Stover's second year.

But there's so much talent there. And then Parham coming in at quarterback. I mean, they can just hit. I mean, you know, what are you going to stop? Are you going to stop their super talented running backs? Are you going to stop their quarterback who is really good and doesn't turn the ball over? And then defensively, they're really good as well. So, and they got receivers. I mean, they're stacked all around the board. I think this is one of the most talented teams in 3A. I really think this is a team that's going to compete for a championship.

So, and they'll definitely roll this week for sure. Yeah, I knew Nikita Stover was going to have a very good second year. It had great stuff. You've got predictions. You've got previews of all the games. There's a lot of Shoals teams in there, too. Standings, the stance, pre-game, post-game. Where can we get online to get all the good stuff? Yeah, you can get online at DecaturDaily.com and find all that. Like you said, we've got a lot of our teams playing in the Shoals this week.

A little lap over there. But, yeah, you can get it all online there. Sounds great, Kato. Listen, man, find as cool a spot as you can and stay safe. And let's do it again soon, okay? All right, guys. Thanks for having me. Thank you, bud. Caleb Suggs. He's the Kenner Daily. Maybe the Braves missed a chance last night to clinch a playoff first. Can you help them? Yeah, they all say to four to the Cubs. The Cubs went Homer crazy last night, which you can do in Wrigley.

They got the day off, and then they're facing Houston. They need to wrap up. They need to clinch this playoff this weekend against the Astros. Managing numbers five could go to four tonight with a Mets win over the fields. They're playing. And the Braves also, we don't say this very often as a Braves fan, but go Mets. Coming up the next hour, what's going on down in Tuscaloosa this week? I think we may have a little hint. We'll get more with Ryan Fowler on that. Benjamin Ray talking about one for the books here in UNA country and Nathan King.

Oh, my goodness. What about the game of the players this weekend? That and more straight ahead. Stay with us. Start your day at Milla's Place, where French toast, fluffy pancakes, and all your breakfast favorites are served fresh and hot, weekday mornings starting at 6 a.m. Come back for lunch or dinner and enjoy our meat and three meals cooked with Southern flair. Or dig into a juicy burger, crispy chicken tenders, or our popular fried catfish served every day. Whether it's dine-in or carry-out, come see us at Milla's Place, locally owned and operated in downtown Florence, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m.

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[53:10] Need installation, repair, or maintenance? The experienced team at J.C. Hammond Sons is ready to help with all your residential and commercial heating and cooling needs. Visit them at 2536 Florence Boulevard or call 256-764-7386 today. J.C. Hammond Sons, serving the Shoals with dependable comfort since 1952. Alabama license number 12179. 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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Terms and conditions apply. Professional Power Plays brought to you by Propane. Okay, team, America's energy security is on thin ice, overburdened electric grid, rising costs, severe weather. You could stick with the grid and ride it out, do nothing and hope the problems go away, or here's your power play. Propane. Affordable, abundant, safe. Propane is reliable energy even when the grid isn't. Advantage Propane. Learn more at propane.com slash power play. The attorneys for three separate lawsuits filed in Birmingham against a proposed AI data center are now working to combine part of their cases.

The attorneys say that the questions coming from the defendants in these lawsuits all have common concerns over the permitting process, zoning, and construction of this data center. The attorneys are proposing they combine the cases when it comes to the discovery process. The attorneys were before a judge this past Wednesday to ask for the consolidation of the discovery part. The three lawsuits will still move forward separately through the judicial process, whether the judge approves the consolidation or not. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.

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The identity has now been released of the pilot who was on board a small plane that crashed in DeKalb County this past Tuesday. The sole fatality in that crash was Douglas M.G. of DeKalb County, who has owned and operated Albertville Aviation for the past 30 years. M.G. was on board a single-engine aircraft that crashed behind the water tower off County Road 3. A high-speed chase occurred on Wednesday night spanning two different counties. The Lauderdale County police first tried to make a traffic stop of two motorcycle drivers who then fled from police.

One of the motorcycle drivers was captured later on while police continued to search for the second suspect. I'm Andrea Tyson. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. From the heart of the SEC to the national stage. No filters. No fluff. Get the real story and all the hard-hitting analysis on AP as we see it. Saturday mornings at 7 a.m. Sports Radio 93.9. The score. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shore. Sports Radio 93.9. The score.

[58:51] The Florence Falcons went to 4-0 in the season with a big region road win last Friday night. Cuts it up in the middle. Pushes forward. To the go-round. To the end zone. Touchdown, Florence. The Carson Johnson, the senior, says, give me the ball and I'll give you six. Now the Falcons turn their attention to the Decatur Red Raiders as it's homecoming at Brawley Stadium. Join me, Kevin Johnson, along with Mike Albertson, Jeffrey Jones, and John McDaniel as we bring you Florence and Decatur. The TNT Fireworks pregame at 6, kickoff at 7 on your home for Florence Falcons football 93.9.

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Tomorrow night, mostly clear with a low near 75. And for your Saturday, 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. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, the score. Welcome back in our tour to the Boom O Bug Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Red Beard. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And to say hello to the man who I think has a pretty big date circled on his calendar this weekend.

Down in a place called Auburn, Alabama. Nathan Keene got it all covered. That way it comes to the Tigers at Auburn 24-7. Nathan, welcome in. How are you? I am doing great. Like you said, looking forward to a really fun SEC matchup on Saturday. SEC opener for both Auburn and Florida. Nathan, this obviously has a lot of backstories. We know, well-documented with Jon Sumrall and all that stuff. But as far as the hardcore fan, we won't talk about that, of course. But it's just safe to say this is one of those games where both fan bases have come in.

They've seen kind of the warm-up act, if you will. But still, given the last few years, Florida's got a proud tradition. Auburn's got a proud tradition. Both programs have not hit that bar over the last few years. They've resurrected those hopes through the first two games for both programs. What I'm trying to say is, Nathan, this is one of those games where they've come to a crossroads. It's time to start getting a real identity, whoever comes out of winter here. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, I think both fan bases are very happy with who they hired.

There are different circumstances that led to both of those. Obviously, there are some ties. Auburn was in the mix with Jon Sumrall for a long time in his coaching search. They eventually landed on Alex Golesh after Sumrall chose Florida, after Lane Kiffin chose LSU. You know, obviously, there's just a lot of dominoes there. But I think at this point, both programs are very happy with who they have. And like you said, some renewed optimism here early in the season. But it's just that. It's very, very early in the season.

And you're exactly right. We feel like we don't know a lot about either of these teams. Auburn has a clunkier performance under its belt to win over Baylor. But at the same time, you know, that's a quality opponent, right? Like that's a Big 12 team. Whereas Florida looks fantastic, but they haven't played anybody yet. You know, how much of that is fool's gold? How much of Auburn's performance against Baylor actually revealed some issues versus just week one against another, you know, powerful opponent. And so you're exactly right.

I think we're going to, we won't know everything because it'll still just be week three. But we're going to learn a lot more about both teams on Saturday. And I think it should be great because I think both sides are very evenly matched. I really cannot find a significant advantage on either side of the ball for these two teams. I agree with you. That's one of the reasons why I've gone back and forth. I think you predicted, if memory serves me, Auburn to win 17-14. All the predictions have been very close.

But you brought up a good point. Buster Faulkner coming over with his pre-snap motion. He does a lot of pre-snap stuff to get in the defense's head. And Auburn's really got to communicate. They've got great weapons. Tylo, Ball, Wilson, Brunel, Brown with nuts on pump returns. So, as you mentioned, communication is going to be a real key for the Auburn defense. Yeah, I mean, we already knew that linebacker was going to be a key position for Auburn in this game because of the matchup against Jaden Ball, like Elijah Melendez and Xavier Atkins.

[1:04:08] Coming downhill and trying to stop him in the running game. But a guy like Elijah Melendez, Auburn's middle linebacker, who's a sophomore, currently leads the SEC in tackles through two weeks. He's going to be key in the passing game as well because all that pre-snap motion from Buster Faulkner, all of that misdirection that he's going to try to get going to get some easy completions for a young, inexperienced quarterback like Aaron Filo. It's going to be really important for Auburn, kind of the middle of the defense there with Melendez and other guys.

And, you know, they've got some veteran safeties. They've all got to be on the same page because you saw against Baylor, like they tuned up when they needed to. And obviously they made winning plays at the end of the game, but they were not on the same page for all 60 minutes. There were some leverage issues at the beginning of the game. Baylor had some guys that were a lot more open than they should have been. But it all starts with stopping the run. It all starts with putting Filo in his first career road start, putting him in third and longs, putting him in third down situations that are not favorable.

And that starts with Jaden Ball. He's one of the best running backs in the country. Auburn, conversely, under DJ Durkin, their run defense the past couple seasons has been tremendous. It's been really, really good. Their staff last year were up there with teams like Ohio State and Indiana in terms of yards per carry. Like, this is a really, really strong run defense. We're led to believe they've got one again this season, just based on what we've seen so far. They need to be strong because if ball gets rolling in this game, that opens up everything for Buster Faulkner.

Nathan King, Auburn 24-7. Obviously, that's strength on strength. As far as Auburn's offense, very impressive. I know the competition, but still, even against air, that's impressive. Auburn's defense, conversely. Let's go to the other side as far as matchup, when Florida has the ball, as far as when Auburn has to sit here and basically try to move on this Florida defense. Yeah, I mean, it's going to start with the offensive line for Florida, or excuse me, for Auburn. That group's going to continue to be under the microscope all the way up until kickoff.

You know, we'll be paying attention to the lineups and who's out there. Because against Southern Miss last week, it was Wilson Zaire, the true freshman, who took the bulk of the first-team reps at left guard. I would, as of right now, I would expect him to do that again. And honestly, it's a situation that kind of makes sense, right? Like when you're struggling on the offensive lines at a specific spot, what's the harm in sending the young guy out there? If you're going to struggle, you might as well struggle with the 6'6'' true freshman who's got some talent and see what he can do.

That group has to play better. Like, it's just through the first couple weeks. Baylor, it was, you know, a lack of production. Like, they didn't hold up well. They gave up five sacks. And then against Southern Miss, they were always good better because Southern Miss is not good. But they had a lot of penalties. And so they really need to kind of marry those two games together and see some improvements against what's an athletic Florida defensive front. Florida's defense really, it profiles in much of the same way as Auburn's in that I know they have a new coordinator, but they still have a lot of players back from last season.

And last season, they were pretty decent. So you feel like this is going to be a top-half SEC defense. It's probably the best defense Auburn has seen so far, or at least we're led to believe that when compared to Baylor. And so it all comes down to Byron Brown. It all comes down to him obviously playing a mistake-free game. I think that's number one when you throw three picks in the first game of the season. People are going to want to see you throw the ball cleanly and keep him out of third and longs as well.

I know you could say that about every quarterback in every game in the country, but Byron Brown, no one's going to mistake him for Peyton Manning. Like, he's not going to sit back there and shred this defense as a passer. They need to get him rolling with his legs. We saw him do some scramble drill stuff really well the past couple weeks so far. This season, they need to get that part of his game going, get Florida scared of him on the ground. That opens up everything else for this offense.

You mentioned the offensive line. Who's going to play left guard for Auburn? Yeah, I would think it would be Zaire. We'll see how that goes on Saturday. It has been, it was Jacob Strand at the beginning of the season, the Oregon State transfer. He was very bad against Baylor. And to be fair, I mean, the right guard spot wasn't very good either. Cole Skinner struggled a lot in that game. Like I said, I would think it's Zaire because you just really don't have anything to lose when you're playing a young guy like that.

I know you're kind of throwing him into the fire here, but look, he was a blue-chip recruit for a reason. He was a guy that Georgia and Alabama and Clemson all tried to recruit. Like, he's a good player. He's a good young player. His older brother went to the NFL after playing at Auburn. And so he's got a good skill set to him. He's been at tackle most of the offseason, but they thought him good enough to put in there a guard. So I would think it's Wilson Zaire.

You cannot have that be a weakness, though. You cannot have that be a spot that Florida just exploits. You've got a running game of your own if you're Auburn that you want to get set up in this one. Nathan, obviously, you hope everything is relatively healthy. What are you hearing as far as the availability of reports we're in, hopefully now, by both camps? What are you hearing as far as the mass report coming in? Yeah, it should be good for Auburn. The two guys we were monitoring at the beginning of the week should both play, and that's Deshaun Womack and Chris Murray, a couple pass rushers.

[1:09:10] Auburn really hasn't had its full defensive line available since maybe the second quarter of the Baylor game. That's around when Deshaun Womack went down with a lower body injury. He was fine. They obviously didn't play the rest of that game, and Chris Murray went out later in that game as well. But both of those guys could have gone against Southern Miss. That's the game you won by five touchdowns. That's like wide, just wide, wide, extra strain. Exactly. There's no reason to push those guys. Womack looked really good against Baylor, and Chris Murray is a veteran guy.

On the other side, the name to watch for Florida this week has been Eric Singleton, and obviously that's a familiar name for Auburn. He transferred from Auburn last season, but more importantly in this calculus here, he transferred from Georgia Tech before that, and that's where he was with Buster Faulkner. So, yes, he's a transfer for Florida, but he's got experience within this offense. You guys mentioned at the outset Burnell Brown and Dallas Wilson, two of the more talented receivers in the country. If Singleton's healthy, really, really good group of pass catchers for Aaron Filo in this game goes back to the importance of flowing down the run game because if you don't do that and you open up the opportunities for Filo in the passing game, they've got a ton of talent at receiver.

Absolutely. I could mention 10 other names we've already talked about a lot of guys. Who's caught your eye for Auburn on either side of the ball the first two games? Yeah, I think a guy that you're going to need to be effective in this one is Cody Sigler, the defensive tackle. You saw him make some plays at the end of that Baylor game. He looked really good last week against Southern Miss. This is a defensive line that doesn't necessarily have a lot of star power. Like, I know we talked about that in the offseason, so you've got to rotate a bunch of guys, and you've got to hope to win in that regard.

The cornerback position for me is going to be one that I'll be keeping my eye on in this game because of that receiver talent we just mentioned from Florida. Both of those guys for Auburn have had their moments. Like, Rayshon Pleasant was really good against Baylor for all of the struggles they had had against DJ Lagway. He only ended up completing 50% of his passes, but he did have some chunk plays. For all those struggles, Rayshon Pleasant was really good in that game. Andre Jordan was not so good, and then Andre Jordan turns around and has two interceptions last week against Southern Miss.

So, like, both of those guys have kind of had their moments early on this season, so I'll be keeping an eye on that position. And then for Auburn, you know, on offense, like, you know, Jeremiah Cobb is getting slept on in this game. Like, there's so much attention around Jaden Ball, who ran for 1,100-plus yards last season. Like, Florida's already putting together a Heisman campaign for him, and he's great. He's been really, really good this season. Like, I think he's one of the best running backs in the country, but Auburn feels very confident about a guy like Jeremiah Cobb.

He's a senior, like, he's a guy who almost ran for 1,000 yards last season, and now he's in what they perceive to be a more competent offensive system than what he was in last year. So, I would look for Jeremiah Cobb to get rolling in this game. That would make a huge, huge difference for what Auburn's trying to do on a play-to-play basis. Nathan, when you saw the line out of Vegas, were you surprised because Auburn, Florida comes in. Last time I saw, you may have some updated numbers there, two-and-a-half-point favorite over Auburn.

When you factor in the fact that the schedule's at this point, Auburn has a home cooking. It's at night. Anyone who's ever been there for a night game knows that is a different beast. And not only that, Auburn's got a pretty good defense. When you factor in the home cooking with that defense, especially at this point in the season, maybe if we can fast-forward deeper into the schedule, we'll have a different opinion. But at this point, were you surprised with Florida being the two-and-a-half-point favorite? Maybe a little bit, but when you get down to it, you've got to adjust when the season starts.

And think Auburn early in the offseason, it was like one-and-a-half in favor of the Tigers, and they're just adjusting based on what's happened so far this season, where Auburn hasn't looked very good against their one-powerful opponent. Now, they still won that game, but it was a clunky performance. And look, Florida's done everything they're supposed to do. They played two bad teams, and they beat the c*** out of them. They looked really, really good. Their efficiency metrics so far are off the charts. And so you're kind of just basing it on what you've seen so far this season.

I think there was an offseason narrative, I guess maybe for lack of a better term, that Florida had the potential in year one to make a splash right away because of their roster talent. I do agree with that. I think Florida's probably got a better overall team than Auburn this season when you go position by position. But in week three on the road at night in Jordan-Hare Stadium against an Auburn team that's going to be playing with a lot of confidence, how much will that matter right away?

Like you said, maybe down the road in the season, but that's why I went with Auburn to win this game by a slim margin. Look, it's what I went with all offseason. I always thought this was a good spot, a good high-leverage spot for Auburn to try to get a home SEC win. And look, they've only won one of their last nine SEC home games. Like if they're going to win this one, it's going to require a strict turnaround. But like Alex Golech said yesterday, like Auburn's had some bad results at home recently, but those aren't his teams.

They were Auburn teams, but they weren't Alex Golech. This team is going to go out and play their first SEC home game on Saturday night. I'll tell you one thing. This is a great weekend, and I don't know if you've looked down the road. Next Saturday, South Carolina at Alabama, Vandy at Auburn, LSU at Texas A&M, Texas at Tennessee, Missouri at Mississippi State, Oklahoma at Georgia. My heavens to Bansy, what an SEC weekend. Yeah, and that speaks to the importance of this game, right? Like both teams feel like it's an opportunity.

[1:14:35] Both squads feel like it here early in the season. And look, this game isn't going to change the entire season outcome, I wouldn't think. This game is not going to inform what the long-term tenures of John Summerall and Alex Golech are going to look like. It's just not. It's one game in year three of week one. Or excuse me, of week three in year one. But it's an opportunity early on to get some momentum. And maybe we look back in late November and both of these teams are at a bowl game or they're at seven wins.

And you say, hey, when you beat Florida, or if you're Florida, hey, when you beat Auburn, well, I'll go back in week three. That ended up being a really big one because the rest of their schedules are very difficult. Absolutely. Listen, also enjoy the exit interviews that you and Jason Caldwell do. Helmet stickers, defense and offense, play the game, et cetera. Always enjoy looking forward to that after every game. Tell us, where can we get online, get your stuff, Jason's, and the team's? For sure. Auburn247.com.

Looking forward to a full game day on Saturday. We'll have all the coverage leading up to it. Had our picks and our opposing preview and all that good stuff today. We'll have more content leading into Saturday. So if you're an Auburn fan wanting to get all the coverage ahead of the Tigers SEC opener, we're running a 50% off deal. We'd love for you to come join us in our community over at Auburn247.com. Sounds great, Nathan. Break out the moonshades, okay? Will do. Appreciate you guys. Thank you, bud.

Nathan King got it all covered there at Auburn247. Well, coming up, it is a historic weekend in the neck of the woods and against two of issues and apologies just moments ago. Surprise, surprise. Until next day with us. At First Southern Bank, we always cheer for the home team. We are homegrown with deep roots and we're invested in this community. With checking and savings accounts, mobile and online banking, and a mortgage department to help you with the home of your dreams, First Southern Bank is your neighborhood bank.

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Harold Bugg inviting you to join Brett Beard and me weekdays, noon to two, for the Big Bowl Bug Show here on 93.9 The Score. Scott Graham here from Westwood One. Coming up, week two of the new NFL season gets started with Josh Allen and the Bills hosting Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions. Both teams got the season started with close call wins last week. Kevin Kugler and Ross Tucker will have the call from the Bills' new stadium in Buffalo. Join us for the Lions at the Bills on Thursday Night Football.

Right here on 93.9 The Score. This is the story of the one. The shipping manager who's there before the first truck backs in and the first pallet is loaded. Coordinating schedules, clearing bottlenecks, keeping freight moving. He counts on Grainger for the industrial-grade products he needs to stay ready. From shipping supplies to PPE to hand tools. So when the doors roll up, he's ready to roll. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click Grainger.com, or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Get in the zone, AutoZone.

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Then keep trading live in-game and exit whenever you want. Or combine multiple trades into one with Polymarket combos. Your weekend belongs to football again. Promo code linebacker. Deposit $10 and get $50 to trade instantly. 18 plus. See Polymarket's terms of service for more information about restrictions and eligibility. The Polymarket app is an independent affiliate of Polymarket U.S. and not CFTC regulated. Trading always involves risk. Complete loss can occur. The $50 offer is issued as non-withdrawable trading credit for use on the platform. Offer exclusively available to first-time depositors. It's an evening with Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy and All-American pitcher Jocelyn Briskey benefiting the Howard Gamble Scholarship for the Red Elephant Club.

Monday, September 28th at 2807 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals. There'll be a meet and greet at 530, dinner at 630 with speaker and Q&A session to follow. Space is limited. Get your tickets early. $25 for coaches and student tickets. $30 for adult tickets. For tickets or more information, call Robert Newton at 256-366-9616. Hey, it's Evan Cohen. Coming up Friday, the Buffalo Bills open their new stadium against the Lions. But will Josh Allen be a rude host and send Detroit home with a loss? It's on Sportsman 9, 6 a.m. Eastern right here on ESPN Radio, ESPN2, and ESPNU.

The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Big breaking news. It's about today, Thursday. It happened on Saturday. Earlier today, Steve Sarkeesian saying, in hindsight, 2020, if I could do it all over again, I would have exuded more patience. In that moment, Ann sat through and waited for the interview with Holly. He goes on and says he has a lot of respect for ESPN, for Holly. They go back to his playing days at BYU. ESPN's a good partner, a.k.a. one of the reasons Steve makes millions of dollars in that TV contract.

I haven't seen exactly about an apology per se, but at least he addressed it today, BB. I think his quarterback, Harold, did a much better job of apologizing than he did. First of all, on that subject, before we jump in here, as far as, to me, that's a silly thing for TV to do that. These coaches are alphas. Why they do that is beyond my reach. I know why they do it, because they pay a lot of money, and Steve knew that. So, I see both sides.

These coaches, they're caught up in the moment. When you ask someone under the heat of the moment, you never know what you're going to get. But at the same time, once you know that they have these pregame meetings, he should have known this is part of the game. Go ahead, eat it for 60, 90 seconds. Just have some platitudes, already canned. Say those things and move on, and we'll be here on a Thursday still talking about it. Here we are on a Thursday talking about this Saturday with a man who's going to have one of the best seats in one of the best places in the entire Shoals area.

Ben Ray is the voice of the UNA Lions Athletic Assistant AD. Ben, welcome in. Are you fired up? I am beyond fired up, whatever's above that on the scale. I'm sitting inside of Bank Independent Stadium right now, overlooking Bobby Wallace Field. You're not going to leave, are you? I believe this is the first ever live interview done from the stadium. I'm doing it with you guys on the best show around. We're flattered, we're flattered, yeah. Breaking it in. Breaking news and breaking history books. Ben, obviously, this has been a long time coming.

Before we get into the obvious, it's what you're going to be seeing on the field. I think, what was it, two years ago that they came out and broke the ground with all the shovels and the hard hats and all the photo ops. To see this come along like you have, can you put it into words what it means? I mean, it's indescribable. I mean, you're talking about something that goes back to 1973. Yeah, wow. We found the first renderings for a proposed stadium on campus that Harlan Hill was trying to start.

And we've done some research. In 1912, Jeff Hodges found this out. In 1912, the first football team at U.N.A. played it on the start in Florence. In 1949, we started playing at a coffee stadium, I believe is what it was all before it turned into Brawley Stadium. From 1949 to 2025, 77 years, Brawley Stadium was the home to U.N.A. And U.N.A. has never had a place to call our own. We've been a tenant in someone else's house. Wow. And now we have something that's our own.

[1:25:14] And I'm sitting out here looking at the Lionhead at midfield, the purple and gold everywhere, purple seats, purple branding, logos everywhere to finally have something to call our own. I mean, it's transformational for U.N.A., for the Shoals area, and everybody needs to take pride in this venue because they knocked it out of the park. As of Monday, there were 800 tickets remaining. Let us know if it's a sellout. If it's not, where can we get online and get any tickets that are remaining? And I've talked to three people this week.

I'm so excited. I can't wait. But where am I going to park? You've already addressed that and some of the other U.N.A. officials. I know you had a tweet about that. Tickets and parking. I'll tell you what. There are a couple of hundred tickets left. We're expecting standing room hallway capacity. And, look, when I say a couple of hundred tickets left, that is for tickets for seats. There will be standing room capacity. I think there's 10,000 seats. There will be standing room capacity. They're going to get as many people as they are allowed to get inside this venue.

It's going to be hard to get turned away. So there's still time. Don't wait until Saturday. Because first time in this venue, what are the ticket lines going to be like? We don't know. We think we've got a great plan. We don't know. We're telling people to get here early, get in the stadium because, hey, Bobby Wallace is getting recognized out on the field. The Marching Pride is doing their first ever show out on the field. And there's a flyover during the national anthem. You're going to want to be seated for all of that.

So we're telling people to get here early. In terms of parking, this stadium right here on the campus of the University of North Alabama has more parking per seat than any other stadium in the state of Alabama. Detroit, Alabama, Auburn, there's great parking options. No, you can't park in the front door and walk right in. You're going to have to walk a little bit. But guess what? There's shuttles. There's golf carts. We want to make it as seamless as possible. But it's going to be a great day.

We're telling people to get here early. Come enjoy tailgating. We've never tailgated on campus. Pine Street is going to be closed off. MikeLions.com is the place to go. Mike Ezekiel, our SID. His muffler's been burning hot, guys. He's been working hard. He is going to have an article up on the website here in a little bit. Things to know. It's going to have parking info, ticket info. We've got a video on social media that breaks it all down. Megan Dye and her staff have been working incredibly hard.

You don't want to miss this on Saturday. It's going to be a historic day. We say getting there early for the folks who are not familiar with coming to games. What are we talking about? In other words, what's the earliest, if one wants to come out, that they could get the party started? You know, I don't have the exact timing sheet, but I have been telling people about 520 to 530 is when you'll see the pregame festivities start. That's when the Marching Pride will do their show, after the teams have finished their warm-ups, the National Anthem, the flyover, the Bobby Wallace recognition.

They've got some other things up their sleeves. So, I've been telling people, you can be in your seats by 520 to 530 at the latest, all those pregame festivities. I've been telling people, you don't need to underestimate the opponent. Alcorn State beat Arkansas Pine Bluff 53-51 in two overtimes. Well, how much yardage did they gain? 702. Jalen Tolbert, 32 of 45 for 488. Their running back, Ernest Temple, accounted for 200 yards. They've only given up two sacks, I believe, on the season, but they're giving up over 200 yards rushing. And I'm guessing Chris McMillan, Jalen Fletcher, and Roderick Taylor, and Destin Wade know that.

Your thoughts and keys to the game. You're going to need some carbonation to keep up with this Alcorn State offense. I mean, they scored 50 points in two of the first three games. And what's impressive about that win against Arkansas Pine Bluff is they were down two scores in the fourth quarter. They were down two scores with nine minutes left in the game. And they were able to tie it, force overtime, and win that in two overtimes. So they really persevered to win that SWAT game. Hey, in today's college football, when you're playing a team that they can put up 50 points like that, their top 10 in FCS football in passing, you better come ready to play.

You know they can score points. So this defense has been touted as being one of the best in FCS. They're going to have their hands full on Saturday. But with the way the secondary is played, with the way the defensive line is played, if it all checks itself off, if they all work together, they check all those boxes, they should have success. And offensively, we saw it in the second and third quarters against Sanford. We saw it in the second quarter against southeastern Louisiana. When this offense is clicking, it's really hard to stop.

[1:30:22] And Coach Dierman has challenged them to start fast and play a full four-quarter game. And I think you'll see this offense really cook. Listen, congratulations. We enjoy kidding you. But you've worked your butt off to get here. Mike does, too, as far as SID. All of your staff do it, Megan Dye, Josh Looney, congratulations on an incredibly historic night. Tell us again, if you want tickets, parking, or any other information, where we can get online and get it. Yeah, well, let me just say thank you guys for always being good friends and having us on and letting us talk.

For a lot of us, and I can speak for just about everybody on this staff, we're UNA grads. And to play a part in this, it's surreal. It's a dream come true. Something none of us thought that we would ever see. And to know that myself, Mike Ezekiel, Megan Dye, and Anna Millie Hovater, Jene Lye, Danny Williams, so many of us are leaving people out, shaking our UNA grads. And we're going to play a part in Saturday. It makes it even more special. I'm proud of our staff.

But visit RoarLions.com. You can get all your ticket information, all your parking information. Mike's going to drop his Things to Know article here in just a little bit. And we want to see everybody inside of Bank Independent Stadium on Saturday for the first ever college football game played at Bobby Wallace Field here on the campus of the University of North Alabama. Getting ready for some good football, I would imagine, a few chill bumps. It's going to be a fun weekend, one for the books. Ben, listen, man, I know you're going to have another great call.

Thanks for your time today. Hey, over or under three times the amount of times I cry, Saturday and taking the Oval. Thank you guys very much. You bet. This segment brought to you by Kleenex. Coming up, what will Alabama do with FSU this weekend? It's their guest. And the latest with Ryan Fowler next. Stay with us. Let's go. It's Friday Night Football. I'm John Saylor, your local lawyer. And I'm proud to sponsor this year's Scoreboard and Coach's Breakfast because there's nothing like high school football in North Alabama.

It's our schools, our teams, our bands, our cheerleaders, and everybody in the stands. It's good times, and that's what Friday Night Football is all about. Remember, neighbors, when you need a lawyer, call me, John Saylor, your local lawyer at 256-740-3131, or visit johnsaylorlaw.com. Hello, folks. Smart Company, new car sales manager, Ray Miller GMC. We treat you like family. We understand that buying an automobile is the second largest purchase you'll do in your lifetime. And just like Alabama athletic programs, we take pride in what we do.

So if you're looking for a new GMC or pre-owned automobile, we now have you covered with Car Bravo certified. That gives you 12 months, 12,000-mile warranty. And also, don't forget to schedule your next oil change or any of your mechanical needs with our award-winning service and parts department. So remember, folks, we're 246 Coss Creek Parkway, Florence, Alabama, right underneath that big American flag. We hope to see you real soon. At Valley Credit Union, we believe every great team starts with a strong community. We're proud to help our neighbors save, borrow, and build brighter futures together.

Whether you're planning for your first home, growing your family, or supporting local dreams, we're here with personalized service and competitive rates. Stop by any of our convenient locations, Tuscumbia, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, Florence, Russellville, Cherokee, and Killen, or visit us on the web at valleycreditunion.net. Valley Credit Union, rooted in community, committed to you. Let's win together. 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. And going to the 55-plus plan saved us so much money.

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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. I checked Allstate first and saved hundreds on my car insurance. Unfortunately, I didn't check the heat level on the wings at the tailgate first. These are pretty good. Uh, those are the fried infernos. Almost took out Donya over there. Why weren't they labeled? They were. Milk. Yeah, checking first is a win. So check Allstate first and you can save hundreds. Voiced by paid actor.

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Welcome back in. Alabama has been waiting a while to try to get a little revenge against the team from Tallahassee. Ryan Fowler, I think, knows about that and a whole lot more when it comes. Talking Tide. Ryan drives you home every afternoon on the radio as host of the game on Tide 109 down in Tuscaloosa. Ryan, welcome in. How are you? Hopefully we'll be able to hook up with Ryan here in a second. He's been waiting about a year, B.B., so I don't think a few more minutes is going to matter that much.

But your thoughts as far as we looked at that SMU game, what would get Ryan on here? And they said, well, you know, SMU barely beat FSU. But here's the problem with that game, B.B. The only reason I think that game was close, Florida State was given a gift of four turnovers, and they still lost the game at home, B.B. And Ryan's joined us, but I think that's going to be the key. Something else that caught my attention, Alabama is, as everybody knows by now, they're number one in third down conversions, only allowing one out of 23 on the season.

Florida State enters the game 94th in converting third downs. That's an advantage to the Crimson Tide. I think that's one of the most underrated stats out there, what you're doing on third down on offense and what you're doing more importantly on defense. As we mentioned, Ryan Feller, host of the game on Tide 109 FM. Ryan, welcome in. Are you with us now, my friend? I am. Hey, buddy. It's good to be on with you guys and excited about this weekend. I will tell you that Tuscaloosa is, they have arrived early for the Florida State game.

So I don't know if we've got some tailgating plans, but I just drove from a lunch spot to here at the radio station. And let me say this, McFarland traffic is just as tough as Alabama's defense. Ryan, has that been the biggest surprise for you so far? Because last year, Florida State had their way because, let's face it, that D-line was not that good. And Alabama said, Ohio State, can you do us a favor? Can you help us with a couple of guys here? You take them off our payroll.

[1:40:55] We'll go out and try to hit the reset button and bring some guys in. And boy, have they ever. And I know it's against, let's face it, it's not exactly world beating competition. But you've got to face what you've got to face. Your thoughts so far, starting with that side of the ball. Yeah, I think when you look at this defensive side of the ball, and if there's one thing, listen, you can throw stones, and everybody can throw their little stones at different coaches and different things.

Hey, I don't like this. I don't like this. But when you look at this evaluation of this staff, in other words, I don't like to evaluate players. Guys, they are a step ahead. Because I used the analogy a couple of weeks ago on your show that I thought they were kind of shopping in a thrift store. Right. And every now and then you go to the thrift store and you'll find a name brand shirt for 99 cents. And you're like, how did that get over here? That's a name brand.

And so you buy it, and then you're like, hey, so that's what they've done. And I think a lot of that goes back to, like, the Sioux Falls days, is that you've got to find those little diamonds that you think are, you know, or hit. And so you've just got to maneuver them in and look at the guys that they've brought in. So super excited about what this staff is doing. And listen, we haven't seen the peak of Alabama. I think we saw it a little bit in that Kentucky game in the second half.

But I still think there's more to this football team that you're going to see. You know, Keelan Russell is going to continue to take some steps in the right direction. And I think you're going to see him improve from that game. So that's one of those that, you know, it's pretty incredible when you think about it and kind of look at where this team is going to take some steps. Because I think there's also a lot more to this offense that can be unfolded. But it should be a big weekend.

It should be a big weekend for Alabama. And, you know, can Kaelin the Boar and Mocker Bell. I mean, think about Greg Burnford just a minute from an evaluation standpoint. Look at the guys that he was evaluating when he hired Kaelin the Boar. Mike Durrell, he packed. Well, that's where I was going. Lane Kiffin, Dapo, and he hired Kaelin the Boar. I mean, let that kind of sink in. I mean, that should be a little bit of credit right there, too. Yep. Absolutely. Adrian Clem, the offensive line coach.

We saw in the second half some of the potential for the offensive line. Michael Carroll, according to Kaelin the Boar, should be back at right guard. Will Sanders may be starting at left guard. We'll see how that goes. But steady, noticeable improvement. Brian, again, as Harold mentioned a couple of times with Keylon Russell, he was scared to death or looked like it the first couple of plays. But when he calmed down, quit making mistakes, incredible potential. The tight ends were really helping in the second half, and particularly in the fourth quarter.

That offensive line looked like what the fans and some of the media had been looking for ever since Kaelin the Boar walked in the door. They just hit Kentucky in the mouth repeatedly, and quite frankly, Kentucky wanted to quit at the end of that game. Yeah, they did. They did. I mean, I think that's the story is, you know, and they'd heard enough noise that they had, you know, I think that had, but they went into that game, and I still can't explain, other than just going up, it was self-inflicted.

It wasn't like Kentucky was just hammered Alabama. It was almost like they were just, and listen, going into the game, I probably said this last week with you guys, because I know I said it a hundred times, what was the keys to victory? Because we do that on Thursdays here in Tuscaloosa. What are the keys to victory? And I kept saying, you cannot get off to a slow start, because you're going to give them confidence and give them momentum that you shouldn't. You're providing the catalyst for this team to get fired up.

And so when Alabama's had trouble, they said, okay, here's a couple of freebies. And they kind of did that, I guess, Florida State, when you look back at last year. And so this is, in a lot of ways, a revenge game. But, you know, the other thing that really we haven't, I haven't mentioned enough, is actually Daniels has also had some success, you know, against Alabama down at Auburn. And Derek Nix probably knows him, his tendencies, and that may be an advantage that we really haven't talked about.

Good point. Because I know I haven't, but it hit me today. I'm like, hey, that's a big value for Derek Nix going up against Ashton Daniels, the quarterback at Florida State that was at Auburn last year. Ryan Fowler, again, host of the game, tied 109FM. Ryan, is it true that maybe Alabama will get their best offensive lineman back this week and, Carol, and your thoughts about some of the other mass reports, just like AK Deer may be getting to it. And overall, how are they going to handle that running back room?

[1:46:01] Because it's a blessing of riches right now. And we know these kids all want their touches. Your thoughts with, as far as the latest on Carol and how they're going to handle the running back room going forward. Yeah, Carol's good to go. I reported it yesterday on my show. I should have put it out on Twitter. I didn't. But he was good to go yesterday. He's been good to go all week. He had a little bit of a mild concussion that was happening. I don't even know if that's even out there.

I'm not even sure. But that was what he struggled with last week. And it was a mild one. It was not a severe one. Right. But they took a precautionary and made sure that he was good to go this week. You know, they're going to take every step they possibly can to protect these athletes, especially when you hear the word, you know, concussion, possible concussion. So this week, he's good to go. And so that's something that, you know, I thought Mal Walger might have the advantage, but I was very impressed with William Sanders last week.

And you almost think about, listen, if you could talk to every offensive lineman and just survey them and walk up to them and say, guys, would you rather run block or pass block? And I'm sure they enjoy both. But the run blocking just fires the offensive line up. And I think that's where you're going to see, hopefully, they lean into a little bit of this. And because this team can run the football, and you saw that it was a streak for this team. So, but when you look at backs, I don't think you can ever have too many running backs.

And AK Deer, I know, has practiced a lot this week. They've had a good week of practice. I keep hearing some really good, energized things. And I think some of it's that revenge factor of just understanding what Farno State did to Alabama last year, kind of derailed the early part of the season and put a lot of pressure on this team. They had to go out and win all the games straight to make the playoffs. But AK Deer, let's go back to the early part of the camp.

He was probably the most reliable running back in the early part of camp. And we always forget, coming out of Quipman, Mississippi, he was a five-star player that they thought could really step in. And he didn't have the season that maybe everybody thought he could have that first season. But he is a guy that has got a super, super talent. And I think one of the things that he probably does as well as anything, he catches the ball out of the backfield. So that screen game, they have tried to be able to kind of get it working.

I think you're going to see them take advantage of AK Deer in that role when he's back. And also keep your eye, I haven't heard anything, I haven't really dug around a little bit. But this Noah Rodgers coming back a little bit early, that's another positive side. Credit to Mr. Jeff Allen. Thank you, again. Yeah, I mean, he's like the MVP of almost every season. So he's pretty incredible when you think about him. But yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun this weekend as we see.

And we'll see if they rely on this rushing attack and maybe lean on it a little bit, like they did last week, to sell this quarterback down. Ryan, if you're a stat nerd, you know FSU is atrocious passing the ball. That doesn't mean things won't change Saturday. But so far, they're not. They rely on their running game. Can Alabama stop their running game if so? Let's face it, it could be a long day for FSU. It could be. It could be. And I don't think you're going to be able to – I don't know what the game plan is for Florida State.

We've got Ira Schofield on later this afternoon. He's probably got a better guess than I would. But you would think they would try to get creative. You know, you'll fight. Most guys will fight when you come out of – you push them in a corner. Well, Michael Bell's in a corner. I mean, you guys have seen the – I mean, when you're telling the wife to move out the sentimentals, hey, honey, you may want to get the boxes ready. You know, you may want to, you know, try to find a way to get some things in process because, you know, listen, it could all come coming down this weekend.

And that's the part that's really – it's hard for a coaching staff, you know, or for a spouse and, you know, understanding that in four quarters, your future could – it's not like they're going to be in the food bank line. But, honey, we may want to get the collectibles packed up because if things don't go well in Tuscaloosa, you know, it could be the last weekend. I mean, so that's the part, you know, does Kael and Abor have the knockout post? Because Hick Saban, he put a lot of unemployment lines a little bit longer.

Does Taylor and Abor have that mentality? I guess we'll see. We'll see if this is a knockout punch. I think they do. I think this team is going to play really, really good and hopefully continue that momentum that they have last weekend. What is Ryan Fowler's final score in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, number one? And number two, who have you got on the show today and where can we get online to listen? Yeah, we've got – coming up, we've got Rodney O'Rourke at 215, Levi Wallace, one of the honorary captains.

[1:51:15] He'll be on at 3, for a show field 330. And then Bruce Marshall, which is somebody you guys featured, he'll be on at 4. He's a little bit guest heavy today, but I've been a little guest-like the last couple of days trying to get scores in. I like a big score. I think Alabama, once again, will score in the 40s. You know, if you put me on the spot, I'd go like 45-17. I think Alabama covers the spread. I think this team is grown up from that moment at Kentucky, and I think you're going to see a different football team.

And hopefully that continues, but as you get SEC play. But this is another game that I want to see this offensive line get some more reps together. Because you missed Carol last week. Let's see if this offensive line continues to take steps in the right direction. And I'm sure we'll talk about it coming up next Thursday with you guys. I hope you guys have a great rest of your day. You too, buddy. It was an honor to be on with you guys. Thank you. Right. Is that right back at you, Ryan?

Thanks so much for your time today. B.B., to me, the biggest thing right now that Alabama's got to be concerned about, on paper, do not bring up the Red Cross truck. In other words, no turnovers, B.B. I think this is going to be a key because Florida State is going to run the ball and try to shorten the game. We'll see if they can do that, but we will give our predictions tomorrow on the final segment of the BMO Buck Show. I can hardly wait, B.B., but in the meantime, I'm a half of B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here.

Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two, for the BMO Buck Show, back here on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score.