Boomo Bugg Show 081726 (Joined In Progress)

[0:00] On the same day the AP poll, much anticipated, came out. Let's go ahead and kind of spoil it a little bit. I'm thinking about it. He's shocked. Ohio State's got the big target on their back. Before we get into some of the other specifics, Adam, what's your first takeaway from the first AP poll of the season? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a pretty good representation of, you know, what we can kind of expect this year. You know, I think that the three Big Ten powerhouses being in the top six, you know, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame also being in that top six. I mean, it just shows that, you know, the Big Ten has the big three, but then the SEC has the overall depth. You know, they have the run from eight to 11 there with A&M and Oklahoma LSU won't miss, not in that order.

But, you know, the SEC is a deeper league, you know, a lot tougher of talented, a lot tougher week to week. But the Big Ten has those top teams that are going to be a beast to try to stop them from winning their fourth straight championship as a conference. Adam, obviously, you know where we are and folks are going to say, OK, what about Alabama, given our zip code? Back in the years past, is Alabama going to be one or two in the country? Adam, I'm looking at it here. Alabama is not only not one and two in the country, they're sixth in the SEC, 13 overall.

That's the lowest number coming into a season since 08 when a guy named Nick Saban was in his second season. We know how that turned out. Your thoughts about where Alabama is at the Baker's dozen spot? Yeah, you know, I think it just seems pretty fair. You know, when you have questions at every spot on offense, the defense is really good. The defense is solid. The secondary is probably either the best in the country or the second best in the country. So, you know, the back end of the defense is loaded.

They have some talent up front. The linebacking core is a question. But on offense, you have questions at quarterback. I mean, there's two solid options there, right, with Keelan Russell and Austin Mack. It's really like to see one of those guys start separating now, start pulling away, really make it an easy choice for Jimmy Grubb and Kalen Vore there. You have questions at running back after last year when Jan Miller couldn't stay healthy and the guys who are now expected to take over the top spot just, you know, didn't necessarily look that great.

You know, the offensive line needs to show that it can block for whoever gets the bulk of the carries. And then even the wide receiver position, you lose Isaiah Horton and, you know, Brooks is already dealing with some sort of injury that doesn't seem like it'll be too serious. But, you know, there's some concern about who will step up alongside Ryan Colvin-Williams. So, when you have that many question marks on offense, I think 13 is more than fair for Alabama this year. They're exactly where I thought they would be, Adam.

I thought it would be 11 through 13. Just to reiterate your point, the SEC and the Big Ten, first of all, have 17 of the 25 teams. The SEC has nine. The Big Ten has eight, which is your point, was well made. The SEC's got more depth. Georgia three, Texas five, and then you've got Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU, literally eight through 11 with Alabama 13. But, yeah, nine SEC teams in the top 25. Yeah, and, you know, I just think that just with that group, that's the group that's really key, is that Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU.

Because one or two of those teams is going to need to emerge as a real title contender. You can throw Alabama into that mix, too, if they find a special quarterback out of one of those guys. You've got to get another title contender in there. Texas and Georgia are going to be there. You know, we know Ohio State and Oregon are going to be there. Indiana at number six, I thought, was a little low. I mean, what more does Indiana have to do? I know they lost the Heisman Trophy winner, but, I mean, my goodness, that is still a machine there under Cignetti.

So, yeah, you need that eight to 11 group and Alabama at number 13. Two of those teams have got to turn into title contenders, and that's one of the key takeaways that I have there. And I would predict LSU from that group. I'm really high on what Lane Kiffin has done this offseason. Adam Spencer, busy there Saturday down south. Brad mentioned nine teams in the SEC. And the ninth team, Kareem, if I'm wrong, is number 25 in the country. Do you know anything about the Missouri Tigers, Adam? I sure do.

And it's just nice to be included. You know, there's been years where… Nice to be loved. Where Mizzou should probably have been a top 20 team. And, frankly, if this was the year that they got left out of the top 25, I wouldn't have had much of an issue with it. But, you know, it's nice to have them kind of making up for… You know, just say… That's kind of like a vote of confidence in what Eli Drinkwood has built to me. You know, they're saying, hey, you know, this is a pretty good team.

[5:07] Look at this roster. Look at these running backs. You know, Austin Simmons. Yeah, he lost his job last year, but he lost his job to a Heisman Trophy contender. So, you know, I like what Eli's done there in Columbia. And I was glad to see them crack the top 25 there in that last spot. You mentioned to us last Monday that you would begin this week in alphabetical order, I believe, predicting the season records for every SEC team. And as you know, our audience loves you. But after predicting Alabama to go 10-2, 7-2 in the conference and making the 12-team playoff, I think those love hugs are going to increase even more.

You've got Alabama winning, Adam. In fact, I think Georgia was the first loss. Right now, I think a lot of Alabama fans would take this before they played the season. But you've got Alabama 10-2 making the college football playoff. Yeah, I think that the schedule breaks pretty well for them. You know, I think that Baton Rouge is going to be a really tough place to play. I have that being, you know, I think that Kiffin is going to really want that one. I think that that atmosphere is going to be crazy.

And then Georgia, you know, I just think that, you know, the Alabama defense, you know, they're not built to take advantage of Alabama's secondary. So they're not even really going to try, would be my guess. They're just going to, you know, it's going to be a battle of defense and running game. And I think that the running game edge goes to Georgia in a pretty major way there. So, you know, I would expect that one, even though it's in Tuscaloosa. You know, I think that Kirby Smart got the monkey off of his back, so to speak, in that SEC championship game this past season.

So, you know, I think that he carries that momentum into Tuscaloosa, and they pull out, you know, something like a 17-14 or 17-13 win, something like that. It's low scoring and just, you know, not a lot of movement through the air. Adam, obviously, where we are, we're kind of in a vortex here. To our west, we have two teams within spint and distance called Mississippi State and Ole Miss. And to me, Ole Miss has one of the more under-radar opening games of the season. They're highly ranked, as we just talked about there, up there at number nine.

But it's going to be a battle of top 25 teams. They're opening opponents, Louisville, at number 24, and it's going to be on a neutral side. To me, that's kind of an under-radar opening game for the season. Yeah, and I honestly think that that Louisville squad is a little bit underrated. You know, I would have maybe around 20, probably. So, you know, they're going to be a little bit motivated there, too, because 24 just seemed a little bit low to me for what they have. And, you know, they bring in the guys, the kind holes from Ohio State to be their quarterback.

They've got their running back back. They've rebuilt their defense in a lot of ways. So, you know, I think that Louisville is going to be a very dangerous squad. And, you know, this is not like one of those neutral side games where, you know, if LSU and USC are playing and their two neutral side games are New Orleans and Las Vegas, you know, this is Nashville. And that's actually, like, pretty fair for a distance between two of those schools. It's a pretty easy trip for both schools.

So, you know, I expect it to be pretty much a 50-50 split. So that is definitely one. You know, LSU-Clemson is going to get all the highlights or headlines from week one and for good reason. But, yeah, don't sleep on that Ole Miss-Louisville game. That's going to be a really good one. Absolutely. Adam, just to close, we mentioned this a little bit earlier. Two SEC legends passing away. Friday, Skip Burtman, the former LSU legendary baseball coach, athletic director, won five national championships. Ron Pope really, to me, put the SEC baseball on the map.

And then Skip Burtman took it to another level as far as making it a national power. And our good friend, Jodine Jr., of course, the son of string music, Jodine Sr., passed away yesterday. He had dementia and had a stroke and had been in bad health for a while. But he was an absolute delight to talk with. We had him as a guest for years. But two SEC legends we lost over the weekend. Yeah, I mean, it's coming up to that time where some of these guys who have really helped the SEC, take off back a couple decades ago or starting to get up there in age.

And, you know, so that's sad to see. Burtman, you know, he really put LSU baseball on the map. And, you know, a lot of the foundation that that school still enjoys today can be traced directly back to him and his efforts with the national championships and, you know, just recruiting all those players. I mean, LSU is a destination now. Their fans are absolutely crazy about baseball. And he deserves a ton of credit for that. Absolutely. Adam, always enjoy beginning of the week. High school football, I know, begins in the state of Alabama.

[10:19] It started, I believe, in Georgia last week in a round. But next time we turn around, it is going to be here. But I know you can have a continue with your predictions for SEC teams, a lot of preseason content on the online. Adam, where can we get online to get your stuff in the teams? Yeah, SaturdayDownSouth.com. We got the Saturday football newsletter coming out tomorrow. And then right after I get done here, I'm going to finish up a takeaways column from the AP poll.

So be sure to check that out, Saturday DownSouth. And also make a run to Walmart and get some tissue paper, I'm sure, as you pick up your kid today from preschool. Right, Adam? Yeah, absolutely. That's going to be, you know, count down the hours until I get to pick her up. There you go. Listen, good luck, man. Thanks for your time. Have a great week. Adam Spencer looking up with us. He's there at Saturday DownSouth. What do you say we head south of the shoals to Aggie country?

Hamilton High coach Evan Schiff on deck. 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. The trash talk, next level, and the stakes. Oh, those are crystal clear. With only 95 calories and superior smooth taste, it's the ultimate trophy. Superior is worth playing for. Michelob Ultra, superior light beer. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2025, Anheuser-Busch, Michelob Ultra, light beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

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That's G-U-S-T-O dot com. Gusto dot com. Shohei Otani's interpreter was fired today. Ipe Mitsuhara ran up gambling debts to a Southern California bookmaking operation. The inside story of the biggest scandal in modern baseball. He was absolutely bananas, the amount of bets he was making. I've never seen anything like it. From 30 for 30 Podcasts, this is The Betrayal of Shohei Otani. Presented by Gusto. New episodes available now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today. It's a daily update on Bama sports and it's brought to you by Alabama Professional Services.

Protect your home from the ground up with APS. From pest and termite protection to lawn care, foundation repair, and waterproofing, APS covers your whole home. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. Here are thoughts from Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer following last Thursday's scrimmage for the Crimson Tide at Saban Field at Bryant-Deddy Stadium. Good to get out there, get in the stadium, have scrimmage, try to make a game like as possible. Just a lot of new faces that need to make sure that that feels like that's our home place and home turf.

[15:36] And so even wearing game jerseys today, we didn't get a chance to wear those in the spring. Just outside factors. But it was good to get the guys a lot of reps. Defense did a nice job coming out, setting the tone. Could execute a little bit better offensively, but led to a couple of takeaways. And that's always great to see because they were advantageous. Guys making plays, love to see that. And then the offense did a nice job of just slowly responding, coming back. And as the scrimmage went on, it became very balanced.

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Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Alabama Professional Services. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. It is an absolute pleasure for us to head on down to Hamblin High and say hello to head football coach Evan Schiff. Coach, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good. I appreciate you all having us on. Hey, Coach. Man, we appreciate you. We better be good because it's almost showtime, is it not, Coach?

Yeah, it's getting close. It's here. So we're excited about it. And it's ready to get on the field and, you know, get somebody other than our own guys. Every time I think about Hamblin High, I'm going to date myself here a little bit. Gary Hollinsworth's name comes to mind. To me, he still has Hamilton on the map. To do what he did, to come out of Hamilton High and lead Alabama to the Sugar Bowl, I mean, that has to be a… I would imagine Gary's legacy still lives on at Hamblin High.

Oh, yeah, definitely. We actually had a little meet the Aggies night a couple weeks ago. He was one of our guest speakers, so he got to talk to the guys. That was good hearing all the stories and everything. He's still around a little bit. So it's definitely good to have a guy make that kind of impact on the national stage from Hamilton. So let's talk about this year's team, Coach. Obviously, coming in every year. It's a brand new, if you will, kind of deck to shuffle.

You got some coming, some going. Talk to us about Hamilton High 2026 team. I'm sorry. It cut out on me. No, we said, obviously, you got folks coming and going with every year, every class. If you will, start talking to us a little bit about the personality and some of the guys you got coming back on this roster. Well, we lost the majority of our offensive line last year. Got our quarterback and our receivers back. So our skill guys are back, which is always good, especially at the quarterback position.

Having a quarterback this year will be the same guy we've had for five years now. So he's got a lot of experience. Our receivers are three- and four-year starters. So a lot of experience there. So, you know, just been able to do a lot of different things with those guys. And, you know, there's not a lot that people can throw with them defensively that they haven't seen before. Now, just on the opposite side with our offensive line, not a lot of experience there. We have some guys that have varsity experience, just not at the offensive line.

So, you know, we're working through that. And, you know, they're getting better every day. So, you know, offensively, you know, we still feel good about what we're doing. Defensively, we actually have a lot of experience coming back. We've got 10 of our 11 starters coming back from last year. So, you know, they've, you know, shown growth as well. But just that experience is going to be really key for us going into this season. You know, with the region changes, a little bit tougher region than what we were in last year.

So, you know, we're kind of excited about that as well. Yeah, in fact, Dastler, Brooks, Priceful, and West Morgan, I think last year, you're in Class 4A Region 7. This year, it is with the reclassification, Class 4A Region 5 last year. And this year, it's Region 7. When you first came to Hamilton, this is your first year, your fourth year. Your team was 1-9. You had a lot of very young players. As you mentioned, Mason Holloway, who threw for 2,400 yards and 30 touchdowns last year. He is coming back. You were 1-9 in 2023, 9-3 in 2024, and last year, 11-1.

[21:04] That team scored 519 points, averaging 43 a game. In fact, your only loss was to Dastler in the second round of the playoffs, 31-30. Speaking of Gary Hollingsworth having an impact, Evan Schill has had a major impact on Hamilton football. Well, it's not just me. We have a lot of really good coaches. You know, when we first got here, we had a lot of young guys that were talented. It's not a lot of experience. So, to see those guys really grow and buy into what we do and how we do things has been really rewarding.

It kind of makes it easy to come to work every day. And, you know, when I first took the jobs, you know, it was kind of one of those things where I knew there was young talent here. And it just, it's worked out really well. And they've, you know, they bought in and they've worked really hard. And, you know, we've been able to kind of show that on the field. And, you know, it's a lot of four-year starters on this senior class that, you know, were young and weren't quite ready when we came here to play on Friday nights.

But that's just the hand we were dealt. And, you know, we took our lumps with it for a couple years. And now it's really paid off just getting that experience for those guys. Coach, talk to us about that. Every coach listening right now can say amen, I'll assume, to this. Because what's the modern phrase of putting it? We live in a microwave world where people want instant success. And it doesn't matter if it's at the NFL level, collegiate level, or at the high school level. Talk to us just about the message you can tell fans.

Sometimes, especially in high school, you've got to recruit what's in the hallways. You don't go out and recruit like the NFL. You don't do like even colleges now where they go buy their talent, basically. Talk to us about the message that you can tell fans, especially younger fans who live in a world where if they want something, they just Google it and they got it in two seconds. It takes time to plant the seed and make it grow, does it not? It does. And, you know, when you put a 15-year-old out there that's a freshman, there's a big difference between a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old.

Oh, yeah. And so, just, you know, fans just have to understand that. And, you know, there's injuries happen where you've got to play young guys. It's not ideal, but it happens. It happens. You know, it's just something you deal with in high school athletics. You just got to develop what you've got and, you know, hopefully you do things the right way and don't just go out and try to recruit other people's players. But, you know, that's something we deal with today as well. But, you know, to see those young guys really grow up is what, you know, makes coaching high school athletics gratifying.

And why we do what we do is to see those young people mature and grow up. And, you know, that's why we do what we do. I'm amazed you mentioned 10 returning starters on defense. How many coaches would like to have that? Coming back, your defensive front, DJ Simmons, Colby Lackey, Dyson Ayers. And you've got a tremendous skill position players. We talked about Mason. Houston Tibbs caught 41 passes for nearly 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns. Jet Weghorst, I believe, is going to be your running back. But as much as you guys pass and catch so well, it's still about winning the line of scrimmage.

Talk about your defensive front and your offensive line. Even though experience, you know, no matter what level it is, that's how you win games is winning the line of scrimmage. Right. Yeah, definitely no doubt. You know, as fun as it looks on the stat sheets to see us throw it all over the field, you know, you still got to run the ball eventually. And, you know, there were games last year where, yeah, we could throw it. But to close out a game, we had to run the football.

And so you still have to win the line of scrimmage. And the defensive front, you know, we're a three-man front team, do a lot of different things defensively. But, you know, we pride ourselves on being able to stop the run and make people throw it defensively. And, you know, in our league, a lot of people, you know, kind of hang their hat on running the football. And so if you can stop the run, you get them out of what they're comfortable doing, what they want to do.

And our defensive front seven does a really good job and a really physical stop in the run. So excited to have all those guys back. You had, I mentioned this earlier, you've got a tough schedule now in Class 4A Region 7. And you add, Dessler, we talked to Coach Malone last week. Brooks, they've been averaging about 38 to 40 points a game. Seth Parker left to go to Bob Jones. Priceful, Wes Morgan's got a 30-something game regular season winning streak. You've got a 13-game regular winning streak. But I tell you what, you begin with Soligent.

[26:39] You're open this weekend, begin with Soligent. The 90th meeting of those two teams, you still have got a tough, challenging schedule this year. Right. Yeah, and the region is tough and, you know, travels. And our region is pretty widespread as well. Our closest region game is over an hour away. So, you know, we were able to schedule a couple close games with our non-region that are rivalry games. We've got Soligent, Winfield, and Hayleville, which are, you know, have always been big rivals over the years. So, you know, those games will be fun.

Which, you know, those teams are traditionally pretty tough. So, you know, it's going to be a tough schedule. But our guys are, you know, they're excited about it and up for the challenge. So, you know, the big thing is just, you know, staying healthy and getting ready to play every week. That's it. Listen, we always enjoy talking with you. Hamilton, to me, is one of the most underrated teams in North Alabama. You've done a tremendous job of bringing this program along. Again, 11-1 last year. We were losing that heartache game, too.

Dan, so listen, much success this year to the players, coaches, fans. Hopefully, we can do this again with you real soon. All right. Well, I appreciate you having us. And thank you all for supporting our guys and, you know, getting information out there about us. So, it's always good talking to you. Absolutely proud to do it, Coach. There you have it, Coach. Adam and Shep hooking up with us down at Hamilton High. Coming up, time to talk Auburn Tigers with Brian Matthews on deck. Stay with us.

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[32:37] Learn more at Fidelity.com slash wealth. Investment minimums apply. Fidelity Broker Services, LLC. Member NYSE SIPC. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Time to say hello to the man who's got the Auburn Tigers covered like the morning dew. Brian Matthews, Senior Editor, AuburnSports.com. Brian, welcome in. How are you? I'm great, guys. How are y'all? I'm good. I bet you've got a lot of sad people in your backyard. Day one of classes. Did you ever, I mean, did you have perfect attendance when you went to school, Brian?

Not when I got to college, no, but maybe way back in the day. What was your nickname? Like, mine, Skilt? Yeah, mine. Brian, obviously, it means something for the football team. I guess it's safe to say the true camp portion of the preseason has ended. Time to shift gears. Let's start with first things first. Brian, where are you as far as your gut? You've been following this program a long time. Where are you with this team this year at this point under the new regime? I think things are starting to come together, and I think the actual fall camp is going to last through this week.

They're going to have another scrimmage on Wednesday. They have one on Friday and maybe a practice trip after that. But then the following week, I think they're going to do a simulated, simulated game week. And then the next week will be the actual game week. So I think they've got just a few, several more days of fall camp to go here. I think some things are coming together. I really like what's happening on the defensive line. I think that's an area of concern going into camp about the depth there, and I think the depth is really stepping up.

I think several players there behind the starters like Jordan Crawford had pretty good scrimmages on Friday, and I think that's come along. And I think we're still trying to figure out things at cornerback and an offensive line, but I also think we've got a pretty good idea who the top seven or eight guys there on the offensive line are, which is really important. Let me ask you about the money musings, and you basically titled it Attention to Detail. I can't exactly describe the previous two coaches at Auburn for attention to detail, but as you mentioned, they had a surprise last week.

Nobody knew, but what the players didn't know about it, 11-on-11 short scrimmage, and also, as you mentioned, the scrimmage, the actual scrimmage was a full-game simulation, warm-ups, coaches in the box, TV timeouts. That's pretty good, but again, the accountability, attention to detail, and that's something you haven't seen in a long time. Yeah, and every coach I've had, I'm sure every coach across the country is going to simulate a game with one of their scrimmages, but most of the time, since I've covered Auburn, it's been that last scrimmage, or maybe the last two.

I don't recall it ever being that first scrimmage, so that tells me a little bit about the staffs and our scholarship attention to detail, and as I mentioned, having a simulated game week before the actual game week is another thing that I've never heard of. So that's kind of, you know, just one little thing. There's a lot of little things that kind of, I think, add up to this team, you know, maybe finding some ways to win within the margins, which is kind of what I wrote about this week.

It's kind of almost the same thing, the little things, attention to detail. So, yeah, I think the staff is doing a lot of that right now, and I think it makes a difference. The thing is, we know that Golesh is earning his stripes because it's almost like Hollywood's script. After the first scrimmage, I don't care how well it goes in trueness, a coach is supposed to say it was sloppy. And true to form, he said the opening scrimmage was sloppy. What else is the coach going to do?

Say, well, game ready, we're going to win a national championship back on one scrimmage. But how do you break down the speech from the coach after the first scrimmage? No, you're exactly right. I think I would be very, very concerned if he came out of a first scrimmage talking about how great it was and how great we're going to be this season. Right. So, yes, he did have some issues with it. I think, you know, a lot of it offensively was some mistakes early with penalties and such, which, again, is not surprising at all.

It happens all the time in these early scrimmages. You know, there are some turnovers. So, that's great for the defense, but not so good for the offense. But I think some other things went well. I think Byron Brown played really, really well offensively. I think they're happy with his leadership and his play so far during fall camp. I think the receiving core had a good day, including Keyshawn Singleton. I know he had a big catch for a touchdown, at least one. I think they ran the ball pretty effectively.

[37:47] You know, not perfect, but I know Byron probably had the longest run of the scrimmage. Early on, I think it was the first play or the first series, did quite well there. And, yeah, I think he was pleased overall with the running backs and the defense and the red zone work on both sides. So, you know, it's hard to say, you know, the offense did well, the defense did bad. I think there was enough good stuff on both sides that he felt pretty good about certain things coming out of the scrimmage.

Brian, it's safe to say that this coach and staff, I think you mentioned something there to follow up on at this point, Brown running the ball. That's great as long as the injury bug stays away, but there's a flip side of that. You increase the chances, heaven forbid. But your thoughts just how they're preparing for that as far as the backup quarterback. Yeah, I think Tristan T is that guy. I think he's got a ton of reps as the backup. We saw him have a really nice spring game.

I think he threw a couple of interceptions in the scrimmage, but this is just him, you know, getting put in a tough situation by the defense by having to, you know, master a brand new offense for him as a transfer from Oregon State, I believe. So, you know, he's still going through that process, but I think he's definitely stepped forward and taken that number two spot. I think he'll definitely compete for that number one spot next year. But I think they feel very good about the quarterback position at the moment.

I think they feel very, very good about the running back position. I think that's an area where some guys are starting to step up now. You know, you've had Jeremiah Cobb, who's a starter. Omar Matson has been a guy that's stepped up since he's stepped on campus as a 17-year-old freshman, you know, over a year ago. But I think some other guys, like Bryson Washington, has finally gotten healthy and is starting to get the feel that's offense. Yet a good scrimmage, and even Alvin Henderson was mentioned by this coaching staff, is having a pretty good day on Friday there and also helping out a lot on special teams.

Let me ask you about the offensive line, and I'll throw this out here, but from left to right, Joe Simmons, left guard, is a tremendous competition between Jacob Strand and Derek Plot. Cole Best is the center, Cole Skinner, the two co-boys, right guard, and Stanton Ramil is the right tackle. I've heard some good things about Jacoby Ward, and there may be seven or eight offensive linemen that are SEC-worthy, but Simmons, Strand, Bass, Skinner, and Ramil, is that right now going into the Baylor game? If you had to say who the O-line is, would that be it?

Yeah, you mentioned Jacoby Ward and Derek Plot too. I think they're certainly in the mix there, but I think all those guys will probably make up your top seven or eight, right, for sure. I don't think both guard positions have been completely settled as far as who the starter is. Really, I think Cole Best is starting at center. I think Joe Simmons and Stanton Ramil are starting at tackle position. I'm not 100% sure which ones they'll be at, but it could be right or left. I think they've both worked at both, so I think that's good.

And then I think those guard positions are open, and I think guys like Jacob Strand could also play some tackle for you too, provide some depth there, which is important too. Brian Matthews, again, auburnsports.com. Brian, obviously the AP much-anticipated poll is out. I don't think anyone's shocked that Auburn's not in the top 25 right now. That's not a knock on this team. That's just based on last year's performance and the year before that and the year before that. Different era. Did get some mentions. Your thoughts about where Auburn is right now.

If I'm going to, I don't really care where I am in August. I am concerned come December or January. But your thoughts just about the potential of this team is surprising some folks. I mean, I think it's possible. I think September is really, really important for this team to get off to a good start and to win those games against Vanderbilt and Florida at home. Those are key, key games. You know, if Auburn drops one of those games, you know, it's going to be tough to get to that seven-win plateau.

So, you know, as far as rankings go, I think Auburn's getting mentioned in the top 25. I know they're not in there yet, but I think they're getting mentions there. You know, there's a team that could possibly be in there. If they get up to a good start in September, they'll probably be in there. I'm not sure that they'll finish the season there. I think the first step is seven wins, and, you know, we'll see how it goes from there. I believe Auburn got three votes in the AP poll.

But that can change pretty quickly. We'll see. But I think it's important to keep things in perspective. This program has lost five straight losing seasons. I think having a winning season is a big, big step forward. Number three running back, Cobb and Mampson, Omar Mampson, has had a tremendous summer camp. Who's number three, Washington or Devenport? I think that's up for grabs. I really do. I think Tay Meadows is in there, too. And even though Alvin Henderson, of course, has been mentioned, I don't think he's necessarily in the mix for number three.

[43:07] But I think Bryson Washington, with the way he's coming on lately, watch out for him, because he's certainly proven on the field in college at Baylor that he could be a very dynamic, very successful back. So he's the one I've watched, but I wouldn't rule out Tay Meadows or Nakai Davenport either. Brad, before you jump off, obviously, what, the next scrimmage is Friday. As far as the injury report, any significant injuries? And what's the approach of this coaching staff? Do they bubble wrap their guys? The guys that they know has earned their stripes, so they're going to kind of put them in bubble wrap for the real deal?

Or do they say forget about it? It's just, you know what, to the walls here. What is their strategy as far as scrimmages and exposure to injuries? Well, their next scrimmage is actually Wednesday. Wednesday, okay. Yeah, and I think they'll have a couple of practices after that. I think that'll close out camp. So that'll be the last, I think, chance for guys competing to be in the playing rotation and to earn that spot, really, in a lot of ways. And, you know, a couple of days after that, they'll probably have to break up into scout teams, although, you know, you're not red-shirting players anymore, so I think it's a little bit more back and forth there, right?

It's not set in stone. If you get put on a scout team, you know, in August, it doesn't mean you have to be on that scout team come October or November. It doesn't mean you won't play a lot. But, yeah, I think as far as injuries go, other than Devin Williams, who injured his knee again at surgery, that was before camp started, I think Auburn's made it through this portion so far without any major injuries, just your normal guys getting banged up through camp, being careful, coming back from surgery, those type of things.

But nothing major has happened so far, which is good for this team, because I don't think this team is a team with a whole lot of depth and probably needs some injury luck, good luck, to get through the season and have a chance to get to seven-plus wins. Let me ask you about tied-in. Jake Johnson, a lot of people feel good about him. Arliss Bordingham, Jonathan Echols, who is a NFL-type looking kid. What's on tied-in, and how does Heupel's offense utilize tied-ins besides blocking? Well, you know, I think Golesh is very excited about his tied-ins, and he's talked about how their versatility is the key to this offense being going from good to great.

I guess you could say that's not the words he used or phrase, but that's the way he kind of said it. I think he loves Jake Johnson. He's talked about him in very high praise. And, you know, I think he's had a great camp, and I think they're going to depend on him to do a lot of things in the blocking and receiving game. Arliss Bordingham, I think, stepped up here and had a pretty good scrimmage, and he's a guy that's coming on, a guy that struggles at times.

Jonathan Echols was bagged out for the scrimmage. I don't think he's anything major, and he should be back at practice here really, really soon. Hunter Herring also held out, but is expected back soon. I think Xavier Newsome is a really athletic kid who's just a second-year guy, a sophomore, but a guy they have a really high opinion on as far as his upside. I think he'll definitely play, but a guy that's still learning his way. And, you know, transferred from Howard, so this is a big adjustment for him.

Well, as you mentioned, class begins today. I don't know if your journalism class begins today. You should be a professor at Auburn by now. A lot of stuff going on. Preseason camp. Basketball actually had an addition, which Stephen Pearl, I'm sure, was glad to bring in. Tell us what you got going on and what else have you got lined up for later this week. Yes, so we'll have an open viewing period for Tuesday's practice, so we'll be there for that. And afterwards, we'll talk to Larry Scott and Coleman Hutzler.

It'll be great to get an update on the edge position. That's a position that, you know, I know Jared Smith's having a really good camp from what we've been told, what I've seen. But excited to hear about some of the younger guys at that position, see how they're coming along. And then Wednesday is another scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium. We will speak to Coach Golesh afterwards and have many, many updates, and hopefully some inside intel from that, too. And then Friday, we get another practice with talking to the cornerbacks, coach DeMarcus Van Dyck and Brad Wilson also.

So plenty of updates on football team and camp as it winds up this week. Tons of recruiting information. Could be some news there fairly soon. Stay tuned for that. And you mentioned the basketball edition there. We had a couple updates on that, of course, and just everything, anything going on with Auburn Athletics will be on top of it. And we're running a terrific deal right now, 75% off an annual subscription. So check us out, AuburnSports.com. You can follow me on Twitter, social X at BMATAU. And find a shade down there to do it all, okay, Brian?

Yeah, it's hot, no doubt. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Brian Matthews, pick it up with us. He's there at AuburnSports.com. Brian, pretty good, kind of split there, Dylan, the Braves. All's well, I guess it ends well for the Braves over the weekend. Yeah, they came back and savaged the game yesterday. Matt Olsen, who's been red hot, I think that's his 37th home run, hit a three-run shot. Bryce Allender pitched well, and the Braves beat Arizona 5-3, and they head to Minnesota open a three-game series tonight. Martin Perez, who has got 18 consecutive scoreless innings, going to try to extend that tonight.

[48:40] Yeah, and see if they get the win, they get the twins, right here on 939, the score later on tonight. But first, coming up the next hour, I'm going to be taking you down and checking in with the Redfish. William Barger talking Alabama Crimson Tide. Ben Serrar talking Big Orange. Ben Thomas, he says it's curtain time for high school football across the state. He's checking in from AL.com, and it's all straight ahead. Stay with us. Bush Light is cold and smooth and waiting for you to get out there.

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Get your pair of Arrowbursts for only $165 at a Sketchers store, Sketchers.com, or wherever high-performance running cheese are sold. All sports, all the time. Sports Radio 93.9. The score. 1819 News. A Shelby County man continues his fight against Alabama power when it comes to eminent domain. Fenn Church is pulling on all of his past political connections as he seeks to not have Alabama power lines placed so close to his home. Church was on FM Talk 99.5 to give an update with April Marie Fogle. Have you talked to your state representatives or any of the lawmakers about this?

I sure have. Okay. And my Senator Lance Bell has been the one most vocal in helping me with this. Okay, most responsive. Talked to Senator Britt this morning. That's a big, important phone caller to have there. She and I go way back. We have a family history together. Country music star John Rich has also got in on the fight here in the state of Alabama. Recently became President Trump's special envoy for American landowners. But he is the real deal. He is so sincere. He is a true-blooded American that wants to stand up for farmers, ranchers, or any kind of landowners against frivolous, eminent domain from data centers or transmission lines.

I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Are you enjoying 1819 News? If so, consider joining 1819 News as a member. As a nonprofit news organization, we depend on the support of Alabamians like you. Memberships start out as little as $5 a month, and you'll get access to exclusive content only offered to our members. You'll be supporting independent journalism done by people who cherish Alabama values. Become a member today by visiting 1819news.com and clicking Become a Member. That's 1819news.com and click Become a Member today. A series of drug raids in Geneva County resulted in the arrest of five people.

Authorities also seized 1.2 pounds of marijuana, along with hemp, kratom, meth, and oxycodone. I'm Andrea Theis. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. Previously on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. 2-1 pitch. Line drive into right field. Dom Smith will be waved home. The throw from Carroll is going over to third, and it's an RBI single for Drake Baldwin. And the veteran pulls this one down the line. Smothering stop by Riley. From his knees, he pushes it across, and Olsen has the glove tag.

[54:03] What a play by Austin Riley. 3-0 pitch. Swing and a drive. Deep center field. Barossa back to the track. It is gone! Matt Olsen with a three-run home run. Grace L. Iglesias comes set. Here's the 1-0 to McCann. Swing and a fly ball center field. Michael Harris drifts back. This should do it. And Harris makes a catch over his shoulder to end the game. A little bit of trauma in the ninth, but the Braves pull it out. And the Braves take game three of this series.

Atlanta 5, Diamondbacks 3. Join us tonight as the Braves take on the Minnesota Twins right here on 93.9 The Score. This is Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. You know all the cheers. You go to all of the games. This is your team. And there's one guy you trust to make sure they're putting the best team possible out on the field every week. Now you can get closer to your team than ever before. Here we go. Here we go. On Hey Coach. Begins this Wednesday night at 6 on 93.9 The Score. Friday night football is something special around the South.

And on Saturday mornings, we'll tell you all about the high school football action in this area. Here on 93.9 The Score, it's The Coach's Breakfast. As we join high school coaches from around the area breaking down Friday night games and talking about future schedules as well. Join host Kevin Johnson as he talks with coaches from around the area on The Coach's Breakfast. Saturday mornings throughout this football season. Brought to you locally by Lost Pizza, John C. Saylor, Attorney at Law, The Courier-Journal, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, Southern Pride Pest Control, and Bank Independent.

Begins Saturday, August 22nd on 93.9 The Score. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. It's time to kick off the 2026 high school football season. And this Friday night, the Florence Falcons are on the road to take on the Pinson Valley Indians. Join me, Kevin Johnson, along with Mike Albertson, Jeffrey Jones, and John McDaniel as we bring you Florence at Pinson Valley. The TNT fireworks pregame will begin at 6. Kickoff at 7 on your home for Florence Falcons football, 93.9 The Score. Florence Falcons football is brought to you by Florence Utilities, Florence City Schools, the law firm of Johnson Pesher, Medley, and Birchall, the North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, TNT Fireworks, Yogurt Mountain, Whataburger, Singing River Dentistry, Village Discount Drug, Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, Irons Electric, Cypress Creek Indoor Range, Lost Pizza, Hedeker Johnson & Layton Insurance, Carbine Construction, and Birch Wholesale Tackle.

Florence and Pinson Valley, this Friday night at 6, right here on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. 93.9 The Score weather. For today, a 20% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms, high around 100, heat index around 110, a heat advisory in effect until 7 o'clock tonight. Tonight, partly cloudy skies, low near 75. Tomorrow, sunny skies, high around 95, heat index around 100. Tomorrow night, mainly clear skies, low near 70, and Wednesday, sunny skies, hot, high around 95. 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, hour two to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And for Ben Thomas, and we mean this, taking time out of his very busy schedule there at AL.com. BT, welcome in. You're always busy, but a little birdie tells me you're about to ramp it up into turbo mode this week.

Would you agree? How are you? I think I hit that mode about three weeks ago. You know, I feel like I've been able to, you feel like you get ahead, and then you look at your list of things to do, and instead of getting smaller, it gets longer. I remember back in the day, trying to cover high school football, and to me, it is one of the most challenging jobs to do, because colleges, number one, there are fewer college teams, a tremendous number of high school teams, and every school believes if you cover school A and not school B, then you're biased.

No, you're human. You can only do so much in length of time. I mean, as far as from one end of the state, you cover it all, from the state line here all the way down, and to your backyard with the white sand and the beaches. Is there any idea, how do you get organized to cover all these high school games on a weekly basis? Yeah, it's not an easy task, but it's not the hardest thing. You know, you can only do so much, and only the winning teams want coverage.

[59:22] If they're struggling, they don't want the coverage. You know, I'm fortunate to have some people that work around me, work with me, to cover, you know, obviously, Thomas Ashworth, and y'all. He does a great job for us. We've got some folks in Birmingham, Dennis Victory and Mike Perrin, that do a good job there. And then, you know, honestly, a lot of people that have other jobs, but just like to cover high school football, or get a lot of extra money, or whatever, in each market. So we're blessed there.

You can only do so much. You just try and pick out the top games each week, and the top moments, the top players, and do the best you can. And I think we, you know, a lot of people talk about, you know, when we used to have the papers, the Huntsville Times, and the Birmingham News, and the Mobile Press Register. Everybody loved those times. I certainly, that's how I grew up. But if you look at what we're doing now on AL.com, there's much more content than there ever was in those newspaper days.

So we do our best and take criticism when we need to and move forward. There you go. Let me ask you about some of the, you had a good article. Well, in fact, I think you've done this twice. Ten key questions, or ten more key questions, for the upcoming high school football season. Can anyone dethrone Thompson? Well, we'll see. There are certainly some. Phoenix City has won. Auburn, Spain Park. But they have won six out of seven state championships, which is incredible. Dale Pruitt at Plainview.

Can he finally win a state title? Thomas Ashworth, that's one of his top teams, I believe. Can a defensive player win Mr. Football? Very hard to do with all the stats that some of these guys, Gunnar Rivers, and that cat at Thompson, some of these other guys put up. But Junior Tupo, Carlos May, Kim Pritchett may be able to do that. In our neck of the woods, can Columbia win a game this year? And I'm going to say yes. They start Saturday night, I believe, at Milton Frank against Douglas.

They've got 60 players out. We talked to Sammy Coates a couple weeks ago, and boy, is he fired up. Two or three of your top questions going into the season. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be a fun year. I mean, like you, I think Columbia will win this year. I don't know if it will be this week or not. And I sure hope they do. I mean, I think it's been since, what, 2015, since they won a game. It's hard to believe. But I think they'll win.

Sammy's doing a good job there. They've got some transfers in, a good running back transferred in there. From James Clemens, whose dad happens to be the principal of Columbia. So, I'm not accusing him of anything. That's clearly where he needs to be. You know, Mr. Football is always going to be a big talk. I mean, obviously, and Thomas had a post yesterday about how many contenders for Mr. Football. I mean, I think, can a defensive guy win it? It's happened once before. DeMarco McNeil won it at Blunt.

And there's been some guys that play defense, like Kool-Aid McKinstry, and some guys like that who were also used in a starring role on offense. So, you know, it depends on how you look at that. I mean, obviously, when we go into the season, we've got two quarterbacks, and a bunch of good quarterbacks. It's probably the year of quarterbacks in the state. But two of them, Gunnar Rivers at St. Michael, as you guys mentioned, and then Trent Seaborn at Thompson, they both already have passed from more than 10,000 yards.

And they're probably going to be one, two, in the all-time HSA records when the season is over with. Who's one and who's two, who knows? But I think those two guys are at the head of the list. The young man from Viger, Jabaris Garrar, who used to be committed to Alabama and now is committed to Texas. His stats are unbelievable. If anybody could win, a football player could win Mr. Football, it might be him. But it could be hard this year with all the quarterback stars we have.

Ben Thomas hooking up with us at AL.com. Ben, let's talk a little bit about two of our neighbors. A lot of key games coming up across our neck of the woods. But Florence, obviously, reclassed. They're looking forward to that. Taking on Pinson Valley. And then you've got Muscle Shoals, new regime, taking on Hoover. We were talking the other day with some of our friends. And, yes, Thompson is still a tremendous powerhouse. But Hoover has that brand of being kind of the gold standard of the state.

Your thoughts, are you hearing anything about the respective opponents there for Florence being Pinson? And, obviously, Muscle Shoals taking on Hoover. Yeah. You know, I think Muscle Shoals' Hoover game is going to be interesting. You know, Hoover is still Hoover, I think. I mean, although Thompson, it seems like it's been a long time since we thought of Hoover as being the state championship contender. And that's because Thompson has won, what, five out of the last six championships in that division. And they're in the same region, even though Hoover beat them in the states in the regular season last year.

[1:04:35] So, that'll be an interesting game. A new coach at Muscle Shoals. It'll be interesting to see what that looks like. It's been a long time since there's been a new coach at Muscle Shoals. And then, you know, Florence had a good year last year. I think what, you know, one of the interesting questions is going to be how this, I keep wanting to call it 7A, but now 6A, the largest class in Alabama public schools, you know, with 24 of the 32 teams now going to the playoffs.

So, you'll have six teams from each region in the playoffs, which I think is good. I mean, it gives more teams a chance. And will it give more North Alabama or South Alabama teams a chance to advance to play these Birmingham and Auburn teams? I think it will. But, you know, will they be able to make any headway? Who knows? Some of the games this weekend, must well watch. I think you did this one, too, or Thomas did. Thursday, and a lot of action on Thursday.

In fact, Langston, Lauderdale County, play here locally. Parker at Vestavia Hills. Thompson at Central Phoenix City. Boy, we get to know pretty quick how those two teams are. Clay Chalkville, Danny Horn again, and Paul Benefit. We talked about them a couple weeks ago. Sarah Lynn at Mary Montgomery. And if you've never seen Phillip Rivers play, you can see him on ESPN Saturday. Battleground, Tennessee at St. Michael, which is going to be interesting. And then we mentioned the Greensboro-Columbia game. Russellville, of course, in our neck of the woods.

Desire at Russellville, the 100th meeting. Bob Jones at Hartzell. That's Seth Parker's debut. BT, some very good games this week. It's really a good week. You know, I did a separate list of good games in the first week because there are so many of them. And I did some good games the rest of the year. But, you know, if Benjamin Russell comes to play Mae Jemison on Thursday, that's interesting because King's three-year is the Alabama commit at quarterback. He's another Mr. Football contender there for Benjamin Russell.

Bob Jones, Hartzell, Thomas, will be covering that game on Friday. We should find out a lot more about those two teams, I think. Thompson-Central Phoenix City is the HSA kickoff classic, but it's not in Montgomery as those games usually are. It's actually at Central Phoenix City. And that was scheduled by the two coaches there. And then I think the HSA said, hey, look at that. That's a good game. Let's make it the kickoff classic. And Cody Flornoy, the new Central coach, I talked to him last week.

He's very, I don't know who's confident to win this game, but he's confident in his team. And you guys will remember they played in the state semifinals. Last year, and it was a 35-34 Thompson win when Central went for two at the end and didn't get it. So we'll know a lot about those teams. And we'll know a lot about the condition of Ben Thomas Saturday about mid-afternoon because I'm planning to go to that battleground cycle game, which is going to be on at 12.30 p.m. on ESPN2 on Saturday.

Guys, this past Saturday I went out and I was sitting on my back porch and I was thinking, man, it is hot. It's 12.30 and I think next week it's going to be even hotter. So, and the heat, there's supposed to be a heat wave all over the state this week. So praying for all those football players. Yeah, it's three letters, SPF. Make sure you got it. There's a school up here I need to ask you about, Ben, if you don't mind. It's called Mars Hill. They got a brand-new coach and they're taking on another powerhouse over the years, Madison Academy.

This is one way to spice up the beginning kickoff of the season. Your thoughts about a very intriguing matchup, Madison Academy. They're trying to get their legs back under them and Mars Hill under a brand-new head coach. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's going to be interesting. Not only did they lose their head coach, they lost a lot of good players. Yeah. A year ago. Of course, this is kind of an early-season matchup in that private school division. Bob Godsey at Madison Academy, I think we'll find out a lot about both those teams.

It's kind of like Madison Academy in this game just because I don't know a lot about what this Mars Hill is going to do under the new coaching staff. But we'll be able to see. And I think, you know, this whole private school division, say what you will about it, whether you're a fan or not a fan, it's going to make for some interesting matchups this year. Matchups we haven't seen in the playoffs are going to be really interesting. Talk to us about that because folks don't follow what will as the season gets underway.

They'll start taking shape. We'll understand it more. But right now, it's such a change and people stay busy. We know where it's been with private schools up to this point. How will this impact schools like Mars Hill, like Madison Academy, et cetera, going forward? Well, I think only time will tell. I mean, obviously, you know, there's a new league being developed for independent schools. As I understand it, it'll start out mostly with the current AISA teams. But then, you know, will any HSA private school teams jump over there and be a part of that league?

[1:09:49] You know, we'll have to see. It may depend on, you know, what the next year or two looks like in the HSA. I think it's interesting in the upper school, private school division, they call it the double-A. All 16 of those football teams will be in the playoffs. So you're basically playing for proceeding in the regular season. And then in the lower division, I think, what, 16 of the 29 or whatever. So there's going to be some fun match-ups. I mean, in that upper school, I mean, you've got St. Michael and Madison Academy and McGill and, you know, UMS Wright, St. Paul's, all those teams.

It's easy to pick Thompson to win the Classics many times. But it's a lot harder when you get down to those levels. I was going to ask you, as far as the agenda for this week, but you've had previews for two months, much less the week of the schedule. Will Thomas Ashworth have the top five games in North Alabama? I know they'd have been on Tuesday during the season and, of course, in Birmingham, Mobile, et cetera. I thought that might drop tomorrow. And what else have you got this week leading up to game day on Thursday?

Yeah, so we're changing it up a little bit. On Tuesdays, we'll have a list of the games in each market, the schedules. And then on Wednesday, that's when we'll do our five games to watch, although it's going to be a part of, we're going to call it five things to know about week one in Huntsville, week one in Birmingham, et cetera. And so it'll have a game of the week. What's the game of the week in that market? It'll have five games in that market. It'll have, you know, some did you know and stuff for players to watch and that type of stuff.

I'm hoping it makes it a little bit more readable for everybody and includes more teams and more games as well. So that'll be on Wednesday in each of our markets. We're also, I'd like to point you to a series we're doing right now. We're kind of in the middle of it. We polled all the high school players who came to media days in Huntsville, Birmingham, and Mobile on five different questions. We actually started that yesterday with that, you know, and the question was, have you ever been contacted about transferring schools?

And it was anonymous, so, and I think 27% or something like that said they had been contacted about transferring schools. I thought that was interesting. But today, if you go on ale.com, the question is the best player you've ever faced in high school in each market. And so we'll have that series running through Thursday. On Thursday, we'll have our high school picks and all that good stuff. And then, like you guys said, a lot of good games Thursday, Friday, and a pretty good amount of games on Saturday.

As they say in Hollywood, it's back. Get the sunscreen and get ready, Ben. And thanks so much for your time today, buddy. All right. Y'all have a good week. You too, bud. Stay cool up there. Oh, man. We'll give it our best shot. You do the same on the other end of the state as well, benthomasal.com. Coming up, let's talk a little Big Orange Talk with the V-Man, Vince Terraro on deck. Stay with us. All right, grab some buds and listen up. Grilling season's here.

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Sportsmanlike. Weekday mornings starting at 6 Eastern on ESPN Radio and on ESPN2. This is Jerome from Birmingham, previously from the Paul Feinbaum Show. Chris is up next from South Carolina. But you're a bold-faced liar. You're going to get on TV yesterday and say, I quit this show. I ain't quitting nothing. I don't know where I want to do what I want to do. You can quit taking my calls, but you can never make me quit, Paul. I'm sorry, Chris. I do apologize. It was wishful thinking, thinking you would quit.

The Paul Feinbaum Show. Weekdays at 3 Eastern on the ESPN app and on the SEC network. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. The aforementioned Paul Feinbaum coming up right after the Boomo Bugg Show. And let's go back to his roots. The Tennessee boy. Let's go now to the Tennessee boy, Vince Ferrara. He's there at UT Country. Busy on 99.1. The Sports Animal in Knoxville and the Ball Radio Network. V-Man, welcome in. How are you? I'm good, gentlemen. How are we doing?

Hey, bud. And we're doing all right. Scrimmage time. V-Man. Talk to us about it. Tennessee. They've had themselves a scrimmage. And I would imagine, like a lot of folks in Tuscaloosa, the one thing that you dread did happen. That is the I-word, biting the injuries. Talk to us, V-Man, about the scrimmage and about the key loss. Yeah, and this one, this is the third player that they've lost to a season-ending injury. And he is, by far, the most significant and the first starter. Idris Farouk, who was a starter last year for Tennessee as a safety.

And he was really their, you know, their brightest spot, their brightest safety last year. And his first year as a starter. And really made a big jump. And when, you know, the coaching staff brought in a bunch of players in the portal, including in the secondary, you know, he could have taken off. When there were the changes in the defensive staff, he could have taken off. But he did not, decided to stay and compete, had a great spring, and honestly earned what was unofficially a starting spot.

We all anticipated him getting that. Earned praise, definitely from his teammates, but from Jim Knowles as well. And how smart he was, a hard worker he was, how he influences other guys around him. And, you know, it was, it's just, it hurts because when you interview these kids, he is about as likable as you can get. Just a real pleasure to talk to, and one that, you know, puts in the work for football. And it is just a real positive influence on guys around him. And so, it is a deeper position for Tennessee because Farouk had held off DeJuan Lane, who came in as a transfer from Penn State.

And despite his knowledge and his size and experience, Lane, you know, he hasn't been bad by any means. It's just Farouk had been that good. So, you had some depth at that spot. So, that limits that. You know, it's next man up. And so, the potential of Dylan Lewis, who's a sophomore, getting on the field more. Now, the good news is, is Lewis is kind of viewed as the fourth guy, the one that may have worked his way into a rotation. And also, Jim Knowles went out of his way to mention him when he was talking about Farouk.

And how impressive he was to Jim Knowles when he didn't really know much about, you know, any of these guys. So, you know, we'll see if Lewis is ready to go. We'll see if more creativity is going to be required for Jim Knowles to kind of work his way around some of these injuries. The other two, Jadis Richard, who we talked about last week as a power four corner with experience, probably would have been the third or fourth corner he's out for the year. And the other one that happened earlier in the week was Jadon Harmon, who probably was the sixth linebacker in the pecking order.

So, those are depth pieces that hurt. This one is one of your starting 11 on defense. So, it is more impactful. Be a positive for Tennessee, according to reports, they were able to run the ball. We've talked all summer about four or five teams in the SEC struggling to run the ball last year. Everybody knows that Sean Bishop is the starter, but a lot of praise for the backup running backs. Dwayne Morris reportedly had a 95-yard-plus run. Javon Gordon, Justin Banker also drew praise from Josh Heupel.

[1:20:49] Now, I don't know if they were going against the first team or the second team. And the offensive line obviously opened some holes, but for any coach, if you can run the ball early, that's pretty encouraging. Yeah, there's no doubt. And that was viewed as a really solid position, didn't know, going in to spring, and then they had a really good spring, and then going into preseason camp. And they have been outstanding. And for Josh Heupel to point out that a position group is playing really good football, and he normally doesn't do that kind of stuff, It tells you they have been, and even some videos that they put out, they put out some highlights and stuff, and you can really see them have explosive runs.

And people have gone out of their way to mention Justin Baker. In fact, Heupel did as well, when everyone would talk about, you know, Gordon and Morris. He and other players have gone out of their way to mention Baker. So, I think there's four guys that could give him some good snaps, and Tennessee is probably going to be one of the better running teams in the league. Obviously, you're going to need to stay healthy because then you start cutting into that, but I think it's one of the stronger units on this team and in this league.

Now, the flip side of that, as you guys know, is once you start, whatever you do good on one side of the ball is an issue on the other side of the ball. Exactly. Right. So, with all these backs, someone had to work with the first team. And I know Rodney Garner, when we spoke to him last week, had not been happy about the inconsistencies on the D-line from his unit. Now, they got, after the quarterback, it sounded like somewhat, but there were a lot of explosive plays in the pass game and in the run game for some of those running backs, whether it's, you know, first, second, or third units.

The V-man, Vince Roy, 99-1, the sports animal in Knoxville. AP pull out. The good news, Tennessee cracks the top 20. The bad news for Tennessee, Fanny, you're at 20. Why aren't we number one? V-man, your thoughts on where the AP folks put Tennessee in this first big poll? Yeah, and they're eighth in the SEC. So, I think it's pretty consistent with what we've seen, especially with some of the more recent polls, including the coaches' poll. Coaches' poll had them at 18. So, 18-20, it's in that general area. Not a big deal.

I, you know, definitely middle of the pack in terms of the SEC. And that's about an eight-and-four record. So, I think that is fair. I don't think that fans would love them to be higher. I don't think people are unrealistic as, you know, compared to typical fan bases. I don't think they've been as unrealistic about what this team can do. I think fans have been encouraged. Josh Heupel is, you know, he's cracking jokes and just his demeanor. I think people have interpreted it as being confident in what he's said, quietly confident in what he's got.

He even joked that, oh, I already told the guys on the field where the quarterback was, you guys weren't paying attention. So, you know, that kind of stuff, you know, gives people, I think, some subtle encouragement and excitement. But I don't think people are, you know, so upset or expecting them to be all that much higher. They know there's still, you know, some big questions to be answered about this team. V-Man, who's the third receiver behind Mike Matthews, Braylon Staley? Is it Radarius Jackson or Travis Smith, Jr.?

It could be T.K. Keyes also. Kelsey Pope, wide receivers coach and pastor coordinator, was asked that last week. And he said, well, we don't know yet. He said, if you have a pulse and you're in that room, you've got a shot to be the number three receiver right now. So he said, you know, one day it's one guy, one day it's another guy. And, you know, that day somebody else will have an inconsistent and off day. I'm a big fan of Kelsey Pope. He's really developed the guys at that position.

Guys have come in the portal. Guys have been there multiple years. Can they get a freshman to finally have an impact the first year in this system? We'll see. I think eventually it'll be T.K. Keyes. I think he still has some up and down days where he looks like a freshman right now with lean towards Radarius Jackson, with Keyes second and Travis Smith third. But they all have things that they need to improve on. But there's definitely talent there for when it really clicks and that consistency comes in.

And, you know, look, this team can put, whether it's running backs, tight ends, they can compensate in other ways if they don't feel great about having three receivers. And also the good news is they're two established guys. In their third year, Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley are having tremendous camps, especially Mike Matthews, who has caught everything that I've seen thrown his way and had a really good scrimmage again on Saturday. When is the next scrimmage for Tennessee this week? And where can we get online and get all of the great V-man stuff?

[1:26:25] Yeah, I appreciate it to this Saturday. And really that could be the deciding factor in this quarterback race. In my opinion, it's Faison Brandon's to lose. They were talking about George McIntyre a lot last week. I didn't necessarily buy into being even racer back towards McIntyre. I think the coaches know they just need validity and they need to see how guys handle the 11-on-11 stuff. So that second scrimmage will be important to either give them answers or more questions to keep that race going. And you can follow me on all the socials.

It's Vince Sports, V-I-N-C-E Sports, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And I've got a TV on the SportsSource digital network on YouTube if you want to check that out. You sound busy, V-Man. Load up on your monster drinks up there and let's do it again soon, okay? Yeah, I make time for you guys. I make time to eat Mama's cooking. And I make time for Daphne, my mini golden doodle. So you guys are in that priority. Thank you, bud. Man, we feel the love. Right back at you.

There you have it. The V-Man, Vince Frost, 99-1, the sports animal in Knoxville. Coming up as we take it closer to kickoff time in Tuscaloosa, what better insight than to get in it from the man who's been there and done that, former Alabama standout, the Redfish, next. Stay with us. Wouldn't it be great if you could have your insurances for auto, home, business, farm, and RVs in just one agency? That's what the Michael Noe Agency is for. We can help protect what is important for you.

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The Score. Progressive Insurance presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. NASCAR Cup Series on Saturday in Richmond. Joey Logano the winner. Chief Briscoe was second. Austin Sendrick was third. Danny Hamlin and Chief Elliott rounded out the top five. Atlanta Braves were winners yesterday at home. They beat the Diamondbacks 5-3. The Braves with the victory are now 74-50. The Braves are back in action tonight at Target Field in Minneapolis. Take on the Twins. Martin Perez will get the start for Atlanta. He's currently 8-6 on the season.

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Wow, we've got a lot of work to do. Sometimes they're telling the truth. Sometimes they're playing games with you. William, you've got a better eye for talent and evaluation than anybody in this huddle. What are you hearing after the first scrimmage? Are you up, down, or pretty much right where you were before the scrimmage with this team going forward? Well, no, look, I think there's, you know, a lot of reasons for, you know, cautious optimism, you know, by Alabama fans. I think this team, you know, has the pieces.

If the pieces can stay healthy, to be a really good football team. And, you know, I don't think they've, you know, they've been lucky so far through fall camp. They've had some injuries, but nobody that's going to miss the season. And hopefully it stays that way. But, no, I think there's, you know, some legit optimism. You know, I think they, you know, feel good about their defensive line and where they're at there. And I think they're a little bit closer to, you know, nailing down the two inside linebackers that are going to be playing behind that defensive line.

You know, it's starting to look more and more like it's going to be the transfer Woodson from Virginia Tech and possibly Luke Metz. You know, there was some, you know, after some early struggles against this, you know, getting to be touted defensive line by the offensive line, you know, they were able to, you know, piece together some, you know, some really good run plays with AK Deer prior to his ankle injury. So, you know, I think as we, you know, get closer to scrimmage two here later this week, you know, they're going to be looking at, you know, who's the left guard going to be?

Is it going to be Mal Waldrop? Is it going to be William Sanders? And, you know, I think the question that's on everybody's mind, you know, despite me getting the same kind of reports out of scrimmage one that I got from scrimmage both one and two, and then, you know, even more so from the A-Day game in the spring, you know, what the decision is going to be on the quarterback race. Your observations on that, William, if you will, but also back to AK Deer, this is a spot that had a question mark coming in.

Everybody said, well, it looks pretty good. The room has got a lot of potential talent there. AK Deer was making probably as many headlines as anybody in the spring and the fall camp so far, and then we know what happened. And then you got the promising Crowell if he can get on the field. Your thoughts just about the impact that Deer may have, and are they just basically bubble wrapping Crowell, or what are you hearing there? You know, I would certainly say there's, you know, some durability questions there, you know, with Crowell.

And then, you know, sometimes that, you know, comes into play when somebody makes the transition from, you know, high school competition to SEC competition. I mean, none of his injuries have been severe, but, you know, he's got a, you know, his body, his mind, maybe a combination of both, you know, I think is probably still adjusting to the level of physicality. You know, there's a big difference in being, you know, having your soul taken out of your body on a hit from an SEC defense lineman or a linebacker, you know, than what you see on a common Friday night in South Alabama.

So, you know, and that happens with a lot of players at different positions. So, and, you know, I do think it's unfortunate, you know, with Deer, you know, possibly missing six to eight weeks. I mean, that's not a season ender. But, you know, at the same time, this gives more opportunities to the true freshman, Treshawn Brown. Absolutely. You know, who did a lot with those opportunities due to injuries in the spring. And so, you know, he's a dynamic young man. I think he's a guy that's going to surprise a lot of people, you know, when they do finally see him against East Carolina here in a couple of weeks.

[1:37:27] So, you know, I think as long as Deer is the lone loss heading into the season in that running back room, it's still a pretty talented, albeit inexperienced, running back room. Yeah, I agree with you. How key was it to pick up Treshawn Brown out of Huntsville, Texas? A lot of people just overlook that. Ryan Grubb mentioned today in his press conference that we may be ready to name a quarterback in about another week. I thought it would be after the second scrimmage. You've got impeccable sources.

How would you access the quarterbacks in the first scrimmage? You know, and I haven't seen it with my own two eyes, but I'm basing this on, you know, eyewitness reports from people that I trust. It's one of them being a former teammate that's done both scrimmages in the spring, the eight-day game in person, and then the one last week. But it's a consistent theme over multiple people that, you know, Austin Mack's pretty good. A lot of people would be happy with Austin Mack as their starting quarterback.

But, you know, Keylon Russell is just so dynamic in his post, but both with his arm and with his feet. You know, I would say that based on the three scrimmage reports that I've gotten in the last six months, Keylon Russell was the better quarterback on all three of those days. And really, I think at this stage, the differentiator between the two of them is the explosiveness with his arm and his feet. And I'll be interested to see, you know, what the final decision is. But, you know, I know if these people that are telling me this can see it with their eyes, that Keylon DeBoer can see it as well.

So, you know, we'll just have to wait and see what that decision is. You know, because, you know, I think some people would say, well, you know, if it's even, then you go with the more experienced guy. And, you know, even though Austin Mack has more experience in this offense, he doesn't really have any tangible, you know, playing experience at the SEC level. So, you know, I just feel like right now, barring a collapse on Thursday, I've just got a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be Keylon Russell.

And you know something else, William, too, you're right, that formula has always been pretty much in the book. But in the modern era, all things being equal, which one of these guys has a better future for you at that school and which one's going to hit the portal that can hurt you down the road in more ways than one. So, you know, they're never going to verbalize that, but that's got to be a factor in the back of their minds. Let me ask you this. Everybody's focusing on what didn't happen with the offense, it seems.

But the other thing that's kind of quiet here is, from everything we're able to gather, and again, you've got great sources, Redfish. Is this defense as good as advertised? Well, you need to ask somebody that question that kind of was being led down that path last year prior to the Florida State. I've still got PTSD from that game, so I want to see it across multiple games before I get too excited about it. But I do think that they did a really good job with their portal addition, not just on defense, but on both sides of the ball, primarily along the line of scrimmage.

And, you know, I'll continue to say that, you know, picking up the in-line block or the extra offensive tackle in Josh Ford at the tight end position could exactly be what the doctor ordered, you know, to help that struggle and run game from last season, you know, get off to a quicker start, you know, this year. There was a lot of inconsistencies and, you know, missed assignments, missed blocks at that position last year. So that's something else to, you know, kind of pencil in to keep your eye on.

I think this young man's going to prove to be, you know, he may not be the guy that's catching the number of passes that Quavers had last year. But I do think he has a chance to make probably an even bigger impact in what we hope is going to be an improved ground game. Speaking of the defense, I think everybody knows this is one of the top secondaries, not only in the SEC, but in the country. A lot of optimism for the defensive front. But you mentioned Caleb Woodson, Luke Mance, as far as inside linebacker are concerned.

I've thrown out Abdul Sanders Jr., QB Reese, Caden Jones, and we've got a few other there. I still think Xavier Griffin may actually have something to say here before the end of the season. Do you feel a little bit better about the linebackers? No, and I think you could probably say that across multiple position rooms now, you know, with these portal additions and with some younger guys, you know, that are, you know, just because somebody isn't being talked about, you know, on August the 17th, you know, doesn't mean they're not going to be, you know, Ty Simpson was kind of a, you know, after you saw what he did Saturday in the first NFL game, you kind of scratch your head why he wasn't a three-year starter.

[1:43:07] Yeah, I think they all of a sudden they've got good depth at that inside linebacker spot. You know, I would not be surprised if at least early in the season, if you don't see Xavier Griffin used as an edge rusher in obvious passing situations, you know, his body is kind of more ready for that at this point than it is being an every-down, you know, inside linebacker. And there is, you know, there has been some depth developed, you know, in front of him at that position.

So, you know, like I said, I think this program, you know, fingers crossed, let's get out of this final scrimmage Thursday without any more bad news. You know, I think, like I said, I think they've got the pieces to have a pretty good season if some personnel decisions are made in the right way, and, you know, the injury luck continues. William, the AP poll is out. They've got Alabama at 13th. That's the lowest preseason rankings from the AP folks since 2008, second year for one Nick Saban.

As long as you're in the top 14, you're going to have a chance to redeem yourself in the postseason. And Phil Steele says, don't panic Alabama fans. His team, as far as the top 10, the best team outside the top 10 that has the potential to make noise once the postseason starts is Alabama. Do you agree with Phil Steele? Well, I do, and I don't have a problem with the ranking being outside the top 10 with, you know, the up-and-down season that they had last year. You know, there were some losses that probably shouldn't have happened, and certainly that final, you know, the game against Georgia and, you know, the Indiana game.

I don't have a problem with that. And I think it works to, you know, Kalen DeBoer's advantage, you know, from a motivational standpoint. This is, you know, the first time in a decade and a half, maybe, that maybe even longer, that, you know, Alabama, you know, isn't being picked to be one of the best teams in the country. And so, you know, let's give the guys some things to strive for. Let's have some hunger there, and let's not have any more hiccups like the Florida State opener last year.

Surprise players. We've talked about a few. Mel Waltrip's had a tremendous summer camp. You and I have talked about Carmelo O'Neal, who gave Derek Mandis, who I think is going to have a tremendous year, some issues in the scrimmage. Any other players from your sources who have been a surprise to you? You know, I think whoever ends up winning that other inside linebacker position, you know, I don't think it's a loserly town type of match. You know, whether it's Luke Metz or QB Reese, you're still going to have some good depth behind them.

You know, we've talked about him, but I really do think people are going to be shocked when they see how dynamic Trey Sean Brown really is. I'm interested in seeing what a, you know, a peeled down, more svelte version of Daniel Hill looks like running the football. Yep. You know, there's going to be a new punter and a new place kicker. So, you know, there's a lot of people out there. You know, I'll be interested to see what that wide receiver room looks like when Noah Rogers is 100%, you know, in a month or so.

So, you know, and again, I think really probably what's going to pleasantly surprise most people is when they see what these big-bodied defensive linemen looks like, you know, against East Carolina, you know, talking specifically about Tompkins and Green, you know, I think that that probably might just be what, you know, Alabama fans want to see more than anything is obviously a improved running game on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage. They want to see a run-stopping defense, too, on the other side of the football.

I got amused at your comment about Ty Simpson. I was watching some of the highlights late Saturday night. I'm thinking to myself, and he only started one year at Alabama after carving up, and again, let me preface this, and it's an exhibition game, and I get all that stuff, but I'll tell you one thing, for a debut in the NFL, that was pretty impressive, wasn't it, William? It was very impressive, and, you know, he showed glimpses of that kind of play, you know, in the two seasons that he wasn't the starter prior to 2025, and then, you know, he kind of had the Mac Jones, the early Mac Jones syndrome of when a turnover was made or a bad play was made, he would kind of go inside himself and not be able to put that bad play in his back pocket and move on, but, no, the young man is definitely talented.

[1:48:15] You know, I think that he was handicapped last year with a subpar offensive line, you know, with some inconsistent play in the wide receiver room, you know, with a run game that was struggling, you know, the fact that they had to get cued as often as they did third and short, fourth and short, you know, put a lot of pressure on that young man, so wish him nothing but the best. I thought he was a fantastic teammate, a fantastic representative of the university, and, you know, he's getting paid handily for it, and he's in a perfect position, you know, whether it's one year, two years, three years down the road when Matthew Stafford finally ready to call it quits, man, he's going to be healthy and seasoned and ready to explode on the NFL scene.

I got tickled at that. In fact, Rich Davis was talking to Kurt Signetti about Alabama, and he said, look, they're a great team with a great coach, but why in the world do they run some jet sweep on fourth and less than a yard? He said, after that, we just kind of took over the game, but yeah, that's a good description. They got too cute sometimes on fourth and short. Listen, always enjoy the conversation. We're getting even more closer. Have a great week. Let's do this again next week.

Sounds good, guys. Talk to you all soon. Absolutely. Stay as cool as you can. The Redfish. Talking about Ty Simpson, baby. Remember, in all due respect, back when he came out of high school and committed to Alabama, remember we got some folks saying he'll never make it at Alabama, and now look what he's doing in L.A., and the fact that he helped his team win 11 ballgames last season, maybe that should be his testimony of how good he was, B.B., given all the stuff he had around him on that offense.

Harold, if he had an average offensive line last year and would have stayed healthy, you never know what Alabama could have done, and they went pretty far. Last year, Braves tonight with Minnesota, Martin Perez on the mound. You can hear that game again on 93.9, the score. That's going to take care of business for now. On behalf of B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two, for the Boom on Buck Show, back here on Sports Radio, 93.9, the score.