Boomo Bugg Show 102826

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9. The Score. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in and how are you? Doing okay.

Glad to have you back. I know it's been a tough week for you and Teresa, certainly in our thoughts and prayers. Hank South, who follows Texas, is going to talk about a big Texas win over the Ole Miss Rebels. But right now, Benjamin Ray, the voice of the UNA Lions, recounts the tough loss and previews Central Arkansas. The man who never sleeps, the fine voice of the Lions at UNA, Ben Ray. Ben, welcome in. How are you? Man, I'm doing great. Always appreciate you guys having me on to chat with you.

We're just getting set to head to Conway, Arkansas this week to take on the Central Arkansas Bears. They're on the stripes, the purple and silver field they got over there. Yeah, I was just going to say, every time I look up, you're on TV. I mean, you and your buddy, I mean, y'all are logging some TV time these days, are you not? Faces for radio, and they throw us on television every now and then. It's fun getting to go back and forth, doing the ESPN Plus stuff.

It's always fun. You get to tell some good stories. But there's nothing like being in that home radio booth or home team, hometown radio booth. And we're looking forward to getting a chance to wear our UNA gear, not the suits this weekend. When I looked at the stats after the game, UNA outgained the Govs 381-320. They had three more first downs, won the time of possession, battled by three minutes. Both teams went 7 of 16 on third down and rushed 3.4 yards per carry. If I would have looked at that first, I'd have said, well, UNA won the game with 10 points.

I mean, really, just bizarre when you look at that. And you can go back and circle three moments in that game that were game changers. An interception on the opening drive that Austin Peay turned around and scored their only first half touchdown on. And then the fumble, obviously, at the end of the game that ended up ultimately being the deciding factor. But UNA had a 20-21 play drive there at the end of the first half and didn't get any points. And you talk about the middle eight, the final four minutes of the first half, first four minutes of the second half.

Well, UNA had that 20-play drive to end the half and then had a 12-play drive to start the third quarter. And so you're talking about 32 plays in a row that you've run without Austin Peay being out there. And you only had seven points to show for it. And so those three items really kind of what haunted North Alabama in that ballgame. Just an unbelievable effort on both sides of the ball against now the number eight-ranked team in the nation. You know, that's kind of a macrocosm.

The year has been up, it's been down, it's been sideways. But you're already, even as the season ended today, you got better numbers than all of last season. Sum up the journey to date for this UNA Lions team. I think you look at the three FCS losses to southeastern Louisiana, Abilene Christian, and Austin Peay. To this point, you feel like you could have won all three of those. And so your record very easily could be flipped. And Coach Dierman's talked about this a lot, that we're good enough to play with all these teams now.

Now we just got to figure out a way to start winning those games. We've got to make those plays that win you those games that have ultimately cost us the last couple weeks. There's no doubt about it. This team is good. And now with four straight weeks left, if you win out, you're still in position to make the FCS playoffs. If you win out, well, Tarleton, Abilene, and Austin Peay all have to play each other. The door's still kind of open for something crazy to happen.

So this team still has its destiny in its hands, but you've got to take it one game at a time. Jaheem Ingram, everybody's favorite player from Muscle Shoals, the legend here, he summed it up best on the radio show Monday that every game's the national championship. We have to win every ball game. And the new season starts against Central Arkansas. It's been tough to win on the road, but if you go get a road win, you start taking those steps in the right direction. Brent Dierman has told us several times that one of the things he wanted since early in the season was for Destin-Wade to begin to run more.

[5:07] Well, he had 19 carries for 68 yards in the game. UNA ran the ball fairly well. Talk about his development since the beginning of the season to now. I think the last two ballgames, really since we came back from the bye week, Destin-Wade has looked like a totally different player. He's looking like the Destin that we saw last year, and I think he got a little banged up in some of the early games, and he finally feels comfortable running. And Destin's pretty shifty, but man, he is 6'3", 220 pounds.

He is a hard dude to get to the ground. And when he's running strong, his confidence is there. And I was actually looking today. He had his best deep ball throwing percentage this past game. I think he went 6 for 8 on deep balls, passes of 15 yards or more this past ball game. Prior to that, he was 40% on the year on throws of 15 yards or more. And I think that's because he kind of had that swagger. He had a couple of good runs, ran over some people. All of a sudden, the safeties are creeping in, and he's able to just throw it up for Xavier Johnson, who's got the fifth most receiving yards in the nation.

So I think when Destin gets his legs going, he just plays with that backyard groove, you know, kind of stress-free football. And it's been good to see Destin get going like that. Ben Ray, fine voice of the UNA Lions. Nick Saban said it, and I think it applies also across the board, including UNA. It's all a process. UNA is still building in that process. What does a guy like the X-Men do as far as to help build? Here's a guy who obviously had choices. He could have gone to bigger schools with the numbers that he's put up this season.

There's always a need for someone with that kind of raw talent. But what does that say as far as helping this program build on that process going forward? Because down the road, you're always looking for that diamond in the rough that everybody kind of overlooks. I think it shows that this staff has an eye for talent. And X is a great story. Didn't get a shot at Memphis. Comes to UNA. Fifth most receiving yards in FCS. He was named with a watch list for the Jerry Rice Award last week.

And really, he's probably one of the two clear-cut frontrunners right now for the Jerry Rice Award. And, I mean, you talk about a guy who has game-changing speed. If you only put one guy on him, he's going to run by him. And he has opened up this offense as a deep play threat that we haven't had in some time. But you just look at some of these one-year guys, guys that have come in for the first year. Camor Harris, another transfer from Memphis. Josh White. I mean, these guys are having all-conference caliber seasons.

And it's no coincidence, all of a sudden, UNA is kind of viewed as one of the upper-to-middle-tier teams in the league right now. UNA has proven, again, with the transfer portal bringing these guys in, and particularly on the defensive front and the development from these coaches, they can't compete against anybody in this league. Abilene, Austin Peay. But once again, and you alluded to this, the margin of error, and Coach Dierman has said several times, it's razor thin. You alluded to the two turnovers, the one early, the interception deep in UNA territory, and then the late fumble.

But in the 21-play drive, that did not result in points. And again, I know you've been asked this. It seems like to everybody, UNA has improved tremendously. They're now really competing against the top teams. They've still got Tarlington State, number two, to play before the season is over with. What do they need to do to overcome the hurdles and the mistakes to win a big game like that? You know, I think you've got to play clean football, and we've seen that. We just lost two unbelievable football games.

If you were a fan of the game of football, those games between Abilene Christian and Austin Peay were unbelievable games coming down to the last second. Unfortunately, somebody has to lose those. But then you go back and you look, and you drop an interception that hits you kind of right in the hand. Okay, that's an opportunity to change the game. You drop a deep touchdown pass because you thought about scoring before you completed the catch. Okay, that's a game-changing play. You know, you can go back in circle in every game.

You're going to run 70 plays in a game. But you can always go find the two to three plays that are the difference in why you won or why you lost. And for U.N.A., unfortunately, those plays have not gone our way. And so you've got talented players. You've got some young players. Now you just need them to make those plays. And you've got to start one game at a time. One win can build some momentum. And we've struggled to win on the road. That is something we've not done a lot of.

We had a big road win against Eastern Kentucky when it feels like a month ago we were up there. And that was our first conference road win in some time. And now you're in a position where you've got to go steal some road wins. And if you do that, you've got a shot at making those FCS playoffs for the first time in program history. And I think that's what's so great is despite things not going our way the last two weeks, the season's not over. The story of this season is still in our hands.

[10:30] And if we can put together some consecutive wins, all of a sudden we'll be in that FCS playoff conversation. I was about to say, starting this weekend, if anything else we've learned this college football season, U.N.A. fan or any other fan is no game is an automatic win. Talk to us about this matchup this weekend on the colorful carpet. And sometimes records are deceiving when you take on an opponent. They certainly are. And Central Arkansas is going through a tough stretch right now. They've lost five straight games.

But, you know, they were one possession away from beating Abilene Christian, much like U.N.A. They had Tarleton State on the ropes going into the fourth quarter. Tarleton ended up pulling away late. So they've played some competitive games. And Nathan Brown's been there. Nathan Brown was the quarterback at 05 when Mike Norvell was his wide receiver. And you had A.J. Milwe as the backup quarterback for U.N.A. had a couple of touchdowns. So there's some cool connections between these two schools. But this is a Central Arkansas team that has committed to running the football.

They're starting running back. They're quarterback. They're both in the top five in the league in rushing. And they don't throw it a whole, whole lot. They're going to beat you on the ground. They're going to use their legs. They're going to run behind their offensive line. And U.N.A. has struggled against Central Arkansas the last four or five years that we've played them, going back to 2022. And I was just counting it up. Eleven turnovers in four games against Central Arkansas. And we've lost all four of those ballgames.

So Central Arkansas has had our number. We've struggled at Estes Stadium. It's not going to be easy on the stripes. Chance of rain as well. But it's a team also limping in. Much like U.N.A. Both of these teams are desperate for a win this weekend. So who will rise to the challenge? It'll be a good one for U.N.A. Yeah, I'm glad Harold brought that up. That's one of the things I look at, and particularly for U.N.A. Central Arkansas is 2-6, and you look at that and say, well, that's not very good.

They lost to Florida State 34-7. Six points to Abilene Christian. They just lost in overtime to the University of Texas, Rio Grande, 30-27. And they were within two touchdowns of number two, Tarlington State. People need to go back and look at the schedules and understand that. Varsity Network podcast, young man. So many programs, so many universities now have gone to that. All the sports are on it. You do great podcasts with the individual teams. Where can we get online and get all of the good stuff?

You head to roarlines.com. You can get all the information there. We've got some social media pages, Roar Lions Productions. All of our broadcasts will be on our social media channels as well as the Varsity Network app. And, you know, we've had great feedback on this. We're pushing nearly 300,000, 400,000, or excuse me, 350,000 views so far through football season on those social media channels. So it's been great seeing people buy into it and tune in. And myself, Brian Neese, Chase Glover, we'll be over there in Conway, Arkansas.

So it's got our favorite barbecue spot in all the places we go to, Hog Pen Barbecue. Our good friend Dennis runs it. So we're going to go get us some ribs this weekend. Yeah, Mr. Neese, that TV pancake makeup is working for us. Keep it up. Safe travels to and from, okay? We'll do it. We appreciate you guys as always. Thank you, bud. Absolutely. Thank you so much. The voice of the UNA Lions, Benjamin Ray. Coming up, interesting times in the SEC, and nobody knows it better than the man in the heart of rebel country.

Brett Nuresworthy on deck. Stay with us. Well, the days are getting cooler and the smell of fall is in the air. What a perfect time to go explore the great outdoors. And Longshore Cycle Center has what you need. Stop in today and take advantage of the huge discounts that are available from the top five brands that they carry. Longshore has the 2025 Honda Pioneer 1000s with close to $3,000 discounts and the 2026 Pioneer 1000s with 10% discounts to business owners through October 2026. Longshore Cycle also has great deals on new CF Moto Highlands with their fully enclosed cabs with heat and air for those that like to explore in ultimate comfort.

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Participants are encouraged to dress in their spookiest, silliest, or most creative costumes. Tickets are $35 with under 12 free of charge. Also, a limited number of VIP tickets are available for $100 and include admission to an exclusive adults-only VIP afterparty featuring heavy work herbs from baking and events by Jack. All proceeds to benefit Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, helping provide free books to children in Lauderdale, Calvert, Franklin, and Marion counties. For more information, call the United Way of Northwest Alabama at 2-5-6-7-6-4-5-8-9-2.

That's the annual Witches' Ride, Thursday, October 29th. Listen to the Crimson Tide Sports Network for Crimson Tide Rewind, live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in the Stavie Hills, Monday nights at 6 p.m. Tune in and roll Tide. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Looking back in, not only does he know the Ole Miss Rebels inside and out and sideways, he knows college football, NCC, and the rest of the country. He's Brett Northworthy, host of Sports Time Afternoons 3-6, in a place called Memphis, Tennessee.

There is Sports 56. Brett, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you, Harold. Thank you, Brett, for having me. Really looking forward to this weekend with Ole Miss and Auburn. Yep. Only five games this weekend in the SEC. Wow, it's hard to believe it's almost. I thought the other day, Brett, when I saw the President of the United States flying into Memphis and taking a helicopter to a place that very few people have heard of the BIM. I know Kossu, Mississippi well. I was playing catcher, and the left fielder decided to throw the ball late to me, and they had a fullback on that country boy team.

He rounded third. He separated the ball. He separated my mitt and most of my teeth. When the President of the United States flies into Kossu, Mississippi, to speak at Corinth, that's news in your backyard, Brett. I guarantee you, it had to be the first time the President had ever been to Kossu, Mississippi. Kossu, Mississippi. Our sideline reporter, John Darnell, who was starting quarterback for Ole Miss in the late 80s, he's from Corinth. So, it was a big day for Corinth to have the President there. Let's talk about the Presidents of the Ole Miss Rebels.

[21:35] I was talking this morning, I live in a doctor's office these days, and this young lady, she's a Kentucky fan, and I thought, congratulations. How's it feel for Kentucky fans and Ole Miss fans right now to be amongst the elite in the SEC and the country? How special is life in rebel country these days? Well, I think Kentucky's in a different league right now than Ole Miss. Ole Miss is just like a lot of teams in the league this year. It's good. It's not bad, but it's not real good, and it's not very good.

I think you could say that about Alabama. You could say it about Florida. You could say it about LSU. You could say it about Missouri. I think you could say it about Tennessee. And I think you could probably say that about Texas. They're good, but how good? I think the only two teams that are really happy right now in the SEC, Kentucky's got to be the happiest. And I think Florida's going to be on the happy meter pretty far up there. But everybody else is a little bit bluesy and a little bit grousey.

I don't think Ole Miss at this point has been that good this year. Recap the Texas game for us. The Texas jumps out 24-3. Arch Manning looks like a million dollars. Then the second half, the Ole Miss defense. I know they gave up some rushing yards to Brown in the fourth quarter. They held Manning to 50 yards in two interceptions in the second half. Ole Miss, to their credit, comes back to tie the game. They execute, I was actually listening to the game coming back from Tuscaloosa.

I thought the announcers were going to jump out of the booth when Ole Miss covered that onside, that perfectly executed onside kick. Recap the game against Texas for us. Yeah, that's two times. Texas has had the onside kick work against them. Yeah. They had a shot at the end, and neither Tennessee nor Ole Miss could really capitalize. But, Brett, it was almost like it was three games. It was the 24-3 game. That's right. That Texas was dominant in. Then it was the 24-24 game that Ole Miss was dominant in.

And then, almost like in college basketball, when you dig that big hole and you fight all the way back, you can't really finish it off because you expend so much energy in the comeback. And that's what Ole Miss did. Get it to 24-24. And then, in the blink of an eye, it's a ten-point game again. It's 34-24. At Ole Miss, they were able to score and get the field goal and then score and get the onside kick. I don't like kicking the field goal in that situation.

I always want to go for it. And it was Trinidad Chambliss' worst game since the phenomenon that he became at Ole Miss. And I don't know why, but I think he has been coached to. I don't know if it's NFL scouts, but he's wanting to stay in the pocket more. And he was so much more effective last week. He's kind of the go-go quarterback, kind of a little bit Johnny Manziel, a little bit run-pass option. And this year, he's wanted to stay in the pocket and not run as much.

And I think that has hurt Ole Miss. He's like Ole Miss. He's had a good year, but he has not had a great year. Talk to us about that, Brett, about college football teams across the board. This team beats this team. That team goes on and gets beat by a so-called lesser team. There's no such thing. I'm talking about it in the eyes of the world out there. You look at Alabama and Georgia. Georgia goes and gets beat by Auburn. Tennessee beats Alabama. They go get beat by South Carolina.

We can go up and down the list here. Is it safe to say that the NIL and the transfer portal error is upon us? Well, it is, and I think it is a good thing. We would have not had the Fernando Mendoza story without it. We wouldn't have had the Trinidad Chandler story without it. We would not have had the Diego Pavia story without it, who it really hurt was Alabama and Georgia, Ohio State, and maybe Oregon, maybe one or two more that could just stockpile such depth and had eight or nine defensive linemen and three or four running backs, and now they're just down to, like everybody else, they're down to three or four defensive linemen and maybe one running back.

It has really dispersed the talent because nobody wants to sit and wait. Let me ask you about a running back. He won Lacey. He's one of the best running backs in the country. Got hurt early in the season. Got healthy. Played well. Now reports indicate a separated shoulder. He's going to be out for a while. Will it be Frazier, Mills Knight? How does Ole Miss compensate for his loss? I think the first will be Mekhi Frazier, who has had good moments, and then I think it will be JT Lindsey if he can play, and then Shaqai Mills Knight, who has not played very much after being very highly recruited out of Chattanooga, Baylor got loose on one late touchdown at Vanderbilt for his best college moment.

[26:35] But Kawhi Lacey has just been pounded this year. He's been hit really hard. The offensive line, like the team and like Trinidad, it has not been bad, but it's just been good. It hasn't been real good. It hasn't been very good. It hasn't been elite by any means. It's just been good, and that's why you're 5-2. If it had been elite or real good, I don't think Ole Miss would have a better record than 5-2. I don't think much changes the Florida score. But the Texas game, and especially the wobbly position Texas was in going into the game, that game was there for the taking, and the 24-3 lead quickly extinguished that, and then so much was spent in the comeback.

And now Texas is back viable again, but I don't think Sark has any confidence in Arch. And you can see late in that game where he just said, no more Arch, run the ball. Yeah. Yeah. Brent Norsworthy drives you home afternoons in the beloved city there in Memphis on Sports Time 3-6. Brent, what's going to happen with you boys this weekend against some of our neighbors way down in the southeastern part of the state of Alabama? Well, tell me what Auburn team shows up. Exactly. There you go.

Between the edges and beat number one in the biggest upset of the year. Auburn going into Athens and beating Georgia there after Georgia had won that heavyweight title fight against Alabama. Or is it the Auburn team that really didn't do very much last week against LSU? I do think Alex Golesh has made strides with his first team, his first year with his first team at Auburn. But I think being at home and the success Ole Miss has had at home in the last few years should be enough for Ole Miss to win the game.

But I just don't know how much I trust this Ole Miss team. I was scared to death of the Missouri game and then it was nothing to be scared of. I felt good going into the Texas game and it was everything to be scared of. So I was just going to go from the, with it being Halloween on Saturday, I think I'm just going to go with the scare tactics. Trick or treat, right? Oh, man. Yeah. You don't know what you're going to get. That's right.

And then we changed the stupid clocks after I voted for someone that told me we were going to quit. Oh, me. Oh, the politicians don't do that. Brent, you know that. Let me ask you about the Ole Miss defense. Never mind my tax cut. I just wanted the time change. Exactly. Keaton Thomas, eight tackles, three quarterbacks hurry. He played well. Jalen Crawford had two interceptions. I thought Blake Purchase played pretty well. Again, Texas ran the ball, Brownie, particularly in the fourth quarter, and they gave up a lot of yardage.

But I thought those three players, Brent, played pretty well. That's a good take, and Jalen Crawford, those two picks. And the second pick, after we get it to 24-24, we quickly intercept Arch, and I think, here we go. We're going to score, and the Texas crowd is going to completely turn on Arch and Sark, and you could feel it. Now, there's nothing less Texas now than Austin. I mean, it's a combination of Soho, Greenwich Village, Berkeley, Napa. There's nothing less Texas than the city of Austin.

Thank you. Those three players did play well. We had Blake Purchase on with us post-game. Yeah. But Keaton Thomas, again, without me being a broken record about good, he's been good. He hasn't been real good. He hasn't been very good, and he sure hasn't been bad. But Ole Miss needs more. Yes. Yeah, I certainly understand that. Well, listen, good luck Saturday in the call with the Auburn Tigers coming in. Hey, Brett, where can we get online and get you on the radio this afternoon? Sports56, WHBQ.com, 3 to 6, and I sure appreciate you guys having me and enjoy the football.

It's been a great football season so far, and it is wide open. Boy, is it ever. And you know what? It ain't done yet, Brett. Listen, enjoy it and keep up the good work, okay? Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Brett Norisworthy hooking up with us. He's busy there. Sports time, 3 to 6 in Memphis, Tennessee. Coming up, what's going on down in Tinetown? Roger Orr, the latest next. Stay with us. You've trusted Bob Wallace Appliance for your home for generations. Now, we're here to help you get a better night's sleep.

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[31:45] We're open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday until 9 p.m. and until 9.30 on Friday and Saturday. Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, where every meal is a fiesta. See you soon at 4160 Florence Boulevard at the entrance to Kendall Gardens. All sports, all the time. Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. The Score. Get ready for Halloween night at Target with candy worth the knock from $5.99. Plus, trick-or-treat pails for only a buck, but you've got time. Good thing candy's priced to stock up. Oh, plus fun Halloween party favors from $1. Did I mention bags of candy from $5.99?

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What's happening this week in college football? The Lindy's Football Report has the answers. 30 minutes of college football discussion on the biggest matchups of the week. Incise, engaging, accurate, with opinions thrown in from some of the most knowledgeable reporters in the business. The Lindy's Football Report. Check it out. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in, and I mean this. It is a pleasure for us to welcome in Rodney Orr. He is the founder and editor of tighterinsetter.com. The book is called Bigger Than Bama.

[37:16] I emphasize founder and editor for a reason, and we'll talk about that. But first, Rodney, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well, guys. How's it going? Hey, Boone. Yeah, it's not as well as you, Rodney. And I mean this. I mean, did I see the other day, tell me I'm wrong, 30 years. Mm-hmm. I remember two young men in the end zone of an Alabama football game talking about this website 30 years ago. What the heck is a website? And correct me if I'm wrong. It's called tighterinsider.com, and I'm sure people said it would never work.

But that's where we kind of got the ball rolling 30 years ago. Congratulations. A great job. I know there's been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but congratulations, Rodney. Yeah, I appreciate it, guys. You know, 30 years ago yesterday, October 27, 1996, we launched tighterinsider.com from a small bedroom in Corpus Christi, Texas, nearly 1,000 miles from Tuscaloosa. You know what, within 18 months, I was in sales and public relations with BFI waste systems at the time there in Corpus Christi, but within 18 months, I'm making more money off of a little website there, flying fans all around the world, Alabama fans.

So, anyway, it kind of was a, you know, crazy thing that was kind of against all odds, but I appreciate it, guys. Yeah, I was going to say, Bama Magazine was, with Kirk McNair, may have been about the only thing around. That was it. Yeah, it was the only thing. That was it. It was the only place. And a lot of these guys, Carol and Britt, you know this. Britt knows it really well. There's a lot of guys right now that are doing podcasts that are out there without naming names.

There's people that own, started networks. They all started as posters on tighterinsider.com that were Alabama fans. So, it was kind of crazy. Kind of crazy. Absolutely. What was it? Because it's easy to sit here 30 years after the fact and say, okay, but I wasn't joking. Back then, a show of hands, how many people 30-plus years ago knew what the heck? A website was something where, on your patio, there was a site for a web out there with a real spider climbing on it. What was it that you and your family, your brother, and others who helped plant the seeds for this, what was it that said, let's go for it?

Well, you know, Harold, this is a great question. This has been my passion, my dream for many years. And, you know, my brother knew it, and not that he had the interest in Alabama that I did. And, you know, I actually, and Brett mentioned Kirk Minera. I talked to Kirk because I'd known Kirk for years when I was in school at Alabama. And I talked to Kirk about buying Bama Mag. And, you know, he kind of said, well, it's going to be a lot of money.

You know, and my brother told me, he said, why would you want to buy a magazine when they're going to go out in a few years? Wow. He started telling me about this thing called the Internet. He was going to take over TV stations, take over radio stations, all that stuff, newspapers. And I was like, I don't believe that. And he goes, yeah, yeah, you know. And so finally I got desperate enough. I said, well, tell me about this website. Let's see what we can do.

So we started to build it in the summer of 96. And as I told my story yesterday, you know, of course, on my website and on Facebook, social media. But I told the story that, you know, Harold Brett, while I was doing this, I was building my business plan. I'll never forget. I kept hearing this voice say, why are you doing this? It's so stupid. This is not going to work. Well, I actually quit. I quit. Yeah. I got up and I quit. I walked away from the kitchen table where I was doing my business plan and I quit.

And all of a sudden I heard this small, calming voice, which I'll tell you was the Holy Spirit. Yep. Wow. I'm there and I heard this voice say, just sit down and take the next step. Yeah. And so I just, I followed, I followed that. I sat down and that kind of became my motto. Okay. Every time I would start to get discouraged, I think just take the next step and the next step. And the next thing I know, guys, we launched it on October the 27, 1996, right?

I'm still having these doubts. Then all of a sudden I'm on a radio show kind of like yours. I'm on WJOX. You know, I've been on WJOX some. And then all of a sudden I started getting phone calls from all these other radio stations to be on. And one day, man, three months after we started, I'm sitting there and I did eight shows in a row. And you guys know how it can wear on you. Yeah. You know, talking so much can really wear you out.

People don't realize it. People don't know it. I understand why some preachers say, look, man, I'm preaching once or twice on Sunday. That's it. Yeah. That's because it wears you. It wears on you. So I say all that to say this. I'm sitting there and I'm doing that eighth segment that day. And I'm still working for BFI in Corpus Christi, Texas at the time. And I put up, I hang up the phone on the eighth one. I go, man, I go, man, I am exhausted. I'm exhausted.

And guess what? The thought hit me. It said, what if I'd have quit? What if I'd have quit? What if I'd have followed that voice that was telling me to quit? You know, what would have happened? And I'm sitting here going, man, this is crazy. So, you know, a few months later and go by, like I said, 18 months after we started, my wife comes home one day from church and she says, hey, you know, Chodron Sutter is doing great. How about we put the house up for sale and move to Custalusa?

[42:33] And I'm sitting here going, are you crazy? There's me. There's me. There's you. And we have four kids, including a six month old baby. We can't just pick up and move. She says, well, why can't we? She said, you know what? It's part of your business plan, isn't it? Yeah. It's your dream, isn't it? I said, yep. She said, sometimes you just have to take a step of faith. And there was the piece right there when she said that, you know, just that step of faith.

So I know that's not what you guys really called about, but yeah, it was a real journey. And that's part of my book, man. You mentioned the book, Bigger Than Bama. That's just part of it. That's just part of it. That's what I was going to mention. You chronicle your story of starting tighter and sider very well. And you're right. It was the Holy Spirit, more or less, telling you to keep on keeping on. Rodney, Alabama is 6-2, 4-2 in the SEC. Texas A&M, quite frankly, outplayed them for three quarters.

And then in the fourth quarter, the light switch went on. Alabama scores two touchdowns, and they win the game. In fact, they outgained Texas A&M 102-15, eight first downs to nothing. But a much-needed bye week. We'll get into the injuries. But you asked the question earlier this week on tighter and sider. Which way is this Kaelin DeBoer's Alabama team headed? Will they beat LSU in nearly, I'm never going to say a lock, but at least be a more favorable position for the playoff? Or will they lose to LSU and struggle through the rest of the season?

They're kind of at a fork in the road, Rodney. Which way are they going? Yeah, yeah, and you know, I always say that I've got a lot of friends that are Aggies, you know. But I've got to be honest with you, man. When you're struggling, the Aggies are just what the doctor ordered, man. They go for it on fourth and one. I know. That was probably the play that, in my opinion, kind of started setting in motion. Alabama in the fourth quarter, which I thought was a really encouraging performance there in the fourth quarter.

Keelan Russell went five for five with two touchdowns in that quarter. So now, you know, you've got to go to LSU, and that's the game. I mean, you win that game, you're like you said, Brett. I mean, you've got everything in front of you. You lose the game, I'm going to say your chances of making the playoffs are pretty unlikely. And you know what that's going to mean. Oh, yeah. So this is a huge game. Now I will say this, Alabama, you know, when you're talking about LSU, and I know how good they are, I know all of that, but you know, and Lane's done a great job and all of that.

But, you know, I've seen some games, especially against Alabama, where Lane's really laid some eggs. Yes. So, you know, we'll see. You know, get your thumbprint on the Titer Insider family. They're not shy with their comments. Kind of get the consensus from you there. And I see a lot of criticism, and I think a lot of it's married, quite frankly. But if you're objective, which is an odd word this day and time, you look at all the injuries this team has had. You look at the overall picture.

Your thoughts about Kaelin DeBoer as objectively, given the schedule, given the key, not just injuries, but key injuries, how would you grade it out, apart from the emotion after a game where you lose back-to-back games and struggle against A&M? Rodney, you've got a good eye for it. Where do you put it? You know, that's a great question, Daryl. And I mean, they had opportunities, and I know there were some bad calls in the Georgia game. Right. And, you know, you looked at that game and you said, look, Alabama didn't win, but they showed a lot more physicality.

Right. They showed a toe with Georgia, a team that had obliterated them in the SEC championship game, you know, just eight months earlier. So you saw the progress, and then they come out, and again, I understand the injuries, you know, but they come out against Tennessee. They look totally overwhelmed. They look totally unprepared. Right. All of those things that we've seen in past games. Right. And I understand the injuries. I think the Alabama fans are the ones that have concerns. Not all of them do. Some of them think everything's great.

But the ones that have concerns, I think they look at that game, that Tennessee game, and it reminded them of Indiana. It reminded them of the SEC championship game. Man, Vanderbilt before that. It reminded them of, yeah, you could go back to that. They reminded them of the FSU season opener, where you just don't show, go up to play. Right. And I mean, I think that is the concern. It's a pattern. It's a trend. And it's like, you know, it's really a strange pattern that they've had.

And, you know, they'll bounce back. They come back. They rally. And then they hit the wall again. And it's just something that I think Alabama fans right now, or at least some Alabama fans, just say, hey, man, you know, is this guy the right fit for Alabama? And I mean, I think, you know, you go down to LSU, you win that game. And I think it certainly does a lot to build confidence. Ronny, you touched on something was that fourth quarter momentum. We talked to several of the Texas A&M media after the game, and they said, look, guys, to be frank with you, Texas A&M played the best game they played all year for three quarters.

[47:47] They did, yeah. But Russell finished, you mentioned five of five. He finished the game completing nine of ten. Yeah, wow. The defense even came up. I mentioned Alabama finished the fourth quarter with eight first downs. A&M had zero. Zero first downs. Yeah, you're right. The throws, Rodney, to Daniel Hill, who can catch the ball, there were easy throws to tight ends in the running backs. In fact, the last two touchdown passes were very impressive, and it just brings up the natural question, why can't they do that more often, and why can't they use that as a template to get started against LSU?

Yeah, yeah, kind of get Keelan Russell into it. Yes. And I think that's something that's another thing that, you know, a lot of people have asked. And, you know, again, I guess we'll see. You know, we can ask all these questions, and I think that's a really good one. And, you know, we'll just kind of have to see, you know, how it goes from here. You know, but this LSU game is obviously going to be a game that's going to determine a lot just kind of for the direction of this team and probably possibly for the direction of the program.

Because, again, if you lose that game, you're probably out of the playoffs for the second time in third year, in three years, you're not making the playoffs, right? Mm-hmm. And so, you know, I think it's pretty clear that, you know, Alabama, Kaelin DeBoer, they need some positive things to happen. I guarantee nobody wants that more than Greg Byrne. He does not want to have to sit here and face what that would mean in terms of money, potentially down the road. So that's, as you mentioned, all hinges away from Saturday down in Baton Rouge.

Rodney, what are you hearing as far as the overall health of the team? Key guys may be coming back. We've seen RCW may be coming back, maybe some others. Your thoughts on that? And, of course, what every coach has to do, and that's the news this week, with Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. Yeah, I think the injuries, it sounds like it's going to be better. I don't know about London Simmons yet, nor do I know about a couple of the other guys. I would say Terrence Green is expected back.

That's what I'm told. Rayson Delgatti is expected back. Brian Williams, as you mentioned. So, Zabian Brown, I think, will probably be back. Like I said, I don't think Will Sanders, obviously, he's not expected back. And we'll see what happens, you know, with a couple of the other guys. But it does sound like, for the most part, they should be much closer to full health than they were here in the last couple of weeks. Rodney, let me ask you about some players who have caught my eye.

Again, so much of this is doom and gloom, but Henry was tremendous. As far as developing him, I asked the question all summer, who's going to be Alabama's third to receiver? And I kept getting Noah Rogers, who, again, I keep hearing is going to get more reps. We'll see how that goes. C.D. Morgan and Derek Mattis. Well, mine was Rico Scott. Hence, you know, 150 yards in the receptions. McDonald with an interception. Ivan Taylor has played well. Rodney, they are beginning to develop him, particularly on the defensive side, some of these kids.

Yeah, no, I think some things are coming together. There's no doubt in the secondary, they've got a lot of young talent. They've had some young talent back there. Jara Edwards played in this game again. Number 10, safety, he's going to be a great player. And Rico did step up big time. I mean, you know, Rico's a really physical player. You saw him run through some tackles in this game against Texas A&M. He's physical, you know, kind of like Metschie was in that regard. He's got legit speed.

So, you know, I think he did show that he's going to be, he's a guy right now that you get Ryan Coleman-Williams back. He's got lots here. This could be a solid wide receiver core. I don't think one thing is, and I know Ryan can make plays, but, you know, Ryan's, even though he's caught the ball better, you know, the production hasn't been, you know, I don't think that we could sit here and say, okay, Alabama right now has a real difference maker at wide receiver.

I think Ryan's capable of that. We've seen it in the past, but, you know, we've got to see more of that. And so I think the receiver core, you know, again, with Rico stepping up, has a chance to be really solid. You know, again, I think the run game, you've got to continue to work on that. You've got to become more consistent in the run game. And if they can do that, you know, I think they've got a lot of potential. And I think, obviously, Keelan Russell, he's still learning, man.

He's still learning a lot. Yes. And, you know. So, and again, we'll see. We'll see how it all comes together. Absolutely. Listen, congratulations again. We're blessed to have known you. We've been doing this radio thing for 24 years in December, and you've been a big part of it. And we appreciate you coming on many, many times during the week when you had a lot of other things that you could have done. Tell us about the website, the 24-7 message board. Recruiting, a little basketball, really getting started next week, Rodney, and for a very nominal price.

[53:18] And also, where can we buy a copy of the book and read about your, as far as starting, Titer Insider? Right. So, TiterInsider.com. It's only $48 a year. You can get in some access right now with your credit card if you prefer. There is an address there to send a check. It gives you our premium information. Part of our package, of course, is our all-sports forum. That's our community there. I'm telling you, it's a lot of great discussion there. There's a lot of great information. Anything that happens, it appears right there almost instantly.

And then, also, you mentioned the book, Bigger Than Bama. Bigger Than Bama. You can go to RodneyGord.com. Go to Amazon. Google it. However you want to do it. You can find all the details, you know, if you're interested in the book. And, you know, we shared a little part of it there earlier. Yeah. Rodney Orr, we've known each other before. We were blinds. Let's do this again in 30 more years from today, okay? Sounds good, buddy. Hey, I appreciate it, guys. Thank you, Rodney. Rodney Orr, TiterInsider.com.

Coming up in the next hour, we're going to be taking all over the place through Jarman. It's going to be on board. Hank South. Hello, Texas and Cole Pinkston. Hello, Auburn. All that and more straight ahead. There'll be more Bug Shows. Stay with us. The quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Game day's coming, and your tailgate crew is counting on you. That's why Lost Pizza Company, Scholes, put together the tailgate playbook, specialty pizzas, wing trays, and subplatters, all built to feed a crowd.

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[58:59] Jones was speaking on Alabama Public Television, where he claimed that the popularity of the Choose Act, which is evidenced by an increase in enrollment numbers, is due to deceptive marketing. Jones says that conservatives have been pushing the Choose Act and presenting it as parental choice, which Jones disagrees with, saying it's a drain on public education dollars that should go to public schools. Jones also has an issue with private schools that are getting the Choose Act students enrolled there, and therefore these students are bringing with them education dollars that would otherwise go to a public school.

Jones doesn't like the fact that that is happening, saying private schools have no accountability to the state of Alabama. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Some of the greatest blessings is just having the people that care about you, to have someone that's just going to love you and make you feel important. They encourage you to be in church. They encourage you to be in prayer. They encourage you to be in your Bible. Now it's a part of my day every day. My house parents planted seeds in me that you can see where those seeds have sprouted in my life and helped change my life.

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Oh, mercy. Join us next Saturday as the Crimson Tide head to Death Valley to throw down with LSU. On your home for Alabama football, the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. Brought to you locally and parked by Valley Credit Union, Cypress Creek Indoor Range, Kinnaker Johnson & Layton Insurance, Mugshots Grill & Bar, Bob Wallace Appliance, Alpha Agents David Jordan and Mike Mitchell, Champy's Famous Fried Chicken, Ray Miller GMC, Fuller Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical, and River Restoration. This is Chris Stewart, and your home for Alabama football is Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.

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Welcome back in. Our tour to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us your ride around the Tennessee Valley. And for Cole Peanston, taking time out of his busy schedule there, following the Auburn Tigers at AuburnSports.com, part of the On3.com family. Cole, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing great. How are y'all? Hey, Booth. Trying to figure out if it's Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde this year across college football. Cole, you're the smart one in the huddle here.

It's truly a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde world no matter where you go in college football these days, is it not? Well, you know, it is. And I feel like it's my job to make sure it's not, right? I feel like that's my role here at Auburn Sports at On3 is to go look. There's going to be some crazy ups and downs. There's going to be some mountaintops, some valleys, especially for Auburn. That's the way it's been for a while. But there is rhyme and reason to it.

[1:04:04] And, you know, I studied the rosters. I took all offseason doing that. And when you look at it, the matchup with LSU was bad. The matchup with Georgia was bad, too, but the game plan was better for what they had. And, you know, we could talk about that forever, but that's what I'm looking at right now. You know, let's face it, sometimes it's matchups, but it's also the way the cards fall sometimes. Auburn had an off week. Georgia was facing a mountain there in Tuscaloosa. They were coming home.

And let's face it, Georgia's human. They said, okay, we got out of Tuscaloosa with a win. Now we got Auburn lightly regarded. Auburn poured everything and then some. They got the breaks against Alabama. Georgia got the breaks. We as fans sometimes not take everything into consideration. We just see the name on my jersey and say, well, that's an automatic win. That's an automatic loss, but not so fast, my friends. He's, amongst others, South Carolina and Tennessee. Yeah. And you got Georgia's C game, I would say.

If you're Auburn and Auburn had its A game that day, and that was good enough to get it done. And it was almost not good enough to get it done. But against LSU, you got their, you know, B plus to A game. Yeah. And every time when your roster looks like Auburn's doesn't, it's not bad by any means, but it doesn't match up with what LSU has put together. It doesn't match up with what Georgia and Ole Miss and Alabama have put together to this point.

They got a big portal offseason coming up here to get that right. And I think a game like this against LSU gets them going. Uh-huh. I see. Mm-hmm. Let me ask you, I enjoy your articles before, you call it before the film and after the film. After you go through and dissect the plays, fans are notorious about telling anybody when the team loses the game, well, the game plan stinks. It was terrible. But you went through and looked at one play after another. And in particularly earlier in the game, Auburn had caused some good plays.

Now, let's use the caveat. Sometimes receivers drop passes or they run the wrong routes or somebody doesn't get blocked. Whatever the reason. Oh, by the way, LSU's got the best defense in the SEC. Tell us, when she went back and looked at the game plan, it wasn't nearly as bad, I know, as some people believed. No, it wasn't. The problem is, it's the same problem that they had against Florida. If you can think back to that game, they had to go into what I call desperation mode way before they wanted to.

And they can't live there. They don't have enough pass protection. They can't run the ball like they want to. So, their whole game plan is, how can we avoid that? And, you know, in these games where they get scored on too quickly, and it almost happened against Georgia. They were on the brink of it, you know, being a blowout kind of game there. They can't handle it. And I think they probably know that at this point. And looking at the play script for the first three or four drives, first quarter going into the second, I thought, you know, I thought they were doing a good job of it.

And they held on as long as they could. And then it got out of hand. Cole Pinkston, AuburnSports.com. Cole, from players and also from a coach's standpoint, at this point in the season, what has exceeded your expectations with those two groups, players and coaches, and what maybe has not lived up to your preseason expectations from both camps? I would say my preseason expectations were pretty good, looking at it back now and seeing how things have played out. I did not account for Auburn beating Georgia.

That is, to me, that is a huge, huge deal. No, no, I mean, the way we put it on our shows and our write-ups was, Auburn's good enough, and if they want to prove themselves, Alex Gullis and his staff, they've got to go beat somebody they're not supposed to. They have to get that done because that's something that Hugh Freeze was not doing. And he was losing to teams that probably had no business he'd be losing to. So you go get that done. We said, Georgia's not an option.

Of course, that was wrong. But look, you're ahead of schedule now because you've beaten who you're supposed to, you've lost to who you were supposed to, and you snagged one that you weren't supposed to. So now, if you really want to put a cherry on top of this first season, what I'm calling an audition to get more money for the portal is go beat somebody else you're not supposed to. Then you're talking, then you're cooking with oil there. Let me ask you about Ole Miss, about the game on Saturday.

It's in Oxford, of course. Trinidad Chambliss does his thing. We had Brett Norsworthy of Ole Miss Network on earlier today, and he said, quite frankly, they kept Trinidad Chambliss in the pocket too much. They didn't utilize his skill set as much in the Texas game, and I would imagine they'll probably use him more, use his legs more, and particularly since Kewon Lacey is out with a separated shoulder. The other thing that I noticed, Texas ran the ball, ran wild with Brown in the fourth quarter. The Ole Miss defense gives up 161 yards rushing a game.

[1:09:22] Can Auburn run the ball against Ole Miss? I think so. I think those numbers can be a little bit deceiving because when I walk out the entire talent score, it's what I'm calling their matchup score. I think Ole Miss is up there and very close to LSU's ballpark, just a notch under them as far as the contributors they have and how much talent they have. So that's the kind of team that can have a big day at any moment. And the thing with the Texas game, I really think Texas had a lot to do with keeping him in the pocket.

I think they, even though they're struggling at times, they have enough talent to go, and this is how we want the game to go. They can decide that. Auburn doesn't have that luxury right now, and that's why you can't pick them to win in a game. It's really tough to do that. But they have a, you know, a puncher's chance to go in there and win a game like this because they can find ways to run the ball. They can keep the offense on schedule and not let it get away from them again.

Cole Pinkson again. That's AuburnSports.com. Cole, if we can indulge you just for a second. Obviously, you follow Auburn, so you haven't seen a lot of Alabama except on TV, but you have seen LSU. That matchup is coming up a week from Saturday down there. What do you see from an LSU perspective in that game? I see LSU as the most talented roster in the SEC, and when they put it all together, they're very tough to beat for that reason. And they can score a lot of points.

And Sam Levitt is, yes, in a hurry. And when Sam Levitt's on fire, he's on fire. He looks like Johnny Manziel or somebody like that. So match that up with what I know about Lane Kiffin, and that's Lane Kiffin's watching the film right now and going, you know, Dijon Lee, Dijon Lee. Here's a couple of guys. Yeah, he's the matchup king. He understands it more than anyone, and that's what he did against Auburn. Number four, Jackson Harris, had just a mismatch against anybody Auburn wanted to put on him.

So we go to that well over and over, and there's always water there. So I think that he's going to do that against Alabama, but it's going to be harder to find against Alabama, and that's what makes that one more intriguing. So I'm really excited to watch that one. Who caught your eye on a positive note for Auburn? And again, the game got away from Auburn certainly in the first half. And again, as you mentioned, sometimes when that happens, a lot of things go out the window.

But as far as who played fairly well or caught your eye on offense or defense, any players in particular? Yeah, it's probably not surprising. There won't be any surprising names. Cody Sigler continues to impress me, defensive lineman. Lodge Melendez always plays well. I think Bryce Diaz is coming along well on the defense to take place of Xavier Atkins, who's not on the team anymore. And I think he's filled in pretty well there. I don't think they're losing a whole lot from losing Xavier Atkins, and I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that before the season.

But seem to be okay there. Offensively, that's kind of a tough one. I'd give a shout-out to Kenneth McManus, though, who's been playing right guard. You know, he's undersized. He came from Akron. Not a big category as far as recruiting goes. But he could just be handling his job really well. So give him a shout-out for sure. Cole, obviously, if you want to be bold here, final score, Auburn and Ole Miss. Yeah, I'm still kind of coming up with that. So my answer might change as the week goes on.

I hear you. As of right now, I'm thinking somewhere in the ballpark of 35 to 24 Ole Miss. Well, it's been amazing. Listen, again, I appreciate what you do, the before and after with the film study, and then also looking at you spent all summer digesting this roster. And Auburn fans, it's great insight. We had Brian Matthews on yesterday, and we were talking a little bit about you. But where can we get online to get your stuff and the teams? Yeah, AuburnSports.com, part of the On3Rifles network.

We've got a 60% off deal for a whole year. It gets you in for a year. I think it's worth it. I think you'll definitely be hooked if you try that. So come give us a look. And one week from now, a thing called basketball gets rolling in Southeastern Louisiana. So plenty on your plate. Cole, keep up the good work, and thanks so much for your time today. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Boone. Cole Peekson, AuburnSports.com. Been talking about Tejas. We'll take you there next, not with ZZ Top, but with Hank South on deck.

Stay with us. I've always felt that sports imitate life, and in both arenas, everyone loves a good comeback story. I sold my dynasty almost three years ago and have missed coming to the ballpark every day since. Once my old team dispersed and our fan base hinted about wanting to come back, we built a new stadium, made some calls to our old players, and signed some new ones off of waivers and trades. Midtown Meat House now has the finest team of butchers, caterers, and sandwich makers in the league, and we're playing to win.

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It's a daily update on Bama sports and it's brought to you by Conecuh Sausage, a true southern flavor since 1947. Order online at ConecuhSausage.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. Here are thoughts from former Alabama quarterback Tyler Watts from Monday's edition of Crimson Tide Rewind. Only the second win of the month of October and it couldn't have come at a better time after suffering defeats to Georgia at home and then going on the road and getting beat up pretty good and unfortunately another day of getting beat up pretty good.

Lost a couple of guys on the offensive line, but as we mentioned, we've been talking about the last couple of weeks, this is the time of the season where you were just physically and mentally exhausted and to be able to get the win versus A&M, who quite honestly early on, I was like, this one's going to go pretty good. First two possessions, the Aggies have the football, they turn it over immediately, put us in great scoring position. Of course, Dijon Lee didn't allow the offense to take credit for that one as he took it back to the house, but then things kind of turned.

Their offense got rolling a little bit with the RPO and gave us some problems and it took a quarter or two. I'll have more in a moment. Baby jeans, favorite shirt. Guy can make a sausage and I'm firing it up, yeah. Everybody knows, it's how I get my grill on. You can smell that flavor up and down the curb. It's a little taste of heaven, and everybody knows. It's how I get my grill on. Conecuh sausage, it's just a little taste of heaven. Join us tonight for Hey Coach and the Kalen DeBoer Show presented by Alpha Insurance.

[1:19:32] Starting at 6 p.m. from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Tuscaloosa, you can listen on our full radio network and the Varsity Network app. Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Conecuh Sausage. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. Grace Episcopal Church, 103 Darby Avenue in Sheffield invites you to their All Saints Day activities this Sunday, November 1st. First, at 9.30 a.m., there'll be a Holy Communion service at Grace. Then at 3 p.m., at historic St. John's Episcopal Church in downtown Tuscumbia, there'll be a service of evening prayer.

The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score. Welcome back, Ken. Time to head to ZZ Top Country. Teos. Hank South is the managing edge for ontexasfootball.com. Hank, welcome in. How are you? Hey, guys. I'm good. How are you? I'm good. Man, we're doing all right. Hank, is it safe to say that Sark and Arch and Texas fans everywhere know how to spell relief and it's not R-O-L-E-I-D-S? Yeah, now, they got some stuff figured out on Saturday night in Austin against Ole Miss. Still, some of those issues that have plagued them bubbled up, you know, but in the end, they got a win over a top-ten team.

They needed to get back kind of on their feet, and they did that. So, kind of kept their season alive, and we'll see as we go on. Hank, obviously, the national perspective was the pressure was off the charts for both Sark and Arch, and of course, they're about on that team. You got a team that everybody said has capabilities of coming into your house and stealing one. Talk to us before we get into some of the X's and the O's and Jimmy's and Joe's just from a standpoint of what this does as far as stopping the bleeding because, let's face it, if you lose three in a row at Texas with all the resources there, that ain't going to be a pretty Monday after.

Talk to us just what it means from an intangible standpoint. Yeah, it's huge. I think Arch needed this win for his confidence, obviously, last week with everything going on, the reports that, you know, KJ Lacey was going to get more first-team reps in practice, you know, maybe his job was on the line. You know, a third loss probably knocks them out of playoff contention. I'm not sure. The SEC is kind of a wild ride this year, but they needed this. And, you know, it came at a good time.

You know, they've got a, you know, there weren't many more opportunities to kind of bounce back. I mean, they've got a pretty tough stretch ahead of them. You know, Mississippi State, obviously, this weekend without Camario Taylor, but then, you know, go on the road to Mizzou, go on the road to LSU. So they needed to get some confidence back to get ready for that stretch because, you know, it's going to be a tough go, you know, through November. Texas had 14 penalties for 121 yards. There were 22 penalties, once again, the SEC officials with 22 flags, 14 on Texas.

Arch had a very good first half. Texas, of course, as you know, jumped out front 24 to 3. And then I've read several reports. Texas has scored a point in the third quarter in the month of October. Which is amazing to me. And in the second half, Arch goes 5 of 11 for 41 yards and two interceptions. Is that the reason that Sart decided to run the ball? Obviously, the Ole Miss rush defense has given up some yards this year. Malik Brown ran wild. But when Arch, the pros of scoring points in the third quarter in Arch was 5 of 11 for 41, is that why they decided to run the ball in the fourth quarter?

Yeah, I mean, I think they found something that worked for them. I mean, the third quarter has been just nightmare zone for Texas the last month. I mean, really the whole season outside of the opener against Texas State, I'm talking offensively. Defense has played pretty well consistently throughout the year. But since that Texas State opener, I think they've scored six points in the third quarter all season, including Ohio State and UTSA as well. So, they just haven't been able to come out of the locker room and kind of find that fire again.

We asked Arch about it this week. He said, you know, they might tweak some things on how they approach the third quarter. And, you know, he said it's frustrating because, you know, you kind of have an opportunity to go make another kind of opening script offensively. And then it's just not clicking. And, you know, part of that against Ole Miss in particular is, you know, they kind of got the wind blown out. They're taken out of their sails. You know, they lose Trevor Goosby. Pretty significant injury.

Obviously, he's out for the season. You're, you know, franchise All-American left tackle. So, I think there's some adjustment to there. But, you know, his replacement, Andre Kojo, he's more of a run blocker than he is pass block. And, you know, Raleigh Brown, you know, finally was kind of seeing the field a lot better in those cutback lanes and everything they want to do with that zone scheme. And then Michael Terry, their sophomore running back out of San Antonio, he kind of had his coming out party as well out of the backfield.

[1:24:38] So, I mean, it was just working. I don't think they, like, purposely intended not to put the ball in the air. But, you know, they were getting these chunk plays on the ground. And just, you know, keep doing it. Hank South on texasfootball.com. Hank, I'm sure absolutely no one's asked you this question. So, we'll probably quote the first. Your thoughts about the season for Arch Manning? Yeah. He's certainly underwhelmed from, you know, the expectations. Last season, I understand that, you know, coming into the year, never having been the full-time starter Heisman Trophy aspirations.

Like, that was probably a little overblown. This year, it was warranted. I mean, we saw a really elite play from Arch Manning on the back half of 2025. He had that great Citrus Bowl against Michigan. Texas got him all these weapons on the outside of the perimeter. Obviously, you know, we've seen Cam Coleman struggle a little bit here and there, the deep ball. But this was supposed to be the year where he didn't have as much pressure on him because he had so many guys around him to kind of make his job easier.

And, you know, we've seen glimpses of it. You know, Texas State looked pretty good that fourth quarter of the Ohio State game. But beyond that, I mean, Texas will just go into these lulls offensively where, you know, it looks like he's like backup quarterback. Like, kind of, you know, just everything, nothing is clicking for him. He's getting rushed. You know, he's not comfortable in the pocket. He's not trusting his feet. And so, you know, it was refreshing to see that against Ole Miss because, you know, you look back to last season, it kind of took that second half, you know, back against the wall type scenario for him to really start to elevate his play.

And, you know, he had that rough third quarter. But, you know, the first half was, you know, vintage arch. Like, he was comfortable. He was using his feet. He was having that, you know, kind of that cockiness about him that he plays well when he starts showing, you know, I guess swagger, what you want to call it. But, you know, so it's been up and down. I think just as history has shown us, he can finish strong. He's going to have to if they want to have, you know, a chance of making the playoff and even making a run in the playoff.

But, yeah, they can't have the – he's got to clean up the turnovers. He's got to keep trusting his feet. And I think Sark's putting him in better situations in terms of play calling as to what he does best. Kim Coleman coming from Auburn. Everybody thought he would have a monster year for Texas. I know he dropped one pass when he was open. Ryan Wingo, five catches, 105 yards, even had a nine-yard run. Is Ryan Wingo turning into the go-to guy as far as a receiver for Arch?

He is. I mean, of late. And, you know, what's interesting is, you know, Ryan Wingo was having the same issues Kim Coleman was having this year. That was him last year. And, you know, he's really worked on the hands element of being a receiver. He told us he catches 500 footballs off the jug machine every day after practice or every day, essentially. And so we've seen that, you know, he's had a bad drop this year as well. Against Ohio State, he just dropped a wide-open touchdown. But I will say, you know, he is upping his game at the right time.

He was the go-to on Saturday night. He's showing that, you know, he's probably the receiver. I've had a Jermaine Bishop that can most kind of just break the game open, take the top off the defense in this offense. And so he's really upped his game. You know, and everyone's saying, you know, Kim Coleman, he's underperformed. And, yeah, he's had some moments like, oh, come on, like the interception against Ohio State, the drop against Ole Miss. But he's also had really good games. You know, in the loss against Oklahoma, he had over 100 yards.

He's caught. I think he's leading the team in touchdown catches. Like, he's still performing. But obviously, you know, Saturday night, you know, when you're trying to get your quarterback's confidence back and he's throwing, you know, that right into your lap in terms of, you know, being able to catch it, you've got to make those plays, especially, you know, when I think he's making pretty good money. He's got to, you know, back that up. Absolutely. Listen, congratulations on the website. I'll tell you one thing. You've had an interesting career working for two of the most dynamic fan bases in college football, Alabama and then Texas.

Never a dull moment. Hank, where can we get online and get your good stuff in the teams? No, not at all. It's been fun. We're at ontexasfootball.com. So we have a website and then we have a YouTube page that we do live shows, recorded shows, and we have four or five shows up a day. So if you're interested in Texas football and kind of where we're at there, give us a follow either there or come read our content on the website. Thank you so much.

Hank, we'll try to get both those respective fan bases fired up and more passionate about things. So stay tuned. But in the meantime, keep up the good work, okay? Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Boone. Hank South, managing editor on texasfootball.com. He's on Alabama, Auburn, the rest of college football. Drew DeArmond on deck. Stay with us. Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance. Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan or you are under 65 and exploring individual health care options, Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.

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[1:34:50] The most popular car color is white. About 30% of vehicles have bumper stickers. Only 1% are actually funny. Most drivers choose Rain-X wiper blades. The number one wiper blades in America. 0% of drivers listen to this station for the ads. So we'll just tell you one more time that Rain-X is the number one brand of wiper blades and we'll be done. We're done. Put the ball on the ground four times. We were out. Our number one and number two running back. And you know what? We still hate to beat down and teach out.

Home Fun Bomb. Weekdays at 3 Eastern on the ESPN app and the SEC Network. The Score. We're now back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in, Brett. I get the feeling that was not a call from Drew DeArma. No, it was not. No. That's because he's busy as host talking ball in Huntsville's 97.7 FM The Zone. Drew, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well, but I'm probably, I'm actually driving in the same state that that clown probably lives in. Yes. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. So, you're going to the Barnum and Bailey Circus over there.

Drew, obviously, it's hard to believe. Here we are, Halloween break, a traditional time for Alabama in NASCAR terms to get a pit stop. LSU is right there with them. Drew, before we get into the game itself, your thoughts, has there ever been a time, and I'm sure if we go back, somebody's going to say, yeah, it was this year, this year, this year. Has there ever been a time when Alabama needed a pit stop more than this time around? I mean, I definitely think they needed a day off or a week off, excuse me.

They certainly were beat up. There's no question about that. They were without six or seven key contributors, most of them starters, and they had played eight straight games. They were definitely tired. Credit to them for finding a way to win against A&M, and the game went about like I thought it would. I thought it wouldn't be a Picasso. I didn't think it would be pretty. Now, it was even uglier than I thought it might be at times, but, you know, it counts to play four quarters, and Alabama dominated the most important quarter, and that was the fourth, and found a way to beat a terrible Texas A&M team.

There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It's not a good A&M team. I don't think they'll be in postseason play, and I'm talking even a bowl game, most likely. I think they're dysfunctional and not very good, but Alabama found a good game. They found a way to win in 131-20. I picked 27-16, so it was the same kind of game flow, but, you know, they're going to have to get a whole lot healthier and play a whole lot more, you know, more cohesive football and complimentary football if they want a chance to win in Red Stick, because LSU's playing well.

They blew Auburn out on the road. They certainly seem to have found themselves. Levitt's playing much better, and the boogeyman isn't on the other sideline to make Lane Kiffin throw up on himself, burn popcorn, do whatever he used to do, because he was so terrified of his former boss. Does that mean he still won't freeze up or coach poorly against Alabama? No, but I think, you know, he's certainly going to be out for blood, and I think they're going to come out ultra-aggressive, and the key to the drill is, is Alabama going to meet that aggression and be ready to play and be healthier?

If they are, then I think it'll be a really great football game, but if Alabama can't get healthy, and if they come out with the same sort of timid approach they did against Tennessee, it's going to get ugly in Baton Rouge. I totally agree. This team does not instill confidence, particularly on the road, and I don't care how good this team is. Anyone who's ever been down there knows it's a different world, but what are you hearing as far, realistically, Drew, as far as the overall health?

We know there's always going to be some, as far as getting some of the key guys back, particularly on the road, and I'd say one of the most important is there in the middle of the lineup. With Delgado coming back, what are you hearing as far as the MASH report? Well, I mean, the only guy that I think is out for sure is the latest injury, William Sanders. He had to have tightrope surgery on his ankle, and I don't think he'll be back. You know, hopefully the two most important pieces, besides Ryan Coleman-Williams, in my opinion, are Rayson Delgado.

He would come back at center, and I think left guard would be certainly Mal Waldrop, and then I think, and Waldrop would be at his more natural position right now, and then Terrence Green. They've got to have Terrence Green to stop the run. I mean, if you go back and look at the first half when he played against Georgia, Georgia didn't run the football at will. When he went out, they ran it at will. And they weren't able to stop Tennessee. And at certain times, I mean, guys, I mean, Brett can tell you how irate I was.

There was a third down and eight against Texas A&M, and the Aggies ran it for 11 yards. I mean, that just cannot happen. It's unacceptable. And so they've got to have Terrence Green. They've got to have Rayson Delgado. They need Ryan Coleman-Williams. They need Fabian Brown. They need all hands on deck. And I think there's a chance. I'm not guaranteeing it, but I think there's a strong chance that all of those guys are back except for William Sanders. And if that's the case, if they can get all those key pieces back, and maybe Desmond Zulu, because Zulu seems to have a severe lower leg injury.

[1:40:14] We'll see. But if they could get all those guys back, then I think they'd have a legit shot in Baton Rouge. And if they had a cohesive game plan with an offensive coordinator that knew how to implement a running game. D2, the fourth quarter, as we saw, of course, on Saturday, Texas A&M actually played Alabama for three quarters. Marcel Reed, I know according to some of the A&M media, said he had the best game for three quarters. But in the fourth quarter, easier passes to the tight ends and the backs.

Keelan Russell, more rhythm. In fact, he finished the game 9 of 10. He was 5 of 5 in the fourth quarter. A&M didn't even make a first down in the fourth quarter. It would be nice to use that template against LSU, but I wonder somehow if they can self-scout this week and say, why do we have so much success in the fourth quarter? Maybe we need to duplicate that against LSU. Yeah, I would think so. It was the game plan that I felt like the fourth quarter, what we saw against A&M, I felt like they should have been doing that against Tennessee.

You know, getting the ball out of Keelan's hands, exploiting maybe the Tennessee linebackers in coverage against the tight ends, like Marshall Pritchett, like Caleb Edwards. Pritchett and Edwards have the two deciding touchdowns in the fourth quarter against A&M. Also use the backs. I mean, I'll just say this. I think Daniel Hill and his skill set is being criminally underutilized. I think he certainly can run the football, but I think his strength as a player is route running and being able to catch the ball out of the backfield is very dangerous.

Quite frankly, I'm coming from a speaking engagement in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and I told this group, and I said it on my show, and I said it on my Bama recap, that I think that honestly, and I said it on Ryan Fowler's show in Tuscaloosa Monday, that Daniel Hill is every bit as good a receiver out of the backfield as Kevin Turner was, the late, great Kevin Turner. And Homer Smith used him so brilliantly in 1989 to exploit him against linebackers and safeties and things of that nature because he was like having an extra tight end and had some speed and some elusiveness.

And I think Daniel Hill should be used the same way. I think he should get five or six targets a game, and that hasn't been happening. So it's definitely frustrating, guys, no doubt about it. And then I think, you know, Treshawn Brown, they haven't been able to, you know, put him in position to be successful. Certainly, they didn't have E.J. Crowell in the last game, so where was A.K. Deer? A.K. Deer was on special teams. He was nowhere to be found in the backfield.

We saw a little bit of Kevin Riley. I have not understood the game plans. I don't. Certainly, I commend Rico Scott for stepping up big, and I think Lottie Brooks made some plays. But you haven't had Ryan Coleman-Williams. We don't see much of Noah Rodgers or Sadarian Morgan or even Derrick Meadows. So utilize what you do have, sweep what you're doing, and make things easier on Keelan Russell, and don't try to make everything a home run. And I think you could move the football better, and especially if you had a cohesive running game where you committed to it instead of having 20 runs and they all look like grab bag plays, or it's fourth and one and you run the Washington Redskins counter trade.

It takes two minutes to get off. So I just don't understand some of the coaching decisions. And Kellen DeBoer and those guys need to do a lot of self-scouting during this bye week and getting ready for LSU. If they're much healthier and with this much time to get ready, there's no excuse for not being ready to play. And I think I saw a statistic today that Kellen DeBoer is 8-0 off bye week. Yep, that's correct. He needs to make it 9-0. If he can make it 9-0, then some of the Alabama fans will settle down and stop dwelling on the Tennessee game, even though I never will.

Oh, me. A couple of the guys who caught my attention. Mr. Henry had a pretty good game with two sacks. McDonald had the interception. Ivan Taylor is playing more. Well, again, it's the good and the bad and the ugly. We talk about him particularly on Monday. But a few of the players are beginning to get a little more playing time. Well, I thought, you know, and I asked DeBoer this. I don't think anybody had for two of Henry on their bingo card. No, no. He stepped up and, you know, I have these things on my show we call druinary terms.

And I've said it to you too, Brett. I thought for almost two games and then two games and three quarters, it was almost a full, like, three games that we saw a quarterback against Alabama baking a cake. And what I mean by that is they're not getting touched. And I just didn't think they weren't pressuring the quarterback. But in the fourth quarter, Petua Henry got home a couple times. Give him credit. He did a heck of a job. They needed those sacks. They're going to need Yonsei Pierre to get healthier during this bye week because he has three and a half sacks along with Petua to lead the team.

[1:45:26] But I haven't seen him be a real factor lately. So he needs to be disruptive against Sam Leavitt and crew. And, you know, we need to see more out of London Simmons. We need to see more out of all those guys. And we did see Caleb Woodson play well on Saturday to a degree and Luke Metz. But Luke's, I think, also been banged up. He needs this rest. You need to have everybody rolling. And Zabian Brown definitely needs to be back. And I'm going to tell you what, I hope that because of the way he's played and during the absence of Zabian, that they'll maybe cut down some of Dijon Lee's reps and give Carmelo O'Neal a more consistent opportunity because I thought he played well on Saturday also.

To me, back to as far as coming up with the secret of the sauce, if they just watch Lane Kiffin's offensive plan, I think they could learn a lot. Everybody's got this image of Lane going bombs away. He just throws it to the perimeter every time, gets in three or four yards, gets a good first down gain, second down, and then he goes for it on four. He basically tries to get two yards. To me, that's one of the things. The other thing on the other side of the ball, Drew, will they play as soft as they have been against these LSU receivers?

Because let's just tell it like it is. If they do, LSU's got some receivers. Lane knows how to find the weakness in the secondary. He knows, as we said earlier, the master of mismatches. Will they continue to give basically an easy pad for a lot of these receivers? Well, I mean, you would hope not, Harold. They're going to have to pressure Leavitt, move him off his own head. That's right. He's a lot of light. Leavitt's thrown eight interceptions. He has been turnover prone. He did turn it over once against Auburn, nearly a second time, but they didn't get credit for that pick.

And that kind of turned the game around with Eric Winters. But certainly Alabama needs to do a better job of pressuring, no question about it. They have got to get LSU out of rhythm. They've got to stop the run. And then they've got to man up some and just challenge Leavitt to be able to, you know, beat him in single and man coverage. So if they do and if they can get LSU in some favorable down in distances, I think, and somebody like Caleb Woodson, who has the speed, spied Sam Leavitt, then I think they can turn LSU over and have a chance.

But it's going to be old school stuff like it has been all year. They're going to have to keep the ball away from Leavitt and that LSU offense, sustain some drives, run the football the way they did through the Georgia game. And then you're going to have to win the plus minus. You've got to cut the penalties down. There's too many penalties still against A&M. And then you're going to have to win on third down offensively and defensively. You've got to sustain drives and then get off the field and get LSU off the field.

If you can win the time of possession, you know, and win the turnover battle and run the ball for at least 150 yards to help Keelan Russell. And I think also with Keelan, you need to run him more conventionally. You need to speed options, quarterback called runs, quarterback draws. And if the first couple of reads are covered, certainly take off. But I don't think you need to see, you know, a lot of zone reads or RPOs because I just don't think right now the young quarterback is adept at running those.

I agree entirely. In fact, in the fourth quarter, he had a couple of quarterback sweeps. Just had to tie it in in front of me, blocking that that worked well. And hopefully Connor Talti will be back in a more positive frame of mind and not miss two out of three field goals, which could have ended up being absolutely huge in there. We'll let you get back to Huntsville, Alabama. Safe travels on the interstate winding down. Another big high school week. A lot of games tomorrow night.

Basketball getting started next week. Where can we get online and listen to you and Scott in the morning? Yeah, absolutely. You can connect with me at DrewD977ESPN. Also our station at 977ESPN. All of our content is at ESPN 97.7 The Zone. And that's at SoundCloud on 97.7 The Zone. And 977ESPN.com as far as our website. I did listen to my own show all the way down. And they seem to be wanting to raffle off for charity some kind of Drew D'Armond experience. It's a guest to travel to a game with me or whatever.

And Brent has already been on many of those. Yes, he has. He could tell some stories about the pre- and post-game of that stuff. But no doubt about it. But definitely always enjoy being on with you guys. It's going to be a busy rest of this week. We've got, as you said, high school football. We've got Madison Academy Boaz tomorrow. Really nice matchup before the playoffs. And then the Randolph Raiders are taking on their old region rival, the Madison County Tigers. So the Raiders will be finishing off their outstanding regular season.

[1:50:30] And the playoffs will be upon us next week. Along with high school basketball starting in addition to the University of Alabama. So it's going to be a busy time. And we always enjoy being on with you all. Sam, right back at you. Drew, stay travels back home. And thanks for your time today. There you have it. Drew D'Armond, 97.7 at the end of the zone. BB, final thoughts from you. Well, Drew pretty much handled it. Harold, again, if Alabama would implement some of that. Nick Saban used the bye week to self-scout his team no matter how well they were playing.

He would find what plays worked, what plays didn't, and discard those and get the team ready for the second half. Alabama's got to regroup. Again, they beat LSU. They've got a very good shot of being in playoffs. If they don't beat LSU, it won't be good. I understand, Nick, still on the payroll. Maybe he can drop that playbook off by the office down here, you think? We shall see. It's going to take care of this for today. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here.

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