Boomo Bugg Show 100126

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. New exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a speed ride around the tennis game. Brett Beaird, welcome in to the first day of October. Braves fans are asking we'll be the last day of the season for the Bravos. Good afternoon, welcome in and where have you been?

Happy Thursday listening to the Braves for one thing and running some errands. A lot of Braves fans, as you alluded to, are not very happy as the Braves the Braves had a 3-1 lead in the 8th inning yesterday afternoon and lose 4-3 in 10 innings. Ouch. And who is the starting pitcher for the most important game of the season tonight? A reliever. Ray Kerr. Yes. Ray Kerr. Yeah. Las Vegas insider Bruce Marshall will preview another loaded Saturday of college football. But B.B. is here right now to predict the top games for week 5 in college football.

I hope B.B. has got a miracle for the Braves because you've got a kid coming out of the bullpen going against their most seasoned guy in NOLA. So good luck. Do you believe in miracles? Bill Bender believes in college football. We believe in the sporting news. Double B, welcome in. How are you? Hey, Harold. Thanks for having me on. How are you doing? Man, it's hard to believe October is here. It's about to get serious when it comes to college football, is it not, Bill?

Yeah, I mean, you know, we're getting into the heart of the SEC schedule. Obviously, the aftermath of all those ranked matchups last week got a good one at noon in Starkville with Keelan Russell and Kamario Taylor going to go at it. That's a great quarterback matchup, man. I can't wait to watch it. So, yeah, super excited to get into October. October has always been my favorite month of the year. I've got a birthday in a couple weeks. My daughter's got a birthday. We've got Halloween. We love them.

It's my favorite birthday of the year. Yeah, you know, Bill, some of us had a lot of birthdays, so many. We don't even buy green bananas anymore. We may not be around the ripen up. So, let's just jump right in. Where do you start breaking down the date and state? By the way, Alabama is busing over, busing over on the morning of a kickoff at 11 o'clock. Your thoughts about that strategy, because it's only, like, 80-plus miles between the two cities on, ironically, Highway 82. Your thoughts about that matchup?

Yeah, you know, the travel plan, I'm not just such a paranoid traveler. I would, but, you know, as long as you can get to where you need to be on time and on schedule, it'll be fine. Hopefully they don't bust a flat tire or something. But the matchup itself is fun. You know, I mentioned the quarterbacks. I think, you know, one of the things that Keelan Russell, and I saw this in week one and it's held up since, is give that offense a big play element.

They do. Ryan Coleman-Williams, the running game. You know, and then on the other side, you're going to have to make Kamario Taylor uncomfortable. He has hit a lot of deep passes. They're going to have to make sure the coverage is intact. And then the other thing is that Mississippi State has a lot of penalties. You're going to take advantage of those opportunities if that pops up for the Bulldogs. Let me ask you quickly another element that's popped up. Speaking of that, the weather could be a factor.

Apparently there's a bugaboo front down the Gulf. You know where we are. The weather can get nasty this time of the year. It can rain in buckets. I haven't seen the updated forecast. They forecast a lot of rain recently for the game in Kentucky for Alabama. We saw that turned out, so you never know. But in a what-if scenario, your thoughts about what rain may play as far as a role in the game? It might. And, you know, I saw that might play a role in Miami and Clemson as well.

So it sounds like that's going to impact that entire part of the country there. Ball security becomes important. I don't know if you're able to throw the ball down the field as much, but you've got to take care of the football. It's a wet ball, and both teams have got to play with it. But, you know, you guys get a different kind of rain down there. Whenever I watch it on TV, it's just a little bit different than that cold, stiff, you know, wet stuff we get up here.

Absolutely. Auburn at number 17, Tennessee. The Tennessee Volunteers coming off a tough loss to Texas 20-17. Tennessee's a 7.5-point favorite. Brandon, 10 sacks last week against one of the best defensive fronts I've seen in a while. Tennessee's got all sorts of issues on the offensive line. Wendell Moe, one of their offensive linemen, now out for the year. Tennessee has a very good defense. They played quite well, I thought, against Tennessee. Auburn's giving up 240 yards passing, as you alluded to. You've got the Tennessee Volunteers winning 30-24, but not covering the spread.

[5:30] Yeah, you know, I think it's going to be tight. This Auburn team, pretty good, obviously. They've had some ups and downs with Byron Brown. He's taken a lot of sacks, too. And now he runs the ball a lot, though. He averages around 15 rushing attempts per game. So, can they slow the game down with him? I mean, phase on Brandon. I know Tennessee lost the game last week, Brett. But you can't help but be impressed with him standing in there after taking 10 sacks. So, how much does Auburn get to him and the pressure land?

And I do think it'll be a close game. You know, it just seems like college has got them playing. I don't know if they can go in there and win, but it could be a little bit on the defensive side. Check him out. Bill Bender, the Sporting News. Bill, let's talk about a game you know is going to win it more than likely, 99.9%. Georgia is going to be the dog against Vandy. And it looks like, is Georgia living right? Because I saw a report where Jared Curtis looks like he's not going to make the game.

The starting quarterback now for Vandy. Your thoughts about, not necessarily this game, but how the schedule is stacking up against Georgia. Have they been tested? Another home game this weekend against, let's face it, a team that's searching for a quarterback right now. And then they've got to go on the road next week. I believe it's to Tuscaloosa. Your thoughts about Georgia and how the schedule is stacking up heading into T-Town. Yeah, you know, I think obviously that's a tough break for Vanderbilt. I didn't see that.

Did that news break today with Curtis? Georgia's playing at a high level on both sides of the ball. Their linebackers have been great. Chris Kuhl and Raylan Wilson. And it sets up that matchup next week. It'll be interesting. Alabama can't peek ahead with what's in front of them. It'll be interesting to see if Georgia does. I don't think they will. You know, but, and Vanderbilt has been beating them over the years. But I look for Gunnar Stockton to continue to do what he's doing and set up that big-time matchup next week.

Between Alabama and Georgia, which I believe would be, I just looked this up, you know, yet another top-ten matchup in 2007. Not too many robberies like this one. Absolutely. One game flying under the radar, the Florida Gators, who are flying high, at Missouri. This has been a tough game for Florida. In Columbia, since the Steve Spurrier era, Missouri's sprung some upsets. This has been tight. You've got Florida winning 31-24. I agree. I think this is a tight game. Philo, Buster Faulkner, the assistant coach of the year.

Jane Ball's been running wild. Roberts, the Missouri. I'm beginning to wonder when Ahmaud Hardy's going to be coming back, maybe in the next two weeks. This should be one of the most interesting games of the day. Florida, Missouri, and you've got the Gators winning with seven. Right, and I think, you know, as long as they continue to run the football with Jaden Baugh and Aaron Fowler doesn't make mistakes in the downfield passing game, it's been very impressive what John Summerall's been able to do. That said, you know, it caught my eye.

We ranked the SEC quarterbacks this week, and Austin Simmons is playing well. He is. For Missouri. He really has. He had nearly 300 yards in the victory against Kansas. He had 290-plus yards against Mississippi State last week. The Tigers can hang around. They do have trouble, Brad, against those ranked opponents, though, and I'm wondering if they can't get this one. Let's talk about a team that you know all about because you breathe the same air in a place called Columbus, Ohio. That's Ohio State taking on Iowa.

It's our time, 2.30 on CBS. I still say, wait a minute. CBS carrying Ohio State and Iowa at 2.30. Whatever happened to the SEC days, but that contract settled on time ago. On paper, you say, what's the big deal? But I was kind of surprised at some folks' decision, are they not? I had a huge win Saturday at the last second, obviously, and a great pass by Hank Brown, the Auburn transfer to Reese Van Der Zee. No, they do that. Kirk is 71 years old. Well, they do it in such a mind-boggling way sometimes.

It's like, well, that's how they would have done it in 1988, and they're still doing it that way. Now, they face a severe challenge in slowing down Jeremiah Smith. This Ohio State offense, I'm sure the crowd will be into it. Could be a little bit of fun, but I think this Ohio State offense poses too many problems for them, and their defense should be angry. That guy's allowed 199 rushes. That's exactly right. Wow. So, Iowa might be able to run the ball on them a little bit. I saw about a quarter and a half the other night of the replay of that Illinois-Ohio State game.

Illinois is just running wild against them. As you mentioned, 200 yards, they gained 468. The Ohio State defense is not nearly as good, in my opinion, as it was last year. Let me ask you about another game that's got a quirky betting line. Kentucky at South Carolina. South Carolina is a two-and-a-half point favorite. Are you kidding me? The way Kentucky's been playing, you've got Kentucky, quote, in an upset, 27-26. This is a big game, though, for Shane Beamer after getting toasted by Alabama last week. Yeah, I'm worried after last week.

[11:09] I thought the same thing with Ole Best. This seems even more so, though, Brett, right? Yes. South Carolina can run the ball well, but everything seems to be coming off the wheels. Rather, it's Dylan Stewart not going to be playing. The turnovers, you guys saw it firsthand. Alabama just kind of dismantled them over four quarters. And Kentucky's running the ball real well. That said, you know, you've seen a lot of Shane Beamer press conferences talk about whether his seat is hot or not. And sometimes when that happens, you put your back against the wall and you push off and get off the wall.

It's a tough ask, though. I think this Kentucky football team is pretty good. A team that's not been good of late. What's the way you put it on the street? They're ungood. When's the last time you thought Clemson would be playing at home against Miami and the Tigers are the 16-and-a-half-point underdog at home against the Canes? What happens to Dabo's future? Yeah, you know, we're going to find out. They haven't really been thumped at home. They've had a couple double-digit losses, but Syracuse got them a couple years ago.

But they haven't been thumped at home since Jameis Winston and company ruled through there in 2013. Similar backdrop here. They're going to have to find a way to get after Darian Mensah. Darian Mensah has more touchdown passes than incompletions right now. So, I mean, right there, that tells you how good he's been. And maybe the weather plays a little bit of a role. I think Clemson can hang around. Most people are thinking Miami thumps them. We'll see. I mean, if they do, it'll certainly be the last kind of huge game we'll see out of Clemson with Dabo this year.

Because they'll be off the radar after that. Let me ask you about another intriguing game to me. Penn State, two and a half point favorite going to Northwestern. The Wildcats are opening a state-of-the-art $875 million stadium on national TV. They're legitimate. Penn State trying to get back up. But Childs, correct me if I mispronounce the quarterback's name. But Northwestern is going to have to be dealt with. And I wonder what kind of mind frame Penn State's going to be in. For sure. It makes for an exciting night for Evanston, Aidan Childs, like you said.

Had a really good second half against Indiana last week. I think Dave Brown's a quality coach. He's built a nice program there. And Matt Campbell started to figure out, like Kyle Whittingham last week, that Big Ten coaches like being in those games in the phone booth. And I still like Penn State to win the game. But when you're opening in the stadium, it'll be sold out. They'll be riled up. All those things. I won't be surprised in the least a little bit if Northwestern wins. Absolutely.

Listen, great stuff as always. You've also got your NFL picks. A lot of pregame stuff getting ready. The one-stop shop for college football, the Sporting News, and Bill Bender. Where can we get online to get all the good stuff? Yeah, I'm at BillBender92 and it's SportingNews.com. Brett, yeah, the NFL picks weren't too good last week. We've got to do a little bit better on this. It's hard, man. NFL's a lot harder to pick against the spread than people think. So we'll get after it this weekend.

I appreciate it. We're just getting started. It's still plenty of time on the clock. Bill, listen, man, thanks so much and have a great rest of the week and weekend. All right? I appreciate it. You guys have a good one. You too, bud. You too. Double B, Bill Bender, the National Voice for the Sporting News. Coming up. Time to see what's going on in the neck of the woods. Call the Shoals. Caleb Suggs on that and more straight ahead. Stay with us. All right, grab some buds and listen up.

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Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. On Thursday's Crimson Drive, we catch up with Alabama place kicker, Conor Salty. You and Lorcan both had a really good fall camp. Well, one, Lorcan's a phenomenal professional, very mature. So he came in, and without it being said, I think both of our mindsets was, let's just do all the work we can, do the best we can, and whoever's the better kicker, they'll be kicking. But the thing was, I mean, it was like we were both right here. Like, how do you pick a guy?

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Let me tell you something, legend. When A&M goes to Oklahoma, I'm going to tell you who I'm rooting for. The meteor. Hook them. Paul Fungon, 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. Before we get to Paul, we get to Caleb. Caleb Suggs. Basically, I got it all covered with the Decatur Daily. Caleb, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good, guys. How are you all? Hey, Billy. Man, we're doing all right.

Light week last week, basically at the midway point, but it's going to get rocking early coming up even tonight. Forget Thursday or Friday. Coming up tonight on Thursday, being you two old rivals, butting heads, Hartzell, Decatur in your backyard at famed Ogle Stadium. Caleb, how do you see the matchup? Yeah, and I think you look at Hartzell. It's been a little bit of an up-and-down year with such a young team coming in. Had some growing pains. I think there's definitely talent there. They've had two weeks now since that bad second half against Muscle Shoals.

[21:40] So, let's see what they worked out over the bye week. I just look at Decatur. They're just struggling right now. I thought that they played well offensively at times last week against A-Rab, but they just had four turnovers, and they didn't play well defensively early on. A-Rab jumped on them, and so it struggles to come together for Decatur. Whether they're doing good things on one side of the ball, they struggle on the other, and then mistakes and stuff. So, we'll see if they can get any of that fixed up.

Hartzell's won nine in a row, though, so I imagine it'll probably be 10 in a row over the night. Yeah, another third in the night game. Alston at each limestone. The Black Bears are beginning to roll again, but we've talked with you about this for years. They sometimes get off to a slow start, and then they get rolling. Aiden Davis has been rolling, by the way, 720 yards. Looking at your stats this morning, I think Alston wins this game pretty convincingly. One big one tomorrow night, certainly in our neck of the woods, in yours, Athens at Florence.

Athens has been one of the more pleasant surprises. As you told us, they lost a lot of players. Florence is 5-0 for the first time in the program history. Blitzo has been running 778 yards. Jackson Moore has played well at quarterback. Lazarus Nelson has played well defensively. Florence, Kayon Williams, DeCarson Johnson, who ran for 192 against Muscle Shoals. This should be a fun game. You actually picked Athens to upset Florence. Yeah, I think that has the potential to be a very big upset. I really like what Athens is doing.

I know they lost the last time out when they played Austin two weeks ago, but they seem, like Austin, they seem to have found themselves, found their identity. Caden Blitzo has been great all year, but they finally found a quarterback that stepped up in Jackson Moore. He threw for a lot of yards against Austin. He played really well. I like a lot of the pieces they have on that offense. So, yeah, I really think this is going to be a really fun game. I know there's some big games going on this week, but I think this is going to be one of the better ones.

And, yeah, I do think that Athens is going to pull this upset. Caleb Suggs is looking up with us. He's a Decatur Daily. You've got to believe that Rebel Stadium in Trinity will be rocking tomorrow night. Wes Morgan, hoping their Rebels can knock off four and one. Desher, your thoughts on that one, Caleb? Yeah, I mean, this is going to just be a ton of fun. I mean, this game has been so much fun the last few years. It keeps deciding the region, so it's really grown into one of the best games in all of Alabama.

And then you add in the Rock for South going on a mile away, so that'll be fun. There's a lot of traffic to do with, but no, this is going to be a really good game. I've seen both teams. I've seen Deshler. Deshler's very good. They're very impressive offensively. They can throw it around, and they can run it, too. Wes Morgan, they're just so physical. Their offensive line, I think, is one of the best in North Alabama. Really good offensive line, really good running backs, you know, defensively.

You know, it's just going to come down really, these two really good offenses, which defense can get more stops, which team can hold onto the ball. You know, it's just going to be one of those games where one or two plays decides the whole thing, and that's the way you want it, and it's going to be very exciting for everybody in attendance. You saw Deshler beat Priceville. Priceville was undefeated. Armani Jones, Bryson Williams, the quarterback, and Fletcher are really good. They lost to Russell at the beginning of the season and just steamrolled everybody.

Another fun game. Hatton 5-0 at East Lawrence, 4-0. Hatton's been running over everybody. They're in the top ten for the first time since 1995. Kate Porum, the quarterback, Saverius Evans. I don't know how many times we've talked about him. Boulding, Chandler Boulding, Quindarius Boulding. And then Kane McClure for East Lawrence, and that Suggs guy who you have dinner with occasionally has East Lawrence now at 4-1. Fascinating game tomorrow night, Hatton at East Lawrence. Yeah. Another really one. You know, I've been to several of these games when I was working at the Moulton newspaper, and it was always an amazing atmosphere, and those games usually didn't have a lot of stakes.

But now you're adding a game between, you know, two teams that are vying for first place in the region, so that's just making it even more exciting. You mentioned that Hatton has a ton of star power. They're really good. Just phenomenal. I think East Lawrence can actually match that star power just as far as their top players. They've got some really talented players as well. I think the difference in the game, though, is overall Hatton is just a little bit deeper. They don't have guys that are going both ways.

They've got guys that play offense, guys that play defense, and that's pretty unheard of in 3A. So they're a little deeper. They're a little bit more experienced. This is Dover's second year. I think that's probably going to give them the edge, but I think this could be a really fun game. I'm looking forward to that one as well. Caleb, obviously, Rodgers running into the all-star coaching staff last week with Whitesburg, Christian, Jerry Ancock, the legend in the entire state, showing the power there with Whitesburg, knocking off Rodgers.

[26:52] Their first loss of the season, they're trying to bounce back coming up tomorrow night against West Limestone. Your thoughts about what's going to happen in Salem, Alabama tomorrow night? Yeah, you know, we'll just have to see. You know, West Limestone's coming off kind of a disappointing loss to Brewer, but obviously that's a 4-8 team, a real close loss in non-region play. I think West Limestone's pretty solid. You know, they've kind of been up and down, you know, not quite as good as some of the great teams in the area, but, you know, better than, you know, just a solid team.

And Rodgers, I feel like, is kind of the same way. So it should be a pretty close game. Region stakes, you know, you're buying for playoff seeding. Not really sure how it's going to go, but it should be pretty close. It could probably go either way. Let me ask about another good one. Hamilton, 4-1 at Priceful. Isn't it amazing? Dashler's given both these teams their only loss. Hamilton lost to Dashler, 35-33. Jack Eubanks, Priceful, thrown for nearly 1,000 yards. I'm telling you, Mason Holloway is worth the price of admission to see for Hamilton.

Christian Schip, the coach's son, Houston Tibbs, who's a tremendous receiver. This should be quite a game. Hamilton at Priceful. Yeah, I think so. Of course, if you go by the scores of the Dashler, each of their games against Dashler, it might not be that close. But I don't think, you know, I know Priceful got ran out of the building the last two weeks ago when they played Dashler. I don't think that is indicative of how good they are. I think they're a better team than that.

So I'm interested to see it. They've had two weeks now since that loss. I'm interested to see how they bounce back. But like you said, Hamilton's really good, really talented. I'm going to give Hamilton the edge in this game going in, but I think it could be a pretty close game. Some interesting history. The only other time they played was Priceful's season with Caleb Barker, who, you know, at that time was the best season in school history, and then Priceful went in there and upset them.

So, obviously, that was, you know, 11 years ago, so that don't really pay me by now. But, you know, I think it'll be a fun game. Another one just to get a really good slate of games this week after kind of a stinker week last week. So that's what I'm really excited about. I agree with you. This is one of the best slate of games in the shows and in the Decatur daily coverage area of the entire year. It should be a lot of fun. You've got the previews.

You had your predictions. You've got the stats, the regional standings. I know you put a lot of work into this stuff, and it really is nice to see the stats and coaches cooperate with you and send them in, but a lot of great stuff. Where can we get all the previews of tonight and tomorrow's games and then the post-game and everything else? Yeah, you can get online at DecaturDaily.com and find all that stuff that, you know, all the previews and stories that you just mentioned.

And, yeah, you can find it all there, and hopefully I'll be invited back after picking Athens to save more. Hopefully you're listening. You will be. Let's just hope it doesn't rain and spoil everybody's party coming up tomorrow night. Stay safe out there and dry as you can, Caleb, and thanks so much for your time today. Thanks, guys. Thank you, buddy. Caleb Suggs, the Decatur Daily. Interesting pick. Coming up, Auburn's getting ready to go to Tennessee this weekend. Why do you say we go there next with Ryan Callahan on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show.

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There will be a silent auction from 7 to 7.30, along with a meet and greet with Coach Godfrey and a steak dinner that starts at 7.30. Tickets are $100 and reserved tables are $1,000 with eight tickets included. For more information, call Coach Brian Pounders at 205-246-0644. That's Dinner in the Dome at Dishler High School on Saturday, October 17th. And now, Babbel proudly presents the Cat Chat. Bonjour, monsieur. Yes, hi. I'm staying in room 22, and I was wondering if there was anyone I could chat with about my sheets. They seem to be making me just really itchy.

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Sir, please. Your cat. Get up to 50% off on your Babbel subscription when you sign up at Babbel.com. That's Babbel.com to get up to 50% off. B-A-B-B-E-L dot com. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. Alabama's on the road this week as the Crimson Tide take on Mississippi State. Both teams are 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in SEC play, heading into the matchup at Davis Wade Stadium. Auburn Tigers hit the road this week. They'll travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. Tigers and Vols are both 3-1 on the year.

Tennessee is 0-1 in the conference. South Alabama is home this week as they host UL Monroe. The Jaguars are 2-2 on the season. UL Monroe is 0-4. It's the conference opener for both teams. North Alabama is on the road this week to play at Eastern Kentucky. Lions are 3-2. The game is the conference opener for both teams. Catch all the action today as the Braves try to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs. We'll take on the Phillies. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash presented by Progressive on 93.9 The Score.

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Live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Vestavia Hills and on this great station. Tune in and roll tide. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in where it is. A pretty big game in big orange country this weekend. That's where Auburn is heading. We take you there now with Ryan Callahan. He's got Tennessee covered at Go Vols 24-7. RC, welcome in. Happy Thursday to you. How are you? Hey, guys. Doing well. How are you? Hey, buddy. Hey, we're doing all right. Ryan, let's just jump right in.

[37:07] And this is the time of the season when we go back to that original question of what about your depth. Ryan, for the folks who don't follow the team as religiously as some, talk to us about any time you lose a starting left guard, that cannot be good news. Yeah, definitely not ideal, especially for a team that's still figuring out its offensive line. And that's the big concern here for Tennessee. They really struggled, especially in pass protection last week, but didn't run the ball very well at all against a Texas team that has one of the best defenses in the country.

You have to say that in their defense. But Tennessee gave up 10 sacks in that game, and a freshman quarterback playing behind them had something to do with that. There were some times that he definitely didn't get rid of the ball quickly enough and, frankly, may have run himself into some of those sacks by scrambling outside the pocket. But bottom line, they did not play well enough up front, and now to complicate matters, as you referenced, starting left guard Wendell Moye Jr. out for the season with some sort of lower leg injury that was suffered early in that game on Saturday.

So they already had some issues with the right side of that line. Sham Umarov has been very inconsistent at right guard. They had some different combinations on the offensive line in that game Saturday, and now they have to figure out the left side of that line as well. Not really an obvious choice for where they go next at left guard. They could slide Jesse Perry inside. He's been there starting right tackle recently, but he's played a lot of guard in the past. Donovan Haslam would be the guy that would then move into the starting lineup at one of those guard spots.

He's played a lot this year off the bench but hasn't made a start yet. And then we'll see what they decide to do at right tackle if they move Jesse Perry inside. Ori Williams' LSU transfer would seem to be the most likely option there if they were to move Perry inside. But Williams has not been very dependable this year when he's gotten to play. So no matter what, not a great situation for Tennessee without Wendell Moy. And he was, even for an offensive line that wasn't playing great, he was one of their steadiest guys and one they felt like they could count on.

He played a lot of football too. And a guy in his last year of eligibility. So you hate to see that for him personally too. Brian, let me double check with you. Wendell Moy is the seventh season-ending injury for Tennessee. Now, I know some of these guys are certainly reserves. But going back to Harold's point, you're midway through the season. And if that's correct, there are seven players who their season is over. Yeah, and that's definitely not ideal. That's amazing. Well, I should say it's seven players that were listed on the injury report.

I believe it's only six that are going to be out for the season right now. It's Ethan Davis, who's their starting tight end. Idris Farouk, who's one of their starting safeties. And now Moy, so three starters you've lost because of injury. And then Dylan Lewis was a key reserve at safety. And then Jaden Harmon at linebacker and Joe Kim Dodson at receiver. Guys, they were down the depth chart a little bit. So either way, you've lost a lot there. And then Kedrick Golston, the second, I should say, freshman edge rusher, defensive end, has also been ruled out for this game.

But we don't know the extent of that injury. So that's the seven players who are out for this game. Here's the crazy stat. Tennessee has suffered a season-ending injury in each game this season so far. Those games have been one per week that they've lost since the season started. So they would definitely like to end that trend. And, yeah, with a team that will really no team these days having quite the depth they would like in this era, it's just hard to keep enough depth at each position.

That takes a toll. So, no doubt, this team, and, again, they really couldn't afford to lose anyone reliable on the offensive line. So this is not ideal for Tennessee for sure. And each injury chips away at what depth they had. And before you know it, any team that suffers those kinds of injuries, you're going to be relying on young guys. That's the reality. You can only do so much to keep veterans around these days. So we may see some of Tennessee's youthful depth getting tested here before long.

Ryan Callahan, Go Vols, 24-7. Ryan, let's face it, Tennessee's going to be in a bad mood this weekend. They lost, but let's just be honest about it. They lost to the number one team at the time in the country and had a chance to win at the end. So you've got to factor all that in, despite what we just talked about there. Auburn is looking for that signature win. Interesting matchup. Where do you start talking X's and O's between the Big Orange and Auburn? Yeah, it's an interesting matchup.

Both of these teams have some concerns, have some kind of obvious flaws if you look at them. But both teams also off to a decent start. And so a little bit of reason for optimism there as well. Auburn, you know, it feels like a must win for both teams in a lot of ways. This is a really important game for both Tennessee and Auburn. I feel like Auburn's schedule only gets more brutal from here somehow. It does. And then Tennessee, you know, really needs to win this game because the second half of its schedule gets so tough.

[42:09] We kind of said going into the season, even if you lose to Texas, you've got a good chance of being 5-1 going into the Alabama game here in two weeks. And then the second half of the schedule, you've got to play Alabama, Texas A&M, LSU, Kentucky, which looks pretty decent, Vanderbilt in that second half of the schedule, and a trip to South Carolina after that. So really that second half of the schedule is going to challenge Tennessee so much that they really need to kind of stay ahead of things right now by getting another win, especially at home.

There just aren't many opportunities in the SEC these days where you're about a touchdown favorite and you feel like you've got a chance based on your personnel to kind of win the game based on the matchup on paper. But, yeah, this is a tricky game for Tennessee because, again, they've got to get some confidence offensively. They didn't play very well offensively against Texas. Now, again, how much of that was just Texas being that good and how much of that is Tennessee having some real issues? And then can they continue what they did defensively against Texas, which looked very good.

But, again, Texas had some issues offensively, so it's hard to know exactly how much to make of that. Tennessee had six sacks, didn't give up a lot against Texas, forced a lot of three and outs in that game. So, really good defensive performance. They really need to keep that up against Auburn to keep things going. And then to just throw a potentially major curveball into this game, the weather forecast doesn't look great. 70% chance of rain at last check. So, this could be kind of a sloppy game that really comes down to who runs the ball better.

And Tennessee, they didn't do well against Texas in that area, but before that game they've been a top-10 run offense in the country. And Auburn's had some issues with its offensive line in the run game, so that might favor Tennessee a little bit. But, again, Tennessee's got its own line issues. So, it's hard to say. You've got two quarterbacks who have both been a little shaky. Auburn's got a veteran quarterback, but he's thrown five interceptions so far this year. And then Faison Brandon's certainly talented, but still figuring it out.

So, it's an interesting matchup. I would give Tennessee the edge on paper. But, again, they've got some questions to answer coming on Saturday, and especially with the injuries. Well, you alluded to it. I think the edge Tennessee has defensively. Tennessee has 34 tackles for loss. Where does that rank? First in the SEC and fifth in the nation. We talked about this two or three times in the offseason, about the acclimation period with Jim Knowles. And he brought some of the Penn State players, Lane, Xavier, Gilliam. Well, you know what happened to Jazz Coleman.

And some of the coaches with him. And I think that Andrew Jackson, Anthony Poindexter, et cetera. Unlike you, I think this Tennessee defense is very good. They've been better than I expected. I thought they had a chance to be certainly much improved from last year because they were, frankly, ranked pretty low in a lot of categories last year. And that was the Achilles heel of that team that really kept them from winning nine or ten games, probably, with the way the defense played. So I thought they would take a step in the right direction.

But for them to be tied for first in the country in sacks after four games, and we had some real questions about their pass rush, especially after the loss of Jazz Coleman, the Penn State transfer, before he even got a chance to play a snap at Tennessee, that's been the surprising part is they've found a way to generate a pass rush there. The defensive line has been better than expected, despite having a little less depth there than they've had in the past. Rodney Garner often likes to rotate 12 guys.

They've been mostly relying on eight or nine in most games, and they've played pretty well. And even with the true freshman, J.J. Finch, being part of that rotation in the middle. So they've got a pretty good group up front, real talent and depth at linebacker, and those guys have played well too. And it seems like they're just a well-coached defense under Jim Bowles. They just seem to have a really good idea of what they're doing, not nearly as many busts, missed assignments, bad run fits, things like that.

They really seem like they're playing sound football. And if they keep doing that, again, I would like their chances of continuing to play well against an Auburn team that still has some things to work out at the line of scrimmage maybe. But bottom line, I don't know yet that this is an elite Tennessee defense at the same time. Because, again, Texas has had some issues offensively. I give them a lot of credit for playing well against a Texas team with a lot of talent. But I think the jury is still out on just how good the Tennessee defense is.

They gave up 24 points to Georgia Tech a few weeks ago in Atlanta. So they're playing well, no doubt. But still some questions to answer about just exactly how good they are. Ryan Callahan, Go Vols, 24-7. We know this. Tennessee always has an elite home field advantage with that stadium. There's a lot of bodies, rain, sleet, or snow. Your thought is something that's interesting. Number one, what did a young quarterback learn against Texas? And here's the other side of the coin. Auburn, this will be their first road game.

They're coming into that environment with weather. It's going to be totally unpredictable right now. Your thoughts just about some of the intangibles there of what Tennessee learned starting at the quarterback spot in the Texas experiment and the advantage Tennessee has over basically Auburn's first true road game. Well, film study couldn't have been very fun for Faison Brandon after that game. Certainly, they had some mistakes all around. But when you look at what they did offensively, it's hard not to start with the quarterback position being where they made so many mistakes.

[47:27] And you don't want to put too much on his shoulders at the same time as a true freshman making his first SEC start and you get thrown to the wolves against the number one team in the country that's got a tremendous defense. But at the same time, he was the lowest grade on the team on pro football focus if you buy into those scores on Saturday. And he had some real missed opportunities. There was an open guy across the middle that looked like it could have gone for a touchdown pass on Tennessee's first drive that ended on a field goal.

He had, again, multiple sacks that you could attribute to him out of those 10 sacks that Tennessee gave up. And there have been some times where he's just kind of bailing on the pocket maybe a little too soon. And at the same time, you can't blame him because he took some real hits in that game and probably put himself in the line of fire a few too many times as well. He's got to do a better job of getting rid of the ball, protecting himself, and yet Tennessee's offensive line has got to do better in front of him.

And everyone around him has got to play at a higher level. So I think he learned some things for sure in that game, but I think one of them has got to be trust your pass protection when possible. But this is also the danger of playing a young quarterback sometimes before he's fully ready. You can develop some bad habits in a game like that, and that's for Tennessee. From Tennessee's perspective, I think what they've got to hope for is that he didn't learn to do some bad things.

The game based on just kind of running for his life. And let's not forget, he got chased out of that game for more than a series because he was injured. So he's a little banged up going into this game as well. He's not on the injury report right now, but at the very least, nursing some bumps and bruises coming out of that game against a tough defense. Absolutely. And two of the best defensive coordinators in college football, Jim Knowles and Will Muschemp. I thought Muschemp was going to make a tremendous difference for Texas, and we'll see where that goes.

They've got an off week before Red River with Oklahoma. Great stuff, as always. I'm guessing with the Auburn Tigers in town, rain or not, it's going to be another big recruiting weekend, and you're going to be previewing all of the visitors coming in. A lot of good pregame stuff. Where can we get online to get your stuff and the teams? Yeah, it should be another solid recruiting weekend for Tennessee. Plenty of coverage leading up to the game and throughout the weekend, of course, at GoVols247.com.

You can still sign up right now for 50% off an annual subscription and get all that coverage and much more. And we'll have our picks tomorrow, a pregame podcast and all that stuff to break down the game. So it should be another fun weekend and certainly an important one for both these teams, as I mentioned. Break out the umbrella, Ryan. Listen, man, thanks so much for your time, Dave. Have a good weekend. All right? You guys do the same. Thank you, buddy. Ryan Callahan, GoVols247. Okay, make sure we're clear here.

We said first true road game for Auburn. They played the opening game at the Dome in Georgia, but that was a pseudo home game. This is the first time they're going to go into an environment where there's going to be a whole lot of hate wearing orange, baby. That shade of orange. Before we jump off again, the Braves, you talked about up against the wall. Baseball is a game of inches, is it not? Well, it really is. And again, Atlanta's leading 3-1 in the eighth inning.

And after two home runs, Bryce Harper is just a demon against the Braves. He misplayed a ball that really helped Atlanta get 3-1. But boy, did he ever make up for it. And again, Ray Kerr. Ray Kerr, that household name, will be starting for the Braves. Grant Holmes will come on, I think, immediately, probably after one inning. Then it'll be a bullpen game from there. When you hear the name Kerr, the only thing I think of is that's the name of a fruit jar. That's the last time I've heard the name Kerr.

All the best for the Braves. You can catch that game later on tonight. You're on 93-9 to score. But you don't have to wait that long to get to very late. So Ryan Fowler talking Tide, Colt Pinson talking Auburn, and Bruce Marshall. What's Vegas saying about it all? That's all. Straight ahead, stay with us. It doesn't matter if you're running drills at the park, playing pickup on a Saturday, or sinking the final putt. When you compete with your friends with Michelob Ultra on the line, competition isn't that friendly.

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CB&S Bank. Member FDIC. Equal housing lender. All sports, all the time. Sports Radio 93.9. The score. Alabama football means hard work, dedication, and tradition. We're the same at Fuller Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, and Electrical. Whether it's your heating and air, your plumbing problems, or your electrical fixes, call on Fuller for the very best in Shoals Comfort. That's Fuller Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, and Electrical. Proudly serving the Shoals for over 35 years. Call us day or night at 381-7195. And roll tide. Alabama license 9-1-1-1-4.

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The states to get this type of money include Alabama and 29 other states using the federal exchange. President Trump blamed the Joe Biden administration for making such overcharges of over 1 million Americans. These overcharges came through user fees, and the reimbursement money will come from a surplus fund that President Trump described as significant. The checks are expected to go out in October. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Mark your calendar for November 6th. The Albert Patterson Gala returns to the Barber Motorsports Museum featuring United States Senator Tommy Tuberville.

We've sold out two years running, and tables are already filling for 2026. If you believe in a thriving Alabama built on truth, courage, and accountability, this is your night. Don't miss your chance. Visit 1819news.com slash gala. That's 1819news.com slash gala to get your table today. A contractor in Mobile County has entered a guilty plea of committing wire fraud, bank fraud, and false tax returns in regards to the Pritchard Water Works and Sewer Board. Larry Knight admitted to receiving over $700,000 from the Pritchard Water Works as a result of fraudulent billing.

[58:03] Knight owns the K&M Quality Paint Company. The town leadership at Brookside is going to be making a hard decision in the future regarding its police department. The insurance carrier for Brookside told the town leaders it would not continue insurance coverage if the department continues operations as is. So now the town council is considering what to do next, including the dissolution of the police department and entering into an agreement with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. 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 Shores. Sports Radio 93.9. The score. Hey, Bama fans. Join the Crimson Tide Sports Network this fall on Wednesday nights for Hey Coach and the Kalen DeBoer Show presented by Alpha Insurance live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Tuscaloosa.

Hey, Coach gets started on Wednesday nights at 6 p.m. And Coach DeBoer joins at 6.30 to talk Crimson Tide football. That's Hey Coach and the Kalen DeBoer Show presented by Alpha Insurance live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill on Wednesday nights beginning at 6. Tune in and roll tide. Catch UNA football night at Lost Pizza Shoals every Monday night right here on 93.9 The Score. Hear from head coach Brent Dierman, assistant coaches, players, and other guests as they take you inside the UNA football program. That's 7 to 8 p.m. every Monday night at Lost Pizza Shoals.

Join us this Monday for pizza and UNA football or tune in right here on 93.9 The Score. 93.9 The Score weather. Today sunny with a high around 95. Tonight partly cloudy with a low near 70. Tomorrow partly sunny with a 50% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms with a high around 90. Tomorrow night mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers overnight and a low near 70. And for your Saturday mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high around 80. Your weather from 93.9 The Score. Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.

It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tide, Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. I want to hear a little bit more Buck Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Now, right now, just go ahead and rip the knobs off the circuit. Got a big night planned for you here.

93.9 The Score. Quick reminder, it all starts at 6. It is Florence Falcons football night here on 93.9 The Score. We're followed by the Braves at 7. First pitch, 7.15. BB, go Braves time, all right? Well, it's now or never, Harold Bugg. What about now? What about now with Bruce Marshall, the man with all the plans out in a place called Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Insider. The goal sheet picks and parlays amongst other. Bruce Marshall, welcome in. How are you? I am glad to be in October because now football really kicking in playoffs going.

Two thoughts real quick here. One, we have made it through September this season without a college football coach getting fired. Now, how Mike Loxley managed to avoid the guillotine at Maryland, I do not know. But he might be first head on the chopping block here. We will see. One other note, if you guys have a moment here, check out this story overseas with Manchester City in the English Premier League. I have never in all my years, and it's a lot of years, seen a story quite like, seen a story quite like this one.

I mean, this team is about ready to be forcibly disbanded. Oh, really? Yeah. I mean, you got to check. I mean, it's an unbelievable tale over there, and it's just like dominated all the news stories in Euro soccer. But it's a Manchester City's in big trouble. But check it out. You teased us the Reader's Digest version. That's like saying the New York Yankees. Well, what's going on there, quickly? Well, I mean, they're owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family. And for the last, there's been a big investigation for the last several years upon the revenues that the team has been reporting, which translates into how much they can spend on their players.

And they had been artificially inflating their revenue from their sponsorship from the Abu Dhabi airline, Etihad, which is owned by the royal family. So they've been pumping in. The royal family was pumping in 10 times more sponsorship revenue than any other team in England, but it wasn't really sponsorship revenue. It was just family money. And they had went to all sorts of lengths to disguise it. And it has blown up in Man City's face. Well, you'll never have that problem with Brett and I. We guarantee you that.

[1:03:31] This tells you how crazy this season is, Bruce. Let's go back to, say, the 1st of August, the middle of August, and before the first week of the season. How many folks thought, boy, look out for that Alabama-Mississippi State game? That just shows you sometimes crazy things can happen. Is there a better matchup on this globe as far as quarterbacks than that one in Stock Vegas this weekend? I think not. I think this is really good. And Mississippi State is one of the early season storylines.

Yeah, I mean, one of these 4-0 teams, there's a few of them. Virginia Tech's one. UCLA's one. Mississippi State definitely won. Plus, they've got what might be a Heisman candidate in Camario. Now, we talked about him last year. There were some games he looked really good last year. And there were some games he looked really bad. He is sort of, to this point, Jeff Levy has sort of squeezed the bad games out of a mix. I mean, he's just been playing very well. And oh, by the way, Heal and Russell, I'm telling you, if he keeps going, by the end of October, he could be in the Heisman.

And all of a sudden, certainly Camario's in it. Good test here for Bama. I mean, they have had some problems. And, you know, it has always been easy on the SEC road for Coach DeBoer. I have a feeling they'll get Mississippi State this week. I know the Bulldogs are rolling here, and some decent teams. But Minnesota, South Carolina might not be that great. I'm still not sure how good Missouri is. This is a pretty big step up. And they have not beaten Bama since Coach Saban's first team in 07.

Yep. When I think John Parker Wilson was a quarterback, if I'm not mistaken. Yes, you're right. Mike Kroon was still coaching Mississippi State. That's even before Dan Mullen was there. So, they usually don't lose Mississippi State. I don't think they will this weekend. It's a shorter price. I think the tide gets there, although there might be some better spots on the card. Yeah, that was one of Sly's biggest wins in his career. Auburn at Tennessee. That Tennessee-Texas game was a wing-ding last week. Two of the best defensive minds, Will Muschamp and Jim Knowles.

Both of these teams have offensive line issues. When Des Moines is out for the year, Tennessee's got six players who are going to be out for the remainder of the year. Auburn struggled with their offensive line. I think Tennessee may have the best defense here, even though D.J. Durkin's defense is usually pretty good, too. Brandon took 10 sacks last week with that Texas front. Tennessee, at least earlier this week, was a 7.5-point favorite. Does Tennessee win in covering what might be rainy at Knoxville? You know, those are all good points, Brad, and I think that 7.5 might be tougher, but you mentioned something there about these defenses.

Jim Knowles on one side and you've got D.J. Durkin on the other. They got this total up in the mid-50s. I see no way that this game gets that high scoring unless you get some turnovers or mistakes and something like that. I mean, Faison Brandon has got a lot of upside here, but I think Texas showed last week you can sort of contain him at this stage of his career. And if Tennessee's not going to be running through you with Bishop, and more than they're not, you know, this offense is going to move sporadically.

But that's also been what's going on at Auburn. Even Alex Golesh sounded a little bit flustered this week. Like, we've got to kick this up a notch here. I mean, Byron Brown has been just okay. I mean, he's been better since the opener against Baylor. But, I mean, if you look at his stat line, it's six TD passes, five picks through four games. They aren't really kicking into gear yet, like his South Florida defense with all these guys did last year. That makes me think this game is teams' low 20s.

And I think Auburn, if it's over a touchdown, I think Auburn probably hangs in there. But what's jumping out at me is a total, and especially if you've got some weather there on Saturday. 54-and-a-half looks too high to me, so lower scoring up there in Knoxville on Saturday. Bruce Marshall's out there in Las Vegas, amongst other places there with a goal sheet. You mentioned, Bruce, there are better matchups on the card. Where do you start in answering the question, where are the better matchups on the card this weekend?

Well, what I'm looking at, I'm not sure it's not really a better matchup than Alabama-Mississippi State, but Kentucky at South Carolina. And let's circle back to our top of the segment. We were talking about coaches on the hot seat here. Man, Shane Beamer is really hearing it. Now, think about this. I mean, a year ago at this time, he was still sort of in favor. South Carolina started a bit slow last year. We talked about the Mike Shula mistake, hiring him as offensive coordinator. But at this point last year, Virginia Tech had just fired Brent Pryde.

And James Franklin had yet to be fired at Penn State. And the scuttlebutt that we heard was, okay, perfect. Shane Beamer goes back to his alma mater where his papa coached. Everything changed within the next few weeks after that. Franklin got fired. He was suddenly available. Beamer's fortune started to go downhill last year. And that escape route for him out of Columbia, back to Blacksburg, suddenly got closed when James Franklin got hired. Now, Beamer is looking after that thing downturned last year. He's having more trouble.

[1:08:51] Lenore Sellers still looks like he's got some questions, confidence-wise, a quarterback. He only seemed to relate to Dow Luggins two years ago, who really did a great job with him. But then Luggins went to App State as the head coach. And that defense ain't there for South Carolina like it was two years ago. I think Will Stein is doing a marvelous job. And at the Kentucky, Kenny Minchie looks good at quarterback. And, you know, they had yards last week against South Alabama. South Alabama is not a bad Sun Belt side.

Three guys over 100 yards. Will Stein's got it cooking there. I mean, they're a slight underdog into Williams-Brice. I think Kentucky wins this game outright. Oh, wow. We talked about this game a little bit earlier, Bill Bender. Florida and Missouri. Florida's got everything going for them. Jayden Ball is maybe the best running back in the SEC or even the nation. Buster Faulkner, assistant of the year. Philo is working so well with him. The Florida offensive line. This is a game that has given Florida fits, even going back to the Spurrier era.

Jamal Roberts is playing well. Drink, Coach Drink loves games like this. Florida is playing so well. One of the surprises of the year. Florida is a four-and-a-half-point favorite. This, to me, is this game, I think, is going to be close throughout. It could be. And it does have banana field written on it for Florida. And you're right. Missouri's had some successes in years against the Gators. And Coach Drink, you know, they still think Austin Simmons, you know, is the guy. And he hasn't looked all that bad.

And who knows? He might have ended up being a really good at Ole Miss last year if he didn't get hurt. And then Chandler took over. So they like it. Interesting couple notes here. One, we had heard at this point last year when Napier was on his way out that Coach Drink was, like, interested in the Florida job. And then it ended up going to – it going to some – now we're hearing, you know, more rumblings out there that Florida State, if that opens up. That might be something Coach Drink is looking at.

I like Eli a lot. But the question here is, do we jump off of Florida, which has looked better than you could possibly have imagined. And everything you said, Buster Faulkner is gangbusters here as the coordinator. And his running game concepts – this has put Jaden Ball in the Heisen mix, and it's made it a lot easier on our final. Do I want to pick the spot to go against Florida? I'm not ready to do that. I think they have looked so good. I think Sumrall is in the lead for national coach of the year.

He's been so – this team has looked so – I mean, they dismantled Ole Miss last week. Dismantled them. I mean, they were coming off the Auburn game, too, which was a huge game for them. I know Ole Miss is off LSU. I'm leaning to – I'm leaning to Sumrall a little bit here this week. I'm just going to keep riding these guys. Though I understand there's a good argument for Mizzou. I'm just not interested in going against Florida, at least not yet. Sumrall's come a long way from a modest rancher in Huntsville, Alabama, and now raking in the millions down in the swamp.

Bruce Marshall hooking up with us. He's there amongst other places. The goal is cheap. Bruce, your thoughts about an interesting matchup for Penn State and Northwestern. Northwestern is breaking out the brand-new digs. They've got the honeymoon going up there. They've spent a lot of money on their stadium. This is time to break it out. They've got Penn State coming in. Penn State comes into bad mood. What happens there in Chicago this weekend? You're right. That's the new stadium, which they built over the old one, and they moved out of that little makeshift one by the lake, where they beat Colorado their last game a couple weeks ago.

And I like what Northwestern – I mean, they were fighting Indiana pretty good. Once that thing got going in the second half, you saw Chip Kelly's offense really start to work. And Aiden Child looks like he is working, you know, pretty good. This is what Northwestern's problem the last couple years – I mean, they were kind of competitive always, but their offense was very stodgy, and they've notched it up a gear. I don't know what to make of Penn State here. You know, that was – that was one of the most significant results of September last week.

First of all, they gave up a 78-yard touchdown pass in the last minute to get beat by Wisconsin, which had scored just like two minutes before that to get within three. That may be the saving grace for Luke Fickle at Wisconsin, because the Wisconsin schedule's not that bad going forward. But it questions, you know, where is Penn State with Coach Campbell here and all these Iowa State guys coming in. I know they're good at Iowa State, but they're still – you know, it's like a 7-5, 8-4 sort of Big 12 team.

[1:13:51] Now can they handle the Big 12? I'm not sure. I might – very emotional at Northwestern, functional defense. This will be a lower scoring game, so I might look under the total there. But anything in Northwestern might get them. That's a good one tomorrow night. Let me ask you in two minutes, USC trying to bounce back from another loss to Oregon. A lot of rumbling about Lincoln Riley's future at USC, and they've got a lot of tough games ahead of them. I think they come back and beat Washington with those freshman receivers.

Will Lincoln Riley be at USC next year? I don't think so. And I think that, yes, you might be right this year, because I think Washington is down this year. They're not running the football. Their best runner from last year, Coleman, is now at the Broncos in the NFL. And DeMond Williams, I wonder if the players there are looking at him the same way after he was messing around in the portal there with all that LSU stuff. But the Gary Patterson hired coordinated defense for Riley.

He missed the mark there. Patterson's passed the cell, but he hadn't coached on the field in five years, and his last few years at TCU weren't that good. I don't know that they cover the spread here. Nine and a half, they have not beaten, listen, Oregon, Washington, Penn State, the three teams in a row. Riley's 0-6 against them at SC. You throw in Utah a couple years ago, and it's still in the Pac-12, 0-9 against those four. So I think they might win, might be close.

Riley's future, he's got this huge buyout. I think the way out of this for SC is going to be somebody to pluck Riley out of there if he still has that much appeal. Let me throw a scenario at you. I know in the past that Riley has been on Jerry Jones' speed dial. To get Riley out of SC and to save SC from paying that buyout, they may have to work something out with somebody who wants to pull Riley out. And Jerry said, I'm not paying that exit fee, and you don't have to pay the buyout.

Let's work something out, very manageable, and I'm going to bring Riley down here to all anything, because I don't know how many NFL coaches want to work for Jerry. Riley might want to do it, get them back to Texas. That's my long-shot scenario, what's going to happen. So we will see. But I think SC wins it, maybe not covers on Saturday. Absolutely. Listen, great stuff, as always. Baseball finishing tonight, and then the divisions get started over the weekend. The NFL, where can we get online and get all the great stuff?

And the NHL has started, too. You see, right. Can you believe that? You're right. And you know, we are one month from college hoops starting. It's November 1, I think. You're right. Man, where's it going? I got picks on all this stuff. Baseball tonight, Phillies, Braves. Got some football for the weekend. Hey, we are on a real roll there. Won all the NFL games Sunday and Monday. And another 5% top choice on Sunday. Check it out. That's wagertalk.com. Go to my page there. You can also see winners and winers, picks and parlays up there.

And you can also pull down the gold sheet at the Wager Talk site. Sounds great. Christmas in October, Bruce. Thanks for your time, Dave, buddy. And keep up the good work. Okay, gentlemen. Talk to you next week. Thank you, buddy. All right, buddy. Bruce Marshall against amongst other places there at the gold sheet. Coming up, what's going on down the plains as they get ready to head to K-Town? Cold Pinkston on deck with the tails next. Stay with us for the big old bug show. Bush light is cold and smooth.

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The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. You know it is getting serious about college football when the leagues start to turn the shade of the jerseys in Tennessee country. And that's where Auburn's going this weekend. Cole Pinkston would have got it all covered there at auburnsports.com. Parts of the yon3e.com family. Cole, welcome in. How are you? Doing great. How are you all? Hey, man. Man, we're doing fantastic. Cole, talk to us now that we've turned the calendar.

When it comes to this first edition of Alex Golesh's team at Auburn, what are we going to remember about this September? That you beat the team that you were supposed to beat. You lost to Florida in a somewhat close one. It really wasn't all that close when you go back and watch it. The score looked closer than it was. But you took care of business where you needed to, which is already more than what you could say about the previous regime. I always enjoy your column after watching the film, Offensive Execution Play Calling.

[1:24:51] And I'll quote you. It continues to amaze me that this offense can find multiple avenues around this offensive line being a weak point. Neither Kenneth McManus or Jacob Strand did anything that should really fire anybody up, but they did their jobs. That's one of the nice things about reading your columns. You just, once again, tell it like it is. Yeah, unfortunately, I don't know another way to go about things. Thank you. It is what it is. Look, it's a compliment. Do your job, right? It is.

Go back to last year and watch two draft picks on Auburn's offensive line not do their job sometimes. And, you know, I don't think that's against them. I think it's more about how the structure of the offense was and they were in bad positions all the time. Well, that's the goal of this offense is let's not put our guys in a position to fail. Let's put them in a position to go make the right play. Sometimes, you know, you don't get a lot out of it.

And then other times, they find a way to get explosive plays. And they've done so against okay competition so far besides Florida being a really good game. I mean, I don't think looking at Auburn's offense, you can go, no, that's just not going to work. I think you look at them and go, you got something there. Cole, let's talk about you mentioned being realistic. It looks like Tennessee's going to be missing their starting left tackle. So, they got their own issues with the old line. Is it safe to say, at least right now, this looks like it's going to be a chess match between the respective defensive coordinators, Durkin and Knowles, both of them very good on paper?

Yeah, I think just across the board on both sides of the ball for each team, it's going to be does Tennessee take advantage of its matchup problems because I think, or I should say, of its mismatches because I think they have some. I don't like the matchup for Auburn's offensive line against their defensive line. I don't like the matchup of Tennessee's wide receivers versus Auburn's corners. So, how often do they exploit that? How much can they exploit that? I think that's going to be what defines the game when it's over, and I will write about that as well.

So, you know, that's where the big mismatches are, in my opinion. How much can Auburn do to keep those from being a problem is the other question. Will Auburn stay with the same offensive line that played against Vandy, and particularly McManus and Strand? I honestly think that I have a better chance of getting it right by saying no. I would say they'll probably make some more changes. You know, going back to watching their USF film, I watched every game, every play. Broke it down on our board at Auburn Sports.

All of it's there. And they changed personnel often. Sometimes they changed their offensive line. Sometimes they changed receivers. And it was all matchup dependent. Whoever they thought had the best week or maybe matches up against that opponent better is who they put in the game. So, I don't know. Maybe Kenneth McManus is not the option this week. Maybe it's Cole Skinner again. We'll see. I think they could change it up, though, or we might see multiple people. Cole, I think the one thing that both sidelines are going to be looking at, that they may need the rain gear.

There's a threat. I think I saw a number like 70%. I'm not saying it is or not. I'm just being the forecaster from afar here. Your thoughts as far as who that might. To me, I've always said it rains on both sidelines. But your thoughts about rain being a factor for both teams. Boy, I wish it would just not wait until Saturday every week. Yeah. Yeah. That's annoying me. Yes, it is. Typically, I think rain favors the team that runs the football better, probably. Maybe even there's a home field kind of thing there, or the away team gets an advantage sometimes.

I don't know. It's an interesting thing that I might need to look into next year if it's going to rain this much. But I tell you, I'm not super impressed with Auburn's run game. And Tennessee's got a lot more, I'd say, prowess there, even if they haven't put the numbers up. And their offensive line is banged up, so I don't know. That's an interesting thing there. Rain could maybe even the playing field a little bit. Can Auburn get off the field on fourth down? Vandy was 4-17 on third downs, and you're saying, well, that's pretty good.

Well, they were 4-5 on fourth downs. And as several of the Auburn media said, it seemed like they had the ball the entire game. That's a key. Vandy, again, certainly third down, but fourth down, Vandy kept the ball and kept going. Yeah. That's not a good number when you look back at it. A lot of those were, I think at least two of them were QB sneaks. So, you know, that's always going to be hard to stop. The other part of it is they just struggle on the big downs.

[1:30:03] They just have in the last couple years. Nothing's changed there. I do like that third down number better. That was better this week. But I don't think Vanderbilt's all that great, personally. And I think Jared Curtis is still getting his feet wet as well. So, you know, Tennessee's going to be a little better than that on offense. I don't know how that's going to go quite yet. Well, it's one of the more intriguing games on Saturday and certainly for the Auburn schedule. There's no question. Listen, great stuff.

I know you do the column before the film and after the film and certainly recommend. Auburn fans and SEC fans get on and look at that. Where can we get online to get yours and the team's good stuff? AuburnSports.com, part of the On 3 Rivals Network. We have a 60% off your annual right now. If you're not ready to go that far with it, give us a try for a dollar for one week. And, you know, be careful. When you get in there, you're going to be hooked.

In the meantime, stay as dry as you can. All right, Cole? Yes, sir. Thank you, buddy. Thank you so much for your time today. Cole Peekston hooking up with us. He's been there at AuburnSports.com. Coming up, Ryan Fowler says it's time to head down Highway 82. For a date with states. He'll set the table next. Stay with us. Hello, folks. Mark Humphrey, 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.

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Ask your Amazon Alexa devices to tune in to 93.9 The Score. Listen to The Score streaming live anywhere on Alexa-enabled devices. All of your favorite shows and teams are waiting. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back, and he drives you home every afternoon down to a place called Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as host of the game on Tide 109 in Tide Town. Ryan Fowler, welcome in. Have you got your BMW all gassed up and ready to drive down Highway 82 this weekend? How are you? Well, you know, and I think when you look at it, what a discussion.

I mean, everywhere I have been, radio-wise, are you guys going to ask me how far Starkville is from Tuscaloosa? That was going to be my second question. Oh, yeah, absolutely. How far is Tuscaloosa from Starkville, Ryan Fowler? Okay, it is crazy how this has become a story. It really is. Yeah. And I want to advise people, and I know Kayla DeBoer reminded people last night, if Alabama's out of town, and let's say that Auburn, Auburn stays in Tuscaloosa when they go to Mississippi State. I'm not sure if you guys know that, but Auburn stays in Tuscaloosa when they go to Mississippi State.

It's a pretty popular destination, and I think a lot of it is about the facilities, right? I mean, when you look at the Columbus, I've always, and you guys have been by there, I've always looked at it. That is not a big team hotel. It's kind of small. And why not stay in your own facilities, somewhere that you have all the team meetings and everything that you need, the walkthroughs, everything? Why not just make it kind of a home game? I mean, it's close proximity. They're going to be on the bus another 20 minutes.

And, you know, I mean, I was on another show, and they said, the players have got to get up early. And I said, they're a morning practice team. That's right. You realize that, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's been a big topic. Big topic. Big topic in Tuscaloosa. Let me ask you about another big topic, the health of the offensive line. When William Sanders left the South Carolina game, Mel Waltra came in, and then Jem and James had what looked like a lower body injury. He may have rolled his ankle and lipped off.

I thought Miller played incredibly well at right tackle for about 13 plays. Now, that's not a game. How healthy is this offensive line going to Starkville? Yeah, I think a team-wise, they're a little bit beat up. You've got the two edges. There's another one that you need to keep an eye on. And we'll see. We'll see. But, you know, when you look at those injuries, they're – it's just – Greg Sankey, remember now, nine conference games. This is good for the conference. Oh, yeah. Just remember that. Oh, yeah.

And I know the calendar worked out where you really couldn't do anything as far as the double bias. But those were so helpful. Those were so helpful when you look at the double bias. Because, you know, it's a physical brand of college football that's played here in the SEC. And it's all about – I mean, this will be a survival of the fittest. I mean, it will be the last team standing in the SEC. Agreed. Yeah. Good point. You know, it's – listen, I know we play a collision sport.

[1:40:50] And injuries are part of the game. And you're going to have injuries. But it's just – it's one of those that when you step back for just a couple of minutes – but to go back to your original question is, I would think that they're okay. You know, I do wonder – you know, I feel like William Sanders is probably a go. Yeah. But then when I think about, you know, Javon James – and, you know, you guys help me brainstorm here for just a second. It's not that bad of a thing because think about your former coaching staff knowing your strengths and your weaknesses.

Right. And if you don't start Javon James at that right tackle spot, then I think when you look at it, it may be – it may not be that big of a deal. Because they know, hey, what he's good at and what he struggles at. Right. And they're going to throw at what he struggles at. Right. So, to not have him in this game, I'm not saying it's an advantage, but it may be not that big of a disadvantage as maybe what we thought. Because, look, he's got weaknesses.

I mean, we've seen them. But now he's a massive run walker. I mean, he's been able to carry the weight for that responsibility. But you overall look at this team, that offensive line held up pretty strong. I hope that next – you know, last week gave this unit some confidence that they can carry into, you know, this upcoming game. Because that offensive line probably played the best game that I can remember. And, you know, they went up against some pretty talented edge rushers last week. So, that was a promising side.

Now, listen, they made their plays. But, you know, it's fun to watch this. And I think you've got to give Adrian Clem and, obviously, Richard Owens a lot of credit, the tight ends coach. Because they're making a difference on that offensive line. With us, those of the game, tied 109. Thank goodness Mr. Russell's already had his first ACC road game at Kentucky. That was with blue skies. This is going to be in cowbell heaven, or another word, if you're a visitor. Your thoughts – and not only that, there's a threat of rain.

And your thoughts about the matchup going into Starkville with a pretty young quarterback. You know, and it can be a communication problem. I was going to look real quick and see if they reduced any of the rain. Guys, am I looking at this correct? Saturday, they dropped it down to 24%. Yeah, it's changed a little bit, Ryan. Yes, yes. Okay, yeah, because this was earlier this week. It was 85, and I know yesterday it was 65. And now it looks like it's 24% rain. Let's just click on Stark Vegas.

And it's mainly cloudy. Mainly cloudy. A stray shower, a thunderstorm is possible. Winds, light and bearable high of around 87. Now, that has changed significantly with the cloud cover because it's supposed to start raining on Friday. So, it looks like the weather may not be as big of a factor. You know, maybe what we thought. But, yeah, our fingers are crossed because you want to see these two teams, you know, for Mississippi State. But you also want to see that fan base rewarded, you know, for their team.

I mean, you know, who would have thought they would be sitting here at 4-0, undefeated, you know, in the top 25. But I think you've got to give Zach Barnett a lot of credit. Kamario Taylor is certainly a guy that everybody grabs attention there. But I want to, you know, I look at the competition that they played. And, you know, I do have some questions. When you look at this team, you know, they struggled with South Carolina. Alabama beat South Carolina by 31. They struggled with Missouri. But, you know, who knows?

Maybe they could have looked ahead to Alabama. And you almost hope that Alabama is not looking ahead to Georgia. That they understand, hey, this is a big game. Because, you know, that Georgia game is such a revenge game. It's been kind of circled by everybody. You know, and if both teams win, you would expect college game day. They should have been in Starkville. They shouldn't be up in a 14-and-a-half-point spread in Michigan and Iowa. Starkville is the best game of the weekend. And ESPN College Game Day wanted to show a love to the Big Ten.

They probably didn't want to have Alabama back-to-back on weekends if they win. So I understand that. But it is a little disappointing that, you know, Stark Vegas doesn't get a reward on that ESPN College Game Day. They get SEC Network, which, guys, I don't know about you guys, but I don't ever watch it. I watch Nick Saban on ESPN College Game Day. It seems like it's the better quality. But, listen, I think it's a game that's a one-possession game. I think Vegas is all over this at six points.

I think it's a fair spread. I think it's a one-possession game. I think Alabama wins. But I think this one's a dogfight. No pun intended. Yeah. I think you're exactly right. We had some questions about inside linebacker since Alabama lost three very solid ones. Mance and Woodson, Caleb Woodson, had a combined 25 tackles. Now, Woodson doesn't wrap up as good as Mance does. Woodson wants the big hat. I'll tell you one thing, Ryan, and I noticed him. I watched him a little bit more on Saturday. Number 11 is going to be the next superstar linebacker at Alabama.

[1:46:22] Mr. Griffin, he has tremendous potential. Yeah, he does. Yeah, he does. And this team, listen, you can criticize Kalen the Boar for a lot of different things, and you can throw darts, and you can say, well, he does this, or he doesn't do it the way that Nick Saban did it. I'm going to tell you what they can do, and that's evaluate talent. Yep, they can. They know how to spot talent. Sure do. Value. They can throw darts. Yeah, and I call it thrift store shopping.

Right. They go to the thrift store and find, like, 99 cents polo shirts, and it's like, oh, son of a God, wow. Actually, I've been on the 99. I mean, I've said that a couple times, but, I mean, and not Xavier Griffin. I mean, obviously, his talent is, you know, was probably something that you had to go out and pay for for his potential. But this team is going to be fun to watch for the next couple of years. We've got a lot of young talent that will continue to grow up right in front of our eyes.

But I do. I like this linebacker unit. When you look at the duo that they're running, guys, this is a solid unit. And as you said, Luke Metz, wow. There's your three-star. Yep. There's your three-star. Sure is. Yeah, that, you know, when you spend some time looking at it, thinking about it. I mean, so, this team, I just stepped back for just a couple of minutes and really just applaud them being able to go out and evaluate talent because they've been able to spot some talent that maybe, you know, probably would not have been here.

And I remember taking a lot of phone calls when they signed Luke Metz and going, three-star. Trayshon's found the same way. Alabama beat out Boise State for Trayshon Brown. Well, how do you like that evaluation now? Ryan, obviously, we're just deep into the interview, and here we are. Basically, to me, the one question I think that was settled at all. How would this Alabama defense put pressure and make life uncomfortable with a rock star of quarterbacks now, Mr. Taylor from Mississippi State? I think it's going to have to play better.

It's going to have to play better. I mean, that is an area that really, I mean, you know, we sit here, we throw stuff, and we can talk about it. But at the end of the day, that secondary is going to have to give me more. Grow up. Mm-hmm. It's just, when you step back for a couple of minutes, it just needs to perform better. It's a group that is well-talented, but they continue to get beat over the top, and that needs to tighten up a little bit.

Yep. And I don't know what it is. I don't know, you know, the problems, but they continue to give up big plays, and at some point, that's concerning. It's concerning. It really is. So, when I look at it and kind of study it a little bit, that's a unit that's going to have to be in play a little bit better because, you know, Taylor can find those open wide receivers, and they've got a good group of wide receivers. They do. They do. So, and, you know, I expect, like I said, I think it's a one-possession game.

I mean, I think it's a one-possession game, and, you know, if the weather is there, then maybe that's not as big of a factor as what we thought it would be earlier in the week. But, I don't like Alabama to win, but it's just, man, it's going to be a fourth-quarter one-possession game. Ryan Fowler, is it going to be fun in the future? We've already gotten a glimpse of this, too. When number 13 figures out how to pick up a blitz, and they can trust him to be in there longer, you got a little glimpse of it on that 39-yard run when he put his hand on the ground, kept his balance, and kept going, and broke another couple of tackles.

You think it's going to be fun watching Crowell grow up in this league? And this is where those practice reps that he missed back in the spring, and in the early part of the fall, is showing up, because you needed him to go through, you know, that pass responsibility. And that's the part that, I wouldn't say it's disappointing, because you've got to battle through some injuries, but it has been a little bit from a pass protection standpoint. But you see that talent, and it just stops you in your tracks.

This team is, and running back, they've done a really good job. I mean, I love what Daniel Hill's able to do. But the secret Saturday is just balanced offense, balanced offense. Keelan can take advantage of what the defense is willing to give you. We've heard so many great quarterbacks over the course of time say that, and we'll see if it, you know, pays off for this Alabama Crimson Tide football team. It's, balance is the key. Absolutely. Noah Rogers is going to help this team, too. I think everybody saw that.

He's wide open on that 30, on that 40-yard play, but he's awfully good. Brian Fowler, who have you got on the show today, and where can we get online to listen? Yeah, tide109.com. We've got Rodney Orr coming up in about 20 minutes. We'll talk with him. We'll have a chance to visit with Matt Wyatt, former SEC quarterback there at Mississippi State. He's from the state of Alabama. We'll talk with him. We've got Josh from College Football Nerds is going to be with us. We love picking Josh's brain for a couple of minutes, so we'll do that.

[1:51:42] We'll take your phone calls. We're doing keys to victory this afternoon. Keys to victory for the Alabama Crimson Tide. And it's always an honor to be all with you guys. Hope you guys have a great rest of your day. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll talk to you next week. See you. All right. Back at you, Coach DeBoer. I'm going to listen to that show today to get the keys there, BB. Coming up tonight, it all starts at 6 with Florence Dawkins football night. Are you ready for a big night overall here on 93.9 The Score?

Yeah. Florence Falcon football with Kevin Johnson previewing Athens. And then at 7 o'clock, the Braves' first pitch with Ray Kerr. Again, Ray Kerr, first pitch at 7.15. Hopefully, the Braves have got their heating shoes on tonight. They're going to need it. David, please, knock off Goliath. You can catch it again later on here on 93.9 The Score. It's going to take care of us for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two for the Boom on Buck Show.

Back here on Sports Radio, 93.9 The Score. We'll see you next time.