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 It's time for UNA Football Night from Lost Pizza. For the next hour we'll go in depth as we talk to your University of North Alabama Lions.

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 UNA Football Night from Lost Pizza is brought to you by Lost Pizza Shoals, Burnley Spine & Sport, Singing River Brewery, Alabama Health Guidance, Renaissance Eye Care, Turbo Coffee,

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 and Brown Equipment Company. Live from Lost Pizza in historic downtown Florence, here's the voice of the Lions, Benjamin Ray.

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 Happy Monday and welcome to another night of UNA Football Night here at Lost Pizza Shoals. Benjamin Ray, Mike Ezekiel with you.

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 And Mike, what an unbelievable crowd. I've heard multiple people say it already tonight. There is nowhere to sit. It is a jam-packed house here on this cold, rainy Monday night.

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 You know, I think we're getting to the point here at Lost Pizza. If you don't get here by 6.30, you're not going to get a seat. So everybody's coming early and they're ready to go.

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 A lot of people already have their food because they got here so early. So really good to see a great crowd. And we've had non-stop great crowds throughout the year.

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 Kudos to Chuck and his staff here. They do such an awesome job. They've been so welcoming.

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 We started with the basketball show last year. It's rolled into football this year.

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 And I'm all years of doing this. This has been the best place we've had a coaches show. So it's been a whole lot of fun.

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 Yeah, not to mention the good food, man. I love Lost Pizza. The chicken spaghetti, by the way, that's kind of been on my mind today with the queso in it.

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 Chicken spaghetti is a winner today.

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 We might have to dig into that a little later. North Alabama is coming off of a tough loss to Austin Peay last week. We're trekking west this week. We're going to fly out Friday to St. George, Utah.

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 We've been to Cedar City twice. We've been to BYU once. Now we go to our third place in Utah in the last five years. Kind of crazy to think a conference game coming up in St. George.

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 But Utah Tech coming up this weekend. And Mike, the first thing that jumps out is you see Utah Tech 1-7, but nobody feels that way about them. They've played some really close games this year.

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 Yeah, you look at strength of schedule, and I know over the last two or three years we've looked at North Alabama strength of schedule in the top 20. Well, this year Utah Tech is number two.

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 Portland State's the only other team in the Massey ratings with a tougher strength of schedule. And that goes – they played the number seven team in the nation to open the year.

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 Number 19 team in the nation after that. Northern Arizona, the other – the NAU, not UNA.

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 Number eight, Idaho was their third game. So three back-to-back opponents that were in the top 20 to start the year.

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 Then they had Northern Iowa, who wasn't ranked, but perennially a great program.

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 Kurt Warner, all the history there. And then, of course, the UAC is just stacked and loaded.

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 And all four of their games, they've had some tough ones here and there, but Central Arkansas, that one came down to the wire.

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 But they're looking to snap a skid. They're at home. It's a big one for them.

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 And they've played a lot of challenging opponents.

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 We're going to talk to Coach Deerman about some of the geography challenges out west as well as we get set to make the cross-country trek.

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 Mike, it is end of October. November will be here in just a couple of days.

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 And with that comes the wonderful crossover time in athletics.

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 And for the University of North Alabama, it's championship week.

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 Soccer's in the ASUN championship tournament this week, Thursday, up in Nashville.

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 They'll play Jacksonville in the opening round.

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 Cross-country opens up with their championships on Friday morning down in Jacksonville, Florida.

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 Brian Bett looks to defend his championship from a season ago.

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 And it feels like just yesterday we were starting our fall sports, and here we are in our championship windows.

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 I know, yeah. It all starts Wednesday and Thursday, getting started there with soccer, as you said.

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 And then Friday, the big cross-country race.

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 Brian Bett won last year, looking to double up.

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 He's got a lot of competition.

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 And even on the women's side, we'll see what happens there.

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 The Lions have some people that could possibly win that one as well.

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 And then you roll into the start of basketball season, Night of Champions.

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 We promoted that again today.

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 That's November 7th coming up.

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 But on November 1st, a scrimmage or exhibition, I should say, that's a ticketed event that the public can actually watch UNA basketball.

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 Monday, women's basketball.

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 Of course, football Saturday, as we're talking about.

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 There's a lot going on.

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 We're in that crossover.

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 Get over to UNA Athletics.

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 There's a lot of things that you can see right now, a lot of excitement.

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 I don't know if I can talk about this, but we're going to.

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 Because you get inside information on this show.

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 But Davis Farlow's in the house.

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 Cross country, Brian Bett.

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 He's about to get his – he already has his championship ring.

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 But I guess we'll debut it very soon.

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 I'm not sure when that will go out.

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 But pretty cool that he's already gotten to see his ring.

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 Yeah, and he deserves it.

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 I mean, he got the trophy and it started as a plaque.

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 And then he actually got a trophy that sits in the lobby of CB&S Bank Arena.

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 And now the ring.

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 And so deserved for him.

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 What a mark on history he's made.

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 And now for him to have that forever and to try to add a second one.

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 He's got to figure out which ring do you go to next.

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 Do you do the other ring finger?

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 Do you put it, you know, somewhere on your index?

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 Brian Bett's a guy that can collect a lot of them.

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 It's going to be fun to see that video.

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 Davis does a phenomenal job.

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 All right, we got a fun show coming up.

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 We're going to jump into it.

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 We got Noah Gregg, emerging redshirt freshman wide receiver for North Alabama.

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 We got Christian Burkhalter, tight intern, defensive end.

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 We're going to talk to them coming up in just a little bit.

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 But coming up next, head football coach Brent Dierman stops by for the first time this evening.

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 We'll unload on Austin Peay game last week, preview Utah Tech, talk to coach about everything else in between.

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 So let's take our first time out.

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 We're off and running here from Los Pizza Shoals in historic downtown Florence.

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 This is UNA Football Night on 93.9 The Score.

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 Flavor is calling at Los Pizza Company Shoals.

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 Introducing the new limited time only margarita pizza.

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 Fresh basil, fine ripened tomatoes, and creamy mozzarella pearls on our homemade crust.

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 Light, bright, and bursting with flavor.

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 Try our all new dry rub wings.

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 Seasoned to perfection with bold smoky spices.

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 It'll have you coming back for more.

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 Don't forget dessert.

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 Cotton Blue's Cheesecake Slices are here.

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 Creamy, dreamy, and downright legendary.

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 These flavors won't stick around forever.

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 Only at Los Pizza Company Shoals, where the lost get fed.

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 Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance.

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 Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan or you are under 65 and exploring individual health care options,

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 Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.

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 Our local agents make it simple, so stop by our office at 885 Florence Boulevard or give us a call at 256-648-5710.

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 Again, that's 256-648-5710.

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 Hey guys, how long have you been wearing those out-of-date, scratched-up glasses?

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 This is Dr. Ham Moore with Renaissance Eye Care.

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 Go ahead and do as the woman in your life has been asking and schedule an eye exam.

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 You can go to renaissanceeyecare.com or call 767-5000 to see either Dr. Kathy Werner, Dr. Lisa Campbell, or myself.

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 Everyone knows it's time to evaluate the health of your eyes and get a new pair of glasses.

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 We can make sure you won't miss any of the action this fall and roar lines.

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 Visit your local Kubota dealer for a demo today.

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 Stop by Brown Equipment, located at 826 North Military Street in Loretto, or visit them online at brownequipmentcompany.com.

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 Join us at Singing River Brewery, your local hub for great beer and community fun.

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 Ready to serve delicious drinks and host amazing events?

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 Try our Golden Mainer Leo's Roar, and 50% goes to UNA Athletics.

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 Support your local business and college community while enjoying a fantastic atmosphere.

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 Don't miss out on the good times.

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 Come sip, socialize, and savor the taste of Singing River Brewery.

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 Welcome to Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic, located in downtown Florence.

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 We offer a large array of therapies and techniques to help you get back in the game of life.

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 One of those therapies is red light slash infrared light therapy.

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 Dry needling is used to help reduce pain associated with painful trigger points.

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 Our Class 4 laser therapies are used to decrease inflammation and improve the speed of healing of sprains, tendinitis, and plantar fasciitis.

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 Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic is proud to partner with UNA to keep our lions performing at their best.

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 Roar Lions.

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 Good night down here at Lost Pizza Shoals.

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 Benjamin Ray, Mike Ezekiel with you for UNA football night here on 93.9 The Score.

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 We've got the head football coach, Brent Dierman, hanging out with us.

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 And, Coach, I have teed it up all week, putting you on the spot.

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 You were about to tell me before we came live, but you finally ordered the Beekeeper, my go-to favorite pizza.

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 The review?

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 It's pretty good.

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 I still will probably go with the Otis.

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 We usually, Chuck takes care of us, and we get four pizzas over there.

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 So we put in in the rotation this week, and I think everybody likes it.

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 When you get the pizza that you like here, it is really hard to branch out because for so long I had the one that I liked, the pie pie.

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 And then I hear about the Beekeeper, so I had to try it.

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 And now it has emerged as my favorite.

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 So once you get your go-to, it's kind of where you go every week.

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 Yeah, so like I've told you all before, tonight is pizza, and then tomorrow night we get some, as a staff, we get chicken out, the chicken spaghetti, and it's up there now.

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 I really like the chicken spaghetti, too.

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 Exactly what I said, and by the way, with that Beekeeper, the hot honey.

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 Got to do the hot honey.

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 It's a good little secret, well-kept, but the hot honey, it really makes it.

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 Well, that's my nickname, my wife gives me.

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 All right, Coach, let's talk some football now.

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 Dropped a tough road win up to Austin Peay last week, a conference game, 56-28, the final score.

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 But, Coach, we really saw a tale of two halves in that one, and one thing that we can always say is this team battled for four quarters after a slow start.

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 Yeah, we've got to end the slow starts, you know, defensively to kind of sum it up with the two halves.

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 Offensively, they came out and had a three and out right off the bat, and offensively, we drive the length of the field, getting to a third and three.

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 I felt like we were in a good play, good situation, and we sell a route.

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 I go back and I look at it, and I probably overanalyze everything.

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 We got Destin to roll to his left as a quarterback, and maybe I'd second-guess that.

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 Maybe we shouldn't have get him to roll to his left, and we'd have an incompletion there.

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 We missed the field goal, and I think that's the second or third time this year that we've missed a field goal on the opening drive,

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 which makes it kind of a deflating situation where if you get points there, you keep momentum.

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 And we just lost the momentum right there off the bat, and Austin Peay seized it.

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 And we just missed too many opportunities in that first half of the game, and you look up, it's 28-7.

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 It's like we've done a couple games this year.

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 You get away from who you are.

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 You know, we want to run the ball, but once it's 28-7 and then goes to 35-7, hats off to our team.

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 We pulled between two possessions at two different moments, and that's like a half.

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 They just kept fighting.

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 We just talked today about we've got to play with better effort.

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 We've got to play with better passion in the first half of that football game.

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 We've got to learn how to play on the road better.

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 Yeah, and then, you know, talking about staying in that game the way you did, having to throw the ball,

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 change your game plan a little bit.

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 You get into that fourth quarter, and I start to look at what we're doing on third down

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 because it seemed like every big play in that game came on third and 10 or third and 12

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 where we had an explosive play to keep a drive alive.

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 Then I look, you went 11 for 20 the whole game, and that's really good at moving the sticks

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 and kind of keeping yourself in it.

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 I tell you, a lot of people don't probably know this.

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 Austin Peay came into the game the sixth best defense in the country on third down defense.

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 So we knew we had to change things up.

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 If you looked at us, we were probably funkier, getting funky formations,

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 do a lot of crazy things on third down for that reason.

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 We wanted for us to be the aggressors on third down.

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 I thought we had a great third down plan.

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 You look at the stat book, we're over 50%, which is phenomenal on third down.

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 The problem was the turnovers.

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 I mean, you have three turnovers, which killed us.

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 I think Austin Peay going into that game was the best defense in our conference,

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 and we had 477 yards against them.

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 So we moved the ball.

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 We converted third downs.

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 We just got to do a better job of finishing drives.

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 We had a missed field goal.

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 We had a turnover in the red zone.

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 That's two touchdown opportunities right there.

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 So there are some positives you can take out of that game.

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 But at the end of the day, we need to win football games.

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 Destin Wade, coach, 330 yards, two touchdowns.

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 He had 60 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown as well.

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 I know he had the three interceptions as well.

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 But you look at his career now, two years at Kentucky, I think he started one game.

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 One year at Colorado, played in one game, I believe.

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 And then he comes here to North Alabama.

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 He's just a redshirt sophomore on paper.

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 So each week, he's still very young in his career.

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 But first half to second half, what kind of growth did you see?

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 Another one that I don't think me and you guys have talked about this.

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 It's not an excuse at all.

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 Austin Peay still has an old school crown on their field.

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 And we never see that.

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 And when you go on the road as a quarterback and the first time you're playing on a crown field and you're making a throw from the hash to the field, from the boundary hash to the field, you almost have to throw the ball down because of the crown.

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 So a lot of his misses in that first half were on out routes, if you think about it, or throwing a field hitch that he sails three, four yards over his head.

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 And Coach Sherrick did a fantastic job.

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 We get there early.

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 We try to throw early.

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 But if you're not accustomed to playing on that thing, it takes some time to get used to it.

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 And that's really what happened in the first half is he's trying to get used to things.

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00:14:19,740 --> 00:14:21,780
 He's missing those that he normally makes.

212
00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:23,400
 And then the second half, he's playing.

213
00:14:23,580 --> 00:14:24,360
 He plays phenomenal.

214
00:14:25,060 --> 00:14:27,040
 But by that time, it's 28-7.

215
00:14:27,180 --> 00:14:30,400
 So we've got to find a better way to get him accustomed to that.

216
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:39,680
 And I don't know if we've tried to find a crown field somewhere around here or something, but it's tough for a former quarterback knowing that you've got to step into that situation.

217
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:45,300
 And that might be the next topic we need to talk about is the crown field, because I had not thought about that until you mentioned it.

218
00:14:45,500 --> 00:14:47,880
 Well, you rarely see it on a turf field either.

219
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:53,220
 A lot of grass fields are made that way for drainage sake and then a lot of option teams.

220
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,900
 I know we've got a former Harding Bisons fan in the room.

221
00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,260
 A lot of option teams like having the crown.

222
00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,200
 So those B-backs get to run downhill when they hit that path.

223
00:15:03,700 --> 00:15:07,520
 Well, Austin Peay still has the crown and they have turf, which is rare.

224
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:09,980
 But you just don't see it as much anymore.

225
00:15:10,420 --> 00:15:17,420
 Yeah, and I wondered if that was going to change the game plan at all, because, you know, at Wilson, when I played for Cody Gross, we had the crown field.

226
00:15:17,540 --> 00:15:19,720
 We ran the veer and the option.

227
00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:22,620
 And that was a big part of it was using that crown to your advantage.

228
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,620
 But I had not thought about that for us in a turf field and how that might have changed things.

229
00:15:26,700 --> 00:15:29,480
 Yeah, you're standing on top of the crown and you're throwing out routes.

230
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:34,580
 You're really throwing a downward pass, which you don't ever do as a quarterback.

231
00:15:34,820 --> 00:15:36,900
 So it's not an excuse.

232
00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:42,500
 It's just telling you why he probably played the way he did in the first half compared to the second half.

233
00:15:43,020 --> 00:15:48,680
 Going to the locker room, coach, coming out of the locker room, 14 points in the third quarter really moved the football well.

234
00:15:49,140 --> 00:15:50,720
 Take us into those halftime adjustments.

235
00:15:51,060 --> 00:15:53,080
 What was the message to the team overall?

236
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:58,720
 We just came in and said, guys, we all know that we're not playing our standard.

237
00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:01,080
 We're not tackling well on defense.

238
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,920
 We're not finishing on offense.

239
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,480
 And we've got to get some things going.

240
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:15,000
 Really took the game plan and moved it aside because you're playing a team that we were struggling to slow them down.

241
00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,020
 So we thought we need to probably go ahead and get in a two-minute mode.

242
00:16:18,220 --> 00:16:24,320
 So we got into one of our four receiver packages so we could play faster and have more speed on the field.

243
00:16:24,900 --> 00:16:29,000
 And I thought we executed the kind of two-minute package pretty well in that second half.

244
00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,920
 And it kind of takes away from the rushing side of things.

245
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:35,620
 But that's the game we had to play.

246
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,380
 And it's good work for us.

247
00:16:39,100 --> 00:16:41,380
 But we take Caleb heavily off the field.

248
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,380
 I don't usually like taking Caleb off the field very much.

249
00:16:44,380 --> 00:16:49,460
 So we've just got to win the first half more often so we don't put ourselves in that situation.

250
00:16:49,820 --> 00:16:54,340
 And, Coach, to your point, every scoring drive that UNA had in that game was three minutes or less.

251
00:16:54,380 --> 00:16:56,180
 It was essentially a two-minute drive.

252
00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:57,440
 I think there was one nine play.

253
00:16:57,540 --> 00:17:01,300
 And then there were some that had some explosive plays that go back to Noah Gregg's catch.

254
00:17:01,340 --> 00:17:04,540
 It went 67 yards on the free play there.

255
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,200
 And I'm just kind of looking at the receiving numbers and a lot of targets for Destin.

256
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,960
 It seems like he's kind of comfortable throwing the ball to anybody.

257
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,020
 You see Justin Pegues had six receptions.

258
00:17:13,180 --> 00:17:15,360
 Tanaka had five, had a touchdown there at the end.

259
00:17:15,420 --> 00:17:17,220
 Do you think he's kind of getting comfortable with everybody?

260
00:17:17,580 --> 00:17:18,140
 I think so.

261
00:17:18,260 --> 00:17:22,820
 I think he knows in what situations who he wants to go to.

262
00:17:22,940 --> 00:17:28,760
 You know, we've got two outside receivers with Noah and KJ that are probably two of our faster guys on our team.

263
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:33,440
 So anytime he gets them guys in a one-on-one deep ball situation, that's probably who he's leaning on.

264
00:17:34,140 --> 00:17:39,380
 Justin Pegues has been fantastic over the middle of the field, getting him match-ups on safeties.

265
00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:40,980
 Tanaka is the same way.

266
00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:46,420
 I mean, he's a big body guy that anytime we get a back shoulder-like situation, dig routes, those things.

267
00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:53,200
 And then Headley is kind of a security blanket to him that anything over the middle of the field, that big body tied in.

268
00:17:53,660 --> 00:17:57,260
 And then our backs, our backs are becoming a big part of the passing game.

269
00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,540
 Juice, I know the last couple of weeks has had some receiving yards.

270
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:02,960
 Rod Taylor got in on this week on a screen play.

271
00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:06,700
 So I don't think he's got one guy in particular that he's looking to.

272
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:08,140
 I think it's based off the situation.

273
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,340
 Chat with UNA Head Football Coach Brent Dierman.

274
00:18:11,420 --> 00:18:14,600
 We're going to talk about some more of the individual efforts we saw last Saturday,

275
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:19,820
 as well as preview our trip out to St. George, Utah, when we come back to Lost Pizza Shoals.

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00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,180
 We'll take a quick timeout.

277
00:18:21,260 --> 00:18:22,140
 We'll be back after this.

278
00:18:22,220 --> 00:18:24,820
 This is UNA Football Night on 93.9 The Score.

279
00:18:25,980 --> 00:18:28,560
 Flavor is calling at Lost Pizza Company Shoals.

280
00:18:28,900 --> 00:18:31,720
 Introducing the new limited-time-only margarita pizza.

281
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 Fresh basil, fine-ripened tomatoes, and creamy mozzarella pearls on our homemade crust.

282
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 Light, bright, and bursting with flavor.

283
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 Try our all-new dry-rub wings, seasoned to perfection.

284
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 With bold, smoky spices, it'll have you coming back for more.

285
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 Don't forget dessert.

286
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 Cotton, blues, cheesecake slices are here.

287
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288
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 These flavors won't stick around forever.

289
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 Only at Lost Pizza Company Shoals, where the lost get fed.

290
00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,740
 Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance.

291
00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:06,680
 Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan or you are under 65 and exploring individual

292
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 health care options, Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.

293
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 Our local agents make it simple, so stop by our office at 885 Florence Boulevard or give

294
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 us a call at 256-648-5710.

295
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:31,740
 Start your day the Turbo Way at Turbo Coffee in downtown Florence.

296
00:19:31,740 --> 00:19:36,980
 Whether you're craving a handcrafted latte, a refreshing smoothie, an energizing acai bowl,

297
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 or our famous house-made pastries, we've got something to fuel every part of your day.

298
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 Proudly located right in the heart of downtown Florence, Turbo Coffee is more than just your

299
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 neighborhood coffee shop.

300
00:19:47,220 --> 00:19:47,900
 We're a community.

301
00:19:48,380 --> 00:19:52,540
 And as proud supporters of UNA Athletics, we're cheering on the Lions every step of the

302
00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:52,800
 way.

303
00:19:53,180 --> 00:19:57,580
 So stop by Turbo Coffee today, where passion, flavor, and community come together.

304
00:19:57,820 --> 00:20:01,960
 Hey guys, how long have you been wearing those out-of-date, scratched-up glasses?

305
00:20:02,420 --> 00:20:04,800
 This is Dr. Hamp Moore with Renaissance Eye Care.

306
00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:09,180
 Go ahead and do as the woman in your life has been asking and schedule an eye exam.

307
00:20:09,180 --> 00:20:17,080
 You can go to renaissanceeyecare.com or call 767-5000 to see either Dr. Kathy Warner, Dr.

308
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:18,560
 Lisa Campbell, or myself.

309
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,600
 Everyone knows it's time to evaluate the health of your eyes and get a new pair of glasses.

310
00:20:24,020 --> 00:20:26,960
 We can make sure you won't miss any of the action this fall.

311
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 And roar lines.

312
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,440
 Join us at Singing River Brewery.

313
00:20:31,260 --> 00:20:33,420
 Your local hub for great beer and community fun.

314
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,360
 Ready to serve delicious drinks and host amazing events?

315
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,020
 Try our Golden Mainer Leo's Roar.

316
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 And 50% goes to UNA Athletics.

317
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 Support your local business and college community while enjoying a fantastic atmosphere.

318
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 Don't miss out on the good times.

319
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 Come sip, socialize, and savor the taste of Singing River Brewery.

320
00:20:58,420 --> 00:21:00,940
 Welcome to Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic.

321
00:21:01,060 --> 00:21:02,480
 Located in downtown Florence.

322
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:07,040
 We offer a large array of therapies and techniques to help you get back in the game of life.

323
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,080
 One of those therapies is red light slash infrared light therapy.

324
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 Dry needling is used to help reduce pain associated with painful trigger point.

325
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 Our class 4 laser therapies are used to decrease inflammation and improve the speed of healing,

326
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 of sprains, tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.

327
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:28,580
 Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic is proud to partner with UNA to keep our Lions performing at their best.

328
00:21:28,740 --> 00:21:29,300
 Roar Lions.

329
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:44,060
 We're back with you at Lost Pizza Shoals here in historic downtown Florence.

330
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,820
 Benjamin Ray, Mike Ezekiel, and head football coach Brent Dierman.

331
00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:52,340
 Coach, we're getting ready to get on the road.

332
00:21:52,500 --> 00:21:56,960
 Before we do that, though, we've got to talk about some of the player efforts that we had this past Saturday.

333
00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,600
 And let's start with the two young men that are here today.

334
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,220
 Let's start on the offensive side of the football.

335
00:22:03,220 --> 00:22:09,540
 Noah Gregg, five receptions, 106 yards, had a 67-yard reception where he really broke free.

336
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,260
 We were just talking about him with you two weeks ago inside of Braleigh Stadium.

337
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,860
 We had some unbelievable physical plays.

338
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,220
 But redshirt freshman, I mean, how about the huge presence he's had for you this year?

339
00:22:20,580 --> 00:22:22,400
 Yeah, he's been big for us in big moments.

340
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:27,960
 You go all the way back to Illinois State, and the touchdown catch that he had going into the halftime,

341
00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:32,980
 whatever that halftime period was in that game, the big catch he made in the corner of the end zone

342
00:22:32,980 --> 00:22:39,640
 right there on the fade ball two weeks ago, has the post route right in front of the suites area

343
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:41,200
 right before halftime.

344
00:22:41,340 --> 00:22:44,040
 And then the game he had this week was huge.

345
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,980
 I mean, we needed that play, that 67-yard reception.

346
00:22:46,980 --> 00:22:50,780
 It was a much-needed jolt of energy when he did it.

347
00:22:51,620 --> 00:22:53,960
 So he's been amazing for us.

348
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,860
 But like I've always bragged about him, that guy grew up a UNA fan.

349
00:22:58,100 --> 00:23:02,000
 So it means more to him than most of our team.

350
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,460
 And he shows it by the way he practices and plays every day.

351
00:23:05,540 --> 00:23:06,700
 He was raised the right way.

352
00:23:07,780 --> 00:23:09,320
 Mom and dad are in the building tonight.

353
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:10,660
 It's good to see them.

354
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,500
 But he's got a phenomenal work ethic, which makes him what he is.

355
00:23:15,540 --> 00:23:19,380
 And just an amazing human interest story, too, how he started as a walk-on.

356
00:23:19,620 --> 00:23:24,580
 And local guy making his name for himself, gets a scholarship, and comes up through the ranks.

357
00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:26,060
 And he's definitely done it the right way.

358
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,500
 And you think about hard workers on this team and team players.

359
00:23:29,620 --> 00:23:31,000
 Noah Gregg defines that to a T.

360
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:31,620
 Absolutely.

361
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:32,680
 There's only one neck.

362
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,740
 I'm trying to get him to grow an actual full mustache.

363
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,800
 He's got kind of a half mustache-type thin thing going on right there.

364
00:23:39,380 --> 00:23:40,640
 Don't know what's going on there.

365
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,800
 But everything outside of that, love it about him.

366
00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:45,080
 Fantastic kid.

367
00:23:46,020 --> 00:23:47,700
 Like I said, he's raised the right way.

368
00:23:48,180 --> 00:23:52,360
 When he came out of high school, I think he weighed about $1.55 coming out of high school.

369
00:23:52,940 --> 00:23:54,680
 And he's worked his tail off.

370
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,880
 His best buddy is one of our fullbacks, Micah.

371
00:23:58,020 --> 00:23:59,820
 And Micah loves bench pressing every day.

372
00:23:59,860 --> 00:24:02,040
 So that's probably helped Noah to put some weight on.

373
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,280
 And you know me, Coach.

374
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,660
 I'm a proponent of everybody growing facial hair.

375
00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,660
 You and Coach Cruz both have shaved it various times.

376
00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:11,860
 And I've been like, hey, no, we've got to bring it back.

377
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,460
 So we'll encourage him to get that facial hair going.

378
00:24:13,460 --> 00:24:15,520
 My wife doesn't let me full shave anymore.

379
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:16,740
 She tells me I look like I'm 12.

380
00:24:17,140 --> 00:24:19,420
 So I have to keep a beard now.

381
00:24:19,540 --> 00:24:20,080
 Good, good.

382
00:24:20,100 --> 00:24:21,100
 It's part of our marital agreement.

383
00:24:21,420 --> 00:24:23,760
 Let's jump over to the defensive side of the football.

384
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,140
 Talk about a couple different dudes.

385
00:24:25,340 --> 00:24:28,060
 And let's start with the one that's here tonight, Christian Burkhalter.

386
00:24:28,220 --> 00:24:31,420
 And talk about the year he's had where he was your first mid-year signee.

387
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,200
 Comes in to play tight end.

388
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,520
 Mid-year this year moves to the defensive side of the football.

389
00:24:36,940 --> 00:24:39,280
 Gets a big strip sack on Saturday, Coach.

390
00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:40,340
 It's been quite the story.

391
00:24:40,340 --> 00:24:44,740
 I tell you, there's so many connections with football world.

392
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:46,960
 I don't know if you two knew this.

393
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,220
 Chris Parsons, the quarterback at Austin Peay,

394
00:24:49,620 --> 00:24:51,860
 I was his first offer coming out of high school.

395
00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:56,680
 So after the game, he was waiting outside the locker room for me to hug my neck.

396
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,260
 I hoped he didn't play as well as he did.

397
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:01,360
 But back then, I knew he was a good player.

398
00:25:02,020 --> 00:25:04,420
 I offered Christian Burkhalter coming out.

399
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:05,600
 I don't know if I was his first one,

400
00:25:05,660 --> 00:25:08,660
 but I was pretty close to his first offer coming out of high school.

401
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,760
 He ends up blowing up, has Oregon, UCLA, everybody in the country offered that guy.

402
00:25:14,140 --> 00:25:19,160
 But to be able to get him back and to coach him, we brought him here to play tight end.

403
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:24,640
 Had a good start to the years of tight end with injuries and things at defensive end.

404
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,960
 We said, you know, we got the perfect guy to come in and play well early.

405
00:25:30,620 --> 00:25:36,320
 And for him to be in a tight end three weeks ago and to turn around and be the defensive player of the game this week,

406
00:25:36,820 --> 00:25:38,000
 it's pretty amazing.

407
00:25:38,180 --> 00:25:42,240
 It speaks of his talent level, speaks of the motor that he plays with.

408
00:25:42,340 --> 00:25:46,300
 So we're really glad to have him and his younger brother here as well.

409
00:25:46,660 --> 00:25:48,620
 Younger brother couldn't be here tonight because he's in study hall.

410
00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:54,660
 Good place to be to miss this, but Christian talking about him, a very athletic gentleman.

411
00:25:54,820 --> 00:25:56,920
 We know that and we know his physical presence.

412
00:25:57,060 --> 00:26:01,260
 But the person Christian Burkhalter as well and what he means to UNA.

413
00:26:01,660 --> 00:26:03,900
 First time I met him, I said, hey, you're from Georgia Tech, right?

414
00:26:03,940 --> 00:26:05,180
 He's like, yeah, but I'm UNA now.

415
00:26:05,540 --> 00:26:06,440
 And that's my identity.

416
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,100
 And that meant a lot to me seeing that, you know, he's here and he's committed.

417
00:26:10,580 --> 00:26:12,940
 Yeah, and we're fighting like crazy to get him for another year.

418
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,560
 There's a chance we can get a medical red shirt for him and have him back.

419
00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:21,740
 Don't know what he'll be next year, tight end or DN if we do get him back.

420
00:26:21,820 --> 00:26:23,100
 But he'll be a UNA line.

421
00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:23,720
 That's all I know.

422
00:26:23,980 --> 00:26:26,080
 Shahe Atani, maybe both ways, right?

423
00:26:26,300 --> 00:26:26,740
 Yeah, there you go.

424
00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:28,340
 All right, Tango McCauley, coach.

425
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,080
 I feel like the last couple of weeks he's really come along at the linebacker position.

426
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,720
 And he opened the game on Saturday with a monster hit, a big old boom.

427
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,600
 But talk about the steps he's taken this season.

428
00:26:39,860 --> 00:26:42,580
 You know, Tango's a junior college linebacker that we took

429
00:26:42,580 --> 00:26:45,480
 that only played linebacker for about two years in his life.

430
00:26:45,580 --> 00:26:49,680
 He played some different positions earlier on, moved to linebacker.

431
00:26:49,780 --> 00:26:52,320
 So he's really just getting his feet underneath him now.

432
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,160
 Coming here, getting in Coach Carabolo's defense.

433
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:57,580
 He's learning the ropes to it.

434
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,480
 And you're starting to see him grow every single week.

435
00:27:00,780 --> 00:27:02,800
 First play of the game, he makes a heck of a tackle.

436
00:27:02,980 --> 00:27:04,980
 Kind of a tone-setting play early on.

437
00:27:05,380 --> 00:27:08,420
 He runs down on kickoff and is a bully sometimes on kickoff.

438
00:27:09,140 --> 00:27:10,340
 He's the spark plug.

439
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:16,180
 I kind of challenged him today and said, you know, somebody has to be the voice and somebody

440
00:27:16,180 --> 00:27:18,660
 has to be the persona of this defense.

441
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,860
 And you've got the ability to do it.

442
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,380
 So kind of challenged him to come out of his shell a little bit more even.

443
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:24,220
 Yeah.

444
00:27:24,300 --> 00:27:26,140
 And another guy, Demarqueus Robbins.

445
00:27:26,180 --> 00:27:27,140
 And we talk a lot about him.

446
00:27:27,180 --> 00:27:30,980
 But his stats really jumped out to me, knowing that he had nine solo tackles.

447
00:27:31,660 --> 00:27:36,760
 And it seemed like every time Austin Pease seemed to break through a little bit, he was there

448
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:37,300
 to stop it.

449
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,680
 I mean, he made a lot of big plays to save some yardage.

450
00:27:40,940 --> 00:27:41,920
 Yeah, he can run really well.

451
00:27:42,220 --> 00:27:46,060
 And when you have a wheel linebacker that can run, he can fix a lot of things.

452
00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:51,620
 So he's doing a lot better than we even planned that he would play.

453
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:57,040
 So he's another guy that he's a joy to coach, comes in, gets extra work every day, works

454
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:57,660
 his tell-off.

455
00:27:57,900 --> 00:28:01,800
 So when you got those type players, it makes going to work every day fun.

456
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,180
 I'll tell you what, I got to give a shout out real quick.

457
00:28:04,580 --> 00:28:06,580
 So last week I talked about chicken pot pie.

458
00:28:07,020 --> 00:28:07,220
 Yep.

459
00:28:07,780 --> 00:28:12,420
 And Caleb Hedley's mom made a chicken pot pie for the staff.

460
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:13,120
 Oh, that's great.

461
00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:14,060
 And brought it yesterday.

462
00:28:14,300 --> 00:28:15,320
 So give her a shout out.

463
00:28:15,340 --> 00:28:15,920
 It was amazing.

464
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,400
 I ate it for dinner last night and lunch today.

465
00:28:19,020 --> 00:28:20,420
 So good you got to eat it twice.

466
00:28:20,540 --> 00:28:20,820
 That's phenomenal.

467
00:28:20,820 --> 00:28:21,540
 So good I ate it twice.

468
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:22,100
 So let's start.

469
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,480
 Chicken pot pie this week.

470
00:28:23,660 --> 00:28:25,000
 Last week it was the lemon drop.

471
00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:27,300
 So what's the next thing you can speak into existence?

472
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,760
 Whatever Brian needs, text me to talk about.

473
00:28:29,980 --> 00:28:31,480
 I ended up finding a way to get it.

474
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,420
 So I'm going to ask Brian for, I'm going to text him for things I need.

475
00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:36,920
 Let's get some ice cream sandwiches or something on set.

476
00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:40,560
 When it comes to life, coach, let's talk about our trip out west to Utah.

477
00:28:40,900 --> 00:28:43,060
 And first of all, it's kind of wild, right?

478
00:28:43,100 --> 00:28:48,800
 A team from Florence, Alabama in the southeast going out west to Utah to play a football game.

479
00:28:48,820 --> 00:28:50,280
 And it's not a season opening game.

480
00:28:50,300 --> 00:28:52,820
 It's a conference game right in the middle of the year.

481
00:28:53,220 --> 00:28:55,020
 A three-hour, 40-minute flight.

482
00:28:55,180 --> 00:28:56,980
 You only lose an hour going out there.

483
00:28:57,060 --> 00:28:58,860
 Sometimes it feels like you're going to lose more.

484
00:28:58,860 --> 00:29:03,540
 But just the challenge of that long road trip, coach, just how daunting is it?

485
00:29:03,660 --> 00:29:06,420
 Well, the flight's going to be about 15 minutes for me because I'm

486
00:29:06,420 --> 00:29:09,380
 I'm going to pop a Dramamine right as soon as we get on the bus.

487
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,200
 So I will not feel it.

488
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,320
 But it's a lot better.

489
00:29:13,420 --> 00:29:19,740
 I go back to the D2 days when you had to make the bus rides, the six-hour, seven-hour bus rides.

490
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,540
 A three-hour flight is a lot better than a seven- or eight-hour bus ride.

491
00:29:23,540 --> 00:29:29,100
 I remember going from Russellville, Arkansas to northwest Oklahoma State in the panhandle there.

492
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:30,020
 And that was miserable.

493
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:35,040
 So I will take a three-hour bus, a three-hour plane ride without a doubt.

494
00:29:35,460 --> 00:29:35,700
 Yeah.

495
00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:37,960
 And the geography of Utah is so different.

496
00:29:38,060 --> 00:29:39,860
 Kind of like Alabama, you know, we're in the north here.

497
00:29:39,940 --> 00:29:42,780
 But, you know, you got the beaches if you go a little further south.

498
00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:46,260
 But Utah's a little different, too, where you have mountains in some areas like southern Utah,

499
00:29:46,380 --> 00:29:47,900
 who's not too far from St. George.

500
00:29:47,900 --> 00:29:49,860
 But you had to prepare for that elevation.

501
00:29:49,860 --> 00:29:50,680
 It was a lot colder.

502
00:29:51,140 --> 00:29:55,000
 Here, you're more in the Mojave Desert, kind of like right near Las Vegas.

503
00:29:55,420 --> 00:29:57,580
 A little different climate than we're preparing for this Saturday.

504
00:29:57,940 --> 00:30:04,160
 Yeah, when we went to southern Utah last year, I think they're like a mile above sea level.

505
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,680
 So we actually had the oxygen tanks and all that stuff on the sideline.

506
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,320
 I think the schools are only like an hour and a half, two hours apart from each other.

507
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:17,920
 And there's like 3,000 to 4,000 feet difference of elevation between the two schools.

508
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,240
 So they're not as high.

509
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:25,380
 So we're not expecting much of a kind of an oxygen level problem with going there.

510
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,420
 Give kind of us a little background.

511
00:30:27,980 --> 00:30:32,580
 So I educated our players a little bit on Utah Tech in the past.

512
00:30:32,820 --> 00:30:39,960
 As a former D2 transition to D1 University, Utah Tech is the old Dixie State.

513
00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:44,600
 So we're taking the heart of Dixie to the old Dixie State this weekend.

514
00:30:45,020 --> 00:30:48,000
 St. George located kind of in the southwest corner.

515
00:30:48,140 --> 00:30:50,320
 I've broken up my map over here, getting all the information.

516
00:30:50,420 --> 00:30:54,840
 But it's closer to Arizona than anything, not too far from Vegas, like Mike mentioned.

517
00:30:54,980 --> 00:30:57,380
 So the Lions are heading on the road this weekend.

518
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,480
 Long flight out to Utah, St. George, the location.

519
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:02,980
 It's going to be a fun one indeed.

520
00:31:03,140 --> 00:31:04,420
 Well, Coach, we're going to let you take a break.

521
00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:07,480
 Get back over to that beekeeper pizza if there's anything left.

522
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:09,920
 And coming up next, we're going to jump into our players' segments.

523
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,200
 We've got Christian Burkhalter and Noah Gregg in the house.

524
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,160
 We'll flip a coin and see who wants to go first.

525
00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:15,940
 We'll let Coach go get some more pizza.

526
00:31:16,060 --> 00:31:18,080
 So we'll be back after this to Lost Pizza Shoals.

527
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,900
 You're listening to UNA Football Night on 93.9 The Score.

528
00:31:21,900 --> 00:31:24,700
 Flavor is calling at Lost Pizza Company Shoals.

529
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 Introducing the new limited-time only Margarita Pizza.

530
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531
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535
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536
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539
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 Only at Lost Pizza Company Shoals, where the lost get fed.

540
00:31:53,900 --> 00:31:56,780
 Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance.

541
00:31:57,020 --> 00:32:02,740
 Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan or you are under 65 and exploring individual

542
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 health care options, Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.

543
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 Our local agents make it simple, so stop by our office at 885 Florence Boulevard or give

544
00:32:13,740 --> 00:32:17,440
 us a call at 256-648-5710.

545
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,040
 Again, that's 256-648-5710.

546
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,760
 Start your day the Turbo way at Turbo Coffee in downtown Florence.

547
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:33,020
 Whether you're craving a handcrafted latte, a refreshing smoothie, an energizing acai bowl,

548
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549
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:41,940
 Proudly located right in the heart of downtown Florence, Turbo Coffee is more than just your

550
00:32:41,940 --> 00:32:42,980
 neighborhood coffee shop.

551
00:32:43,260 --> 00:32:43,960
 We're a community.

552
00:32:44,420 --> 00:32:48,840
 And as proud supporters of UNA Athletics, we're cheering on the Lions every step of the way.

553
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:53,640
 So stop by Turbo Coffee today, where passion, flavor, and community come together.

554
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 When getting the job done right is job one, you need construction equipment that's built right.

555
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556
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557
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558
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559
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560
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561
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 at brownequipmentcompany.com.

562
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 Join us at Singing River Brewery, your local hub for great beer and community fun.

563
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564
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 Try our Golden Manor Leo's Roar, and 50% goes to UNA Athletics.

565
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566
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 Don't miss out on the good times.

567
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 Come sip, socialize, and savor the taste of Singing River Brewery.

568
00:33:54,780 --> 00:33:58,820
 Welcome to Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic, located in downtown Florence.

569
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 We offer a large array of therapies and techniques to help you get back in the game of life.

570
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,400
 One of those therapies is red light slash infrared light therapy.

571
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:10,960
 Dry needling is used to help reduce pain associated with painful trigger point.

572
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:16,500
 Our class 4 laser therapies are used to decrease inflammation and improve the speed of healing,

573
00:34:16,860 --> 00:34:19,560
 of sprains, tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.

574
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:24,900
 Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic is proud to partner with UNA to keep our Lions performing at their best.

575
00:34:25,060 --> 00:34:25,600
 Roar Lions.

576
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,200
 Alright, we're having fun down here at Lost Pizza Shoals, enjoying some great pizza,

577
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:40,840
 some good fellowship, and of course some football talk.

578
00:34:40,860 --> 00:34:44,340
 And we're happy to welcome to the show for the first time Christian Burkhalter.

579
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:50,020
 First year at North Alabama, originally from Mobile, Alabama, played at Spanish Fort High School,

580
00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:54,120
 spent some time at UCLA, spent some time at Georgia Tech, but most importantly,

581
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:55,940
 now he's a UNA Lion.

582
00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:00,900
 Spent some time playing offense as tight end, spent some time playing defensive end.

583
00:35:00,980 --> 00:35:05,040
 Christian Burkhalter, you've been a busy man this year, bouncing back both sides of the football.

584
00:35:05,140 --> 00:35:06,720
 We appreciate you joining us this evening.

585
00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:09,200
 Thank you for having me, Mr. Ben and Mr. Mike.

586
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:09,820
 You bet, man.

587
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:14,160
 So let's start with this, the jump from tight end to defensive end.

588
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:15,280
 And how did it come about?

589
00:35:15,380 --> 00:35:16,580
 Did you approach the coaches?

590
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:17,620
 Did they come to you?

591
00:35:17,700 --> 00:35:18,980
 Did you want to do this?

592
00:35:19,420 --> 00:35:21,400
 I want to do whatever they want me to do, honestly.

593
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:25,000
 And so I've played DN a lot in my career.

594
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,220
 And when coach came to me and said, hey, man, we want you to come off the edge, I said, let's do it.

595
00:35:30,340 --> 00:35:31,840
 And I was excited.

596
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:36,600
 It was a lot more work for me to get in the habit of playing tight end with just the steps

597
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,840
 and, you know, how Coach Cruz teaches it.

598
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,180
 You know, he's a great tight end coach and really appreciate him, love that guy.

599
00:35:43,380 --> 00:35:46,500
 You know, so when it came to switching over at the end, man, it was really natural.

600
00:35:46,740 --> 00:35:47,400
 I was excited.

601
00:35:47,780 --> 00:35:48,020
 Yes, sir.

602
00:35:48,220 --> 00:35:49,760
 So I just want to make sure I got this correct.

603
00:35:49,900 --> 00:35:53,740
 So coming out of high school right into college, you started as a defensive end.

604
00:35:54,660 --> 00:35:57,880
 When you went to Georgia Tech, did you also play defensive end?

605
00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:58,140
 Yes, sir.

606
00:35:58,140 --> 00:36:02,340
 And kind of like in the recruitment process to you and A, when was the thought came to

607
00:36:02,340 --> 00:36:04,180
 you like, hey, I could probably play tight end.

608
00:36:04,260 --> 00:36:05,460
 Was that something that interests you?

609
00:36:05,820 --> 00:36:06,100
 Yeah.

610
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:13,080
 So I played at a handful in high school and I actually, I played some at Georgia Tech too

611
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:13,420
 as well.

612
00:36:13,540 --> 00:36:14,360
 And a lot of people don't know that.

613
00:36:14,420 --> 00:36:16,880
 But in the spring, I was taking a lot of tight end reps.

614
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,240
 So it kind of got me excited.

615
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:21,100
 Like, hey, can I do both maybe?

616
00:36:21,300 --> 00:36:23,840
 Kind of just whatever y'all need me to do to help the team.

617
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:24,540
 Let me do that.

618
00:36:24,620 --> 00:36:26,500
 And it was tight end to start the season.

619
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:27,380
 And now it's D-end.

620
00:36:27,540 --> 00:36:29,140
 So, yeah.

621
00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:29,700
 Yes, sir.

622
00:36:30,260 --> 00:36:34,600
 You were UNA's first commitment in the spring transfer window, right?

623
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:34,800
 Yes, sir.

624
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,380
 So what was it about UNA that you were like, I got to get here?

625
00:36:37,700 --> 00:36:41,440
 Man, so Coach Dierman recruited me when he was at Kansas and we built a bond there.

626
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,120
 And then when I was thinking about hitting the portal, Thomas Johnston was a coach here

627
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:47,140
 for a while.

628
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:48,880
 And he's also a Spanish Fort guy.

629
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,800
 And I think he put me back on coach's radar.

630
00:36:52,220 --> 00:36:54,120
 And it didn't take much talking, man.

631
00:36:54,140 --> 00:36:55,360
 I knew I wanted to come to Florence.

632
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:57,020
 Yeah, glad you did.

633
00:36:57,100 --> 00:36:58,500
 And your brother's here as well.

634
00:36:58,580 --> 00:37:02,000
 And speaking of that, I have a fun stat to kind of share with everybody that may not know.

635
00:37:02,540 --> 00:37:05,400
 There's quite a few FCS teams that have brothers on the same team.

636
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:09,220
 There's only five that have had brothers on the field at the same time.

637
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,620
 And there's only one that have had brothers record a stat on the exact same play.

638
00:37:13,740 --> 00:37:14,660
 And that's you and your brother.

639
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,120
 Y'all had a tackle on the same play at Central Arkansas.

640
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:17,600
 Let's go.

641
00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:18,900
 Yeah, that was a good time, man.

642
00:37:19,060 --> 00:37:20,000
 Did you remember that play?

643
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:22,840
 Don't want to lie to you, Mike.

644
00:37:22,860 --> 00:37:23,740
 I don't remember that play.

645
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,340
 I think I was looking to the sideline to get the call for the next one.

646
00:37:27,500 --> 00:37:28,240
 Probably, right.

647
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,080
 But, yeah, no, we went back and watched it together.

648
00:37:30,220 --> 00:37:31,240
 And we were like, looky there, man.

649
00:37:31,380 --> 00:37:32,940
 You know, so, love, Bishop.

650
00:37:32,980 --> 00:37:33,580
 That's my dog.

651
00:37:33,700 --> 00:37:35,260
 We push each other every day.

652
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,040
 He pushes me, man, and, you know, to be great.

653
00:37:38,420 --> 00:37:40,920
 And, yeah, man, that's my dude.

654
00:37:41,340 --> 00:37:41,680
 Yes, sir.

655
00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:43,240
 Football family, right?

656
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:43,800
 Yes, sir.

657
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:44,400
 Yes, sir.

658
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,600
 Talk about the role football has played in your life.

659
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,380
 Well, you know, my dad played at Auburn.

660
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,020
 And, you know, my older brother played quarterback at Rhode Island.

661
00:37:53,460 --> 00:37:57,120
 And, you know, we've always been around ball, man.

662
00:37:57,180 --> 00:37:59,800
 And, you know, I used to always foul out of basketball games.

663
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,420
 So, my dad came to me one day, and he's just like, man, we need to find you some shoulder pads.

664
00:38:03,780 --> 00:38:05,040
 And we did.

665
00:38:05,180 --> 00:38:06,620
 And I'm happy we did.

666
00:38:06,740 --> 00:38:08,480
 You know, I love this sport and this game.

667
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:10,800
 And, yeah, man, it's been a blast.

668
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,980
 And it's good to have everybody balled in in football in my household.

669
00:38:14,420 --> 00:38:17,100
 So, your dad played quarterback at Auburn, right?

670
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:18,180
 So, he played tight end.

671
00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:18,820
 He played tight end.

672
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:19,380
 He was there.

673
00:38:19,580 --> 00:38:20,860
 He was in the same class as Bo Jackson.

674
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:21,260
 Okay.

675
00:38:21,380 --> 00:38:21,660
 Yes, sir.

676
00:38:21,660 --> 00:38:21,760
 Okay.

677
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,800
 Well, tied in from him, your brother played quarterback.

678
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,640
 And then you and your other brother, both on the defensive side of the football.

679
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:28,080
 Yes, sir.

680
00:38:28,260 --> 00:38:28,700
 Yes, sir.

681
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,120
 At least when we got to high school, we all played quarterback growing up.

682
00:38:31,140 --> 00:38:31,460
 Okay.

683
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:33,940
 But I realized I didn't want to do that much longer.

684
00:38:33,940 --> 00:38:35,980
 You know, when I hit about eighth grade, I want to hit people.

685
00:38:36,380 --> 00:38:38,840
 So, I'm glad I'm getting to do that now.

686
00:38:38,980 --> 00:38:39,620
 We are, too.

687
00:38:39,620 --> 00:38:40,080
 In the fruition.

688
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:41,180
 Well, let's go back to this.

689
00:38:41,220 --> 00:38:43,640
 You talked about your dad being in the same class as Bo Jackson, right?

690
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:46,680
 You know who was a coach at Auburn at that time, Ben?

691
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:47,520
 I died.

692
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:48,080
 Bobby Wallace.

693
00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:48,860
 Bobby Wallace.

694
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:49,220
 Yep.

695
00:38:49,460 --> 00:38:49,600
 Yep.

696
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:49,880
 That's right.

697
00:38:50,140 --> 00:38:51,800
 All roads lead back to Bobby Wallace.

698
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:52,960
 It really does.

699
00:38:52,980 --> 00:38:53,860
 All roads lead back to Bobby Wallace, I guess.

700
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:54,520
 Yeah, man.

701
00:38:54,580 --> 00:38:55,440
 And now you're here.

702
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,060
 Let's talk a little bit about where you're from.

703
00:38:58,180 --> 00:38:59,000
 Mobile, Alabama.

704
00:38:59,200 --> 00:38:59,900
 Spanish Fort.

705
00:38:59,980 --> 00:39:00,260
 Yes, sir.

706
00:39:00,260 --> 00:39:03,340
 A lot of Mobile ties here, as you know, starting with Coach Dierman.

707
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:03,800
 Yep.

708
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,840
 And it kind of trickles down to some of the other coaches, some of the other players.

709
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,740
 Is there ever kind of talks about the little rivalries that go on in that area with the

710
00:39:10,740 --> 00:39:11,160
 high schools?

711
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:11,900
 Oh, my goodness.

712
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:12,660
 There's talks every day.

713
00:39:12,740 --> 00:39:14,740
 There's guys that are debating their tail off.

714
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:20,280
 And, you know, I'm a senior now, so I've kind of let go of that, and I just sit back and

715
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:20,960
 listen, you know.

716
00:39:21,060 --> 00:39:25,900
 But, yeah, guys will swear on whose high school team is better or what area of Mobile they're

717
00:39:25,900 --> 00:39:26,180
 from.

718
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:28,080
 And I'll tell you the biggest ones are the park ball.

719
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:29,800
 Park ball in Mobile is huge, right?

720
00:39:29,820 --> 00:39:35,420
 So I play for West Mobile Buccaneers, but there's the Cottage Hill Steelers and Navco

721
00:39:35,420 --> 00:39:37,200
 Vikings and these youth leagues.

722
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:39,280
 But it's serious football down there, man.

723
00:39:39,340 --> 00:39:40,360
 I mean, it's serious football.

724
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:44,940
 So that's where most of the discussions come in and all the arguments in the locker room.

725
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:49,700
 Obviously, you and Bishop are playing together now, but were you guys able to play much growing

726
00:39:49,700 --> 00:39:51,300
 up, or was it too much of an age gap?

727
00:39:51,460 --> 00:39:53,860
 Is this kind of the first time it's kind of come full circle?

728
00:39:54,380 --> 00:39:54,600
 Yeah.

729
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:56,780
 So this is the first time we've played football together.

730
00:39:56,900 --> 00:39:59,920
 We've played basketball together because Bishop's an incredible basketball player.

731
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,380
 So he always played point guard on me and my older brother Jackson's team.

732
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,160
 And this is the first time we've gotten to play football together.

733
00:40:07,260 --> 00:40:08,920
 We're two and a half years apart in age.

734
00:40:09,260 --> 00:40:10,720
 So yes, sir.

735
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:11,620
 Yeah, it's the first time.

736
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:11,940
 It's great.

737
00:40:11,940 --> 00:40:16,240
 And then I noticed, I think it was your first sack maybe against Central Arkansas.

738
00:40:16,540 --> 00:40:17,400
 I think you had a big play.

739
00:40:17,700 --> 00:40:20,060
 He was the first person out on the field to celebrate with you.

740
00:40:20,260 --> 00:40:21,320
 Was that a pretty special moment?

741
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:22,060
 Yeah, that's my guy.

742
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:26,320
 And I was, if you go back and watch the sideline tape of when he, because he had the last hit

743
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:26,820
 of the game.

744
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:29,600
 I was losing my mind and I saw it all coming.

745
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:34,240
 I was actually on the field yelling, back, coming out of the backfield, out of the backfield.

746
00:40:34,300 --> 00:40:35,800
 And I saw his head snap towards it.

747
00:40:36,100 --> 00:40:37,380
 I was like, yes, please, Lord.

748
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:38,420
 And then boom.

749
00:40:38,420 --> 00:40:40,820
 And man, it almost made me shed a tear, man.

750
00:40:40,860 --> 00:40:41,480
 That's my little bro.

751
00:40:41,700 --> 00:40:45,080
 You know, coming to lay the wood on somebody, you know, made me super proud.

752
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:45,820
 That's awesome.

753
00:40:45,820 --> 00:40:46,160
 Yes, sir.

754
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:50,340
 And again, like you said, it's sometimes easier when you're watching to see those things and

755
00:40:50,340 --> 00:40:53,020
 remember them than it is when you're actually doing it in the moment.

756
00:40:53,100 --> 00:40:53,360
 That's right.

757
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:54,740
 Kind of like when you'll have that tackle together.

758
00:40:54,940 --> 00:40:57,280
 But go back to Austin Peay, a play that you had.

759
00:40:57,620 --> 00:40:59,200
 Let's talk about the forced fumbles.

760
00:40:59,380 --> 00:41:03,140
 But the one strip sack in particular that Jaheim got on the bounce.

761
00:41:03,220 --> 00:41:05,560
 Very impressive that he got it on the bounce like he did.

762
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:06,760
 But walk us through that whole play.

763
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:08,340
 Man, it's not that impressive to me, man.

764
00:41:08,380 --> 00:41:10,720
 Jaheim can, he's a great player, dude.

765
00:41:10,780 --> 00:41:11,840
 And he got great ball skills.

766
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,640
 So, like, when I looked up and saw him around the football, I was like, let's go.

767
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:15,360
 We got a good shot.

768
00:41:15,540 --> 00:41:16,960
 And a great scoop by him.

769
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:19,680
 I can credit all my other teammates.

770
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:21,340
 So, we bull rushed all night.

771
00:41:21,500 --> 00:41:22,880
 You know, Coach KP had us ready.

772
00:41:23,340 --> 00:41:26,680
 We had a great game plan coach person, our DNs coach.

773
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:28,560
 And we were bull rushing all night.

774
00:41:28,700 --> 00:41:31,700
 So, when I got up in there, I went push-pull.

775
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:33,540
 So, I push-pull.

776
00:41:33,860 --> 00:41:34,880
 And it worked.

777
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:35,880
 Had the guy off his heels.

778
00:41:36,180 --> 00:41:38,840
 And when I saw the quarterback, he had his eyes down the field.

779
00:41:39,060 --> 00:41:40,740
 And just tried to punch the ball out.

780
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:41,720
 And it slipped out, man.

781
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:42,480
 So, yeah.

782
00:41:42,540 --> 00:41:43,180
 I was excited.

783
00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:45,940
 As you can see, it was my celebration that followed that.

784
00:41:46,180 --> 00:41:46,320
 Yeah.

785
00:41:47,020 --> 00:41:49,420
 And then that excitement continued on to the sidelines.

786
00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:51,100
 I know you and your brother were celebrating.

787
00:41:51,340 --> 00:41:53,260
 And then a Hall of Famer busted it up.

788
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:56,460
 Mike Johnson came over there and kind of gave you some instruction.

789
00:41:56,900 --> 00:41:58,560
 Can you give us the insight into that?

790
00:41:58,640 --> 00:41:59,540
 I saw it from the booth.

791
00:41:59,740 --> 00:42:01,800
 Chase Glover reported it from the sidelines.

792
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:02,340
 Yeah.

793
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:03,540
 Coach Johnson's my guy, dude.

794
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:04,740
 He's a legend around here.

795
00:42:04,740 --> 00:42:12,920
 So, having dudes like him on the staff that have been at UNA and just bleed UNA, it helps us.

796
00:42:13,100 --> 00:42:16,260
 You know, and, yeah, we're always talking.

797
00:42:16,340 --> 00:42:17,580
 I'm always asking for his advice.

798
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:21,100
 And, you know, how should I handle things, you know, because, you know.

799
00:42:21,180 --> 00:42:25,540
 And so, it was good to see him be proud of me, man, Coach.

800
00:42:25,980 --> 00:42:30,360
 So, trying to make Coach proud, man, it made me excited to see a smile on his face.

801
00:42:30,580 --> 00:42:32,220
 You know, so, yes, sir.

802
00:42:32,220 --> 00:42:36,180
 It's moments like that that you definitely remember with your staff and your teammates.

803
00:42:36,940 --> 00:42:38,500
 Let's talk about Utah Tech a little bit.

804
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,380
 That's the next game on the schedule.

805
00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:42,040
 Obviously, we don't like to look ahead or anything.

806
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:44,180
 But the opponent that's in front of us.

807
00:42:44,380 --> 00:42:48,620
 And one thing I do want to say, I feel like you've probably been well-traveled in your college career.

808
00:42:48,780 --> 00:42:51,420
 But now, is Utah kind of a new state for you?

809
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:52,700
 And how's that look for you?

810
00:42:52,740 --> 00:42:55,960
 I've never played in Utah, so I'm excited to do that.

811
00:42:57,340 --> 00:43:00,000
 I think we've got a great game plan heading into this week.

812
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,900
 And Utah Tech's a great football team.

813
00:43:02,060 --> 00:43:06,000
 And I think they're coached well and they play hard.

814
00:43:06,340 --> 00:43:08,100
 So, we're just going to bring that intensity.

815
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:10,020
 You know, nobody's hanging their head around here.

816
00:43:10,700 --> 00:43:12,360
 We're frustrated that we haven't got it done.

817
00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:12,900
 You know what I mean?

818
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:13,980
 We're frustrated for coach.

819
00:43:14,140 --> 00:43:14,420
 You know what I mean?

820
00:43:14,460 --> 00:43:16,420
 Because every week, these guys are busting their tail.

821
00:43:16,660 --> 00:43:20,520
 They're up there until 1 in the morning while we're all getting to go home after practice.

822
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,460
 And, man, we want to see that come to the light, the work we're putting in.

823
00:43:24,660 --> 00:43:27,880
 You know, you can get that done for them because it's frustrating.

824
00:43:28,100 --> 00:43:29,280
 You know, everybody hates losing.

825
00:43:29,540 --> 00:43:32,720
 You know, but there's no white flag.

826
00:43:33,220 --> 00:43:37,000
 We're going to crawl and scratch all that all the way to the end.

827
00:43:37,420 --> 00:43:38,820
 So, we're excited for this week.

828
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:39,720
 We're going to bring it.

829
00:43:39,820 --> 00:43:40,640
 You know, I'm going to see to it.

830
00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:43,960
 And we've got a little bit of traveling coming right here.

831
00:43:44,060 --> 00:43:48,980
 So, just being mentally prepared for that and not being caught off guard by anything, I think is going to be important.

832
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:50,740
 We're looking forward to it indeed.

833
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:53,800
 Christian Burkhalter, we appreciate you joining us and breaking it down.

834
00:43:53,980 --> 00:43:56,640
 And before we let you go, I feel like you'll be really good at this.

835
00:43:56,640 --> 00:43:59,600
 Tell us about our next guest, Noah Gregg, who's going to join us.

836
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:00,520
 Dude, baller.

837
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:01,820
 Baller, man.

838
00:44:01,940 --> 00:44:03,480
 I've always known this kid could play, bro.

839
00:44:04,660 --> 00:44:08,040
 You know, when I came in the spring, Noah was making plays.

840
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:10,220
 When I was there in camp, Noah was making plays.

841
00:44:10,660 --> 00:44:11,460
 Then guess what?

842
00:44:11,540 --> 00:44:13,300
 In the season, Noah was making plays, man.

843
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,580
 So, he's a guy that everybody on the team knows, man.

844
00:44:15,620 --> 00:44:17,520
 You throw it to 85, like something's going to happen.

845
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:18,700
 It's probably going to be something good.

846
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:20,980
 Great dude, man.

847
00:44:21,860 --> 00:44:22,520
 Excited for him, bro.

848
00:44:22,580 --> 00:44:24,000
 He has a big career ahead of him.

849
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:26,060
 And he's a leader on this football team, man.

850
00:44:26,060 --> 00:44:26,760
 I look up to Noah.

851
00:44:26,860 --> 00:44:29,140
 Even though I'm a couple years older than him, I look up to him, dude.

852
00:44:29,260 --> 00:44:30,320
 So, yeah, man.

853
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:31,800
 I'm excited to hear him talk.

854
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:32,540
 I hope he's not nervous.

855
00:44:33,140 --> 00:44:35,160
 He can't be after that great setup right there.

856
00:44:35,300 --> 00:44:36,560
 Thank you so much for joining us, Christian.

857
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:37,020
 Thank you, Mike.

858
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:37,540
 Thank you, man.

859
00:44:37,620 --> 00:44:38,040
 Appreciate you all.

860
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:40,620
 Coming up next, we got Noah Gregg here at Lost Pizza Shoals.

861
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:43,400
 This is UNA Football Night on 93.9 The Score.

862
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:47,060
 Flavor is calling at Lost Pizza Company Shoals.

863
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,160
 Introducing the new limited-time-only margarita pizza.

864
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:55,080
 Fresh basil, fine-ripened tomatoes, and creamy mozzarella pearls on our homemade crust.

865
00:44:55,220 --> 00:44:57,200
 Light, bright, and bursting with flavor.

866
00:44:57,360 --> 00:45:00,360
 Try our all-new dry-rub wings, seasoned to perfection.

867
00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:03,740
 With bold, smoky spices, it'll have you coming back for more.

868
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:04,740
 Don't forget dessert.

869
00:45:04,900 --> 00:45:07,020
 Cotton, blues, cheesecake slices are here.

870
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:08,880
 Creamy, dreamy, and downright legendary.

871
00:45:09,180 --> 00:45:10,800
 These flavors won't stick around forever.

872
00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,240
 Only at Lost Pizza Company Shoals, where the lost get fed.

873
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:19,600
 Start your day the Turbo way at Turbo Coffee in downtown Florence.

874
00:45:19,900 --> 00:45:24,860
 Whether you're craving a handcrafted latte, a refreshing smoothie, an energizing acai bowl,

875
00:45:25,020 --> 00:45:29,080
 or our famous house-made pastries, we've got something to fuel every part of your day.

876
00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:33,780
 Proudly located right in the heart of downtown Florence, Turbo Coffee is more than just your

877
00:45:33,780 --> 00:45:34,820
 neighborhood coffee shop.

878
00:45:35,140 --> 00:45:35,800
 We're a community.

879
00:45:36,260 --> 00:45:40,680
 And as proud supporters of UNA Athletics, we're cheering on the Lions every step of the way.

880
00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:45,480
 So stop by Turbo Coffee today, where passion, flavor, and community come together.

881
00:45:45,980 --> 00:45:49,820
 Hey guys, how long have you been wearing those out-of-date, scratched-up glasses?

882
00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:52,660
 This is Dr. Ham Moore with Renaissance Eye Care.

883
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:57,040
 Go ahead and do as the woman in your life has been asking and schedule an eye exam.

884
00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:06,560
 You can go to renaissanceeyecare.com or call 767-5000 to see either Dr. Kathy Werner, Dr. Lisa Campbell, or myself.

885
00:46:06,900 --> 00:46:11,460
 Everyone knows it's time to evaluate the health of your eyes and get a new pair of glasses.

886
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,820
 We can make sure you won't miss any of the action this fall.

887
00:46:15,180 --> 00:46:15,980
 And roar lines.

888
00:46:16,500 --> 00:46:18,960
 A lot goes into taking care of your property.

889
00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,920
 You need equipment with more reliability and versatility built in.

890
00:46:23,580 --> 00:46:28,260
 Like Kubota, BX, and L-Series compact tractors that get the job done right.

891
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:35,060
 Z-Series mowers that deliver a quality cut and sidekick utility vehicles where durability meets speed.

892
00:46:35,060 --> 00:46:37,780
 Visit your local Kubota dealer for a demo today.

893
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:42,220
 Stop by Brown Equipment, located at 826 North Military Street in Loretto,

894
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:45,380
 or visit them online at brownequipmentcompany.com.

895
00:46:46,500 --> 00:46:51,440
 Join us at Singing River Brewery, your local hub for great beer and community fun.

896
00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:55,400
 Ready to serve delicious drinks and host amazing events?

897
00:46:58,220 --> 00:47:02,420
 Try our Golden Mainer Leo's Roar, and 50% goes to UNA Athletics.

898
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:06,960
 Support your local business and college community while enjoying a fantastic atmosphere.

899
00:47:10,060 --> 00:47:11,520
 Don't miss out on the good times.

900
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:15,220
 Come sip, socialize, and savor the taste of Singing River Brewery.

901
00:47:16,500 --> 00:47:20,520
 Welcome to Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic, located in downtown Florence.

902
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:25,060
 We offer a large array of therapies and techniques to help you get back in the game of life.

903
00:47:25,100 --> 00:47:28,100
 One of those therapies is red light slash infrared light therapy.

904
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,660
 Dry needling is used to help reduce pain associated with painful trigger point.

905
00:47:32,820 --> 00:47:38,220
 Our class 4 laser therapies are used to decrease inflammation and improve the speed of healing,

906
00:47:38,580 --> 00:47:41,240
 of sprains, tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.

907
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:46,620
 Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic is proud to partner with UNA to keep our Lions performing at their best.

908
00:47:46,780 --> 00:47:47,320
 Roar Lions.

909
00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:01,300
 Getting things set up here at Lost Pizza Shoals.

910
00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:04,240
 This is UNA Football Night on 93.9 The Score.

911
00:48:04,340 --> 00:48:05,660
 Benjamin Ray, Mikey Ezekiel.

912
00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:10,660
 I'm excited to welcome in Noah Gregg, a redshirt freshman from right here in the Shoals area,

913
00:48:10,820 --> 00:48:13,540
 killing Alabama, played at Brooks High School.

914
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:19,400
 And his first year of real action, 15 catches, 223 yards, four touchdowns,

915
00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:25,400
 coming off of a big weekend against Austin Peay on the road, over 100 yards receiving in that one.

916
00:48:25,460 --> 00:48:27,160
 Noah, thanks for joining us here this evening.

917
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,000
 And how are you feeling this year, kind of having a breakout year?

918
00:48:30,700 --> 00:48:31,140
 Yes, sir.

919
00:48:31,180 --> 00:48:31,940
 Thanks for having me on.

920
00:48:32,380 --> 00:48:33,360
 I've been feeling good.

921
00:48:33,620 --> 00:48:35,740
 I've been grateful for the opportunities I've been given, you know.

922
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:37,860
 Before the year, I set a goal for myself.

923
00:48:37,980 --> 00:48:40,460
 You know, I just wanted to get on the field and help the team win however I could.

924
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:43,400
 And I would do the best in my ability to do that, however that was.

925
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:47,540
 And I've been blessed with opportunities from Coach Dierman and Coach May and the staff.

926
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:50,120
 They've been giving me chances, and I've been trying to make the most of every opportunity.

927
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:52,220
 And I just want to help the team as much as I can.

928
00:48:52,220 --> 00:48:57,220
 And I have a great team, teammates around me, from Destin Wade and Alon and all the other

929
00:48:57,220 --> 00:48:58,400
 receivers, real close teams.

930
00:48:58,560 --> 00:48:59,360
 So, it's been a blast.

931
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:00,120
 I really enjoyed it.

932
00:49:00,340 --> 00:49:04,100
 Well, I'll be the first to say on this show, I think you are making the most of those opportunities

933
00:49:04,100 --> 00:49:04,720
 this year.

934
00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:09,920
 And, of course, a couple weeks ago, UAC Freshman of the Week, that was last Monday, and probably

935
00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:13,320
 could have got it again this week, to be honest with you, with a 100-yard receiving game.

936
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,720
 And, Noah, I look back at last season as well.

937
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:20,700
 I believe your very first collegiate game was against Utah Tech last year.

938
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:21,460
 Yes, sir.

939
00:49:21,700 --> 00:49:24,700
 Walk us through that moment, what it was like, Noah, when you were suiting up and you actually

940
00:49:24,700 --> 00:49:25,880
 hit the field for the first time.

941
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:29,420
 It was funny, because Coach Dierman was walking on the sideline.

942
00:49:29,540 --> 00:49:31,420
 He said, don't be nervous.

943
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:32,240
 I was like, nervous for me.

944
00:49:32,300 --> 00:49:33,300
 He's like, you're about to go in.

945
00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:35,580
 And I looked at him like he's a little crazy, I think.

946
00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:38,460
 But he's like, so they got me ready.

947
00:49:38,580 --> 00:49:39,300
 I was about to go in.

948
00:49:39,380 --> 00:49:42,380
 And I was like, I mean, this is a moment I've been looking forward to my whole life to get

949
00:49:42,380 --> 00:49:42,760
 to play.

950
00:49:43,140 --> 00:49:46,080
 College football and at UNA, a team that I grew up watching a lot of.

951
00:49:46,180 --> 00:49:47,840
 And it was kind of crazy.

952
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:51,500
 I remember before the snap, even having sitting there like, dang, I'm really on college football

953
00:49:51,500 --> 00:49:53,000
 field right now, about to take my first snap.

954
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:54,320
 So it was a really cool moment.

955
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:58,020
 Let's talk about that UNA fandom that you grew up with.

956
00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:01,800
 And the University of North Alabama, where did that connection come from for you being

957
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:02,680
 a local person?

958
00:50:02,940 --> 00:50:06,100
 Well, you know, you always hear about UNA being from around here.

959
00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:11,320
 You know, my dad's dad, my grandfather, he was always a huge fan.

960
00:50:11,380 --> 00:50:13,200
 I always had season tickets and stuff like that.

961
00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:16,600
 And I remember, I was probably like seven or eight, the first game I went to, he took me

962
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:18,980
 to the bookstore and got me a hat and hoodie and things like that.

963
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:21,740
 And I mean, just started from there and going to games and stuff.

964
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,040
 And like, I always enjoyed watching and thinking it was so cool.

965
00:50:24,180 --> 00:50:26,180
 I always wanted to be there and be on that field one day.

966
00:50:26,340 --> 00:50:30,320
 And yeah, so you always, I always remember growing up, hearing about UNA and going to

967
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:31,260
 games and stuff with family.

968
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:37,020
 And also what's really cool is when you got to UNA last year, it was obvious that you

969
00:50:37,020 --> 00:50:38,380
 were in the receiver room a lot.

970
00:50:38,380 --> 00:50:42,200
 They all thought high of you and seeing you with Takari Ginnabrew all the time, seeing

971
00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:47,540
 you with your old teammate, Kobe Warden, and seeing what he did in high school and now

972
00:50:47,540 --> 00:50:49,340
 what he accomplished at UNA.

973
00:50:49,620 --> 00:50:51,620
 And now you're kind of following that footsteps too.

974
00:50:51,900 --> 00:50:54,880
 What did those guys from last year and even the ones in the room right now mean to you?

975
00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:56,160
 Oh yeah, for sure.

976
00:50:56,940 --> 00:51:02,220
 TK and Kobe, they were, Kobe, Warden especially, he went to Brooks and I always looked up to him

977
00:51:02,220 --> 00:51:04,660
 when I was probably eighth grade, I think it was his senior year.

978
00:51:04,940 --> 00:51:07,520
 I looked up to him then and I stayed in touch with him.

979
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:11,460
 And he would give me like, you know, advice on things I would send him from like my past

980
00:51:11,460 --> 00:51:12,920
 games in high school and stuff like that.

981
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:15,000
 And it was really cool to get to play with him this last year.

982
00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:18,800
 And he really helped me out, give me pointers on stuff, on my routes, just different things

983
00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:19,560
 I could do to improve.

984
00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:23,260
 And same for TK, because you know, TK is a taller guy like me as well.

985
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:24,440
 And he came in around my size.

986
00:51:24,500 --> 00:51:27,500
 He told me that I was going to get bigger here and keep getting better.

987
00:51:27,540 --> 00:51:28,380
 And he gave me a lot of advice.

988
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:33,800
 But Tanaka Scott on the team now is somebody who has really like helped me, I feel like,

989
00:51:33,860 --> 00:51:35,700
 develop and grow as a receiver.

990
00:51:36,660 --> 00:51:39,520
 And he's been pushing me to be better and challenging me.

991
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:40,960
 And he holds me to a standard.

992
00:51:41,140 --> 00:51:44,540
 And if I don't meet the standard he holds me to, he lets me know.

993
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:46,680
 And he's always pushing me to be the best receiver I can be.

994
00:51:47,240 --> 00:51:49,980
 First career touchdown catch against Northeastern State.

995
00:51:50,060 --> 00:51:51,040
 What do you remember about it?

996
00:51:52,100 --> 00:51:55,380
 Well, you know, I remember Coach Devin called the play and I knew that I was going to be going

997
00:51:55,380 --> 00:51:58,620
 in motion and I had a, during the week I'd got that ball a few times.

998
00:51:58,700 --> 00:52:00,700
 So I was like, I have a, I knew like there was a chance.

999
00:52:00,820 --> 00:52:02,980
 I was like, uh, just make sure I catch it.

1000
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:08,200
 But, uh, I remember going in motion and I was, uh, I just feel kind of slow motion when he

1001
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:08,740
 threw me the ball.

1002
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:09,860
 I feel like it was in the air forever.

1003
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:12,220
 And, uh, I was glad I was able to make the play.

1004
00:52:12,260 --> 00:52:16,360
 And I had my mom and dad over there behind the end zone and they got to see it first,

1005
00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:18,140
 like front row basically right there.

1006
00:52:18,240 --> 00:52:20,880
 And so that was a really cool moment that I'll remember forever for sure.

1007
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:21,580
 Dream comes true.

1008
00:52:21,780 --> 00:52:23,640
 And what is it about your touchdowns?

1009
00:52:23,660 --> 00:52:27,820
 You've got four or three of them inside of Brawley, but I feel like you get beat up by your

1010
00:52:27,820 --> 00:52:30,040
 teammates after you, you catch them.

1011
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:33,100
 Like you're getting hit, you're getting whacked, you're getting tackled down to the ground.

1012
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:34,380
 What is it with those celebrations?

1013
00:52:34,780 --> 00:52:35,780
 It was Tanaka, the last one, right?

1014
00:52:36,040 --> 00:52:36,400
 Oh yeah.

1015
00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:38,280
 I think Wade got you on the first one, maybe.

1016
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:38,780
 Oh yeah.

1017
00:52:38,860 --> 00:52:41,940
 They, they, uh, they all come over there and beat up on me, I guess, every time I get

1018
00:52:41,940 --> 00:52:42,280
 in the end zone.

1019
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:45,700
 But, uh, no, it's just, I got great teammates and I'm very great for all of them.

1020
00:52:45,820 --> 00:52:47,500
 I feel like I'm very close to all my teammates.

1021
00:52:47,500 --> 00:52:51,240
 And I, I know that, uh, I got their back every Saturday and I hope they know the same for

1022
00:52:51,240 --> 00:52:51,440
 me.

1023
00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:56,040
 And, um, it's just great to have guys like that, that, you know, is excited for you like

1024
00:52:56,040 --> 00:52:58,280
 that every time you make a play that they're happy for you.

1025
00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:02,740
 And, uh, uh, I just got great teammates and yeah, they like to get a beat up on me, I guess,

1026
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:03,840
 a little bit every time I get in the end zone.

1027
00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:08,060
 And I love looking at this photo that keeps popping up on my computer from the Northeastern

1028
00:53:08,060 --> 00:53:08,500
 State game.

1029
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:12,960
 It might be the best photo we have all year, but, uh, you have four touchdowns in the last six

1030
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:13,260
 games.

1031
00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:16,140
 Do you have a favorite one or any of them that, that stand out to you?

1032
00:53:16,140 --> 00:53:17,560
 Or is it just that first one you think?

1033
00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:19,100
 I don't know.

1034
00:53:19,180 --> 00:53:22,100
 Probably the first one was probably the most memorable because it was the first one.

1035
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:23,440
 I don't necessarily have a favorite one.

1036
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:27,480
 The homecoming one was pretty cool because of the, like, you know, it was the last homecoming

1037
00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:28,200
 game in Brawley.

1038
00:53:28,300 --> 00:53:33,220
 You know, I grew up going to UNA games and Brawley being, I don't know, it's a historical

1039
00:53:33,220 --> 00:53:34,060
 stadium, you know?

1040
00:53:34,380 --> 00:53:36,600
 And so it was pretty cool to, like, have my name a part of that.

1041
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:38,400
 So that was probably my favorite one.

1042
00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:43,260
 Let's wrap it up with this, uh, big game coming up this weekend on the road.

1043
00:53:43,340 --> 00:53:45,560
 But for you, this is just your first year.

1044
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:47,200
 You got three more years after this.

1045
00:53:47,260 --> 00:53:49,680
 Have you thought about how cool it's going to be that you're going to get to play the next

1046
00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:51,420
 three years at Bank Independent Stadium?

1047
00:53:51,820 --> 00:53:53,160
 Oh, yeah, it's awesome.

1048
00:53:53,300 --> 00:53:54,380
 You know, I look forward to it.

1049
00:53:54,700 --> 00:54:00,240
 UNA has been going on up and it's going to continue to do that and with the new stadium

1050
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:00,720
 and stuff.

1051
00:54:00,860 --> 00:54:02,240
 And I can't wait.

1052
00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:06,500
 It's going to be awesome to get to be the part of the first team to get to play in that

1053
00:54:06,500 --> 00:54:08,460
 stadium for years to come, just like Brawley had.

1054
00:54:08,620 --> 00:54:10,180
 So it'd be cool for sure.

1055
00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:12,100
 But, uh, yeah.

1056
00:54:12,940 --> 00:54:14,920
 Well, Noah, we appreciate you joining us, man.

1057
00:54:14,940 --> 00:54:16,280
 Let's get some more touchdown grabs.

1058
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:20,500
 And, hey, last game at Brawley sounds like a good time for you to maybe break a couple of

1059
00:54:20,500 --> 00:54:22,620
 touchdown records or something like that, don't you think?

1060
00:54:22,640 --> 00:54:24,460
 Yeah, I'll try my best.

1061
00:54:24,700 --> 00:54:25,040
 Awesome.

1062
00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:26,540
 Thank you so much for joining us, man.

1063
00:54:26,600 --> 00:54:26,820
 Yes, sir.

1064
00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:27,140
 Thank you.

1065
00:54:27,220 --> 00:54:27,520
 Thank you.

1066
00:54:27,740 --> 00:54:28,600
 That's Noah Gregg.

1067
00:54:28,660 --> 00:54:30,640
 We'll take one final time out when we come back.

1068
00:54:30,820 --> 00:54:34,800
 Head Coach Britt Dierman will rejoin us to wrap up this week's edition of UNA Football

1069
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:37,200
 Night from Lost Pizza Shoals on 93.9 The Score.

1070
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 Flavor is calling at Lost Pizza Company Shoals.

1071
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 Introducing the new limited-time only margarita pizza, fresh basil, fine-ripened tomatoes, and

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1079
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 Only Lost Pizza Company Shoals, where the lost get fed.

1080
00:55:09,020 --> 00:55:11,940
 Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance.

1081
00:55:12,180 --> 00:55:17,880
 Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan or you are under 65 and exploring individual

1082
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 health care options, Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.

1083
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 Our local agents make it simple, so stop by our office at 885 Florence Boulevard or give

1084
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 us a call at 256-648-5710.

1085
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 Again, that's 256-648-5710.

1086
00:55:39,340 --> 00:55:43,020
 Start your day the Turbo way at Turbo Coffee in downtown Florence.

1087
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:48,180
 Whether you're craving a handcrafted latte, a refreshing smoothie, an energizing acai bowl,

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 or our famous house-made pastries, we've got something to fuel every part of your day.

1089
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 Proudly located right in the heart of downtown Florence, Turbo Coffee is more than just your

1090
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 neighborhood coffee shop.

1091
00:55:58,500 --> 00:55:59,120
 We're a community.

1092
00:55:59,580 --> 00:56:03,720
 And as proud supporters of UNA Athletics, we're cheering on the Lions every step of the

1093
00:56:03,720 --> 00:56:04,000
 way.

1094
00:56:04,380 --> 00:56:08,780
 So stop by Turbo Coffee today, where passion, flavor, and community come together.

1095
00:56:09,300 --> 00:56:13,120
 Hey guys, how long have you been wearing those out-of-date, scratched-up glasses?

1096
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:15,980
 This is Dr. Hampton Moore with Renaissance Eye Care.

1097
00:56:15,980 --> 00:56:20,380
 Go ahead and do as the woman in your life has been asking and schedule an eye exam.

1098
00:56:20,700 --> 00:56:28,260
 You can go to renaissanceeyecare.com or call 767-5000 to see either Dr. Kathy Werner, Dr.

1099
00:56:28,340 --> 00:56:29,860
 Lisa Campbell, or myself.

1100
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 Everyone knows it's time to evaluate the health of your eyes and get a new pair of glasses.

1101
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 We can make sure you won't miss any of the action this fall.

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 And roar lines.

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 When getting the job done right is job one, you need construction equipment that's built

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 Visit your local Kubota dealer today.

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 Go to KubotaUSA.com for full disclaimer.

1110
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 Stop by Brown Equipment, located at 826 North Military Street in Loretto, or visit them online

1111
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 at brownequipmentcompany.com.

1112
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:14,140
 Welcome to Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic, located in downtown Florence.

1113
00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:18,680
 We offer a large array of therapies and techniques to help you get back in the game of life.

1114
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 One of those therapies is red light slash infrared light therapy.

1115
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 Dry needling is used to help reduce pain associated with painful trigger point.

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 Our class four laser therapies are used to decrease inflammation and improve the speed

1117
00:57:31,300 --> 00:57:34,880
 of healing of sprains, tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.

1118
00:57:35,200 --> 00:57:39,520
 Burnley Spine and Sport Chiropractic is proud to partner with UNA to keep our lions performing

1119
00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:40,220
 at their best.

1120
00:57:40,420 --> 00:57:40,940
 Roar Lions.

1121
00:57:45,100 --> 00:57:47,980
 Man, time flies when you're having this much fun.

1122
00:57:47,980 --> 00:57:51,900
 I'm Benjamin Ray, Mike Ezekiel, and head football coach Brent Dierman back here at

1123
00:57:51,900 --> 00:57:54,800
 Lost Pizza Shoals in downtown Florence for UNA football night.

1124
00:57:54,860 --> 00:57:56,820
 It was a jam-packed evening of talk.

1125
00:57:56,900 --> 00:57:58,160
 We appreciate everybody coming out.

1126
00:57:58,200 --> 00:57:59,620
 There wasn't a table open out here.

1127
00:57:59,980 --> 00:58:01,160
 We'll be out here every week.

1128
00:58:01,220 --> 00:58:01,720
 Heads up.

1129
00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:03,960
 We might actually change next week's show.

1130
00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:07,460
 We'll get that finalized and let you know we're going to actually be here next Tuesday,

1131
00:58:07,640 --> 00:58:09,080
 but we've got some more things to finalize.

1132
00:58:09,140 --> 00:58:11,760
 We just want to throw that little disclaimer out there.

1133
00:58:11,840 --> 00:58:14,340
 Coach, it's time for our Burnley Spine and Sport preview.

1134
00:58:14,340 --> 00:58:16,900
 Utah Tech, the opponent, what's the outlook?

1135
00:58:17,460 --> 00:58:19,140
 I mean, they're a tough team.

1136
00:58:19,220 --> 00:58:23,660
 They've played the hardest, if not the second, I think the second hardest schedule in all

1137
00:58:23,660 --> 00:58:24,100
 of football.

1138
00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:29,520
 They had a great win against Northern Iowa, which is a great FCS program.

1139
00:58:30,140 --> 00:58:31,920
 They've had some really close games.

1140
00:58:32,020 --> 00:58:36,300
 I know they're a one-win team, but they've played a lot of teams close early in the season.

1141
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:40,760
 They've got a scrappy quarterback that came in here at our place last year.

1142
00:58:40,860 --> 00:58:42,120
 I thought the world of him.

1143
00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:44,320
 He's a lefty that can run really well.

1144
00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:46,580
 They're kind of playing two guys right now.

1145
00:58:47,300 --> 00:58:49,200
 I think they fly around on defense.

1146
00:58:49,300 --> 00:58:50,400
 Their head coach does a great job.

1147
00:58:50,460 --> 00:58:51,620
 He's a defensive-minded guy.

1148
00:58:52,180 --> 00:58:56,380
 We've got some connections through the coaching profession, him and Coach Taggart.

1149
00:58:56,700 --> 00:59:02,260
 We're on the Stanford staff together, so I know a little bit about him through Coach Taggart.

1150
00:59:02,760 --> 00:59:05,460
 But I think they're a great program that's kind of building.

1151
00:59:06,460 --> 00:59:10,960
 So we've got to find a way to go on the road and get a win on the road.

1152
00:59:11,020 --> 00:59:15,120
 Right now, we're 2-1 at home, and we've got to be able to take that same energy on the road.

1153
00:59:15,680 --> 00:59:20,100
 Coach, the last thing as we wrap up this week's episode, you've got a lot of players here tonight.

1154
00:59:20,180 --> 00:59:23,280
 Here's supporting their teammates, and it's that way every single week.

1155
00:59:23,540 --> 00:59:26,380
 And they're asking about coaches coming as well.

1156
00:59:26,420 --> 00:59:28,060
 That's going to make you really happy about this program.

1157
00:59:28,300 --> 00:59:30,360
 We've got not just a team.

1158
00:59:30,420 --> 00:59:31,060
 We've got a family.

1159
00:59:31,060 --> 00:59:39,860
 And what's pretty cool about this team is every week there's 10 to 12, sometimes 15 other players

1160
00:59:39,860 --> 00:59:41,380
 that come and support a teammates.

1161
00:59:41,940 --> 00:59:48,140
 I told you all this earlier when Christian Burkhalter walked in and saw me, big smile on his face.

1162
00:59:48,180 --> 00:59:50,180
 He said, hey, is Coach Carabolla coming tonight too?

1163
00:59:50,260 --> 00:59:51,220
 I said, yeah, he's on the way.

1164
00:59:51,800 --> 00:59:55,420
 So it just tells you these kids care so much about their coaching staff.

1165
00:59:55,620 --> 00:59:58,240
 They care so much about each other that they come out and support.

1166
00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:02,640
 We've got families out here tonight that are a part of our family as well.

1167
01:00:02,820 --> 01:00:09,600
 So I think the wins aren't there yet is the key word, but we're building it the right way.

1168
01:00:09,680 --> 01:00:10,700
 We're building it with good people.

1169
01:00:11,140 --> 01:00:13,020
 We've got great people on staff.

1170
01:00:13,140 --> 01:00:14,360
 We've got great people in the building.

1171
01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:16,840
 So I love coming to work every day.

1172
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:18,960
 Well, Coach, we're looking forward to this weekend.

1173
01:00:19,080 --> 01:00:20,540
 We'll be out there with you at St. George.

1174
01:00:20,620 --> 01:00:22,240
 And we'll be back next Monday or Tuesday.

1175
01:00:22,240 --> 01:00:25,460
 We'll let you know on social media for another night of UNA football night.

1176
01:00:25,540 --> 01:00:27,020
 Coach, thanks for the time and best of luck.

1177
01:00:27,140 --> 01:00:27,900
 Thank you, Royal Lions.

1178
01:00:27,900 --> 01:00:31,800
 So for Mike Ezekiel, for Grant, Eli, and Ty in-house.

1179
01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:35,560
 For Blair back at the station, I'm Benjamin Ray saying Roar Lions.

1180
01:00:40,200 --> 01:00:43,560
 You've been listening to UNA football night from Lost Pizza.

1181
01:00:44,200 --> 01:00:54,660
 Tonight's show is brought to you by Lost Pizza Shoals, Burnley Spine and Sport, Singing River Brewery, Alabama Health Guidance,

1182
01:00:55,340 --> 01:01:00,500
 Brennaissance Eye Care, Turbo Coffee, and Brown Equipment Company.

1183
01:01:01,500 --> 01:01:02,800
 Thanks for listening.

1184
01:01:03,300 --> 01:01:04,580
 And Roar Lions.

1185
01:01:08,580 --> 01:01:11,780
 Thank you.