Boomo Bugg Show 110725
93.9 The Score WYTK - November 7, 2025
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-110725/

This transcript was generated automatically from the broadcast audio. Names and some words may be misspelt; the audio is the official record.

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Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in where you and A in Alabama get ready to taste a little home cooking
while Auburn hits the road to the Music City.
And the big question, what in the world do you do for an encore after a wild night to take the lid off a high school playoff party?
Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?
Happy Football Friday to you and the listeners.
Jimmy Lay of AL.com will help us decide that very question you just asked by recapping some of last night's games.
Priceful, stunned, gunnerful, scored in the last two minutes twice, converted with five seconds to go.
A lot of excitement.
Then Jimmy will preview some of tonight's games.
Blake Lovell and Mike Hugen in preview the top games in college football this weekend.
Jimmy is here right now to preview Alabama and LSU.
Jimmy is Jimmy Stein.
He's co-host of Locked On Bama, part of the Locked On Network.
You guessed it.
Jimmy, welcome in.
Happy Friday to you.
How are you?
Oh, I'm doing great, guys.
Looking forward to another college football Saturday.
Jimmy, it's hard to believe, but here it is.
It's November and years past.
We don't have to see you and be rocket scientists and know when Alabama and LSU get together.
Normally, the networks clear the calendar and get ready for a primetime showdown.
But this year, it's a different wrinkle.
It's always big, but I can't remember the last time there's more X-Factors out there coming into this game,
particularly for Alabama.
Would you agree, Jimmy?
Yeah, you know, one thing is a little different about this matchup, because it seems like it hasn't been this way for a while,
but one of the two teams being unranked.
I mean, most of the time, they're two highly ranked teams, and Alabama's held up its end of the bargain, but LSU is not.
One thing I'll say about being unranked, it is a fact that they're unranked.
They're not in the college football playoff top 25.
They're not in the AP top 25.
But let's be real, they are one of the 25 best teams.
I have no doubt in my mind.
With their A game, you're right, yes.
Yeah, they've only lost the top 10 teams.
That's their only losses.
They're just a victim, and there are many, of the schedule being absolutely brutal.
And it just takes a couple of things to go sideways when you face a brutal schedule, and now all of a sudden you find yourself unranked.
I heard someone say, gosh, if Alabama comes up short in this game, it would be the first time they've lost to an unranked team in Brock Denny since Louisiana Monroe in 2007.
This LSU team is better than so many of the ranked teams that Alabama beat during that period of time.
So, in that sense, that part of it's a little overblown.
I hope everyone understands that LSU may not be ranked, but they're a very good football team.
Well, here's the deal, Jimmy.
We know that.
The question is, let's be honest, these are kids 18 to 22, and sometimes they get caught up in all the verbal bouquets out there.
How is the coaching staff, they're old enough to know this, how are they communicating that?
To the players, and I've got to say, based on what we're seeing anyway, it looks like Ty Simpson's already gotten a memo.
It does.
It does.
This has been a pretty mature group, you know, so far.
I think it takes a mature group to bounce back from what happened in week one.
We've already seen them.
I think to some extent week one is partly explained by underestimating the opponent.
I don't think they're going to make that mistake this weekend.
There's just too big of a history between the two programs.
Plus, you know, these kids that are highly recruited, they don't know about the other recruits.
They might not know them personally, but they're aware of most of these LSU players and who they are, where they came from, and where they're ranked.
I don't think this is going to be a situation where LSU is overlooked.
What I hope for fans, but particularly for the players, is that they don't think, well, LSU lost their coach their season's over.
They're just going to mail this in.
I hope the football team's not thinking that, because I don't believe that's going to be the case at all.
I think there's some unique circumstances with the coaching change at LSU that you don't normally see.
For instance, not only was Brian Kelly fired, so was Joe Sloan, their offensive coordinator.
They will have a brand new play caller.
You know, so the first eight games where you build patterns and data to help you build your defensive game plan, you can throw a lot of that out the window.
Because you have a whole new play caller, you have a whole new guy in charge, there's going to be changes, there's going to be tweaks, there's going to be things that LSU's going to do Saturday night that they have not done all season long.
And I do think the biggest key to this game will be Kane Womack on defense, his defensive staff, his defensive players, in-game adjustments to the new LSU.
I think that's going to be the key to this game and how Alabama is able to handle seeing something that they don't expect.
Jimmy, one of the things they may not expect, they probably do, but now, is seeing more of Michael Van Buren, who was the quarterback at Mississippi State, a real dual-threat quarterback who played pretty well when he came in at the end of the fourth quarter against Texas A&M.
But you're exactly right, whoever plays quarterback is going to be thrown to Aaron Anderson, the Alabama transfer, Trey Dez Grain at 6'7", Barry and Brown, the Kentucky transfer, and then LSU's trying to run the ball more efficiently too.
Kane Durham, Harlem Berry is a very good freshman in their defense, we'll see what Whit Weeks' progress is.
Delaney is one of the best shutdown corners, Halsey is very good in the secondary.
You're exactly right, this is a talented LSU team.
It really is.
I mean, Brian Kelly did not get fired because he wasn't filling up the roster with dudes.
I mean, that wasn't the real problem.
The real problem is he was failing to win championships or put LSU in a position to win championships.
And that's been the standard, frankly, since Nick Saban arrived there.
Nick Saban won a national championship.
He's replaced by Les Miles.
He wins the national championship.
Even Ed Orgeron wins the national championship at LSU.
And Brian Kelly, now he gets through year four, not even an SEC championship.
And that's why he was fired.
But he wasn't fired because recruiting was suffering or that they couldn't attract good players.
They won a Heisman Trophy, you know, recently with Jaden Daniels, you know, in the Brian Kelly era.
The players they have, you know, the roster they have, the starting lineup they have, pretty much compares with all the other elite programs in the league.
They just couldn't get it done.
And like most teams, a little flawed.
They're not very good in the offensive line.
That's got to be a position that Alabama takes advantage of.
Everyone else has.
They've also got a little bit of an injury situation there.
And I suspect that Alabama will win a lot of those matchups up front when LSU has the ball.
Jimmy Stein, the Hays Coast of Locked on Bama.
Jimmy, when Alabama has the ball, your thoughts about any changes to the running game?
Bama fans have been waiting.
And I guess the most popular T-shirt out there is run ball.
They want to.
They haven't been able to.
How will they address that issue coming into this game?
I think you have to be stubborn about it.
I think you have to just keep trying.
Because even if it's not successful, LSU has to know that you'll still run the ball anyway.
If you just send a signal very early in the game, hey, these run plays aren't working.
We're just going to put it on time.
We're going to throw it every down.
Now you've made that easier to defend.
So you've got to be stubborn about it.
You've got to keep trying.
I've always felt, and again, maybe this is more wish casting than an actual analysis.
I've always felt that Alabama, by the end of the season, would be better at running the ball.
Well, now you're sort of running out of time.
I do know from listening to Ryan Grubb's press conference on Monday, Ryan Grubb seems a little determined to run the ball.
It's not news to them that they need to be more productive.
And I think the offensive line may be getting a little more settled.
We might be seeing Jaden Roberts playing more of those snaps at right guard.
He played 100% of them in the last game.
I think the offensive line being a little more settled.
Daniel Hill moving to RB2 and sort of splitting time there with Jan Miller.
I think you might be able to build something just out of this very basic idea, and that's run the ball with Jan Miller,
but play Daniel Hill an equal amount of snaps and throw the ball to Hill.
Daniel Hill was actually Alabama's leading receiver in the last game.
He's a talented kid catching the ball, which is amazing considering how big he is for a running back.
But he's got great hands.
And I think with Jan and Daniel Hill splitting time equally at running back, that's what they did.
They each played the same number of snaps in the last game.
I think if you see that again, run it with Jan, throw it to Daniel Hill, you might get a pretty good combo there.
Jimmy, Kaelin DeBoer, 16-2 after bye weeks.
That's pretty good in any league.
And I think it also helps that this team's going to be healthier.
Lot's here, Brooks, Isaiah Horton, who was hurt in the first quarter against South Carolina.
Gino Vandermark, from what I hear, should be back.
And a lot of people may have talked about this, but Cam Miller, I think, would be closer to 100%.
And Ty Simston is taking some shots in that October gauntlet.
I think the team's going to be much healthier mentally and physically.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of just various comments on social media from some fans that are like, that looked at the availability report.
Alabama's on Wednesday and went, gosh, you know, it seems long.
It seems like there's a lot of players hurt, seems to be happening in practice.
I think that's all overstatement.
I think this is a real healthy football team compared to years past.
I mean, you've lost three or four guys for the year.
But that's typical.
That's not unusual.
That's typical.
And then you get a couple of guys banged up, and it's a couple of different guys every week.
To me, it's just typical.
I don't think this Alabama team is an injury-prone team or having issues with injuries beyond what anybody else deals with.
I just think it's typical football.
I think the injury to Ryan Williams is a factor here.
Ryan has been banged up a lot this season.
I think it started in fall camp.
I'm not sure he's ever been truly 100% at any point.
And I think, you know, the only way to truly get healthy is to rest for an extended period of time.
That doesn't happen during the season for anyone.
So you've just got to sort of play through it.
But Lafayette Brooks is back.
He is 100%.
Zay Horton's back.
Ryan's healthy enough.
I expect to see Ryan Williams play on Saturday.
I know his list is questionable, but most kids' list is questionable do play.
So I expect to see him out there.
And I think the team's overall health is better than you should expect this time of the year.
Yep.
Jimmy, obviously, the X factor could be how well Alabama defends one Harold Perkins.
He has yet to break out and live up to the expectations, but we know he's got the potential, as they say.
Your thoughts about the matchup of trying to neutralize Harold Perkins?
Yeah, Harold Perkins is one heck of an athlete.
But they seem to have struggled trying to find a spot for him to play.
They move him around a lot.
On the one hand, you can say it's a nod, it's a compliment to how athletic he is, that he can play defensive end, he can play stand-up linebacker.
He's even playing their star position for some snaps.
And it's amazing that one guy can do all of those things.
But the fact of the matter is, where he's been most effective is just pass rusher, edge.
And he played there a lot as a freshman and was one of the best freshman football players in the sport.
And since that time, they've sort of moved him around, and he hasn't been quite as impactful playing these other spots.
But it's also a little understandable.
He's very undersized for an edge player.
I think he's only 6'1".
You don't find many 6'1'' edges in the NFL at all.
Those are all typically longer guys.
So I think he's wanted to move around because he's trying to find a spot he can play forever, and not just at LSU.
But on the one hand, that also does the opponent some favors because if you don't have to block Harold Perkins on the edge on every snap, it's kind of a break.
They don't use him like Alabama uses Yonse Pierre, for instance.
And Harold could be racking up quite a few sacks that way.
Now, again, shorter, smaller, probably not a pro prospect at that spot.
I think that's what he's trying to find and develop.
But he does have an impressive toolbox for a guy who's really good at rushing the passer, that can also play in space like he does, even cover guys in the slot.
I mean, that's a heck of an athlete.
Yeah, and I bet that's something LSU's worked on in these two weeks to figure out where to put him and keep him there.
Jimmy, great stuff, as always.
The best podcast on the planet for Alabama football and basketball.
The basketball team got a big game with St. John's in the Garden tomorrow at 11 a.m.
Jimmy, where can we get online and get the great stuff?
Locked on Bama.
You can find me and my co-host, Luke Robinson, on Locked on Bama on YouTube.
If you prefer the audio podcast, just listen in the car or while you're doing stuff around the house.
You can find us on wherever you find any of your audio podcasts, Spotify, iTunes.
It's out there everywhere.
Just Google us, Locked on Bama, and just pick out the platform you'd like to listen to us or watch us on.
Or just watch them and listen to all of them, right?
There you have it.
Jimmy, listen, man, thanks so much, and have a great weekend, okay?
Hey, I appreciate it, guys.
Thanks.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Appreciate you.
Jimmy Stein, co-host of Locked on Bama.
There is Bama and LSU.
There's Auburn and Nashville.
What do you say we go to Nashville next with Blake Lovell?
Stay with us on the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Chris Stewart.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
A big programming note coming up tonight.
It's Florence and Baker High School football playoff action down on the other side of the state.
The team from North Alabama, Florence, traveling all the way to South Alabama.
You can catch a pregame at 6, the game at 7 with KJ, Kevin Johnson, and the team again later on tonight.
Here on 93.9 The Score.
Let's hope that tonight's action is as good as last night.
We'll get into more details on that.
And that the SEC games will be just as good this weekend.
Blake Lovell's got that covered entirely there at, well, Southeastern 16.
Blake Lovell, welcome in.
How are you?
Yeah, doing well, guys.
Talk to you as always.
You too.
You too.
Listen, a lot of folks are going to be coming your way from our neck of the woods.
A lot of Auburn fans coming into Vanderbilt.
Blake, we're going to go on a limb and say Hugh Freeze will not lose to Diego Pavia again this year.
Would you agree with that assessment?
Yeah, seems to be, at least if you're an Auburn fan, maybe a little more optimistic about this matchup now.
Knowing kind of the history between those two.
But, yeah, you know, we always say you never know how a team's going to react after, you know,
coaching change and all that in the middle of the season.
And, meanwhile, you've got Vanderbilt who, you know, doesn't, they're not out of the college football playoff picture by any means yet.
And so I think that you've certainly got a team that's very motivated, understanding that it is really in must-win mode now
to try to stay in that conversation after the loss against Texas.
So I would expect Vanderbilt to bounce back and play pretty well here.
But, you know, the biggest unknown is simply what are you going to get out of Auburn?
Because I just, I think that's a very hard question to answer.
Well, let's talk about that, because for obvious reasons, if you're just checking in for Pluto, there's a new top Tiger calling his shots.
Your thoughts on how that influences the game?
Because, ironically, Alabama, we'll get to that in a second, they're going to be facing their own unpredictabilities with an interim coach.
But first things first, your thoughts on how that changes the game plan for Auburn coming in?
Yeah, I mean, like you said, I think it's going to be something where, you know, if you look at sort of just the, you know, the strength of this Auburn team this season,
as we've said many times, and I think, you know, it's going to be kind of a fascinating thing to look back on with Auburn,
and you just sort of see how some of these games have played out this year, and knowing how close it's been for them,
and what kind of this thing could look like if two or three more plays go their way, and, you know, just kind of understanding from a talent standpoint.
Like, they've been right there with the chance, and I think that's what's going to be kind of fascinating here.
You know, again, knowing what Vanderbilt does well, and, you know, Vanderbilt does a lot of things well this season,
but specifically, when you kind of look at some of the things they can do offensively going up against an Auburn defense,
I know a lot of people have, you know, kind of pointed out, man, this may be the biggest missed opportunity,
is knowing how well this defense is played, but yet you've just not been able to figure it out on the offensive side of the ball.
So, yeah, I think that's kind of the thing.
I would expect this, you know, from Auburn's standpoint, the defense, to not really be much of a question mark here,
but it's sort of just the same of what can they do and what will their approach be offensively,
because it's just not been there consistently this season at all.
One thing that has been consistent is how well Texas A&M has played.
They're 8-0 for the first time since 1992.
Their defense, I know everybody wants to look at the offense with all of their weapons,
Marcel Reed, Labian Moss, Craver, and all of their receivers,
but their defense has played really well.
Cassius Howell has basically come out of nowhere.
He's third in FBS with nine-and-a-half sacks.
In Texas A&M offensively, they scored 40 points in three road games.
I think Missouri's defense is very solid.
If Bo Pribilo was playing, I think Missouri's got a better chance in this game,
and I know Missouri's a little bit of a trendy upset.
A&M is a six-point favorite, but A&M's got too much riding on this game.
Again, we know the Missouri coach, Eli Drinkwith, it's been rumored to go several places.
Your thoughts on Texas A&M, a six-point favorite going into Columbia?
Yeah, you said it, Brad.
I mean, I just don't think there's another team in the SEC that has as many sort of weapons
in terms of how they can beat you than Texas A&M.
And, I mean, they've showcased that already in pretty much every game they've played this season.
And, you know, yes, like some other teams, they've had some close calls,
but what it comes down to is they always just have the playmaker that they need
to be able to make that one big play that can change the game for them.
And, yes, Missouri's got guys who can do that, too.
We know what Ahmad Hardy has done this season, but I just think A&M has more.
And even in a road game here, would I expect it to be close?
Yeah, probably, just because I think Missouri's a pretty good team.
And, again, they're another one who's at least trying to stay in the conversation somehow, some way.
But I just think A&M has proven time and time again that they are just going to overwhelm you
and make it impossible to match up with them when it comes to what they're going to throw at you offensively.
And then on the defensive side, you know, they're going to do some things, too,
that are really going to disrupt what you want to do offensively.
Like you said, we know Missouri's down a starting quarterback in terms of that.
And even though the other guys played well, it's just kind of, man, I still, even going up against a great Missouri defense,
I think Texas A&M has been so good and so electric offensively at times that I would still give them the edge there.
Absolutely.
Georgia at Mississippi State, this is the early game on the SEC network.
Georgia's been living on the edge a little bit this year.
I like Mississippi State.
Jeff Lebby still has done a very good job of improving this team.
They could have and should have beaten Tennessee and Texas.
Unfortunately, they did not.
Georgia, of course, controlled this series for years, winning 14 or 15 games.
Georgia seems to figure it out in the second half,
and then pull away and control the game late, which they did once again against Florida.
And I know Mississippi State's a little bit of a trendy upset pick by some.
Georgia, a seven-and-a-half point favorite.
Once again, the cowbells I get.
And I think State plays well.
But I think this is another game.
At some point, Georgia takes over, controls, and pulls away late.
Yeah, I think that was the conversation we had last week was just about don't be surprised if Georgia and Florida was close
just because Georgia's just not really proven to have that sort of just completely dominating performance
that we've seen in recent years from some of those top-level Georgia teams.
And I think I probably still wouldn't expect that here.
I think, like you said, it may be one where don't be surprised if Mississippi State gets off to a great start.
And maybe it's just eventually Georgia finds a way again to make a comeback and get the victory.
And that's that.
But I'd be surprised if Georgia goes in and wins this game by, I would say, even multiple touchdowns,
but maybe even 10-plus points.
And I know the spread's at nine-and-a-half.
And Mississippi State's been one of the best against the spread teams in the country this year.
They're eight and one.
And so I think from that perspective, like, I would expect this to be one that Georgia wins.
But, again, they've kind of been doing it, I was getting their teeth at many times this season.
And this is a pretty good, you know, I think Mississippi State team that seems like they're a little bit ahead of schedule
than maybe what people would have projected for them under Jeff Lebby.
And so I think they'll be motivated and focused and coming out here trying to shock the world.
But I would still expect Georgia to find a way to win.
State level, busy there at Southeastern 16, also the Blue Ribbon Yearbook.
Blake, a lot of folks are saying, can LSU shock Alabama given the circumstances?
Your thoughts on the showdown under the lights tomorrow night in Tuscaloosa?
Yeah, I don't think so.
I just think that, again, to me, yes, some of this is about LSU, but I also think it's about Alabama.
And I just look at, you know, the way Alabama has played, and I know kind of, you know, the wild circumstances that allowed them to get the victory at South Carolina.
You know, you have some things that go your way.
You make a few plays, but that's the name of the game.
And, yeah, I just, you know, like we mentioned earlier with Auburn, I mean, I just think you're always kind of in a position where you just don't really know how teams are going to respond.
You know, I think from LSU's perspective, look, the offense has also just been something that has not been able to find a rhythm for most of the season and, you know, gave up quite a few points to A&M, as we know, and did the same at Vanderbilt.
And so I just, I don't have a great sense that LSU, I know this is a big rivalry, always a game that's highly anticipated, and I don't expect LSU to just lay down or anything.
I think they'll come out with something to prove, but I just, I don't really see a scenario where Alabama doesn't win this game.
Let me close on a basketball question.
Alabama at St. John's and the Garden of Mora, 15,000 expected for that.
It is a sellout, and Patino goes off the rails occasionally, but he is an incredible coach.
He's got a deep team this year.
Alabama beat North Dakota to begin LeBaron final on the game has really slowed down for him.
I think getting the experience of going into the NBA, playing some games of those guys, he has really played well.
But St. John's and Patino are a different animal.
How do you see that game coming out tomorrow?
Yeah, it should be a great game.
Two teams that want to get up and down the floor.
I think it'll be very exciting, high scoring, I would think, with these two.
I know one of the key storylines for Alabama is who's going to play, because, you know, they've had multiple injuries already to start the season.
It sounds like Aiden Holloway, Michelle Wright, so we'll play, you know, Keith Bristow may not, and that, you know, may not be ideal.
I think the story of this game is going to be the frontcourt, because you guys know, I think one of the main storylines with Alabama basketball coming into the season was really just seeing how this frontcourt was going to develop.
And, well, they're going up against one of the best in St. John's in terms of what they sport at the 4-5 with Edge of 4 and then Mitchell.
So I think that's going to be the biggest challenge for Alabama going into this game at Madison Square Garden, seeing how their frontcourt development works out.
But having, you know, those two guards available, and Holloway and Wright still with a pair with a bear and phylon, I think that is huge.
Because, again, you're going to need really good guard play in a game like this where both these teams are going to get down the floor.
St. John's going to get after you defensively.
They're going to force some turnovers.
So I think it's a great, great early season test for Alabama.
And, of course, one of many to come for the Crimson Tide, who easily have the toughest schedule in college basketball over the next three weeks with Purdue, Illinois, and then the Giants coming up after that.
Absolutely.
And that's before they get to Las Vegas to play Gonzaga and UNLV.
Absolutely amazing.
And, again, it pays off for Nate, but you're right.
It is a gauntlet to get there.
Great stuff.
Football, I know you've got all the recamps tomorrow.
Basketball really heating up now.
Where can we get online to get all the incredible stuff?
Yeah, I always appreciate it, guys.
Yeah, find us at Southeastern 16.
Plenty of football and basketball stuff.
Tomorrow we'll be reacting to both sports.
So you can find us on multiple shows tomorrow reacting to everything going on at SEC football and basketball.
So, yeah, find us there, Southeastern 16, on YouTube.
Thanks so much, Blake.
Your backyard should be loud tomorrow with Vandy and Auburn.
Thanks so much, and have a great weekend, okay?
Thanks, guys.
You too.
Thank you, bud.
Blake Lovell, Southeastern 16.
Also, the Blue Book is on the way, too.
So a fantastic publication as well.
Coming up, Mr. Dog himself, Bill Shanks, and more straight ahead.
Stay with us.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9, the score.
Falcons head to Germany this week.
They'll take on the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin on Sunday morning.
The Falcons are currently 3-5, but the Colts are 7-2.
Men's Hoops last night, 20th-ranked Auburn.
A winner over Merrimack, 95-57.
Auburn now 2-0 on the season.
South Alabama, a winner over Alcord State, 76-70.
Peyton Laud, 29 points and 9 rebounds.
The Jaguars are 2-0 on the season.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back.
Can you talk about a busy fella?
He is Bill Shanks, host of The Bill Shanks Show on 93.1 FM over in Macon, Georgia,
online at thesesuperstations.com and on the tube at 41NBC.
Bill, welcome in.
You're trying to keep up with the weekend's biggest dogfight and all the latest on the Braves.
Brand new chief, Walt Weiss.
Welcome in.
How are you?
Well, I'm tired.
I just got back to Atlanta Airport.
I was out directing planes.
They got a problem with the air traffic controllers.
I bet that's right.
That's what we like about you, Bill.
I'm out here with a couple of sticks trying to make sure the planes land in the right runway.
First things first, make sure you drop the wheels before you put that baby down.
But, Bill, let's talk about a fellow that's got rouged to our neck of the woods.
Some of us remember a kid by the name of Walt Weiss.
He came through Huntsville.
The mascot was a star, and he lived up to being a star.
He was, after his stint here in Huntsville, went on to become an American League Rook of the Year.
Why is that significant?
He was the third guy off that team to be the AL rookie, following a guy by the name of Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire, Walt Weiss.
We knew him as a kid, and now he's a brand new manager of the Atlanta Braves.
Your thoughts?
Well, I'm happy for him.
I was surprised that we didn't know what was coming, right?
It was totally hidden and secret, like nuclear codes for some reason, but we found out Monday, and he's actually going to be on my show today at 5 o'clock Eastern time.
So I invite everybody to listen in on these superstations.com.
You know, look, he's a very well-respected man who everybody likes.
Hard to find a bad word about him.
Very similar to Ryan Sticker, right?
And he has been the bench coach the last eight years.
He had four years as a manager in Colorado, so he had that time as well.
And he is much more prepared now to be a major league manager than he was the first time.
The first time, he actually came right from the high school football field where he was a high school football coach.
And as we all know, those people know nothing about sports, so we don't need to really hire them for big jobs.
No, but he took an unusual turn.
There's no question coming from a big league career and then a coach for a couple years.
And then he kind of backed away, and he was.
He was coaching his high school team in his town there in Colorado.
And then they called him and wanted him to apply for it and interview, and he did, and they gave him the job.
And, you know, he did it for four years, but now I think he's much more prepared.
And I'm excited to see what he can do.
I really am.
Well, make sure you ask him about McGuire and Jose and his time in Huntsville
because those were some incredible teams they had through there.
I mean, they had Scott Brocious.
He went on to become a – he was a World Series MVP with the Yankees.
I mean, that roster was incredible.
So make sure you ask him about some war stories there with Jose and McGuire and his time in Huntsville, Bill.
Yeah, I will.
I will tell him they've got skeletons of him in the closet, so we better pass up all the –
Let me ask you.
I'm like you, and I've talked to a lot of Braves fans this week, and they're not being critical at all of the hire.
They were just surprised because so many people thought Alex Anthopoulos might be moving in a different direction
to get what I'd call a little bit more fresh air with the Braves.
The Dodgers bench coach, Danny Lehman, was a popular name that popped up.
George Lombard, of course, David Ross, Mark DeRosa.
I know we've discussed some of these guys.
I guess it's not going to make any difference to ask who finished second because Alex is probably not going to tell you.
But I've heard from a lot of people who expressed the same thing you did, that they were – they're not being critical at all of wise.
They just thought the Braves were going in another direction.
Well, that was the impression I think that we had, and that was our impression, the fan base's impression.
There wasn't nothing that Alex Anthopoulos said.
He said only he was going to get the best man for the job, and he was going to try to do his due diligence and talk to people.
And, you know, the only thing I'm surprised about, Brad, is that Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported that neither David Ross nor Mark DeRosa were contacted about the job.
Wow.
That is a little strange.
Now, look, that doesn't mean that Alex did not talk with people about those two people and then decide to not interview them, right?
That is his choice.
But they – when they were not contacted, I was like, wow, that's a little bit of a surprise because you thought over four weeks he would have talked to a lot of people and interviewed a ton of people.
But he chose not to talk with those two.
We don't know if he interviewed Lehman or George Lombard or – we don't know who he interviewed.
We don't know how many they were.
He wouldn't admit that.
But regardless – and I know a lot of people have said, well, you know, why did he come back to Walt?
And why did it take so long?
Why didn't they just go ahead and name Walt the day after Snit left?
Well, he wasn't ready to name Walt the day after Snit left.
Right.
But he did want to do interviews.
This wasn't like in 2010 in October when Bobby had his going-away press conference and the next day Freddie was hired.
You know, Freddie Gonzalez.
That was already decided on.
It's a whole different situation.
I think Alex talked to people.
I'm sure he interviewed several.
I don't know how many.
And the only two I knew that were interviewed were Eddie Perez and Walt Weiss.
Well, so, you know, he obviously in the interview with Walt Weiss felt very comfortable.
He knew to a certain extent GMs and bench coaches don't – they don't interact that much compared to the GM and the manager, right?
That's the way he was there.
But, you know, he had enough interaction to know a core value, I guess, of what Walt Weiss was.
And then, you know, he felt most comfortable with Walt.
I think Chipper Jones was a very good voice for Walt to say, hey, look, this is a good man and a good manager and a good baseball guy.
I think this is who Brian Sticker wanted, to be honest with you, because he – thanks to the world of Walt,
he wouldn't have had him on his staff last eight years if he didn't.
And so I think this is not a settling for Walt Weiss.
It's not a, well, so-and-so turned him down.
I don't believe that at all.
I think Alex talked to people, and the one he happened to decide on was the one already in his own backyard.
Bill Shane to Superstations.com.
Bill, Cardinal fans can tell you that they hope the Braves learn what Cardinal fans have learned.
Sometimes ownership wants to get somebody in basically, for lack of a better word, a yes-man who will make sure that they squeeze that dollar to death.
You can bring in the best manager in the world, but the folks upstairs don't sign off and give them a roster.
They're not going to win.
You can't take a bicycle to Talladega and win.
I don't care how good of a sackless you are.
Your thoughts about the commitment from the guys who write the big checks to give Walt a chance to win as manager?
Well, the moron who is the de facto owner, Terry McGurk, said a couple of days ago that he wants to be a top-five payroll.
And, you know, let me give you real quick a summary of where the payroll is, okay?
They have, their payroll last year was below the tax threshold of $241 million.
There's two different numbers you deal with.
You deal with real cash of how much the players are actually getting paid and how much they are charged to their true tax number.
So, for example, this year, Spencer Strider coming up in 2020, 2026, is going to make $20 million.
His number for the tax is 12 and a half because that's the average of the amount of money he makes over the life of his contract.
So that's the number they really watch.
Because they don't want to be taxed, which is stupid, okay?
So right now, the Braves have 12 players under contract for 2026.
So that doesn't include arbitration cases.
That doesn't include young players who are on, you know, $820,000 minimum wage contracts.
That's just players who have long-term contracts who are already accounted for.
Well, so if you take that number and then you look at the number of the collective bargaining agreement tax threshold for 2026,
it's $3 million more.
It's $244 million.
That means that the Braves even don't go over that number again, which two years ago, three years ago, they did go over that number.
They've got $91 million to play with, okay?
So that is a lot of financial flexibility to try to make improvements on this team.
So, you know, I think there's a lot of skepticism because the ownership group, well, you know, the ownership is a clown show.
There's no question about it.
It is a publicly run company and it's like, what's going on?
You know, it's in a real estate business, all this, that, and the other.
It's a clown show.
But this all season, they've got money to spend and still stay right around that tax threshold, and that's the important thing.
So I think we're going to see a lot of activity going after a closer, starting pitcher or two, a shortstop, and a designated hitter.
They've got a lot of work to do to fix this team.
Let me ask you about the coaches.
Some stayed.
Some were not retained, which is going to happen.
Your third favorite baseball team, the New York Mets, they bring over, the Braves bring over Jeremy Hefner and first base coach Anton Richardson.
Hefner has been the Mets pitching coach for six seasons.
Well, if he's the new pitching coach, that means Rick Kranitz is no longer the Braves' pitching coach.
Something else that caught my attention, Richardson, who's 42 years old, the Mets led Major League Baseball in stolen base success rate by a wide margin of nearly 90%.
I'm going to be curious to see if we see that on the field.
But Tom Goodwin, the Braves' first base coach, was not retained.
Rick Kranitz, I mentioned, and Freddy Gonzalez, who came in late as a bench coach or third base coach.
Your thoughts on the new coaches coming and going?
Well, Richardson played for the Braves very briefly back in 2011.
He was just kind of a fringe outfielder, but he does have a great reputation as a base running coach.
And Matt Olsen will lead the National League in stolen bases next year.
I have made that prediction already.
He's the slowest white boy I know, but Matt Olsen will lead the National League.
No, look, I think the number will improve.
I think if he made that kind of an impact with the Mets, then there's no question he did.
Absolutely.
And we've got to expect that from the Braves.
So people especially who do have the base running ability on the team, Profar and Acuna and Harris, you know, and Ozzie.
Ozzie's so good at it because he's so close to the bag.
He can't miss grabbing the bag and being safe, for crying out loud.
You know, I think that that number will improve a great deal.
Hefter was a pitcher, went right to coaching.
Mets coached for six years.
You know, he's very analytical.
And I was talking with some Mets people I know, and they said he was very analytical, so he's kind of a big stat head.
But, you know, that's the way the game's going.
So, I mean, I think Kranich is not back, and I wish they'd keep him in the organization as a Meyer League coach or something.
But, you know, we'll see how.
And they've still got to find a third base coach.
They're interviewing people for that, and the most important job is going to be the bench coach because that's what Walt Weiss was.
And, you know, he's going to want someone that's going to be a really good lieutenant to him like he was to Brian Snicker.
So, Bill, before we jump off, anything going on with Georgia football this weekend?
Well, you know, we've got to prove who the biggest bulldog is.
We've got to go over there with them dumb cowbells and rip my a**.
So, you know, the game starts at like the daggum today show will be coming on when the daggum game starts.
So, my gosh, it's going to be kind of crazy when the game starts so early.
But, yeah, it's, you know, you've got to be careful with these games.
It doesn't matter who you're playing.
You've got to be careful because the bad teams aren't as bad anymore.
They're catching up to you.
So, yeah, Georgia's got to play a more complete game.
They have trouble doing that sometimes.
I don't know who plays complete games anymore.
But, you know, it's going to be a game you have to be careful for, for sure,
against the other bulldogs at Mississippi State.
Let me ask you real quick.
The Braves picked up the option on Chris Sale.
I think he was $18 million.
One more year with Ozzie, which I know fans have probably split down the middle on that.
They declined the options on right-handed pitcher Pierce Johnson.
And one that seemed to surprise a lot of people, Tyler Kinley, who Snitker had praised quite a bit.
Your thoughts on who they let go and who they came up.
Well, no surprise on Sale or Ozzie.
I mean, I wish I'm kind of ready for Ozzie to go.
But you know what?
Ozzie is too cheap to not have him there.
It's $7 million.
And I was surprised about the Super League pitchers, but it tells me they're going after somebody big.
And I also think that Reynaldo Lopez, who was hurt all last year and in the rotation the year before, I think he's going to go to the bullpen.
I think that tells me even more that if he's healthy, he's probably going to go to the bullpen.
And that could be a big arm.
Now, Joe Jimenez is a big question mark because he had another knee surgery.
And I don't think they really have confidence in what he's going to do in that bullpen.
If he's healthy, Jimenez and Lopez could be a great one-two punch as set-up men in that bullpen.
But I think they've got to go get another closer, and I think that's what they're going to do.
And so, you know, there's going to be a lot of player movement.
There's no question about that.
They're going to have – there's going to be some changes.
And we've got to look at all the Mets free agents, too, because some of those pitchers for the Mets who were free agents,
their old pitching coach may want them in Atlanta now.
Good point.
Absolutely.
Well, Walt's going to be on your show, what, 5 Eastern, 4 Central.
You'll have dog predictions.
And if any of our Alabama listeners who listen in quite frequently will like to call in to predict how bad Alabama is going to beat Georgia next year in Tuscaloosa,
what time and where can they go to make the predictions?
Well, we'll take our predictions at 4 o'clock Eastern, 3 o'clock Central time, and then again after the Walt interview.
Yeah, I've had – I had a pastor from Alabama, Tommy, who – well, he and I went at it like for 20 minutes, and he almost cussed me.
I almost got him to say cussed me.
That's all you can do, Bill.
You just get to people.
You know that.
Like my mama said, you make a preacher cuss.
Yeah, you know, I mean, I was pushing him.
He got all mad because his son's friend heard the show the day before where I called him a moron.
And I'm like, well, yeah, I called you a moron.
And I'm like, I'm going to call any Alabama fan that lies about Georgia football.
I said, what do you think I call Brett Beaird all the time behind his back?
I mean, my God.
And to his face.
Well, yeah, that's right.
When I see him, 4 o'clock Eastern, we'll take phone calls at 3 o'clock Central.
So call up and give us some predictions.
Say hello to Walt Forrest and enjoy the dogfight this weekend, Bill.
All right, guys.
Thank you.
See you, buddy.
The one, the only, Bill Shanks, amongst other places, thesesuperstations.com.
He may be called an original.
Coming up in the next hour, what's up with Auburn on the road to Nashville?
Justin Ferguson on that, Mike Hugen.
That's going to be setting the stage coast to coast in college football
and a wild ninth lid off the high school playoff party.
Jimmy Lay on that and more.
Straight ahead, a little bit more Buck Show.
Stay with us.
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Hey, fans. Welcome back to Fansville's Cheers and Tears.
Okay, so like everybody deals with losing, right, to a rival on a last-second field goal.
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18-19 News.
Former college competitive swimmer Riley Gaines was in Alabama this week.
She spoke at the Tallapoosa County Republican Party Dinner on Thursday.
Riley has been an outspoken advocate for protecting women's sports by banning transgender athletes who are not biologically female from competing.
Riley brought up the recent interview of actress Sydney Sweeney,
whose ad for American Eagle Jeans caused a stir among some within liberal activist circles.
Gaines commended Sweeney for not apologizing for making that ad after some have inferred that it was somehow a promotion of white supremacy
because the term good jeans was used.
The ad by Sweeney was about the pants, known as jeans, not DNA.
Riley says that the fact that Sweeney resisted pressure to apologize or backtrack on doing that ad has left Riley hopeful.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
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A family from the Shoals area of Alabama are very thankful this November after their one-year-old daughter's life was saved.
The mother to the one-year-old, Lindsay Mahan, told Way 31 News that her little girl Sophia started to undergo a seizure while they were out shopping at Home Depot.
A local nurse who was also in that store ran over to find the little girl turning blue and was able to provide CPR until paramedics came.
Sophia has made a full recovery and is doing very well.
The Mahans say that nurse Anne-Marie Stanfield was sent by God and they will be forever grateful.
For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.
And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter.
Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, the Shoals, Sports Radio 93.9, the score.
The Florence Falcons ended their regular season in dramatic fashion.
Kick on the way.
Kick up.
Kick is good!
Charlie Graves puts the Falcons up 12-11 with 157 to go.
Now the Falcons fly south to take on the Baker Hornets in 7-8 playoffs round one.
Join me along with Jeff Jones and John McDaniel as we bring you a battle of region champions, Florence and Baker, from Mobile, Alabama, this Friday night.
TNT fireworks pregame at 6, kickoff at 7 on your home for Falcons football 93.9, the score.
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93.9, the score weather.
Today, partly sunny with a 60% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 75.
Tonight, mostly cloudy with a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight with a low near 55.
Tomorrow, mostly sunny with a 30% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 75.
Tomorrow night, partly cloudy with a 50% chance of showers overnight and a low near 45.
And for your Sunday, partly sunny with a high around 55.
Your weather from 93.9, the score.
Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tide, Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, the score.
Welcome back in our tour to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
And for Mike, you're going to be taking time out of his busy schedule as National College football slash basketball analyst.
Mike, welcome in.
How's life in Orlando, Florida today?
Doing well.
This is a good time of the year.
Football and college basketball has started already.
So, this is great.
It's crazy to believe, but this is the last month, if you will, the regular season.
This time next month, we'll be getting into the postseason parties.
First things first, Mike.
Where do you start?
What is the biggest headliner for you this weekend in the SEC?
Oh, I think it's Texas A&M, Missouri.
You keep waiting for Texas A&M to sort of do what it always does,
which is blow a game or two that it has no business losing.
They've avoided that this year.
This game on paper doesn't look all that daunting because Mizzou's down to its third-string quarterback.
It's two freshmen.
Yeah.
The way A&M is playing, they're running the ball well.
Their offensive line is dominating games.
Their defense is playing well.
The corners can be exploited.
I'm not sure Mizzou can do that.
But this is, again, a game on paper.
You're like, okay, A&M wins this by at least a touchdown.
But because it's A&M, they have to show that they can indeed avoid the messed up game, which they've done so far.
And I think they'll do it again this weekend.
But watching A&M this far into the season, there's, I think, a dangerous undercurrent.
When is this team going to blow a game?
Absolutely.
Let me ask you about the interim coach bump.
We saw it last week with Florida, who played well, quite frankly.
If Lagway would hit on three or four more passes, that may have really become interesting.
But Auburn's got an interim coach.
John Cohen finally put Hugh Freeze out of Auburn fans' misery.
And D.J. Durkin is the interim going to Vandy.
Vandy's still got a lot on the line as far as maybe being an outlier for a college football playoff.
Auburn's defense has kept them in every game.
Pavia has beaten Auburn, I know, twice with two different teams.
Your thoughts on that?
And then LSU interim bump.
We all know about what happened to Brian Kelly.
This is still a talented LSU team.
Kellen DeBoer is 16-2 after bye weeks.
Your thoughts on how the interim bump might help both of these teams?
Yeah, I think the idea that Hugh Freeze being gone, no one's going to miss it.
I think the one thing about Auburn, their offense, it's not just, it wasn't just Hugh Freeze's fault.
That is not a talented unit, especially a quarterback.
So, yeah, I think Durkin's defense will acquit itself well.
I think it'll be a low-scoring game because I don't think Auburn, frankly, can score more than 20 points against Vandy.
I'm not even sure they can score 17.
But this game has to be, you know, like 17-14, 14-10, something like that for Auburn and have a shot.
It would help if they do keep Pavia under control.
I think there will be a, I think teams, when they fire a coach, do play looser football.
I'm just not sure that's going to make a difference for Auburn this week at Vandy.
Maybe if the game was on the loveliest village on the plains, it'd be different.
And I think the same goes for LSU-Alabama.
LSU is a talented team.
Their offense has been a gigantic disappointment.
Not only did they fire Kelly, they fired offensive coordinator Joe Sloan.
The biggest issue for LSU is their offensive line can't run block, and their running backs aren't that good.
I think, you know, unless Ty Simpson plays worse than he did against Florida State, I think Alabama's fine on Saturday.
But it will be interesting to see if Auburn and LSU can play a little bit looser, a little bit freer in the first half of each game and make things interesting into the second.
But, again, I don't think Auburn wins.
I think it's Vandy by at least 10, and I think Alabama wins by at least two touchdowns.
Mike Hogan in the huddle with us, National College Football slash Basketball Analyst.
Mike, who says money can't buy your happiness or can it?
Texas Tech is trying to prove that point.
They are the darlings of ESPN these days.
Not a lot happening in Lubbock, except they're creating a buzz.
That's where game day is.
Taking on BYU, it's eight versus nine.
What gives there?
Yeah, this is the best game of the weekend.
And the idea of BYU-Texas Tech as must-see TV is sort of incredible.
I think last weekend showed that the ACC is going to get one team in the college football playoff.
Big 12 has a legit chance at two.
The results of this game will go a long way toward determining that.
BYU is a team that likes to develop players in sprinkle and transfers.
That's easy to do when you have 21-year-old freshmen returning from two-year-old.
Texas Tech is, I think, that used to be a sort of a quirky story when they had Leach.
Leach's offense is awesome.
Kingsbury, oh, that offense is awesome.
The defense has always been incredibly bad.
This year, I think a lot of folks were intrigued early by Texas Tech.
But I'll be honest, I think now people are a little bit sick of hearing about Texas Tech.
And I don't think anybody has an issue with, okay, they're paying their players.
I think the issue comes with Texas Tech being so in-your-face about it.
It has become an old storyline to me.
Yeah, I know.
They bought their offensive line.
They bought their defensive line.
Oh, my God, let it rest.
And I also think these are the two least liked teams by other Big 12 fan bases.
I mean, I live in Orlando.
UCF fans, Iowa State, who cares?
K-State, who cares?
Even Colorado, who cares?
BYU, no, don't like them.
Texas Tech, hate them.
So, you know, this is, these are teams.
BYU plays good defense.
Nasty football players, physical team.
Texas Tech, they got some dudes on defense who can play.
Phenomenal pass rush.
They'll be going against a true freshman quarterback who has not seen this kind of pass rush.
So, and I think the game, being in Lubbock, a friend of mine once said, to get to Lubbock, you go to h*** and take a right.
It is a dead end.
Yeah, it's not the easiest place to get to.
The fans are going to be riled up.
I think the Texas Tech home crowd gives them an advantage, even if the game kicks off at 11 a.m. local time.
So, I think Texas Tech wins.
But, I'm extremely interested in watching this game from start to finish to come away with a better idea of can these teams, if they get to the playoff, win a game or two.
Let me ask you about a game tonight that has a lot of interest on and off the field.
Memphis, ranked number 22, is a six and a half point favorite over Tulane.
That's an eight o'clock game on ESPN.
And the game is going to be interesting, but what a lot of people are thinking, could these two coaches be in the SEC in about six weeks?
I keep hearing Ryan Silverfield, who's done a very good job at Memphis, may be on a short list to replace Sam Pittman at Arkansas.
And a lot of Auburn fans would love John Summerall to come to the Plains to replace Hugh Freeze.
Now, Summerall's on two or three other short lists, too.
I'd be very surprised if he's back at Tulane again.
An interesting game.
But, Mike, will both of these coaches be coaching somewhere else in December?
That John Summerall will not be back at Tulane.
Ryan Silverfield, I'm a little bit more wishy-washy on that, maybe 50-50.
Memphis has the better offense.
Tulane's got the better defense.
Memphis, though, the College Football Playoff Committee, they're not in the CFP top 25, but they are, the CFP group said, they are the highest ranked group of five teams.
So, this is a gigantic game for the playoff, an interesting game in the coaching carousel.
Summerall's a defense-minded guy who's coached in the SEC.
Silverfield has not coached in the SEC.
Took over a program.
You know, it went from, it went from Justin Fuente to Mike Norvell, and now to Ryan Silverfield, and it's been relatively un-bumpy for Silverfield, though there wasn't a time last year, last season, where the fans were a little bit upset with him.
Whereas, Tulane, he took over, Summerall took over for Willie Fritz, who put the program in a really great place.
But I think, yeah, again, I think Summerall is gone.
I think Silverfield's more 50-50.
And, yeah, the idea that this game is in Memphis tonight, I think that helps Memphis greatly.
Their quarterback's a kid named Brendan Lewis, who began his career at Colorado.
And has played pretty solid football this year.
Tulane's quarterback situation a little bit in flux, because Red Slaff played poorly last week.
But, yeah, this is one of the five best games of the weekend, and not just because of the coaching carousel implications.
At the Liberty Bowl in the Bluff City.
Let me ask you this, Mike.
It's always fun to talk about maybe some of the upset specials.
Oregon is number six in the country, but a lot of folks say, not so fast, my friend.
And Iowa has a chance here.
Do you buy that, or are the Ducks going to walk over Iowa this weekend?
I've been to three games there.
Extremely difficult place to play.
The fans are literally right on, basically right on the field.
The first row of the stands, the back of the visitor's bench is against the wall, and two feet behind that are fans.
Watch your language.
They are loud.
They are raucous.
Iowa plays great defense.
Iowa's thrown five touchdown passes.
So, the offense is throwing the ball, they're inept.
Running the ball, they're very good, again.
And I'll be honest, I'm not convinced that Oregon is all that.
It's going to be colder in Iowa City than it is in Eugene.
The defense for Iowa is incredibly well coached.
Phil Parker, had he wanted to, he could have gone to the NFL.
He could have gone to an SEC team.
He's chosen to stay there for whatever reason.
He's been there seemingly since about 1920.
They're incredibly fundamentally sound.
And I think they'll have some things that Dante Moore has never seen.
So, I think Oregon is distinctly on upset alert.
And I'll be honest, I think if they lose to Iowa tomorrow, that they're a team that's going to lose three games and not make the college football players.
So, this is a gigantic game for Oregon, I think.
And, again, I'm not convinced they're all that this year.
Wow.
Very interesting.
Well, Mike, it should be another great slate of games.
Hard to believe, as Harold mentioned, we've got to the last month of the regular season.
Enjoy tomorrow.
It should be another fun slate.
Have a great week.
Let's do this again next Friday.
Mike, you're going to hook it up with us.
He's busy there as a National College football and basketball analyst down in Orlando.
Coming up, what in the world does the Friday night folks have for an encore after a wild Thursday night of high school playoff action?
Jimmy Lay laying it out next.
Stay with us.
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Hello again, everybody.
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As we get ready for Alabama football against LSU on Saturday,
here are some final thoughts from the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Kalen DeBoer.
It's the most important game of the year for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it's the next one.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in.
I can't think of a better gentleman to lay out the landscape for round one of the high school playoff pictures than Jimmy Lay.
He's busy there at AL.com.
Jimmy, welcome in.
How are you?
Hey, guys.
Doing great.
Here we are, playoff time.
It's what you play all season.
It's why you work so hard in the summer to get to this point.
And here we are.
And there's not everybody.
You know, a lot of teams putting up those helmets and shoulder pads, but there's something left, and they all got a shot at it.
Jimmy, I'll tell you what.
We were just talking earlier.
Round one tonight of the Friday Night Actions got their work cut out for them to try to top the priceful Gunnersville game.
For the folks who might have missed it, there's an old saying out there, never count your chickens before they hatch.
What was it?
21-7.
Gunnersville on their home field had the lead with two minutes, maybe a little under two minutes to go.
And guess who walked away with the win?
You're talking about the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
There it is.
Yeah, it's really worse than that for Gunnersville.
They're going to kick themselves because not only did they have the 14-point lead, but they also had the ball driving, looking like they were just going to put a nail in the coffin.
And they fumbled the ball at the 10-yard line with about two minutes.
Yeah, and so priceful gets the ball.
They go 90 yards and end up scoring.
And they don't make the extra point.
Then they have to get the onside kick.
They get it.
They go down.
They score.
They get the two-point conversion with five seconds left to get that thing to overtime.
Gunnersville's got a really solid kicker.
But they got backed up.
They got behind the chains in the overtime.
And he missed a field goal.
And so priceful, all they had to do was just run the ball a few times and then kick a 27-yard field goal for the win.
And I don't think I've ever seen a game that was literally they grabbed defeat, you know, in the jaws of victory.
I mean, I can't say it.
Those teams today got to be just, I mean, they're still in shock.
I was thinking, how in the world did they lose this game?
Yeah.
Yeah, we've talked about priceful a good bit.
Seth Parker is the coach there in his second year.
They were 2-8 last year, and now they've turned it around to be 8-3 in advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Jimmy, I went to see most of the shows last night.
They got ahead 31-6 at halftime and pretty much put it on cruise control.
Damian Reynolds had a couple of touchdowns.
Most of the shows had to pick six late in that game.
I'll say this about Mae Jemison.
They've got some real athletes.
I know you've seen them.
Harris, the Tennessee commitment, really impressed me.
Big, tall kid.
Offense and defense, he played well.
Cade Clemens, the Muscle Shoals quarterback, very smooth.
Now they play Parker.
Parker put Muscle Shoals out last year in the quarterfinals 34-10.
Parker's lost a few more games this year, but that should be quite a matchup next week.
Parker coming to Muscle Shoals.
In the second round of the playoffs.
Yeah, I tell you what.
You're talking about Mae Jemison.
You know, they beat a good Sparkman team that's in the 7-8 playoffs this year.
And so you know they've got a lot of talent on that team.
So they really pushed Muscle Shoals as far as they could.
But I really think this could be the year Muscle Shoals pushes on through and gets to the Super 7.
If they get past Parker, then they're looking at the winner of Fort Payne and Mountain Brook.
And I believe that they should be able to get past that.
What's going to be the toughest challenge when you get and you start looking ahead.
And, you know, that's what we – coaches hate it.
Don't look ahead.
Look at the next game.
That's what we do.
We always look ahead.
And you've got to look at play chalk ball on the other side of that bracket.
Yep.
But this could be their year to finally push ahead.
But, yeah, it's going to be a tough game.
I don't think Parker's quite as strong as they were last year.
And you know Muscle Shoals wants to put them out and get a little revenge from last year.
Jimmy, LAL.com.
Jimmy, coming up tonight, the Muscle Shoals' arch-rivals, Florence,
they're going to be about as far away from home as you can get down to Baker.
It's a long trip.
Thank goodness the community, they got together to defray some of those expenses
so they can get down early and maybe get a little rest.
But your thoughts about the Falcons and Baker tonight.
I tell you what, it's – we talked about this last week,
about the tiebreaker in 7-8 Region 4
and how close it was for them to win the region.
Had they just beaten Sparkman, you know, for the 15th time in a row,
they would have been a region champ.
But they lost, and so they have to go to – you know,
go down there because of the tiebreaker.
It's going to be a tough task because that region down there, Region 1,
is a really tough region.
Those teams, I mean, they're – you just look at it, you know,
Mary Montgomery and Baker and Daphne, they're all good.
And so they've got a huge challenge.
I don't think it's – having to go down there is not going to be the challenge.
It's the team they're going to face.
This is going to be difficult.
Exactly.
So, yeah, if they lose, it ain't going to be because they had to travel that far.
It's going to be because it was just such a tough game.
And I really – they certainly got a shot at it.
And I would just love to see somebody from 7-8 Region 4 win a playoff game.
Maybe this is the –
Yeah.
Jimmy, you mentioned Spartman a little bit earlier.
They are hosting Daphne.
Very rare for Daphne.
We'll get into Fairhope and James Clemens in a minute.
Daphne's 8-2.
Spartman's 5-5.
And Spartman won three of their final four games.
They lost three to begin the season.
But who did they lose to?
Spain Park, Hillcrest, Tuscaloosa, and a good Austin team.
Daphne is coached by Kenny King.
Yes, the Alabama Kenny King, the former defensive lineman.
That's in his 10th year now at Daphne.
And we know that Spartman's got some athletes.
Joshua Nalen, Raylan Lawson, Bodner.
You've seen this team.
But your thoughts, Daphne making the long trip in reverse, coming to Spartman.
Does Spartman have a chance to knock off Daphne?
Yeah, they absolutely do because they're tough.
They play sound football.
If they don't turn the ball over and they don't give up the big plays,
this thing will go into the fourth quarter.
I definitely think that they have a chance at it.
This is probably the best chance that 7-8 Region 4 has had
to win some playoff games.
It wouldn't shock me if they don't get a couple of them.
That could even win three.
So I'm not counting them out.
I know that's a tough region down there.
But Spartman didn't win the region by accident.
I know it may seem like that because of the tiebreakers.
But they won it on the field.
And I tell you what, they're going to be coming for them tonight.
And I really think they have a good chance.
And it won't shock me at all if they don't move on to the second round.
Jimmy Lay hooking up with us, AL.com.
Everybody's hoping that the local forecasters are wrong
or at least maybe delay the earlier forecasted bad weather
that could present a problem for teams tonight.
Your thoughts about Buckhorn on the drive down to Hartzell.
Interesting matchup in Morgan County.
Yeah, Buckhorn is playing really good.
They've got a really solid running back, DJ Rosario.
He's got over 1,000 yards.
They've got a pretty good defense.
And Hartzell, I won't say they've struggled for Hartzell.
Let's just say that.
But they've struggled against Jasper,
which they barely won the last play of the game.
And then, of course, against Muscle Shoals.
So, not like they lost to some –
or they struggled against some teams that aren't as good.
But it's still Hartzell.
And you've still got to go to Hartzell.
And I just think they've probably got a little too much for Buckhorn.
But, hey, that's why you play the games.
I mean, last night I don't think anybody thought Guntersville was going to lose that game.
Somehow Pricewell found a way to win it.
So, I will never count a team out.
And so, they definitely got a shot at it tonight.
Jimmy, I mentioned James Clemens.
They're 5-5.
They're hosting Fairhope.
And, again, it's a unique opportunity for people in North Alabama
to see Daphne and Fairhope come to Madison County.
Fairhope lost two of their last three games to the top two teams in the region,
Mary Montgomery and Baker, that we just got through talking about.
And, Jimmy, we've talked a lot about James Clemens.
They've been up and down this year.
They won three of their final four games.
M.J. Gideon has run for 1,100 yards.
Christian Ritchie, a big play guy.
Matthew Evers, the quarterback.
And, oh, by the way, the winner of this game will play either number one,
Central Phoenix City, or number nine, Hoover.
How's that for a second-round opponent?
Jimmy, your thoughts on James Clemens with the hopes of pulling an upset
against Fairhope?
It's just which James Clemens team is going to show up.
Is it going to be the team that plays sound football, doesn't turn it over,
doesn't make the silly, you know, mistakes, roughing the punter and silly things like that,
you know, like they've done against Florence and other teams?
Or is it going to be the team that makes the big plays?
Because they've got big play potential all over the field.
And that's really how they need to look at this thing.
We're going to big play Fairhope to death, get the big play on them, get up on them,
and then maybe take them a little bit out of what they want to do offensively.
And if they can get up on them, especially at home, it's just something about, you know,
when you're on the road like that, if things ain't going your way, a lot of times, man,
it can really just turn into an avalanche.
I think that's what James Clemens really needs to do tonight to be able to win this game.
You mentioned that, and I think home field advantage is huge because of travel distance.
A couple of our Shell's neighbors, they've got the advantage tonight.
Dester is home in North Jackson.
That's over in Stevenson.
That's a drive.
And Carbett County, always tough at Leighton, historically one of the toughest places to
win for a visiting team.
And Collinsville is going to find out more about that tonight.
But your thoughts about those respective matchups?
Yeah, I've seen North Jackson and Deschler a little bit on film.
I haven't been to any of their games.
But, I mean, Nicholas Price is just amazing.
I mean, this kid, he's so good.
He's so hard to stop.
But that's not all they've got.
I mean, they've got a little bit of a passing game that they've put in place the last few
weeks.
And, of course, Deschler's going to load up.
They're going to load up to try to stop Price.
But everybody's loaded up to try to stop him.
And nobody's been able to stop him.
He went for 349 yards against Madison Academy.
And they've got pretty good defense, you know, most people think.
So, I think that that's going to be a tough game.
It could go into the fourth quarter.
Wouldn't shock me.
You know, because North Jackson was just a on-site, recovered on-site kick away from finishing
number two in the region.
And they would have been hosting this week.
The other games that you mentioned, I think you said Collinsville.
Calvert County hosting Collinsville.
Yeah.
I think the home teams are going to have huge advantages, especially if there's weather
tonight.
Because you know your field.
And all fields are not created equal.
I'm telling you.
Last week, it was a soggy mess.
I was out there at the Washington Stadium at Madison Academy.
And once you got outside the yard mark, the numbers, it was a swamp.
So, it kind of depends on what kind of field you got.
And if you haven't taken care of your field as good as some schools do, it could make a big
difference, you know, out there.
But I think the home teams are probably going to have the advantage in this.
And that's just, but the thing about, you know, Alabama is that you're home this week.
But depending on what the other side did that you're going to play the next week, you may
not be at home.
And I like the way Alabama does that as opposed to other states.
Jimmy, let me close with what I think is one of the most entertaining games in North Alabama
tonight.
You mentioned Madison Academy.
They're 8-2.
They're hosting Hatton.
Hatton has won five of their last six games.
They've got playmakers everywhere.
Tayshaun Love, their quarterback, 1,500 yards of area sevens.
Quindarius Boulding is another big playmaker.
We've talked a lot about Charlson Owens.
Daylon Scott won the player of the week from a couple of entities.
This should be really a fun game.
Believe me, Bob Gonsi has coached a few playoff games in this time.
We know that a fun game, Hatton and Madison Academy.
Yeah, these teams are almost mirror images of each other.
They've got playmakers all over the field.
The biggest difference, though, is that Hatton's playmakers are mostly senior guys, and they've
been playing at Hatton, or they've got a lot of experience.
Tayshaun Love, man, he's a magician.
He just knows what to do with the ball.
You think you've got him trapped, and then he gets away from you.
But by the same token, Charlton Owens is similar for Madison Academy.
Don't forget that Love can throw the ball, too.
He's got a big receiver in Aaron Cooper.
I got to see him again when they played Westminster this year.
He's a tall kid.
He can go out and get the ball.
He's got speed.
I think the team that can just avoid the turn...
I'll tell you what, here's what's going to happen tonight.
Both teams, it's going to be the first team that can get a lead before the rain starts.
Yeah.
That's who's going to probably win the game, because it's not just supposed to rain.
It's supposed to come thunderstorms.
Right.
So, I really hope we don't have any delays, but whoever's ahead, when it really starts
to pour, that's probably who's going to win this thing.
Yeah, Nikita Stover came over from Decatur Heritage and brought Severus Evans with him,
and boy, that has really paid dividends.
Jimmy, great job, as usual.
I'm like you.
I hope some of these Region 4 teams can advance tonight for the first time since 2019.
That would be wonderful.
Jimmy, where can we get online and get your stuff, get the coverage pre-game, post-game,
as far as the first round of high school playoffs?
Absolutely.
Go to preps at AL.com, and you'll be able to get all the scores.
And as we say every single week, if you're at a game tonight, we can't be at all of them.
If you're at a game tonight and you get some video footage, you want to upload it, send
it straight to the X account for AL.com, AL, D-O-T, preps, and you can put it straight online, and it might make the regular online service.
I hope that we get some of that tonight, because I've got a feeling we're going to have some really big plays, and I hope some folks are out there sending those clips in.
And I hope everyone, including you, stays dry out there, Jimmy.
Thanks so much for your time today, bud.
Thanks, guys.
We're going to try.
Thanks, guys.
I hope all the best for you.
Jimmy Lay hooking up with us.
He's there at AL.com.
Coming up, showdown in the Music City for Auburn, a brand new look for the Tigers.
Justin Ferguson, the latest next.
Stay with us.
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The Auburn Tigers are on the road this week.
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Auburn is 4-5 on the year 1 and 5 of the SEC.
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Fourth-ranked Alabama home this week.
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
The score.
Welcome back in.
Time to open the door and say hello to Justin Ferguson.
He's got it all covered there when it comes to Auburn
at the Auburn Observer.
Justin, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm all right.
How are y'all?
I tell you what,
you're living up to your name these days,
are you not, Justin?
Since the last time we talked,
you've had a lot to observe.
A coaching change, basketball.
You've been a busy boy, have you not?
Yeah, it's been the busiest week of my career,
which is good for business, at least.
I haven't gotten a ton of sleep,
but it's been a lot of good work,
and we've been able to put a lot of stuff out about it
because there's so much going on right now.
Let's talk about, obviously, where we start with,
the changing of the guard.
I don't think anybody's terribly surprised by this.
Probably Auburn fans are elated now
for the first time in a long time.
Justin, what are you hearing about the news
of the changing of the guard?
Yeah, I mean, I think we had talked about this
a few weeks ago,
that I felt like Auburn needed to kind of hit rock bottom
to make a coaching change in season.
That's something that Auburn didn't prefer to do.
Well, scoring three points at home
to the second-worst defense in the SEC,
a team that had lost 10 straight SEC games
heading into that one.
That's as rock bottom as it gets.
I mean, anybody who was there in Jordan-Hare Stadium,
especially in that second half,
that fourth quarter against Kentucky,
knew that when that was all said and done,
there was no way that Hugh Freeze
was going to coach another game at Auburn.
It just didn't work,
and I think it was kind of an extreme version
of the things that had gone wrong
for Freeze during his tenure.
You had a team lose another close game.
You had an offense that continued to get worse
as time went on.
The more involved he got,
the worse it got over the course of his tenure.
And it just hit to a point where they just felt like
they had no answers and no hope on the offensive end.
And, you know, I mean,
Freeze was hired to come in and fix that,
to bring that offensive success,
to get Auburn in a position where they could compete
with some of the best teams in the SEC.
Instead, they got worse on offense over time,
and it was no longer hanging with the Georgians
and the Alabamas of the world.
It was, you know, you're now losing to Kentucky at home.
So that was just a clear, clear sign
it was time to pull the plug.
I know you've been asked this,
and you've probably written about it too,
about how different the offense will be
after Hugh Freeze is no longer calling the plays
or meddling with them.
It seems like Derrick Nix is going to be the one play caller,
maybe getting the ball to, well,
a point of concept to the wide receivers,
the talented wide receivers.
I've heard Mason Murphy may start at center.
What are you hearing right now?
And, again, there's not a lot you can do in a week,
but even having an attitude adjustment helps.
What do you expect to see Auburn
offensively in Nashville tomorrow?
You know, I really struggled to try to figure out
what all they could realistically change
about their offense in this short amount of time.
It's still going to be Ashton Daniels as a starter.
And, look, here's the other thing.
Like, Derrick Nix and, like,
the rest of these offensive assistants,
these are Freeze guys.
You know, it's like, this is the system.
This is the offense.
It's like, you know, a few years ago
when Auburn fired Brian Harsin
and turned it over to Cadillac Williams
and he said, hey, Will, friend,
take the ball and run with it, literally.
He was a former coordinator who wasn't part of that,
you know, tree.
So, I think it's tougher to kind of see that right now.
I think Auburn, if you're talking about
this Vanderbilt game specifically,
they're going to need to be able to run the ball
just because you can't really trust Ashton Daniels
to be a guy to go out there and win it with his arm,
and you can't really trust Jackson Arnold either
at this point.
You know, Vanderbilt's more susceptible
through the air,
but you can't build, you know,
the whole offense out of that.
I just don't think that's a smart idea.
The changing of the offensive line,
you know, Kale Ellis, you know,
he's 17 years old.
He had a couple of good, you know,
solid starts or, you know,
having to be thrown in at that center spot.
Kentucky just really got after him
in that game last week.
It was a tough game for him.
So shuffling it up,
getting more experience on the line
makes a lot of sense.
I just, I really don't know realistically
how much you can change about this offense
other than, you know,
hope that you can hit on a little bit more downfield
to Cam Coleman and Eric Selton
and guys like that against this Vanderbilt pass defense
and try to stay the course,
play smart, you know, run the football,
play smart with it, don't turn it over,
and just rely on your defense
and your special teams to help you out in this one.
Justin Ferguson, the Auburn Observer.
Justin, let's face it,
a bold decision,
not to mention the expensive,
given all the bills
that are coming in from past coaches.
If you want to comment about that,
please do.
But your thoughts just about
the temper of this program
because in the old days,
if you let a coach go,
it was usually after the season,
first week or so of December,
National Signing Day was then in February.
That was then.
Now, if you let a coach go,
not only that,
these kids have an option
to get out of there.
That's the number of days or weeks.
And then you have
the first signing period now
about three and a half weeks away.
Your thoughts,
what are you hearing
as far as people
maybe exploring their options
given the rules of the NCAA
and the influence this has
on National Signing Day?
Yeah, I don't expect anybody
to really jump to the portal
right now for Auburn
just because you've already,
like, your season's done.
At this point,
you can wait until
the second window,
you know,
or I guess
the real transfer portal
when it comes in January
where everybody knows,
like, okay,
all right,
here's who we have.
Here's what our roster looks like.
You know,
that'll make a little bit more sense.
I think, like,
when Damari
also jumped in the portal,
which he did this week,
it was like,
okay, well,
he had a red shirt.
If there were guys
who could red shirt left,
maybe,
but so far,
we haven't really
kind of heard that
to this point.
Your season's kind of lost
at this point,
you know,
nine games into it,
about to be ten games into it.
Yeah, I mean,
I think Auburn
had to make this decision
because they needed
to jump in,
and, you know,
Auburn wants to have
a head coach
as close to
after the Iron Bowl
as possible.
John Cohen said that
this week,
and I think you do that,
get a guy in place,
try to keep your recruiting class
intact as much as possible
and be ready to hit the portal
when it opens in January
full blast.
That's just the nature
of the game.
Like, you're right.
Like, if we were back
to a pre-portal era
or maybe even the portal
and recruiting all happened
at the same time
after the season,
maybe,
maybe you can make that move.
That's just not realistic anymore.
So, it's going to be interesting.
Like, you already have to go ahead
and do your legwork
here in this month of November
because you're going to want
to get a quality coach
in place, you know,
as soon as possible
after the season
knowing also that
as Cohen said,
the guys at Auburn
are probably going to interview
and take into consideration
probably coaching
really good football teams
towards the end of the season.
So, I mean,
that's something you've got
to weigh out as well.
Jesse, you'll never guess
the next question.
Your thoughts about
the obvious question
about who you think
it will be,
who's the best fit,
and let's face it,
you've got to believe
these guys who pull the trigger,
this just wasn't something
in five minutes.
They've got to have,
you hope anyway,
that they're smart
and have some type
of plan in place.
How much does this administration
know and when will they
release that?
Or maybe they're still
shopping hard.
where, as far as
the question asked,
as far as the new
top tag for Auburn,
how do you answer
that question?
Yeah, I think right now
for John Cohen,
you know,
it's cast a net
right now
and go ahead
and feel it out
and kind of process,
identify candidates
that would make sense,
knowing good and well
that you're going to
probably have,
you know,
you're probably weeks away
from getting anything formal,
you know,
kind of getting going there.
So I think you cast a net
and try to identify candidates
that make sense for you
and then start kind of
doing your legwork on them
so that you can be ready
when that time arises.
If you're asking me
for names that I've heard
the most over the last few days,
John Summerall at Tulane
is the one you do
probably the most
makes a ton of sense.
Alabama guy,
former Troy head coach
has done good work
at Tulane as well.
You know, other ones,
some that have connections
to Auburn in the past.
I hear Kenny Dillingham
from Arizona State
could be an option
on the board.
He was obviously
Auburn's offensive coordinator
really the last time
they had a good season
back in 2019.
You've also got,
I've heard a lot more
of Jeff Bromit
at Louisville this week.
That was the name
that's kind of
kind of started
to come around
like that would make sense
for Auburn.
Eli Drinklitz at Missouri
I'm sure will get
consideration,
but I think that's a
he's going to be
a pretty competitive one
with the other SEC schools
already, you know,
in the mix.
And, you know,
this one's kind of
more of a wild card
of like, okay,
I'm not sure, you know,
what all that entails
because of what has
happened with him recently.
But,
Rhett Lashley at SMU
doing a good job there.
He did just sign
an extension
at SMU
that reportedly
is going to pay him
a lot of money
and SMU's got
a lot of money.
I think it was coordinated.
I think it was very
coordinated
by SMU
to go ahead
and get this done.
But the other thing
that y'all got to
keep in mind
with SMU
is they're a private
school and so
they don't have to
disclose how much
money they're spending
on these guys.
So that one's a little
bit more up in the air.
Yeah, absolutely.
Auburn basketball
started up in the air
and beat
Hildolph Bethune
Cookman
who really is
a talented team
beat Merrimack
last night
95-57.
Well, yeah,
I'm sure it's been
quite a week
but weeks like this
probably have
subscriptions.
Where can we get
online?
The 6 a.m.
emails,
the Friday mailbag,
the podcast,
pre-game,
post-game
for Vandy coverage
and some basketball
too.
Where can we get
all the good stuff?
Yeah,
AuburnObserver.com
it's been a huge week,
very, very busy week
for us.
$6 a month
or $60 a year
gets you a full
subscription.
We're putting out
newsletters and podcasts,
you know,
one of those
pretty much every day
and multiple things
and sometimes
they,
so,
you know,
tomorrow,
tomorrow I'll be
heading up to
Vanderbilt
for that game
and then
get back here
and we've got,
it'll be an off week
for football
but obviously
the search
will be going on
and basketball
will have a big week
coming up
so plenty,
plenty of stuff
going on
at the Observer
go sign up there.
Justin,
safe travels
to and from
on the best cities
on the planet.
Thanks so much
for your time today.
Yep,
absolutely.
Thank you.
Thank you,
Boone.
Justin Ferguson,
the Auburn Observer,
time for us
to observe
the stupid
underdog
picks and more
straight ahead.
Stay with us.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg
on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in.
Dr. Beard,
what's your prescription
for the stupid underdog picks
this weekend?
West Georgia at UNA.
I just think UNA's playing better,
but I think West Georgia,
who's forced at 15 turnovers,
is going to be the difference.
West Georgia beats UNA at home,
28 to 21.
Auburn at Vanderbilt.
I think Auburn's going to play
with their hair on fire,
but Vanderbilt's got a ton
to play for this year.
Ashton Daniels is not going to make
a miraculous recovery
in one week.
Vandy 24, Auburn 17.
LSU at Alabama.
Alabama's got to get off
to an early lead,
commit to running the ball
for 120 yards,
get production on first down,
keep LSU on third down.
Kaelin DeBoer's 16 to 2
coming off of bye weeks.
Let's make it 17 and 2.
Alabama 31,
LSU 17.
We talked about this game earlier.
Memphis is a six and a half point
favorite.
I think the green wave
at home play better
and upset the Memphis Tigers
for the stupid underdog.
and the equity bills
for Jon Sumrall
in that game
if that's the case.
UNA and West Georgia.
I hear what you're saying, BB,
but I'm still going to go
with the Lions.
They're home.
It's the next to last game
ever at Brawley for the Lions.
Give it up for UNA 29-27.
Close, but the roar Lions
in that one.
Vandy and Auburn,
I agree with you.
Look for a Vandy team
that's going to be facing
a fired up first half team.
I think depth wins,
especially at home.
28-21 doors slam the door there.
Alabama and LSU,
same story.
I think LSU's going to come out
and scare some Alabama fans
early perhaps.
But Alabama's got the depth.
They've got the home field advantage.
And we know DeBoer
does a pretty good job
after an off week.
LSU also off
with an interim coach.
31-21.
Alabama wins by 10.
The stupid underdog pick.
We talked about it earlier.
Iowa and Oregon.
The Ducks will be shot
out of the sky in this one.
Iowa 24-21, BB,
for your stupid underdog pick.
And are you ready
for some high school
football action tonight
later on on 93.9 The Score?
Yeah, there's some great games.
Florence at Baker.
Pre-game begins at 6.
Kickoff at 7.
Some of the other games
in the area tonight.
Boaz at Russellville.
Haddon at Madison Academy.
North Jackson at Destler.
Collinsville at Convert County.
Hopefully the rain
is going to hold off
and keep hearing
it's not going to start
tonight or 10 o'clock.
Hopefully that is the case.
Yeah.
But besides that,
have a great,
fun,
and safe
college football weekend.
Again, your football
home right here.
Florence Baker tonight.
Pre-game 6,
game at 7
with KJ,
Kevin Johnson,
the crew.
And then, of course,
tomorrow,
it's Alabama football,
LSU. Catch that by Zell
right here on 93.9 The Score.
It's going to take care of business for now on behalf of
B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here.
Harold LeBug, thank you so much for your time
today. Let's do it again Monday, noon to two
for the Boom on Buck Show right here on Sports Radio
for 93.9 The Score.