Boomo Bugg Show 103125

[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. Here we go. Good snap, good hold. Kick on the way. Kick up. Kick is good! Charlie Graves puts the Falcons up 12-11 with 157 to go. Falcons football back in 30. Oh, so says KJ Kevin Johnson. What a way to close out the final game of the regular season for the Florence High Falcons.

You heard it then, you heard it now, here on 93.9 The Score. Brett Beaird, welcome in and how are you? Happy Football Friday and happy Halloween and happy birthday to Nick Saban. Maybe I covered all of them there. West Oregon, Musa Shoals and Morris Hill finish the season, the regular season, undefeated at 10-0. We'll talk about that. As the last clips have played, Florence beats Oxford 12-11, but the Class 7A Region 4 seedings aren't official yet. They will be tomorrow. Blake Lovell and Mike Huguenin will preview the top SEC games tomorrow.

And Jimmy is here right now to recap Alabama's 7-1 start at the bye week. Once again, great call there by Kevin Johnson and the crew on that game. And congratulations to the Florence High Falcons. What a season it has been. And if the postseason is anything like the regular season, buckle up. Whatever happens, you can hear it all here on 93.9 The Score. Same place, check out Jimmy Stein. He is busy there at Locked On Bama, part of, you guessed it, the Locked On Network. Jimmy, welcome in.

Happy, quiet Friday if you follow Alabama. How are you? Oh, doing well. And just planning on enjoying the bye week and watching a bunch of college football games stress-free. Maybe the stress level will be a little bit less this weekend. Jimmy, obviously an off weekend. First of all, I think it may be the understatement of the year. Has a team, anytime, anywhere, been praying for this to happen after the gauntlet they've been through? And if you went to Vegas and somebody said, after the Florida State game, what are the odds of Alabama running off this streak against SEC teams on the road, most of them ranked, and then one of the more hostile, unranked environments.

By the way, South Carolina ranked earlier in the season. What would be the odds of Alabama sitting here on the off week, right now, anyway, living the life? Well, I don't think too many teams in college football could have pulled it off. I mean, in terms of winning these seven games in a row, so many of them against quality competition. I think very few teams could have done that. I also think it was, you know, I'm going to use the word embarrassment from week one. I think the embarrassment in week one fueled, it was fueled for a lot of this, this run that Alabama's on, playing well on both sides of the ball.

I really think the embarrassment in Tallahassee had a lot to do with it. It's not so much the changes that they made on offense or defense or personnel. Alabama's not doing anything much differently than they did week one. They're playing a heck of a lot better. Jimmy, run the ball and stop the run. Happy birthday again to Nick Saban today. He's 74 years young. This team has flaws. There's no question about it. We discuss it every week with you. But to be able to win seven consecutive games with the schedule, and particularly four consecutive top 20 teams, has been remarkable.

But when you look at the constructive criticism, running the ball is always first. There's a lot of things involved with that, including the offensive line, opening holes. And, Jimmy, South Carolina's front seven is a very good front seven when they're healthy and playing well. Your thoughts on the improvement, what Alabama can continue to work on. We know they're pass-oriented first and then the run game and then stopping the run. Alabama still gives up long runs. But when it comes crunch time, Jimmy, they settle down, and particularly against South Carolina.

Run the ball and stop the run. What's Jimmy Stein's recipe for more success the second half of the season? I think staying committed to the run game, I mean, what you can't do is abandon it. What you can't do is look back over the first eight games and say, hey, you know what? It's not good enough. Ty's been great. Let's just put it all on him. That's a mistake. They won't do that. I like how Alabama's been stubborn about staying with the run because I credit a lot of Ty Simpson's success off the fact that Alabama continues to try to run the ball.

[5:30] That opens up some things for him in the play-action game, and he's been very good with that. So I think stubbornly continuing to try to build a run game. I'll be honest. When you get to 7-1 in the SEC and you're ranked fourth in the country, sure, this Alabama team has some issues and it has some problems and it has some things it needs to work on. But nothing can be truly terrible, yet you're 7-1. I think, like, for instance, the offensive line gets quite a bit of criticism at Alabama, and some of it is fair.

It's not an elite unit. It's not a great unit. But it is pretty good. For instance, LSU struggles a lot more on the offensive line than Alabama. So does Texas. So does certainly South Carolina. Alabama's far from the worst offensive line in the SEC, not even close. They're probably somewhere in the middle. Somewhere in the middle. And I would say maybe even a little closer to the top than the middle. But they do need to improve. It's got to get better. It's not good enough when, you know, come playoff time, assuming that happens.

So even when you have problems and flaws, I wouldn't say it rises to the level of being truly terrible. But in terms of, like, Brett asked about how does the run game get better, I think just staying committed to it. Staying committed to finding the best personnel. Because it's changed a lot. But, I mean, for instance, it's pretty clear now that Daniel Hill is not only the second running back. He's sort of a 1A and 1B. Yes, right. He split snaps with Jan Miller 50-50 in the last game.

And Kevin Riley is now a distant third. Kevin Riley was RB2 for a while. And, frankly, when Jan was out, he was RB1, right? So you're still working on finding the best personnel up front. And at tight end, you hope Danny Lewis gets them healthy. And Clint Lamb, who I do a lot of shows with, Clint Lamb pointed this out the other day. That was really interesting. Alabama's best three games, you could argue, on the ground were the three games that Danny Lewis played. I mean, that's a heck of an observation.

And it's a great point. Because when Danny Lewis isn't out there, he's replaced by a true freshman, who's going to be a heck of a player. He's going to be a heck of a player. But the line of scrimmage is a rough, rough plate for a true freshman to beat. Maybe a good grace, but it takes some time to make good wine. Jimmy Stein, looking up with us, busy there at Locked On, Bama. You mentioned LSU. What are the coaches doing right now, getting ready for this team?

Because we probably had all this film the way it was, according to Barbra Streisand, or the way it was in her view anyway. And now, who knows? I mean, you're probably going to get one of two things. A team that says, I'm going to mail it in, or a team that's going to come in with their hair on fire. Jimmy, your thoughts about prepping for LSU? No, that's exactly right, Harold. You can't assume, if you're Alabama, that LSU is going to lay down and mail it in.

You can't assume that. And they're probably not. I mean, there's examples all over the country this season with so many coaches now being fired in season. There are so many examples, from one end of the continent to the other, of these teams actually playing a little better. Once the head coach was fired, UCLA being a pretty good example. Arkansas? Yeah, Arkansas probably playing better. Let's remember just a couple of years ago, what, too long ago, Auburn fired Brian Harsin in season, elevated Carnell Williams to interim head coach.

And Auburn certainly played better and played Alabama really tough at the end of the year. I think that you need to assume you're going to get maximum 100% effort out of LSU. The more difficult preparation, guys, is the fact that it's not the same head coach. It's pretty common in college football for the head coach and his staff to disagree on a few X's and O's things, have a different emphasis, maybe different personnel. The head coach, he gets his way on everything, right? I mean, if the head coach wants it a certain way, that's how it's going to be, even if some of the assistants disagree.

Well, now that an assistant's been elevated to head coach, it is 100% fair to assume that Frank Wilson's going to make some changes in the way LSU plays on offense and defense, and Alabama has no idea what those changes may be. So this is going to be a game of adjustments. I think you go in with the game plan against Brian Kelly's LSU, what you've seen on tape for eight games. You go in with that game plan, but you've got to be ready to adjust quickly, because there's no reason to think Frank Wilson is going to do things exactly like Brian Kelly's been doing.

Jimmy, this bye week couldn't have come at a better time after a grueling stretch. Kelly DeBoer mentioned Wednesday that La Sierra Brooks, Isaiah Horton, they were really missed. Horton, after the first quarter against South Carolina, they should be ready to go against LSU. You also mentioned as a bonus, Quay Russo is ahead of schedule. What a bonus that would be to get him repped back maybe by the end of November, certainly for the postseason. And I think this is going to help Ty Simpson. He has taken some shots in the last two or three games.

[10:57] Cam Miller fully recovered. Could not have come at a better time. Yeah, the bye week is always welcome just to rest the dinged up. You know, you're either injured, you can't play. Most everybody out there is dinged up to some extent or another. The bye week is a great opportunity to get the hot tub and the cold bath and do all the things with the training staff you need to do to get as close to 100% as you can. But let's also be honest, Alabama's had quite a bit of luck with injuries.

I know it never seems that way because you're always losing people. And it was big to lose somebody like Jeremiah Beeman for the year. Yeah. Yeah, they lost to Marion Latham for the year. I'm not minimizing those things at all. You've played without Jan Miller. You've played without Ryan Williams. Now you've played without Isaiah Horton last week. So Alabama's had some injuries. But overall, this has been a healthy football team. Alabama's had far less injuries than normal, far less injuries than most of their opposition. And it's a pretty healthy football team heading into the final stretch, certainly compared to others.

Jimmy Stein, Locked on Bama. We talked about the team has come a long way since game one. As far as an individual player who has come farther than Bray Hubbard, I don't think he wants to go back and revisit the reviews after the Florida State game. I think that might, in some crazy way, have been the best thing for Bray Hubbard. Talking about somebody who got his hair lit up, Bray Hubbard has since then. I think it's a great example. Probably the example. And I know Bray doesn't appreciate it, but it is just a fact.

I think he's probably a good example of what went wrong in week one and what's gone right in the seven games since, is Bray. And I really think we'll probably talk about it the entire offseason, no matter how Alabama's season ends. But what happened in Tallahassee is going to be hashed and rehashed all through the next offseason. But I think in the end, and I'm talking about the team and Bray Hubbard, I think in the end, it's not true that Alabama wasn't ready to play. They actually showed up in the offense, drove the ball all the way down the field, and it was just as impressive a drive as any drive we've seen all year by the Alabama offense.

That's how they came out of the gate. They were ready to play. What they weren't ready to do is respond when they got punched in the mouth. And they weren't ready for that. And I think it made them play on their heels, and they weren't aggressive enough on either side of the ball. But they fixed it, and they fixed it quickly, and they've been ready for it all ever since. But yeah, I think Bray is a pretty good poster child for the difference between week one.

And since then, frankly, Bray Hubbard has played as well as any safety in the SEC, and I think he deserves first-team All-SEC honors. I don't know that he'll get that, but Bray Hubbard deserves to be first-team All-SEC for the way he's played in 2025. Yeah, Jimmy, I've seen several articles this week who basically have said their defensive MVP for the year so far is Bray Hubbard. But, again, the linebackers picked it up, too, the last couple of weeks. Jimmy, enjoy Halloween. Enjoy a bye weekend. But I know the Greatest Alabama podcast doesn't take a lot of time off.

Jimmy, where can we get online and get the greatest podcast on the planet? Hey, you're locked on Bama with my co-host, Luke Robinson. You can find us on YouTube. You can also find us wherever you get your podcasts on the podcast forum. We have basically seven shows a week. This week, we're only doing six. We are taking Saturday off. But we have new content every day on Locked on Bama. We also have breaking news. So, Locked on Bama, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sounds great, Jimmy.

Listen, man, thanks so much. Say goodbye to October. Knocking on November's door. Enjoy it and be safe out there, okay? Hey, really appreciate it, guys. Y'all have a good week. Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you so much. Jimmy Stein, co-host of Locked on Bama. It's how crazy it's 2025. Folks are looking as must-see TV, Texas, and Vanderbilt. We'll take you to the home of the doors. Play it, love, and the more. Straight ahead, 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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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 the Good Feet Store. Start your journey today at GoodFeet.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. As we get ready for Monday night's season opener for Alabama basketball, here are some thoughts from the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Nate Oates. Excited this season's here. Guys have been going against each other since beginning of June, so it's time. It's nice. We had the two exhibitions.

I thought we showed some stuff at Furman, you know, that we could get better at, just the point of the exhibitions. I think we've been working on it. You know, obviously, we had a little bit of a turnover issue in both games, 15 each game. But, you know, Barron was a big part of that against Furman, but I thought he was really good in practice today. We had a 16-minute scrimmage, and he didn't turn the ball over one time, so I thought that was pretty good. But I'll have more in a moment.

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Stop in for a free, personalized fitting today. Roll to victory at goodfeet.com. That's goodfeet.com. Roll Tide. We've got you covered for Alabama men's basketball on Monday. 6 p.m. airtime for Alabama men's basketball against North Dakota. Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by the Good Feet Store. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. The Score. We're now back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Really appreciate it. It's been riding around the valley. And for Blake Lovell taking time out of his busy schedule there at Southeastern 16.

Blake, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well, guys. Good to talk to you as always. You too. Boy, I tell you what, things are changing. By the way, quick reminder, the time will change this weekend. We'll fall back one hour. What Vanderbilt fans want to do is never fall back into their old ways. Who would ever thought this weekend is must-see TV, Texas, and your neighbors from Nashville, Vanderbilt, one of the headliners in the country, Blake. Yeah, it is for sure. Like we said, you know, really with that Vanderbilt and Alabama game, it's like used to if you had these kind of headline type games for the Commodores, they were always at home because it was like, well, does Vanderbilt have the ability to upset a certain team or something like that?

[21:18] But now it's like Vanderbilt's taking the show on the road and they've become a must-see team that, you know, away from home against traditional powers like Alabama and Texas. And so, yeah, it just kind of shows you what Parkley and company have done this season. And, you know, I know I've seen a lot of people say the wrong team's favorite in this game. It's a field goal one way or the other, but I think that certainly look at it and feel like, yes, the Texas defense is going to probably be, you know, a story in this game for sure if Texas wins this one.

I think a lot of it will have to do with that. And again, we thought Pavia not played so well in Alabama. And I think Texas defense can do some things to disrupt what Vandy wants to do. But at the same time, you know, again, it is kind of that belief in a team like this. Even though they didn't play their best game against Missouri, they just found a way to win. And we'll see. I think it should be a great game. And it's also the Texas offense, right?

Can they keep it rolling? Lots of questions. Well, let me ask you this about the community. I think it's pretty safe to say Nashville is on fire. Finally, back in the day, visiting teams had more fans in the stands when they had a home game there in Vanderbilt than a lot of times the Doors did. And your thoughts just about that. And how realistic is it for Vandy to sit here and keep Clark Lee if somebody makes a serious run at him? Yeah, I think that's totally on everyone's mind this week.

They're trying to figure that out because I feel like it's one where you guys know, I mean, there's been a clear commitment, I think, at Vanderbilt to give Clark Lee and not just him, but everyone, that the resources they need in terms of facilities and everything you need to compete in this NIL era, you know, Vanderbilt was very clearly, I thought, the team that was playing from behind early on in this transition. And now they seemingly have started to catch up. And I think that, you know, it is something where I don't really believe that this Vanderbilt administration, unlike previous ones, will hesitate to probably do what they need to do to make sure they can keep Clark Lee here, you know, whether it's an LSU that comes calling or somebody else.

And so I think, yeah, it certainly is something that I feel like for Vanderbilt fans, it's a good place to be, just knowing that you've elevated your program to this level, your top 10 team. You know, you go win this weekend, you feel really good probably about your college football playoff chances. And so that's a good problem to have. But I think at the same time, like if you'd asked that question again, five years ago, 10 years ago, I'd say they're not going to do anything. If he leaves, he leaves.

But now I think Vanderbilt would be willing to do what it takes to make sure they keep him here. So. Georgia's got the same issue that Alabama is going to have next week in Tuscaloosa with LSU. They've got an interim coach and you've got a little bit of a wild card situation there. Throwing caution to the wind. They're going to do some tweaks here and there. Georgia is playing a little bit better. Gunnar Stockton, in particular, only has one interception in SEC play. Billy Gonzalez, the interim coach at Florida.

What new changes are they going to make? I think most people think eventually Georgia would just take over the game and have a workman-like win. But in their favor by seven and a half. But this is a rival game and if DJ Lagway plays as well as he did last year, this may be a fourth quarter game again. Yeah. You know, Georgia's just not been dominant to the level that we're used to. And I think that's, you know, something this year, like, you know, even the Kentucky game.

I know they won that one 35-14. But they've not, again, been the type of team that I think people are used to seeing where it's like they just are overwhelmingly more talented than you. And they just come out and just execute the game plan and it's never close. Like, because we've seen that in Georgia's seasons in recent years. But, like, this does feel like one where, again, you've got Florida coming off a bye. It's kind of a, you know, a new start. You feel like the players have something to prove.

You could see this be one, like you said, Brett, where you go into the fourth quarter and it's a little closer than you think it should be. You know, and whether that says more about Florida or Georgia, I'm not sure. We'll find out in this game. But I do think it's one where, to me, it probably winds up being something where the Georgia defense makes a play here or there. And that's probably the thing that decides it. But, again, I don't really look at Georgia. And not to say they couldn't do it against Florida, because, again, you don't know how a team's going to react based on everything that's happened the last couple weeks.

But I still don't know if Georgia has been the team this year, like I said, that's going to come out and win this game by four touchdowns. I feel like it's probably one that Florida's talented enough, you know, in multiple areas to feel like they have a chance here to at least make it interesting. Played level Southeastern 16. We're on family radio. But within the confines of trying to find an adjective to describe the situation at LSU, what would that adjective be that we can air and not get in trouble?

Worst, it's the coach, and now it's the AD. The governor is swinging for the fences, is he not? Yeah. It's a total mess is what it is. And you can replace mess with any other adjectives or certain letter words you'd like, because it's just, it is. It's just a mess. And, you know, it's hard to believe after week one of the college football season, the team we were talking about the most in the most positive way, the LSU, and now we're sitting here two months later and everything has just fallen apart.

[26:45] Not just within the football program, but again, obviously just within an administration level too, when it comes to Scott Woodward and everything that's going on there. So, yeah, it's a mess. And I know everyone's talking about the financial situation and, you know, is LSU going to be able to go get their guy based on where they're at financially and, you know, people were telling me the other day, you know, the guy that should be the happiest is Matt McMahon, the basketball coach, because, well, maybe they don't even have the money to hire him if they have a bad season.

And it's just like, I mean, this conversation has gone everywhere. And again, I think it's, I'll say this, that part of it to me is LSU's own doing, because I think from the very beginning, this was not a good fit for Brian Kelly to be their head coach. I think everyone knew that right off the bat. And it just seemed like it was a hire that you go get a guy that has a national sort of name and recognition. Clearly, there was a reason he was willing to leave Notre Dame.

And it just didn't work. And I think you could tell from the beginning that it was not going to be a long-term partnership. And so, yeah, it's a mess on every side. And we'll see how they figure it out. I don't know. Oklahoma and Tennessee should be an elimination game for the college football playoffs. Tennessee, a three-and-a-half-point favorite. Their defense is amazing to me. They've allowed 30-plus points in four straight games. Yet they've had five defensive touchdowns this year. They're pick sixes, scooping scores. And they led the nation in sacks going into the Alabama game.

The Tennessee offense leads the SEC offensively in eight categories. Aguilar throws for 396 against Kentucky. Oklahoma's defense is much more stout. But Ole Miss did very well moving the ball against them. Fascinating game here. You know, thinking, well, can Oklahoma keep up with Tennessee's offense? But Tennessee's defense is going to keep them in the game. Who wins the elimination game in Knoxville? Yeah, I think it's one of the most interesting games of the entire calendar season. Because I think you've got a team in Oklahoma, statistically, legitimately has the advantage over what is, like you said, Brett, a top offensive team.

In almost every major statistical category, Oklahoma's defense has the advantage. And you just don't see that often when you're talking about an offensive team like Tennessee. But yet that's what the stats tell us with Oklahoma this season. Now this will certainly be one of the better offensive teams they've played. And we found out last week when they played Ole Miss that, you know, they were significantly better than any other team they've seen offensively this year. And so I think that will allow Tennessee to do some things against this defense, despite what the numbers tell us.

And, again, you're going to put your sort of confidence in Josh Heupel, too. But I think it's like, to me, the story of this game may be the Oklahoma offense and just how bad it has looked at times. And, again, that's, you know, 180 from what we thought early in the season with John McTeer and company and what they were doing. But, like you said, Tennessee's defensive numbers hide your eyes. They're not pretty at all, but they found a way to score enough to not let it affect them too much.

And that's where, like I said, can Oklahoma do anything offensively to exploit those things for Tennessee's defense? And you could say the same on the other side. Can Tennessee crack the code that is in Oklahoma's defense this year? But I think we saw some of that last week with Ole Miss where there are paths to do that. And so I kind of like Tennessee in this one. And I think, again, you're going to put your trust in Josh Heupel in a game like this. And I just don't trust Oklahoma enough to where if Tennessee does find a way to even put up a couple touchdowns, let's say, man, I just, that Oklahoma offense leads a bit to be desired right now.

Yeah, if McTeer was healthy and on point, I think he's healthier. But if he's on point, this would be quite a game. I agree with you about that. College basketball, my dear friend, begins Monday. And I know you're just as excited as you can possibly be for that. Where can we get online and hear these great podcasts? You will be busy again tomorrow. And I'm guessing going to be busy Monday night. Yeah, we will be for sure, guys. You can check it all out, SEC football and SEC basketball pretty much daily starting on Monday once we get things cranked up.

For the basketball season, Southeastern 16 on YouTube, you can find us there, all kinds of reaction, game previews, all that stuff. And everything else, I'm on Twitter at the Blake level. The B and Blake stands for busy and about to get busier. Blake, thanks so much for your time today and enjoy the weekend, all right? Thanks, guys. You too. Thank you, buddy. Blake level, Southeastern 16, coming up. That's on a neutral field. They don't like each other. The perspective from the big dog himself, Bill Shanks, next. Stay with us.

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And while Bill Shinks takes his napkin and wipes his mouth and gets ready for the show, BB, while we have that moment, Let's talk a little bit about, I guess the best way to put it is, in some ways, this is elimination weekend for some of the big dogs in the SEC. Well, it's elimination, in particularly for the game we just talked about, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Now, a lot of things can happen with this. But, yeah, once you enter November, and in particularly if you've got a couple of losses, and I still say sooner or later a three-loss team is going to make it to the playoffs, and particularly beginning next year, this is a key game to win.

[37:21] Yeah. You know, if Banny beats Texas, that's going to be another one. But, yeah, the Oklahoma-Tennessee game, to me, this weekend is going to be the biggest one, the loser of this game. They're not necessarily out, in particular, if they win the rest of their games, but it's going to be a lot tougher. You know, obviously, that's elimination as far as the playoffs. I don't think anyone is expecting Auburn or Kentucky to make the playoffs. The question is, which head coach could be eliminated, particularly if this game goes one-sided this weekend?

Well, that's the question. The loser of this game may be the ultimate loser by the end of the season. We'll say, Cutter Boley has really improved the quarterback for Kentucky. They put up 467 yards against a weak Tennessee defense. But either one of these guys, Charlie Trotman was on the show yesterday, the former Auburn quarterback, and as Charlie termed it, if Auburn would have lost to Arkansas, it would have been bad. Well, you and I and a lot of our listeners can probably guess what that bad, how you define that.

There's no question if either team wins by two or three touchdowns, it's not going to be good for the other coach. You know, the B in Bill stands for bad. Not in bad as far as talent. He's just bad. He's a bad man when it comes to talking behind the microphone. There's host of the Bill Shanks Show at 93.1 FM over in Macon, Georgia, online at thesesuperstations.com and on the tube at 41NBC. Bill Shanks, welcome in. How are you? Well, now that I got a signal, I'm a lot better.

I thought you were forgetting about me, and it was my stupid signal. Are you down in the swamp of Florida? Where are you, Bill? Well, that's the problem because, Harold, everybody around here, their SNAP benefits run out today, and they don't know if they're going to be. Oh, no. And I don't think the cell phone people showed up for work today, so that's why my signal was a little late getting there. Well, at least that explains it. Now, SNAP's a four-letter word. What four-letter word could you use to describe Georgia's opponent this weekend, Bill?

I'm trying to see what I can spell and get away with it. FCC, remember. FCC. What good adjective could you use, Bill, to describe Georgia's opponent this weekend? Well, I thought of a four-letter word, but I can't say that one nor speak it. There you go. Can we go to five letters and just say track? No, yeah, we can, we can. You're an exception. Okay, okay, okay. Let me ask you about this game. You and Brother Brent and a lot of other folks are going to Jacksonville today and tomorrow.

Harold and I got a chance to experience this. There really was nothing like the Iron Bowl at Legion Field. In theory, it was 50-50. And I understand why so many schools now have gone to the campus. They make a lot more revenue with that, that they can do recruiting, even though Kirby, I think, has been out of bounds with this. It is so rare now to have basically a stadium split. The only other schools or other teams, Army and Navy in Philadelphia and New York, and they're going to be shopping that around.

Oklahoma and Texas at the State Fair. That's what makes this so, this is not just a game. It's an event. The city of Jacksonville has poured an incredible amount of money in this. The game certainly is important, and it's important for both teams. Talk about, for a lot of our listeners who have never gone to this game, talk about, again, a theory of 50-50 split, what it means to Jacksonville, and just how much fun. And I know you're concerned about the game. Talk a little bit about this game as an event.

Well, I think the best thing to do is to go back to my childhood. I didn't go to a Georgia-Ford game until I was in school at UGA when I was 20 years old, my first year at UGA when I was a junior. Nobody invited me. And so I didn't go. And usually the people who were going left their kids at my house with my mom and so forth. So I didn't go until I was 20, and that happened to be the first year of Steve Spurrier. So I really picked a h*** of a year to start going to the game.

Yeah, really. But, you know, when I was a kid, though, living in Waycross, which is about 75 miles from Jacksonville Stadium, the old Gator Bowl, it was amazing to watch the people come through town from North Georgia and West Georgia and all over and have their Georgia stuff on their car. And, I mean, I remember going to the Burger King with my mom, and we just watched the people go by, really. I mean, you know, Waycross ain't too much of a happening place, so that's all it takes for us.

[42:32] But, you know, it's always a big deal. The people start arriving Monday and Tuesday. RV City, where the RVs come, is amazing. I've heard they kind of redid that a little bit. But it's always just – you're right. There's no other word for it but an event. But most football games that are big robbery games are events. But this is different. This being a 50-50 split, being in Jacksonville, having the history, having the – you know, I was sitting around the round table the other day, and we were talking about our Georgia-Florida memories, and it's all over the place.

You know, it's all over the decades where people went to the games and so forth. So it is a special time and a special game. And, you know, it's so much more fun, though, when Georgia is whipping Florida's a**. Move over, Berger. Bill Shanks is the king of Waycross, Georgia. Bill, check him out, by the way, at thesesuperstations.com. Isn't it crazy that in some ways Alabama, in facing LSU next week, is the same situation as Kirby facing Florida this week? You bring in an interim, and the first reaction is, well, they're going to be this and they're going to be that.

How do we know that? To me, there's a big X factor. They got rid of the guy that was there because things weren't going their way. So preparing probably in some ways is a lot easier. Your thoughts as far as Kirby getting rid of his Florida team with, let's face it, there's no other way of putting it with an interim coach, and who knows what that means, good or bad. It's scary. How do you prepare for it? What do you know to look for? You can sit there and say, well, Billy Napier did this and that, that's what he did in this situation, but, you know, do they surprise us to come out and do the same daggum thing, just throw us off?

And I don't know. I mean, you don't know what they're going to have planned. All I know is that Billy Napier partly got fired because he wouldn't give up play calling. And that leads me to wonder, well, was he holding back the Florida offense? Was he holding back D.J. Lagway? Now, I mean, D.J. Lagway has got nine interceptions in seven games, so I don't think we can blame Billy Napier necessarily on that. But you still have to wonder what they're going to do. And I think it makes it more important for Georgia as a defense that has started off so slow this year and practically every game to not let that happen tomorrow because you don't want them to have success doing whatever they're going to do and get that confidence inside the game and then get their 40,000 drunk fans behind them and get out of control.

So I think it's going to be very critical. I mean, look, Georgia bounced back in the Ole Miss game. It was a back-and-forth, nobody could stop each other in the first half. It was just a back-and-forth the whole game with both teams. I'd rather have something like that than compared to what we've had in the Tennessee game, the Alabama game, where Georgia just got down and they had to battle back. And, you know, they couldn't do it against Alabama, obviously. They did it against some of the other teams, but that's a dangerous world to live in.

So I think the first two quarters are very important for this Georgia team tomorrow against an unknown quantity like the Florida Gators. Yeah. I've had three people ask me today to ask you about the Braves managerial situation, obviously the World Series, which has been quite interesting to see if the Dodgers really can buy another pennant. The name that is floating around is Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehman. As far as, quote, gaining the most traction, George Lombard, Ryan Flaherty is there. What are you hearing? What do you know?

Well, look, it may be Danny Lehman. I have no idea. Obviously, he still involves the World Series. There's a connection there with Anthopolis. So, you know, now, and with all due respect to Mark Bowman and David O'Brien, who covered the team, who are the two that have kind of reported that through Twitter, I don't know if they know or not. I mean, just because they haven't picked a manager doesn't mean he's necessarily in the World Series, and we're waiting for that to get over. I mean, obviously, if they named Danny Lehman the manager the day after the World Series is over, then that's probably what's happened.

But I don't know. And I'm saying that not to knock Mark and David, only to say that it is so hush-hush. The only thing I know is that Walt Weiss and Eddie Perez have interviewed, and you know what? Big deal, right? We knew that would probably happen, and no knock on them. But, I mean, that's not a big story because they were on the staff. Why wouldn't he interview them? That would have been serious. With a guy who had been a coach for Atlanta for years, like Eddie Perez, who has had an interest in managing in the past, and a guy like Walt Weiss, who has managed before himself, why wouldn't he interview them?

So that's not really a big deal to hear that. So I don't know. I really don't. I mean, I think it's still hush-hush, and for whatever reason, he's guarding this like a d*** national nuclear code secret for some reason, which I don't know what the big deal is. But, you know, look, he's got to be comfortable with what he's going to feel about the guy who he's going to work with moving forward. That relationship is extremely important. It might be Danny Lehman, and you know what?

[47:49] I've already called him the anti-snit. He's the exact opposite of Brian Sickler. He's all analytics. He's 40 years old, not 70 years old, and the man's got hair. So this is the anti-snit. He's tired. But I'll tell you what. I don't know if you all saw yesterday that Washington Nationals hired a 33-year-old, and I don't believe he's 33 because he looks like he's 17. Wow. That's where we're going. You know, we're going in that direction where these young kids are. Somebody had a great line from me yesterday when we were talking back and forth about these young managers, and he said, why the h*** don't they just hire an iPad?

And it kind of makes you wonder, to be honest with you. That's about right. Well, it's called cheap. I mean, they can get these guys are ambitious. They're looking for a resume stop. And by the way, I work for Les and Bill Shanks, so it ain't hard to figure out, Bill. It's kind of that way in any business you go out there, baseball or not. But, Bill, if you sit in your Christmas list to the Braves Brass, who would you like to see come over the winter to make this team better next season?

Well, as far as players are concerned? Yeah. Well, I think they've got to get more pitching. I mean, we know they've got to stay healthy next year in that lineup. They've got to get a short stop. They've got to find somebody to play short, whether it's Kim, the kid that came late in the year, or someone else. They've got to have some consistency from their lineup and help with Riley and Ozzie and Cunha and Harris. Profar's got to stay off the stuff. Murphy's got to get back.

They've got to have help, but they need pitching. I mean, they've got to get some d*** pitching. I mean, they didn't replace Max Free. They didn't replace Charlie Morton. They put a Band-Aid on that, and it didn't work. And, you know, if you could have told me back in March Bryce Elder was going to be the guy who would lead the team in starts, I might have canceled the season myself. That was a rough thing to have to have him, who's a fifth starter at best, right?

He's just not that good, having to be your leading guy. So they need help, but they need pitching. They've got to go get a Dylan Cease or someone, Zach Gallen, someone like that in a free agent deal, and probably trade for two more. I mean, they've got some pitching coming. You know, their pitching's not bad in the minor leagues. I know people talk about their system not being good, and their pitching's pretty good, but you can't rely on that. It's like one of their prospects, J.R. Ritchie, I love the kid.

I mean, I absolutely love this kid. I think he's going to be a great pitcher. But you can't go into a season and rely on a kid that's never done something like this before. Well, you've got to have more reliability in your arms and your rotation, and they've got to get it closer. And, you know, Joe Jimenez, not back. He had another knee surgery. They don't know if he's going to pitch that year. They've got a lot of pitching issues that they've got to work out, and the only way you can do that is to do it.

The old scout, Paul Sire, told me, he said, the more pitchers you throw up against the wall, the more they don't stick. That's right. That's exactly right. Have fun tomorrow. Again, I envy you. I talked to Brother Brent earlier in the week, and I said, now, are you and Bill going to get together before or in the press box, whatever? And he said, yeah, probably, but I've got other media obligations. Now, let me ask you a question. You know my brother, by as well as I do, being a TV star in Jacksonville, is that beginning to go to his head?

Well, it is. And, you know, here's what ticks me off a little bit. This morning I was on his show with Terry Norvell at 730 in the morning to say that d*** show, and you know what he told me? He said, Bill, I'll buy you lunch tomorrow. I said, you cheapskate the d*** stuff for me anyway. Same place he bought the last lunch for you, right? Exactly right. Yeah, I mean, if that don't sound like a television diva, I don't know what is. Oh, Lord have mercy.

A TV diva now. Kiss my ring, Bill. Kiss my ring. Or something. Listen, have a great day tomorrow. I know you're really looking forward to it. If, again, if Jay and Tim and some of our beloved listeners will like to call in and talk about the Braves, the manager, about Florida beating Georgia this afternoon, where can they go? We'll start taking predictions at 440 Eastern time, 340 Central time. We'll have a good time and we'll have a good time with that and hopefully get some good Georgia predictions because, you know, I'll leave you with this.

You know, somebody has asked me, you know, can you give me some final words on Georgia, Florida? I said, yeah, I got three for you. They said, go ahead. I said, gators eat boogers. Somebody said it tastes like chicken if you roll them in flour, but I don't know that, Bill. Hey, listen, enjoy the veal. All the best to you, Dawgs, and thanks so much for your time today. All right, guys. Thank you. See you, buddy. The one, the only, Bill Shanks. Check him out at these superstations.

[53:02] Coming up, what about that Florence High finish? Team LA going to be talking the final Friday night of high school football throughout the entire neck of our woods. Justin Ferguson talking to Auburn and Mike Huganen talking about everything. It's all straight ahead of the Boomo Buck Show. Stay with us. Hey, Scholes, I know you do anything for a win on game day and for an ice cold Bud Light. Because whether you're tailgating in the parking lot or parked on the couch, sitting on your lucky stool at the bar, or standing in the fan section all game long, a win isn't a win without the clean, crisp taste of Bud Light.

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Tuberville was a guest on the Steve and D.C. Morning Show at 953 The Bear. You know, we're 30 days in. Democrats just absolutely hate this country the way it is. And what they want to do now is for people out there, a CR is just a continuing the same budget that we've had. We voted for it 13 times during the Biden administration. But it's not good enough for the Democrats now. Because why? Because the big, beautiful bill put a few things in there they didn't like. So they want to put that in this CR, which you don't legislate in a budget CR.

[58:33] You don't do it. And so they want to put laws in there. But guess what? We're not doing it. We're going to hold out. And sooner or later, they'll have to come to the table and start negotiating after I agree with kicking the CR on, hopefully for another six, seven months. 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. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office conducted Operation Alliance Shield with other local law enforcement agencies. This resulted in multiple arrests made on October 16th. There were 53 arrests made and 207 citations, along with 181 community contacts. I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. KDKFM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores.

Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. Catch UNA Football Night at Lost Pizza Shoals every Monday night during the 2025 football season right here on 93.9 The Score. Hear from head coach Brent Dierman, assistant coaches, players, and other guests as they take you inside the UNA football program. That's 7-8 p.m. every Monday night at Lost Pizza Shoals. Join us this Monday for pizza and UNA football or tune in right here on 93.9 The Score. UNA Football Night airs on a special night this Tuesday at 7 on 93.9 The Score. Ryan Radke here from Sunday Night Football on Westwood One.

NFC East meets NFC West this week when the Commanders host the Seahawks. Sam Darnold and Seattle are feeling good right now at 5-2 with back-to-back wins and coming off their bye week. Now they face an injury-riddled Washington squad desperate to break a three-game skid. Join Mike Golick and me for all the action. Seahawks at the Commanders on Sunday Night Football. 93.9 The Score weather. Today sunny with a high around 65. Tonight partly cloudy with a low near 40. Tomorrow mostly cloudy with a high breeze and a high around 65.

Tomorrow night mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers overnight and a low near 45. And for your Sunday mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and a high around 60. 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 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, before we get to Mike, you've done some breaking news involving a high school coach in our neck of the woods. You may have heard back in the day when he was a head coach at Tennessee, Jeremy Pruitt. Moments ago, reliable sources saying he is returning to college football as an analyst for Jack State. That's according to very reliable sources. And I know he's under a no show cause penalty until 2029.

Jack State says, we understand it. We've read all the fine print. We'll roll the dice. We'll take our chances. But according to sources, close to us, Jeremy Pruitt is on his way back to college football. He, of course, has been an assistant to his dad over at Plainview High in northeast Alabama over to Calb County. But big news for Jeremy Pruitt and Jack State. Well, obviously, it's what he wants to. His lawsuit against Phillip Fulmer in Tennessee is still ongoing. But I'll tell you what, he's quite successful as a high school coach.

Plainview now finished the season 10-0. And he's been the offensive and defensive coordinator for them. Wow. Mike Higgins says, I've seen a lot of stuff when it comes to college football. What about 2025? I don't think anything surprises the national college football slash basketball analyst. Maybe it does. Let's ask Mike himself. Mike, welcome in. Welcome to 2025 and this crazy thing called college football. How are you? Yeah, this is week 10. And I still think that the big story this week is Brian Kelly obviously getting fired. And the bizarre goings on with the LSU coaching search.

[1:03:50] I mean, it's, it's, I know you're like, you know, grab your popcorn and sit down because weird stuff happens daily in Baton Rouge. And, you know, the governor, you know, putting himself into the mix. Right. You know, I don't care what side of the political aisle you're on. The idea that a government official has put himself into the LSU coaching search. If I'm an LSU fan, I'm thinking, oh my God, this is nightlife. Mike, the other thing is, obviously, we know what's going on. The question is, where is it going?

And, of course, you know, we live in an era. This is not breaking or shocking news of clickbaits. Everybody's trying to give the Nick Saban story some legs down there. It's close affinity. Nick turned 74 today. Turned 74 today. He's got more money than any of us collectively in the bank. He's having a ball at ESPN. I know he's a coach. And you've been around coaches. We've been around coaches. They love it a lot and would work for free because they just love coaching that much. That may be true.

But who in their right mind, Mike, unless you're just a kid coming up and you're looking for a pop on your resume and some guaranteed money, win or lose, you're going to be financially set. I'm talking about somebody like Lane. And, of course, we have to talk about it because everybody else is talking about it. I mean, I don't know of anybody who would sit here and say, if I'm Nick Saban, why I would, given that climate. Maybe back in the day. But where are you with where LSU goes forward now with an A-list of coaches?

This is going to be fascinating because you have the governor saying, okay, the AD is not making the decision. It's me and the board of governors. Then you have the board of governors leaders saying, that's news to me. And then you have Scott Woodward yesterday walking away with six million bucks, not the AD. The thing that struck me most about what Jeff Landry said, and I think everybody agrees, coaches and their contracts are ridiculous. If you're LSU, so if Jeff Landry has inserted himself into this, says he's going to be involved in the next coach hiring, why does anybody think that Jeff Landry is going to give a coach a seven- or eight-year contract?

It would seem to me that they don't want to pay the big bucks, and the governor says we're not going to have long-term contracts. So, okay, which coach is going to be willing to fit into that slot for less money than he could make elsewhere, for fewer years than he could get elsewhere, and walking into an environment that, to be kind, is toxic? No school president, no AD, the governor of the state saying I'm going to be involved in hiring. That, to me, is, again, nightmarish scenario if I'm an LSU fan.

It's unquestionably one of the three or four best jobs in the nation, but I think that it's a lot less beautiful at this point in time because of the last three days and what's going on there. Absolutely, no question about it. Mike, let me ask you about a game that's flown under the radar this week for a lot of people. South Carolina and Ole Miss. Both these teams coming off of emotional games. Ole Miss beating Oklahoma, making a statement. South Carolina threw everything except the kitchen sink at Alabama, made that a Super Bowl game for them.

To Alabama's credit, they came back and made the plays in the last two minutes to tie the game and win it. South Carolina is 13-4 in November under Shane Beamer, and he's 6-0 against ranked teams. And I think a lot of people feel like the Gamecocks would be emotionally bankrupt for this game. But something happens to him in November. Last year, Ole Miss lost a game to Kentucky at home, and they're coming off of an emotional win. If both teams play their A-minus game, Ole Miss is going to win this game.

But, Mike, your thoughts on Ole Miss being nearly a two-touchdown favorite over the Gamecocks? It's not going to be anything South Carolina does. It's going to be what Ole Miss doesn't do. They are the better team, and I think, frankly, that Ole Miss should score in the 30s, if not low 40s. I'm not a believer in the South Carolina defense. Alabama played a bad game last week and still won. But you're right about, I mean, you know, Kiffin, for all the praise he gets, he generally lays at least one extra.

He did. Last year, it was clear they lost to Kentucky early, and they lost to Florida in November, which knocked them out of the playoff hunt. You know, Trinidad Chambliss has shown some warts the past couple weeks. Lacey's a really good running back. The Ole Miss defense is, frankly, mediocre. I don't know if South Carolina can take advantage, though. You're right about the—it's hard for me to think that a South Carolina team that really, truthfully, lacks a lot of talent can play that well two weeks in a row.

[1:09:11] But, again, I think the spread is large. Ole Miss, I'm thinking—I agree with you. They are going to be—they're due for a letdown of sorts. But I think it would have to be a gigantic letdown for them to lose this game. They'd have to lose it. South Carolina can't win it. But I think it will be closer than the 14. Again, Ole Miss, if they're to be taken seriously, they have to win this game. Yeah, especially after the Mostert game last week against where they were.

Mike, you're going to be in a huddle with us. Mike, kind of a scenario here. Get your thoughts. If Auburn wins a lopsided score this weekend, what would be the conversation Sunday morning in Lexington? And if Kentucky wins lopsidedly, what would be the conversation on the Plains Sunday morning? Regardless of the margin, if they went 13-12 on a fluke, you know, two-point conversion return for a touchdown, I still think that we've got to get rid of Hugh Freeze. He's not working out here. Get this guy out of the loveliest village on the Plains.

U.K., they'd have to eat a ton of money. I think it's obvious that Mark Stoops' shelf life, he has grown stale on the bread aisle. I don't know, though, if U.K. has the stomach to spend that much money on a football coach. I think Stoops actually is under a little bit less pressure this year because everybody expects U.K. hoops to be really good. Last year, I think it was the time they weren't sure how good Mark Pope was going to be as the coach.

Questions. Oh, my God, our football and basketball programs are questionable. Get rid of Stoops. They should have got rid of him last year, but they didn't. I don't know if they want to spend $39 million to get rid of Mark Stoops. But I think it's obvious that he was winning eight and nine games. That ain't happening again. Oklahoma and Tennessee, Mike, a lot of people feel it's going to be an elimination game for the college football playoff. Tennessee defense is very good in two categories, sacks and turnovers.

They're terrible in others. Kentucky peaked up 476. Tennessee's offense has been prolific so far. And Ole Miss pretty much did what they wanted to against the Oklahoma defense. Very intriguing game tomorrow night in Nashville. I think if Tennessee loses, okay, we're going to go nine and three, and we need to get better players. We need to spend our NL money better. I think if Oklahoma loses, a lot of the talk turns to, oh, my goodness, we're going to finish six and six. We need to get rid of Brent Venable.

Oklahoma, after this weekend, plays three more ranked teams. One of them is Missouri. I don't know how good Missouri is going to be without Pribula at quarterback. But, yeah, this is sort of a crossroads game for the season for both these teams, and I think it's a crossroads game for Oklahoma in terms of Brent Venables' future. If you could match the Tennessee offense on the same team as the Oklahoma defense, I think you'd have a pretty solid, unquestionably a playoff team. You're right. I mean, the Oklahoma passing attack, Mateer, is struggling because of his hand.

Yeah, I think they're going to hit a couple big plays because the ball secondary is not good. So, Tania has got to be thinking, I'm going to go for, I'm going to have five catches for 200 yards against these guys. And Oklahoma's getting a little bit better running the ball. To me, the fact that Tennessee has a great pass rush, they have to keep Mateer in the pocket. Mateer as a pocket passer is mediocre. Mateer on the run outside the pocket is extremely dangerous. I don't think Oklahoma's defense, I think Tennessee's going to score in the 30s.

I'm not sure even with Tennessee's defensive problems, Oklahoma can get there. And again, I think, you know, two weeks ago, Oklahoma was saying, this team could go to the playoff. And now two weeks later, it's like if this team loses Saturday, I think Venables has a good chance of being fired. Mike, did we ever think we'd have a conversation in 2025, can Texas keep up with Vanderbilt? Yeah. Your thoughts about the doors and the horns. Yeah, I want to see an Indiana Vanderbilt national title game, which could happen.

And in football, for God's sake. Arch Manning, obviously, in concussion protocol, I don't think Texas can win without Arch Manning. And is Arch Manning having a great year? No. He has gotten incrementally better. He's got the ability to make big plays and big moments. Sort of like Diego Pavia. Pavia is, you know, you look at his passing stats, I don't think he's thrown for 200 yards against an SEC opponent this year. But it hasn't mattered because he generally makes gigantic plays when his team needs him. Vanderbilt's got a great run defense.

[1:14:26] Texas can't win the ball. If Manning doesn't play, I think Vanderbilt wins. I think it's a 50-50 game even if Manning does play. Yeah, the idea that my presumption is when Texas joined the SEC, Texas fans are like, great. We get to go to Nashville, you know, at least once every four years. And that's a for sure win whenever we play them. Well, here's the first time Texas playing Vandy. And I think Vanderbilt's got a great chance to win. In Austin, which is mind-blowing. It truly is.

Listen, great stuff. Going to be a fun Saturday watching all of it develop. Have a wonderful Saturday. Happy Halloween. Have a good week. Let's do this again next Friday. There you have it. The one, the only, Mike Kugin International College Football slash Basketball. And it's coming up. It's the final Friday of the regular season for high school football. Jimmy Lay lays it all out next. Stay with us. It's football season. And Mugshot's Grill and Bar is the natural place to watch all the games on our massive 14 65-inch TVs and three projection TVs with huge 120-inch screens.

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Jimmy Lay has got it all laid out for us there at AL.com. Jimmy, welcome in. How are you? Hey, guys. Doing great. Yeah, we're getting down to that time of year. We're getting ready for the playoffs. Put another way, if it's the end of the regular season, Thursday night big. Did Florence take a script from Hollywood before they took the long road trip to Oxford? You talk about a Hollywood ending that ends up sweet for the Falcons. Your thoughts about the season for the Falcons, the season finale there in the regular season anyway, and what that portends for the Falcons as they get ready for the postseason now?

Yeah, it really was just the strangest thing I've ever seen. I've never seen a playoff situation come down to everybody's tied for first place. And here's what's stranger than that. The team with the best overall record in that region is not even going to be in the playoffs, and that's Huntsville. They're going to be the best record in the region, and they won't even be in the playoffs. But as far as Florence goes, yeah, man, all they had to do was beat Florence for the 15th time in a row, and they would have been region champs.

They couldn't get it done. So because of the crazy tie-breaking system that goes to, like, you know, what you did, I guess it went to the fifth-place team, and then after that to the sixth-place team, and then head-to-head, it just put them at fourth. So they really didn't have anything to play for last night, but they're still playing a quality opponent like Oxford that got it done. So that's a tribute to those guys. Just hope, and I haven't heard any reports, hope they got out of it.

That's the main thing. You got out of the game healthy so you can get ready to make that long six-hour bus ride down to South Alabama next week. Wow. Jimmy, let me mention this. I've heard quite a bit of chatter over here this week about a pushback against this convoluted system. Unlike you, the Alabama High School Athletic Association has got to come up with a better system. for it to decide tiebreakers. The official, official bracket, I believe, will come out in the morning, and we'll see.

I know AL.com and others have Florence going to Baker for the fourth seed versus the first seed. But, again, I'm hearing that could possibly change. We'll certainly try to keep up with it and update everybody on Monday. Jimmy, three teams in the region, though, undefeated. Wes Morgan beats Dessler 13-7. Muscle Shoals beats Austin. Mars Hill beats a very good Scottsboro team. Hamilton already was 10-0. Jimmy, it's special to finish a regular season undefeated. It's a tremendous accomplishment to be able to go through the entire season, especially when you go into the last game of the season, you know, like Wes Morgan did last night.

I don't know what their streak is now, the regular season. They've won, I want to say, over 35 games in a row. It's 35, Jimmy. I think it's 35. So, yeah. So, not only they've been the regular season, but they just, when they get in the playoffs, when they hit Cherokee County is when they fall. Well, this year, they look like the top dog in region four in North Alabama. But, that's why you play the games. Dessler played them tight. I think they were up, Wes Morgan was up 13-0 at the half and ended up being 13-7.

But, Wes Morgan looks like they're going to be the favorite in 4A. But, man, Muscle Shoals is just rolling along. You know, they got down early to the Hartzell last week, but they came back and got it done comfortably. And, they absolutely look like the favorite to come out of, you know, 6A in the North. And, I can't remember, who else did you mention? That's okay. Morris Hill beats Scottsboro. Oh, yeah. Morris Hill gets it done against a really good Scottsboro team. And, that's not, I mean, they didn't just win.

[1:25:07] I mean, they pretty much, you know, took them behind the woodshed. So, I'll tell you what, Morris Hill, hey guys, everybody from Morris Hill, get ready. You're going to go to the finals more than likely. You've got a great chance to win it again. And, your reward is next year you go to 4A. So, get ready for that. And, they'll probably be the top dog in 4A next year. So, it's just crazy how that works. They've got such a tremendous program. Yeah, just a lot of great things happening over there in that area of the state.

And, Muscle Shoals, they always seem to be tripped up by somebody. In that second or third round, I'm just wondering if this might be the year they get over the hump and they can make it to the Super 7. By the way, a shout out to Morris Hill. As good as we just talked about. This is the first time they have finished a regular season unbeaten. And, here they are a 3A knocking off a 5A. So, look out in the postseason. They'll wait next year when they move up.

But, they're doing pretty doggone good now playing teams above their head when it comes to classification. And, your thoughts about another theme out there. It's one thing to start slow and fans can get down on you. It's not how you begin. It's how you end. And, Brooks, now winners of seven of their last eight games, they took care of business against East Lawrence. What's your thoughts about Brooks heading into the postseason? Yeah, that's really how you really can judge a team. What do you do when you don't have the same talent that you've had in years past?

And, how well those guys compete from the guys that came before them. And, they absolutely have put it together here at the end of the season. Every game, you know, when you get to that part midway and forward is almost like a playoff game. And, they were able to get it done and make that fourth spot. And, that's like a tough region. I mean, look. I mean, you got – we haven't even mentioned Hatton, who's finishing third, going to have to go to Madison Academy next week.

That's actually where I'll be covering that game. That's going to be just a tremendous battle with just a ton of talent on the field. But, Brooks, they just keep fighting, keep fighting. And, they got it done. Big win, I guess, over Central Florence earlier. And, that's really what – they would be tied with them. They were able to beat them head-to-head. And, that put them in the playoffs. And, so, what's your reward? You got to go to Plainview. An undefeated Plainview team that's just clicking on all cylinders.

Last week, they just took – totally took apart Madison. Madison Academy put up 49 points on them. So, I wish them luck, man. That's a tough task to get in the first round. Jimmy, you mentioned the Madison Academy will be hosting Hanton. I think that's one of the best games in the opening round. Dessler is going to be hosting North Jackson. And, they were with that Plainview-Madison Academy group. Madison Academy beat Westminster Christian last night, 42-13. Daly and Scott had a big game. Charlton Owens we talked about all year.

Hanton is really good. Tayshaun Love, Severius Evans have been leading that team. I tell you what, if you watch a fun game in Madison Academy, Jimmy, and you've got the pleasure of covering it, there's some talented players on that field next Friday night. It's going to be tremendous. I just hope it's a dry field. Last night was a little bit slick, and so that kind of thing can play a little bit. But, yeah, you're right about that. Love being a senior, though. I think he might have a slight edge over Owens, but Owens is tough.

I'll tell you what. I mean, they have really put together a great plan for his ability and what he can do. And their passing game is coming along pretty strong. They've got some really good receivers. Tosh Phillips last night had a pretty good night for them. And, as you mentioned, Daly and Scott, you know, the transfer from Buckhorn is just really doing a great job. I think he had close to 200 yards rushing last night. Yeah, it's going to be a tremendous game because they're almost mirror images of each other, except Hatton's just got a little more experience.

Madison Academy is a little young, but they do have the home field, and that might just be enough to give them the edge. Jimmy, the last time they won was two weeks before Halloween in 2015. You heard that right. Ten years ago, last night, they came oh so close to snapping it. Hazel Green with an interim coach. They've had their issues, but they had to get on fire in the second half. The Trojans, that is, to hand Columbia their 101st consecutive loss. I know. My good friend, Drew DeArmond, was covering that game last night.

And he was sending me scores, and it was 8-7, you know, Columbia was leading at the half. And right before the half, they blocked a field goal and returned it all the way for a touchdown. So they actually had a chance to either go up 16-7 or 14-7 at the half, but there was a penalty on the return. Oh, man. Yeah. And I'm telling you, and Drew was telling me, he said, look, I'm just telling you right now, just watching this thing. If that thing had been 16-7 at the half, they might have been able to win that thing because they just got away from them late because they had to throw the ball so much, and that's really not part of what they do best.

[1:30:28] But, yeah, I hate that. I'm really looking forward to see what the HSA will do with a team like Columbia if they will somehow petition to bring them down in classification to give those kids an opportunity to be able to compete because I think that, you know, Coach Coates is doing a great job in his first year there, and he's kept the team together. They're fighting hard. Those kids haven't given up all year even though they haven't won a game, and I'm really hoping that next year will be that year that they pull through.

But, see, here's the thing. Nobody wants to be that team that gets beat. Nobody that plays them is feeling sorry for them at all. They're like, we're not going to be the team that gets beat. So, yeah, so trust me, all the single-A schools and the double-A schools that may not have as good a program, they are not going to take their call to get them on the schedule next year because they don't want to be the team that gets beat by Columbia. But it's going to happen.

I guarantee it's going to happen. Absolutely. Jimmy, they should have beat East Lawrence earlier in the season. They had a similar situation, an 85-yard touchdown callback on a holding penalty. Again, but they're much more competitive this year. I saw them against most of the schools more competitive. Jimmy, we'll be previewing the first round of the playoffs, a lot of teams in the area. Frankly, 95% of the games were played last night. There are a few Red Bay in our area, I know, plays tonight. Most of the games were played last night to have that one extra day and then also, obviously, for Halloween festivities.

Jimmy, where can we go to line, my friend, and get your wrap-up of last night and all the other good stuff? Yeah, just go to AL.com at preps, preps at AL.com, and you can find all the scores from last night and the roundup and all the different games. And you can read about the big game with Wes Morgan and Deschler. You can read about Marshall's big win over Scottsboro. But if you're out of games, we say this every week, don't forget this. I hope everybody will write this down.

You can go to X and post your videos to at ALDOT.com, capital P for preps, and your video could make it onto the website. And I hope people will do this during the playoffs because even though there's less games, we still can't be there for all the games. That's right. And so, if you can put a video out, it really helps us out. We look forward to that. Jimmy, we look forward to your coverage. Thank you so much for your time today, and hopefully you'll get more treats than tricks tonight on Halloween, okay?

Hi, me too. Thanks, guys. All right. Thank you, bud. Jimmy Lay, got it all covered there at AL.com. Coming up, what about the gang on the plains? The latest Auburn Talk with Justin Ferguson on deck. You're on the Boomo Bugg Show here on 93.9 The Score. It doesn't matter if you're running grills 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.

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That's going to be a big one. You know, I guess both teams are going to be coming into this game thinking, man, if we could win, or both head coaches be coming in and saying, man, we could win. That could calm down some stuff around us. So, yeah, it's interesting. I think a week after Auburn, you know, won a game between two winless SEC teams, they now get another winless SEC team coming here. And it's just, you got to take advantage of these opportunities when they come your way.

Here's the question. Who will be Auburn's starting quarterback tomorrow night? I would be surprised if it's not Ashton Daniels. I think Jackson Arnold's got a shot to start for sure. I think Hugh Freeze has been very adamant that they're close and they're, you know, both of them had a good week of practice and all that. I think, you know, in his heart of hearts, I think Hugh Freeze would like to have Jackson Arnold be his quarterback. I think they think he is the best fit for this offense.

He is the best option. But we've also seen Jackson Arnold struggle to play winning football these last several games. And last week against Arkansas, what happens? He throws a huge pick six. He gets benched. Ashton Daniels comes into the game. Auburn's offense doesn't, you know, doesn't light the world on fire after that. They don't even score another touchdown, but he did a good job of taking what the defense gave him, making, you know, good, just smart plays, avoiding the big mistake and, you know, getting Auburn, helping Auburn to a win.

Jackson Arnold this week was second in drills behind Ashton Daniels when we saw him. So I would think it's going to end up being Ashton Daniels just because, you know, he hadn't really done anything to get himself unseated. But I think Freeze wants both of them ready to play and it could go either way, but I'm going to lean towards Daniels just because of what we saw last week against Arkansas and what we saw earlier this week in practice. You know, it's impressive to go six of six in field goals in Alex McPherson.

It's been a very good story itself. But when you get in the red zone six times and you don't score a touchdown, that is a concern. Certainly some of this is first down production and then converting on third down. But I'm sure you've talked about this all week on your side. When Auburn gets in the red zone, they cannot settle or continue to settle for one field goal after another. The last two seasons, this has been the biggest indictment against Hugh Freeze and this team is that they get in the red zone and they cannot score touchdowns.

[1:40:54] You know, I've said it a few times, but if you go back in the last decade, there's only been one team with a worse red zone touchdown percentage in SEC play than Auburn these last two seasons. Each of these last two seasons, there's only been one team worse, and that was Tennessee back in 2017 when they went 0-8. This is, I mean, this is a historically bad offense at scoring touchdowns in the red zone. And that's, you know, that's what's holding Auburn back. That's what's keeping, like, you have a good defense.

Your special teams are getting better. You've got weapons. You feel like, you know, you've got, you've had opportunities, but even, even in the, you know, look at, look back at all the games Auburn lost this season. How many of them, how many of them were, you know, games where they missed opportunities to score touchdowns in the red zone and they came back to haunt them? It doesn't haunt them against Arkansas. Arkansas is the worst defense in the SEC. Yep. Yep. And you weren't able to score touchdowns against them.

Well, guess what? You get Kentucky this week. Kentucky is not as bad of a defense, but they are second worst in the league right now in, in red zone touchdown percentage. So if you can't score at home, you can't score touchdowns at home against Kentucky. Uh, when you get into the red zone, I mean, you're just, you're talking about yet another week where it's just, you, you're seeing nothing better. You're seeing nothing new from this Auburn offense. And that's, that's a really bad sign for a guy in Hugh Freeze who's trying to keep his job right now.

Justin Ferguson, the Auburn Observer. Uh, talk to us, if you will, about the intangibles to that issue about job security, because this is, let's face it, it's a winnable game. You're at home. It's at night. Kentucky's not exactly lighting it up. This is not Kentucky basketball. It's football. They got their own issues. And then after that, correct me if I'm wrong, you got to go on the road to the darlings of the SEC Vanderbilt off Mercer, obviously a winnable game. Then the good news is your home.

The bad news is it's the ultimate rival game against Alabama. Your thoughts just about, just from the intangible standpoint of how important a win is for Hugh Freeze, especially given the balance of the schedule. Yeah, my thing is, is that you win, you earn a right to survive for another week. If you lose, I think all bets are off, you know, in terms of his job security. You cannot, like, I'm not saying, like, I'm not saying Kentucky is a layup by any means, but it's kind of like the basketball, it's kind of like the basketball thing, hit your layups.

Like, you know, just when you have these opportunities, you got to take them. If you don't, it's a really, it's a really bad sign. And I'll give you something, you know, I'm not, I think Auburn is the better team. I think Auburn's better at the line of scrimmage. I think if Auburn just, you know, doesn't make big mistakes and plays to their crowd at home, I think they come out of this game with a win tomorrow night. But I will give you something that'll get you a little bit kind of a pause for Auburn in this matchup with Hugh Freeze.

Each of his first two seasons at Auburn, he has gone on the road, Auburn has gone on the road, won by multiple scores, and then came back home the next week and laid an egg on offense and lost at home two years ago. They beat Arkansas by 38 on the road, then lose to New Mexico State the next week. Last year, they go beat Kentucky, you know, kind of like this past season. They beat Kentucky, they beat Kentucky and say, hey, you know, all right, we're off the losing streak, things are turned around, then they go flatline and lose to Vandy at home.

This is another one of those scenarios where you've got to win away from home. You can't fall flat coming back home. And so, you know, this is the bottom line. You've got to take advantage of this. One thing that was improved, as you alluded to, was the kicking game. Obviously, 6-6 field goal speaks for itself, but Auburn blocked a punt. Pleasant, who has been a pleasant surprise, part of the pun, 49-yard kickoff return. No question, Auburn's special teams have come light year since the Oklahoma game.

They have, and, you know, I think, you know, you kick, like great for Alex McPherson, you make all those kicks in that game, and that was such a really good story to see for a kid who's gone through so much, and they're coming off a really rough game against Missouri to kind of turn around and have that kind of winning performance. You've got to have good snaps. You've got to have good holds in that situation. It was raining. It was windy. So, to be able to hit those in those spots were good.

Auburn's punting game is still not great, but they're kind of making the most of it as they can right now. But, Rayshon Pleasant is a difference-maker kick return. They've cut down their penalties dramatically on special teams. That's kind of been the area where they've struggled the most these last couple seasons. So, yeah, I mean, I think your special teams is taking that step forward. Your defense continues to be really good. It's just now everyone's staring at your offense thinking, all right, when are you going to get an improvement?

[1:45:55] When are you going to take that step forward? And, obviously, the pressure is going to be on you this week. Justin, obviously, something else that I think does not get enough attention, and that is everybody talks about lowering the boom on a head coach. We're basically just over a month away from, let's face it, the only signing period left on the high school calendar. Your thoughts about how things are going when it comes to recruiting and how much of an influence is the fact that here you are heading down the stretch as far as trying to close the deal on this class coming up here the first weekend of December?

I think you're in a spot if you're Auburn where you have not had the season that you thought you were going to potentially have, and it hasn't – like, look, Auburn didn't have a great summer in high school recruiting. This was always going to be a smaller class. This was always going to be not as big of a group. But they didn't win enough on the recruiting trail in the summer, and they thought, okay, well, if we get to the fall and we win, we turn things around, we can flip some of these guys and get some of them.

You haven't had that yet, so you haven't really gotten that benefit. And I think that puts Hugh Freeze in a really tough spot. I will say, I mean, we've seen this in the past from other coaches and other situations where if you're kind of borderline at the end of the year, right, you know, you're barely over .500 or you may have a losing record or you have a decision to make if you're an athletic department about the future of your football coach, sometimes you can say, hey, well, they're recruiting really well.

Let's let it play out and, you know, let's let it play out and keep that class together. Auburn doesn't have that benefit this year. So, I mean, it's like straight up now or never for Hugh Freeze in this final month. This month of November, he's got to win games. I think he needs to beat a Vandy or an Alabama. He's definitely got to beat Kentucky and Mercer. Otherwise, you know, there's just not a whole lot of ammunition for him anymore. Well, we'll see how it comes out.

I know you're going to have the absolute latest pregame, postgame coverage. Auburn looked impressive in basketball, beating Memphis, rounding them this week. And then, of course, everything for basketball gets started on Monday. The E6 a.m. emails on Wednesday, the mailbag on Friday, the podcast. We could get online and get all the great stuff. Yep, AuburnReserve.com. Check it out there. A lot of basketball and football this week, getting ready for the Kentucky game. I was at Memphis last night, the Memphis game in Atlanta. Auburn got a huge blowout win.

They opened the season against Bethune-Cookman, a team that's, you know, potentially going to be an NCAA tournament team out of the SWAC this year. You know, that's on Monday night with this brand-new roster. So, it's a great time to jump on board. I'll have all the coverage Saturday night and Sunday of this Auburn-Kentucky game as well. So, AuburnReserve.com, sign up there. It's a super busy time of year, and we'll have plenty of it covered. Justin, thanks for your time. Break out the woolies. You may need them tomorrow night.

Yeah, this is one of the few times where I'm glad that we still have a, that we have a closed press box. I miss the old open one in Jordan here, but tomorrow's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine with that. That one is frost on the pumpkin. Justin Ferguson, the Auburn Observer. Coming up, time to observe the stupid underdog picks. Straight ahead. Stay with us. The season's in full swing, and there's no better place to watch football than Sam's Sports Grill in Florence.

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Welcome back in. Two questions, BB. First, what is your Halloween costume of choice? And what are your stupid underdog picks? I'm actually going as myself, which is scary enough. The first pick, UNA 2-6, traveling to Utah Tech. This is a 3 o'clock kickoff tomorrow. Utah Tech's 1-7. That's very deceiving because they've lost three one-run score games in Torlington State. Number three ranked. Beat them. Pulled away in the close game. But I've just got a feeling about this game. Utah Tech quarterback Bronson Barbin has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns.

Dylan Wade, Destin Wade, is playing better. And I just have a feeling UNA is going to pick up their first road win. They need very badly. UNA 24, Utah Tech 17. Oklahoma at Tennessee. Tennessee a 3.5-point favorite. 6-30 game on ABC. We talked about this game a lot this week. Tennessee's defense is Jekyll and Hyde. They do sacks. Turnovers well. The rest of it, not very well. But their offense is very prolific. Tennessee 34, Oklahoma 27. Kentucky at Auburn. The Tigers a 10-and-point favorite. This 6-30 game more than I.

If Auburn starts Ashton Daniels and he plays just a good game, conservative game. Auburn runs for 200 yards and they score in the red zone, as we talked about. I think Auburn wins the game at 31-21. The stupid underdog pick, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, or an 8.5-point underdog to Florida State in Tallahassee. No, they won't. Upset special here. Wake Forest, who's playing much better than Florida State, will beat the Seminoles. Florida State may get the wake-up call based on that. I agree with you. It's time. UNA, they are due.

I'm taking the Lions to roar in that one. The count there, 28-25. Tennessee and Oklahoma, it's a night game on Rocky Top. If you've ever been up there, when the sun goes down, it rocks, it rolls. Tennessee should roll 31-28 over the Sooners. Auburn and Kentucky, who's going to be the quarterback? I agree with you. I think regardless, I think Auburn's on fire this time. 25-21 Tigers over those felines. The stupid underdog pick, thought about taking Cal over Virginia. I'm going to go with the other V team.

Let's go big and go home. Vanderbilt over the Mighty Horns from Texas, 28-25. Diego getting more love when it comes to the Heisman vote, BB. Yeah, that is not a hate upset to me if Vandy wins that game. Hope everybody has a fun and safe Halloween. We'll tell everybody what the final result. We'll get the official brackets for the high school playoffs pertaining to Class 7A Region 4 and talk about that and preview the upcoming first round of the high school playoffs. Still a few games around.

Have a fun and safe Halloween and football weekend. And keep in mind, Tuesday, the first big poll, the college football poll, will come out on Tuesday. The question is, where will the world be on Monday after another wild and crazy weekend coming up? That's going to take care of us for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again next time, noon to 2. Remember, the time changes this weekend right here on Sports Radio 93.9, the score.