Boomo Bugg Show 111425
93.9 The Score WYTK - November 14, 2025
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-111425/

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. New exclusive inside track to the Tide, 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 to the eve of Separation Saturday. Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?
Happy Football Friday to you and the listeners. Mike Hugin and Coach Pete Cordelli will preview the top games in college football this weekend just a little bit later.
Zach Pounders of the Shoals Sports Report previews all of the Shoals teams in round two of the high school playoffs.
Jimmy is here right now to recap the top basketball loss to a legitimate number one contender in preview
and to preview homecoming in Tuscaloosa, Alabama tomorrow.
What better way, as you mentioned, to lead things off?
I'm saying hello to Jimmy Stein. He's the co-host of Locked on Bama, part of the Locked on Network.
Jimmy, welcome in. How are you?
Oh, I'm doing great, guys. Appreciate y'all having me back on.
No, we appreciate you taking time. I'm just going out on a limb here and I'm assuming Alabama football fans
hope they fare better than Alabama basketball fans against a ranked opponent.
I think Nate Oates said it best.
When you're out rebounded by 24, you got a tall mountain to climb, Jimmy.
Purdue was a tall mountain to climb, that's for sure.
They're really big up front and dominated Alabama, where I think Alabama's going to have issues.
I don't consider last night a one-off.
I think rebounding is going to be an Achilles heel probably this season.
Now, that doesn't mean that the team can't do things like contend for an SEC title, contend for an SEC tournament championship,
make the NCAA tournament advance in that tournament.
I think Alabama can do all those things.
They're just going to have to do it.
Getting out rebounded against really good big teams some nights, and it'll be something they address.
One thing about Nate Oates' teams, guys, when they've identified a problem early, and you can do that when you play this type schedule.
Yeah, right.
The St. John's, they'll tell you where you need some work.
But Nate Oates' teams have been very good at adapting, improving, coaching around it, and just generally improving things.
So I do think you'll see a better rebounding team as the season progresses.
But it'll be a problem.
And I think it just stems back to the fact that if you laid out, okay, who are your five best players?
I mean, the five best players on the team right now, if you line them up, would probably be Phylon, Reitzel, Holloway, Bull Bowen, and Aiden Scherrell, those five.
You're going to have a problem rebounding the ball there.
You're small in the backcourt with Reitzel and Holloway.
Bull Bowen is a stretch four, not a power four.
You're just going to get out-rebounded when you play big teams with that lineup.
On the other hand, when that lineup is juiced and they're all playing well, like they did in St. John's, Alabama's going to be very difficult to beat.
And that's the whole point.
If you have a basketball one-on-one background, you know that.
I mean, it's just like some things, you don't have to complicate it.
You've got to rebound and hold your own.
You can't give the other teams three or four chances to score, especially when they're as talented as Purdue.
Bottom line is, when Alabama's on with the threes, they want to get in a track meet.
And they'll run your tongues out and they'll outscore you.
But the minute the level of competition rises and they've got the physicality edge, it's hard to win a championship.
If you want to win a lot of ballgames, you're going to win a lot of games.
The question is, what's it going to take to take home the big prize?
And this is not uncommon.
I think Nate Oates, he loves a track meet.
And I think he tried to address that issue in the offseason, bringing in some size.
But safe to say, if you're going to win a national championship or any type of title, you've still got some work to do.
Yeah, I think we saw it last Saturday, despite Alabama's rebounding issues, despite how good Purdue is, on nights that LeBaron Phylon, Aiden Holloway, and Latrell Reitzel, on nights that all three of them have good nights, I don't know that you're going to beat Alabama.
They'll win, yeah.
Now, how often is it going to happen that you get all three guys, you know, all having great days?
That's tough against the better teams, because the better teams are going to have good perimeter defenders, too, you know.
But this is still a really good team, and hey, hats off to Purdue.
Braden Smith is absolutely the real deal.
He is a fantastic basketball player.
I mean, he's a national player of the year type guy, and he played up to that, I think, last night.
But just apart from Braden Smith, that Purdue team is very good, because you not only have him in the backcourt, their frontcourt is very big and very impressive.
And Matt Painter, of course, is one of the best coaches in college basketball.
Yeah, Jimmy, they replaced seven-footers with seven-footers.
Their frontcourt, they are legitimately a number one team.
Auburn playing Houston Sunday.
We'll see about them.
Homecoming in Tuscaloosa, Alabama tomorrow.
The Oklahoma Sooners, who derailed Alabama's playoff hopes last year, are coming in.
And, Jimmy, we've talked at length with the season.
You know, I hear every day, well, why can't Alabama run the dadgum ball?
I think it is what it is now.
Now, Ryan Grubb can scheme around that.
The defense seems to be improving weekly.
The inside linebackers played really well against LSU last week.
Jimmy, your thoughts, Oklahoma-Alabama?
Yeah, it's a great matchup.
So many ways these teams are similar.
Start with the fact I think they're the two best defenses in the SEC.
I mean, we've now got a long season to look at.
And through nine games, I think Alabama and Oklahoma are the two best defenses in the conference.
They have both struggled to run the ball.
Now, Oklahoma has run the ball pretty well lately.
Now, they think they're trending in the right direction with the run game.
But over the course of the season, they haven't run it much better than Alabama has.
In that sense, they're similar.
John Mateer won the September Heisman, that fictional trophy that they give out in September.
Mateer won it.
You could argue Todd Simpson has won the October since Heisman, perhaps.
I mean, certainly in the argument.
So, in that sense, there's some similarities.
And they're both, you know, there's a similar record in that they're both playing for similar things.
If Alabama wins, this isn't mathematically true.
But if Alabama wins, in all certainty or likelihood, they've punched a ticket to Atlanta.
And I think if you're in Atlanta, this season in particular, you're in the playoff.
Now, Oklahoma is certainly playing for their playoff lives.
We know that.
They probably can't afford another loss, and they know this.
So, there's a ton at stake on the line for both teams.
I think with these defenses playing with their lives on the line, as good as these defenses are,
points are going to be hard to come by this weekend.
Jimmy Stein, Locked on, Bama.
One of the big questions for Alabama's success is, can this offensive line keep Ty Simpson clean?
Oklahoma has a reputation for the sack attack.
Can the line do their job?
And, as far as running backs, how does that reality shape things?
Because we know Miller hasn't had great stats running the ball, but he has a good rep picking up blitz packages.
Your thoughts about keeping Ty Simpson clean and any B or C plans in running game.
May we see AK Deermore?
Well, Alabama kept Ty upright last week pretty well.
Now, LSU is very good on defense.
Not quite as good up front as Oklahoma is.
I think Oklahoma is better up front and is likely to cause Alabama more issues up front than LSU did.
But keep in mind, LSU's a pretty good baseline of things, and Ty Simpson was sacked only one time.
And, for the most part, had a clean pocket, was able to have a typical Ty Simpson night.
For Alabama to do that against Oklahoma, I think they have to play one of their better games of the year.
But pass protection's been pretty good for this group.
I like how two weeks in a row now, Jaden Roberts has played every single snap and right guard.
For as much rotating as Alabama's been doing all year, once you've now locked in that right guard spot to one guy,
and apparently they have, now you've got three of the five spots locked in.
Proctor plays every snap at left tackle.
Parker Brailsford plays every snap at center.
Jaden Roberts now playing every snap at right guard.
That just leaves rotation at two spots.
So, now you have less uncertainty up front.
I think that's going to help, certainly in the pass protection, which has been good.
Now, the run game has been abysmally bad.
I mean, just terrible.
It's 14th among the 16 teams in the SEC, and frankly, it's worse than that sounds.
It's not good.
But the strength of Oklahoma's defense is defending against the run.
I would say Alabama negates that by not being able to run the ball against anyone.
I mean, what difference does it make that Oklahoma's really good against the run?
Alabama makes everyone good against the run so far this season.
I don't expect Alabama to have much success on the ground Saturday,
but the AK Deer talk is interesting just in terms of, you know, sometimes,
to say nothing of AK Deer's talent, every now and then when an offense flounders
and you change quarterbacks, you can sometimes see a spark.
It kind of sparks things just to get a different look.
You can't help but wonder if AK Deer at running back would be a similar spark to the run game.
I mean, AK's got a lot of talent.
I mean, some of it just literally comes down to the talent.
But you wonder all together between the offensive line, the tight end position,
even Todd Simpson himself, perhaps Ryan Grubb, who's the play caller.
AK Deer comes in and has some success.
Now you've got a spark.
And I think we all know, as good as Alabama's offense has been or as efficient as it's been,
if Alabama could ever generate a run game, they would be very difficult to stop.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Protection, you mentioned Alabama gave up zero sanks against Georgia and against Tennessee,
who at the time was leading the nation.
Jimmy, the rhythm in the passing game.
I know Ty Simpson missed two touchdowns, under through Lodzier Brooks, over through Jeremy Bernard.
Josh Quavis may be the most underrated player on this offense.
And again, even without an efficient running attack, if they can get in rhythm throwing.
And Jimmy, they just seem, the last drive of the first half, they just line up, go up tempo, and just rip it.
And they've had a lot of success scoring before halftime.
Jimmy, will Alabama be in more rhythm in the passing game?
That would be nice.
You know, Ty has really thrived every time Alabama's gone to two-minute.
It just hasn't seemed like it, because when most people associate two-minute with the end of games,
and Alabama hasn't really needed a two-minute drive at the end of a game to win.
But they've been in two-minute at the end of halves, and Ty has been really effective,
maybe playing some of his basketball.
That's just a theory on my part.
But as we know, it's not a secret.
Ty's sort of a high-strung guy.
You know, he sort of plays under, let's say, a personally imposed stress.
He's such a perfectionist.
He's very demanding of himself.
I wonder if playing at a higher tempo doesn't relax him, but is more comfortable for him.
Which sounds the opposite of most of us walking around people, right?
But Ty's not us walking around people.
He's got a different mentality, and he's a high-level athlete,
and seems to perform his best in the high-stress moments,
maybe because that's where he's most comfortable, because he's a high-stress dude.
I mean, maybe that's it, but he does seem to play his best football.
Some people might ask, well, then why don't you just do that all the time,
just stay in two minutes?
Well, I don't think that Cain Womack's going to be a big fan of that plan.
Because that can also lead to some less-than-60-second offensive possessions.
And then it doesn't matter how good your defense is.
They're going to get maxed out and stressed themselves.
So I don't know that that's an answer, but how about this?
How about you do two-minute more often?
How about you go up-tempo more often, but you don't commit to it for 60 minutes.
That would just wear out your defense.
Yeah, about the end of the game, a lot of fans are going to regret that
when your defense is dog-tired and you've got to call on them.
Jimmy, everybody's talking about Venables, Venables, Venables,
but the difference between Venables this year and last year is
he is not going against Ryan Grubb's offense.
He didn't go up against it last year.
Your thoughts about that matchup?
And at the end of the day, what's going to be the final score, Jimmy?
Man, that matchup is a lot of fun because we didn't see it a year ago.
We saw Nick Sheridan versus Brent Venables, and I like Coach Sheridan.
I think he's a really bright guy with an incredible future as an OC
and is probably a head coach ahead of him at some point.
But Nick Sheridan, the first year OC at Alabama, who had done that very little in his career
versus Brent Venables, that's a mismatch.
I'll just be honest.
That's just a mismatch.
Now, Grubb versus Venables is less of a mismatch because Grubb has a long history of being an OC,
and he just got out of the NFL where he was an OC.
A little more even matchup.
Plus, Grubb has the benefit of watching last year's tape.
I know that doesn't help too much because the offenses are so drastically different,
Alabama's offense from last year to this year.
But it does give Grubb an idea of how Venables plans to attack Alabama.
And, you know, Ryan Grubb himself set up Monday at his press conference,
hey, Brent, if you're listening, we're changing the signals.
We're changing the signals.
Don't waste your time looking at anything else.
We've changed them.
And you've got to know that going in.
I think Grubb being more of a veteran play caller is something that's going to benefit Alabama.
But, again, I led this segment with saying points are going to be hard to come by.
I really believe that.
I know the score isn't popular with Alabama fans,
but I have Alabama winning 17-14 in what's going to be an anxiety-ridden afternoon.
And with both teams having a very difficult time getting in the end zone.
I think a lot of people are leaning in that direction.
Jimmy, where can we get online and get the best coverage of Alabama sports from you and
Luke Robinson, the best podcast on the planet?
Thanks, Brett.
Locked on Bama.
You can find us on YouTube if you want to watch the video version of the show.
Or you can just listen on audio wherever you get your podcast.
Spotify, iTunes, anywhere you get your podcast.
You can find Locked on Bama.
Myself and my co-host, Luke Robinson, we have this week, I think, as many as Ken shows.
But we normally have at least seven shows a week.
Looks like Norman Rockwell's painting a pretty picture when it comes to the weather tomorrow.
Enjoy, Jimmy.
And thanks so much for your time.
Have a great weekend.
Hey, I appreciate it, guys.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Jimmy Stein, co-host of Locked on Bama.
It's kickback.
A little Jimmy Buffett music down the plains.
Off or are they, says Justin Ferguson, next on the Boomhole Bug Show.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back, kids.
The pleasure was to head on down to a very quiet neighborhood for Justin Ferguson, or is
it that Justin Ferguson covers the Auburn Tigers there with the Auburn Observer.
Justin, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm all right.
How are y'all?
I'm good.
Man, okay.
I would imagine that you get out there.
You locked some miles.
I think a lot of folks appreciate an off week, but I would imagine, personally, you really
appreciate one, do you not?
Well, I would say it's an off week, but Auburn basketball plays the number one team in the
country in Birmingham on Sunday, so it's just, maybe my Saturday's a little lighter, but
that's it for this week.
Let's talk, before we talk about the Saturdays, let's talk about that, because isn't it crazy?
Last night, Alabama faced number two, Purdue, who was, this time last week, number one, until
Houston leapfrogged them.
We saw how that came out last night in Tuscaloosa.
Your thoughts about the early word on Auburn now taking on the number one team in the Houston
Cougars?
Yeah, I mean, it's going to be a really tough matchup.
I mean, last year, Auburn had to rally in the second half to beat Houston on the road,
and that was the best team they ever had.
This team's mostly brand new.
They are going to play in Birmingham, so I think that's going to help having the crowd
behind them.
It can be big, but yeah, for Auburn, it's a true styles-make-fights kind of game.
You know, Houston, you know exactly what they want to do.
They want to play awesome defense and play at their own pace, and they do that really,
really well.
They rebound the ball extremely well.
I know rebounding was a huge part of that Alabama game last night with the way Purdue
got there.
As for Auburn, it's just, you know, can you score on this Houston defense, and can you do
it quickly?
Because, you know, last season when they came back and beat them, they did a really good
job of getting down the floor and getting their shots up.
You know, Auburn's offense is 90-plus points in every game they've played so far this year.
They're playing fast, they're feeling confident on offense, and I think they're going to have
to really lean into that to have a shot to beat Houston, because you want to get as many
possessions as possible against these guys, because they're as good of a defense as you're
going to find anywhere in college basketball, and they do it every single year.
Yeah, they're only allowing 52 points a game.
Now, they haven't played many games, obviously, but yeah, physicality, defense, Emmanuel Sharp
is leading them again.
Let me ask you about football.
This is a big decision, obviously, for D.J. Durkin and Ashton Daniels.
As far as the red shirt, he's playing three games, can play in four.
Speculation whether or not he's going to play against Mercer.
If he does, he may burn that red shirt, not be able to come back, but he can come back.
What are you hearing as far as the decision?
What do you think is going to...
Will he not play against Mercer and play against Alabama and then come back next year?
Yeah, I mean, it's going to come down to what Ashton Daniels wants to do.
If he's ready to be done with his college football career, yeah, you go ahead and play him against
Mercer.
If he wants to have the flexibility to play one more year of college football, there's no
reason to play him against Mercer.
I think it's just conversations back and forth.
I think it's ultimately going to be in Ashton Daniels' hands, and that's what it should be.
I think Mercer's are really...
They're a great FCS team.
I think they're going to present some challenges for Auburn's defense in that game,
but I don't think Auburn necessarily needs Ashton Daniels to beat Mercer with their offense.
So I feel like you could go to Deuce Knight, you could go back to Jackson Arnold if you
had to, and be fine in that Mercer game.
It's just going to ultimately come down to what Ashton Daniels wants to do.
And if he decides, hey, I got eligibility left, let's run it back for one more season of college
football, don't play him against Mercer.
If that's not a concern to him, or if he wants to just go ahead and play it out, you let
him play it out.
I think it's ultimately going to come down to what he decides.
Justin Ferguson will have it when it happens there with the Auburn Observer.
Justin, talk to us about this team.
I think Auburn fans, if nothing else, they have to really be frustrated at another level
with Hugh Freeze.
After seeing what they saw against Vanderbilt, it's like, are you kidding me?
You had Cam Coleman over there the whole time.
You had all these weapons.
You had a guy who could sling it, and it took one game for this new coaching staff to
figure it out.
Your thoughts about, I would imagine, if they ever had ill feelings towards Hugh Freeze,
that game against Vanderbilt just amplified them.
And your thoughts about the balance of the season under the interim staff?
Yeah, I mean, I think the funny thing is, this isn't even really a new staff.
This is just a staff that just is missing their head coach, right?
Like, nothing else changed about it.
It's not like when Arkansas fired Sam Pittman and they made several changes.
Now, this has just been, all you did was remove your head coach, and he was the primary play
caller.
I think that's very obvious, you know, with what you see out of Derek Nix in this game
where, you know, against Vanderbilt, he did a really good job of just, I think, playing
Auburn's personnel.
Got the ball out of Ashton Daniels' hands quickly.
They used the middle of the field a lot more.
They got it to Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton as much as possible.
They still wanted to maintain the running game.
You know, it's just, it was a lot of stuff that we just had not really seen Hugh Freeze
do enough of this season.
It felt like his offenses got too tight.
You know, it just wanted to, like, it felt like they were just trying to, like, overthink
things and maybe try to get the perfect play call out there.
And instead, what you saw in this game was you saw an Auburn team play with a ton of pace.
They got out in space.
They spread the field.
They did a lot of stuff that just really, they should have been doing all season long.
And so, a lot of credit should go to Derek Nix for, you know, making that happen.
And I think one of the more interesting things about that game was, you know, we got to see
kind of Auburn's defense get under the gun in this one because really for the first time
since maybe the Baylor game, you felt like for four quarters, the other team felt like
they had pressure on them to score, you know, whenever they touched the ball.
And so, I thought Auburn's defense kind of got exposed in that area because of it.
But, you know, the offense, I mean, it's just, it shows you just how much, you know,
he just wasn't utilizing his personnel to the best of his ability.
Quite frankly, Justin, if Auburn would have played, Auburn would have beat 100 other teams.
Paul Bion, to me, is in the category of Tebow, Johnny Manziel, and three or four others.
He just, it's amazing at how his innate ability to see the field and put pressure on defenses is incredible.
I know you get asked every 15 minutes who's going to be the next head football coach at Auburn.
A lot of names going around.
Kiffin is a big domino with this.
What, is he going to stay in Oxford, go to Florida?
He's got a big offer on the table.
LSU, Arkansas, other schools.
I've heard this week, Jon Sumrall may be the leader in the clubhouse.
Eli Drinkwith is there.
Others are there.
What are you hearing?
Yeah, I mean, I think Auburn's in the process right now with a couple of weeks left in the regular season.
This is time for, you know, John Cohen to kind of spread the net, you know,
and just kind of really cast it out and see who's interested in this job and what makes sense.
He has been in contact with several head coaches this week.
And I think what Auburn's going to do, you know, you talk to a lot of them,
you get a lot of, you get the feeling out process here.
And then really the next couple of weeks, you really start to drill down on, okay, here's a list,
here's our priorities, here's, you know, you know, kind of narrow it down from there.
Yeah, Sumrall continues to be the name you hear about the most, just because I think, you know,
he's a guy with this familiarity in the state of Alabama.
He's winning at the group of five level.
He's young, he's defensive-minded, which I think would be a pivot from what Auburn has done here recently.
And, you know, he seems to have a real interest in the job.
You know, there's been a lot of talk about him connecting in with this job, and that's no coincidence.
I mean, I think, you know, agents are putting in hard work this time of year and getting, you know,
I think he's going to be a guy who's going to be an SEC coach sooner rather than later,
and Auburn makes the most sense for him.
I don't think Florida or LSU are necessarily, you know, kind of places where he is a priority right now,
but Auburn kind of feels different.
But, yeah, you mentioned some other ones.
Eli Drinkwood, I think, is going to be involved in all those, you know, LSU, Florida, and Auburn.
Obviously, he's got that history with Auburn there.
You know, hearing some more this week about Clark Lee, you know, believe it or not,
the guy that beat him last week.
And just, he's a guy that I think Penn State could also be after as well.
We'll be interested to see him and Brent Key from Georgia Tech are two guys that are at their alma maters right now.
So, do you want, you know, do you want to leave that?
What would it take for them to make a jump like that?
They're in the mix for sure.
And then some other ones that have just kind of been floated out here in the last couple of days.
Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State, you know, obviously Auburn's former offensive coordinator back in the 2019 season.
I've heard there is some interest there from that end.
And then the big wild card today, or I guess the last 24 hours that you've heard and you're like, hmm, that's interesting,
is USC's Lincoln Riley.
And I think, you know, it'd be very interesting to see him fit at Auburn.
I don't know how that fit would work, but I think it's one of those situations where this is such a big carousel right now.
LSU, Florida, Penn State, Auburn, all available.
And, yeah, the word is that he might be ready to jump out at USC and maybe go in a different direction.
So, I think Auburn's just kind of really casting a wide net and just seeing who's interested and who makes sense.
But those names that I mentioned right there are probably the ones I've heard the most, with Summerall kind of being the top one.
Well, it's going to be a very interesting Thanksgiving with Jimmy Sexton and his staff.
Boy, what a week that's going to be, the last regular season, last regular week of the game of the regular season.
Listen, enjoy it tomorrow, watching some games.
Good luck driving to Birmingham on Sunday.
The 6 a.m. emails, the Friday mailbag podcast.
Where can we get online to get all the good stuff?
Yep, AuburnObserver.com.
Check it out.
Today's been a busy day.
The mailbag out today, a lot of coaching search stuff in there.
Also, some basketball.
We'll have basketball stuff previewing this weekend and obviously on the road on Sunday in Birmingham.
We'll have coverage of that previewing the Auburn-Houston game on our podcast that went out today as well.
So, a ton of stuff going on.
If you want a lot of coaching search talk, a lot of Auburn basketball talk here before this huge game against number one Houston,
AuburnObserver.com sign up there.
Justin, in the meantime, thanks so much for your time, Dave, and have a great and safe weekend, okay?
Yeah, I appreciate it, y'all.
Thank you.
Thank you, bud.
Justin Ferguson, the Auburn Observer, coming up if it's Friday, it's time to get in the huddle with the big dog,
Bill Shanks is on deck on the Boom of Bug Show.
Stay with us.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.
Eighth-ranked Alabama fell short against No. 2 Purdue yesterday, 87-80.
Aiden Holloway had 21 points in the loss as the Crimson Tide dropped to 2-1 on the season.
Tonight, Georgia Bulldogs are at home.
They'll take on Georgia Tech.
Georgia and Georgia Tech are both 3-0 to start the year.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in.
Honestly, Brett Beaird, what would Friday be without the big dog?
Dog in the huddle.
He's Bill Shanks, host of the Bill Shanks Show at 93.1 FM over in Macon, Georgia, online
anytime at thesesuperstations.com and on the tube at 41NBC.
Bill Shanks, welcome in.
How are you?
I am doing great.
How are y'all?
You're doing all right.
Bill, I don't know how else to put it.
Are you ready to kiss the ring of the Mannings?
They're going to grace Athens with the brand in college football.
Are you ready to kiss the ring of Arch Manning this weekend?
Now, how long have you known me, Harold Bugg?
Long enough to know the answer.
I ain't kissing no ring unless it's the Pope's where he can give me another 50 to 50 years.
Maybe that's about all.
Obviously, a marquee matchup, Bill.
Anytime he comes in, let's face it, good, bad, or ugly, he's Elvis.
He's on the marquee on the Friday before the Saturday showdown.
What are your thoughts?
Well, he ain't on the marquee tomorrow because Gunnar Stockton's having a better year.
There you go.
Gunnar Stockton is the better quarterback so far through this part of the season.
So, you know, look, he warned everybody at SEC Media Days not to build him up,
and nobody listened to him, and everybody, especially those with lack of follicles,
decided to go ahead and put him in New York at the beginning of the month of December.
And, you know, that was unfortunate and unfair to that young man.
He has got better the last couple of games.
But, you know, they've had one quality win in my mind, and that's Oklahoma.
And then you can say, well, yeah, but John Mateer wasn't healthy.
They rushed him back, which I don't blame them.
I would have done the same thing.
But he was not what he was the first couple of games of the season
when he was looking like he was going to be in New York for the Heisman announcement
because he looked really good.
And so, you know, that's all they've got.
They can't run the ball.
Their offensive line has been a big disappointment.
They do have a very good defense,
although their run defense rate is number one in the SEC is not really, you know,
it's not been tested like they will tomorrow.
So, I mean, I think most Georgia fans are feeling pretty good about the matchup,
to be honest with you.
Let me ask you about, you're alluding to a topic we talked about.
You asked me yesterday who really is the number one,
and I get it with the Iowa State's roster.
They've probably got the best roster in the country, but they play two games.
They play Texas to begin the season, and Michigan to end the season.
Indiana's got basically one game.
They beat Oregon.
And Kirkton, Eddie's done a tremendous job turning that program around.
But they don't play in the SEC schedule.
Even Texas A&M is undefeated.
They don't play Alabama, Georgia, and Ole Miss.
There are a lot of win-loss teams in that top ten who are very good.
Now, we're going to find out in the next couple weeks the picking order of this,
but who is number one right now, in your opinion?
Well, I don't know who the best team is.
I'm not sure.
I'm not convinced it's Ohio State.
I asked you that question yesterday, mainly because I asked someone the day before,
and they were like, oh, I think it's Ohio State by far.
And I didn't really push the topic, but, I mean, I don't know how you can come away from that.
I mean, if they do well against Michigan in 15 days,
maybe I'll feel that's more probable or more realistic.
I don't know who it is.
I mean, I think you do have to give great respect to Ohio State and Indiana.
And I do.
And I really, really do.
There's no question.
But I think, you know, we don't have that team that just looks like there ain't no way they're going to be defeated this year.
I mean, I think more people are saying that about Ohio State a year ago than they are now.
But, look, Ohio State can prove me and anybody else who doubts them wrong, right?
That's what this season's for.
And they're going to have a – that Michigan game is going to be a lot of fun.
That will be a really good game.
It should be.
So, you know, Texas A&M, look, you know, I don't like to disparage them.
But, I mean, they – we'll see where they go to Austin, right?
If they go to Austin in a couple of weeks in 15 days and they beat Texas in Austin and they finish undefeated,
then I think, you know, we'll say, well, yeah, Texas A&M is pretty daggum good.
And I know they are.
But to answer the question, you know, and I think Alabama – I think Alabama obviously has got to prove they can run the ball.
They can get by with not being able to run the ball going deep in the playoffs.
But, I mean, that's going to be really tough.
So, they've got to, you know, put something on Jan Miller and get him going or something because that's going to hurt them a lot.
So, I mean, I guess the final conclusion is it's Georgia.
I mean, h***, why'd you ask me?
You should have known that already.
Just beat around the bush.
Just save some time.
I just buried the lead right there.
It's the Georgia Bulldogs.
There you go.
There you go.
There you go.
Bill, your thoughts about – you bring up a good point because both Alabama and Georgia have a loss.
We know the story.
Let's end some reiterating there.
But here's the point I'm trying to make.
You talked about those teams.
They've got the unblemished records because basically the schedule has played right into their hands.
But let's just fast forward.
And the SEC – say that Alabama and Georgia, one of them loses another game, but they still go to the SEC championship game.
And they lose.
They would have three losses.
Darn good teams.
The point I'm trying to make is, is there a strategy out there – no one's going to say this.
We're just having a conversation here.
But you're penalized by going to the conference championship game and losing, even though you're a good team.
In other words, you'd be better off not going and having two losses.
Well, I think the scenario I played out of my head a little bit for that, Harold, is let's say Texas beats Georgia tomorrow.
Right.
Then let's say that Texas beats Texas A&M.
Well, as long as Alabama doesn't lose tomorrow and or to Auburn, it'll be Texas versus Alabama in the SEC championship game.
So what if Alabama beats Texas and that gives them three losses overall and they're 10-3, but they win to the SEC championship game,
they beat a team like Georgia rated number five, they beat number three, Texas A&M, they're not going to be left out of no d*** sure.
For who?
No.
But we will.
I mean, my God.
You know, there's no guy.
And especially with a guy named Manning.
You know, Manning, he's the moneymaker.
Well, I mean, I don't – I think that it's just about, well, who's playing the best football.
And if Texas were to do that, I think that has got to be involved.
Like, and to me, that's the scenario that best shows the possibility for a three-loss team because Texas has two losses.
I'll be to their one team in the country and then to a conference team in Florida.
But, look, I think you still have to – if they go to Athens tomorrow and beat Georgia, which I don't think they'll do,
but, again, for conversations and beat A&M at home and A&M's undefeated, I don't think the d*** championship game matters for them.
They deserve to go to the playoffs.
So, but there's all – you know, it's like – and I keep on – look, and seriously, I feel good about the matchup for Georgia tomorrow.
I truly do.
I think Georgia is the better team.
I think there are a lot of things that check in their favor for me in this game.
And I'm very objective, as both of you very well know.
But I think the other thing that is interesting to me that I've tried to tell everybody is, look, I get it.
Texas lost to Florida, who turned around and fired their coach a couple weeks later.
They had to take Kentucky and Mississippi State on the road to overtime.
Georgia beat those two teams easily.
But Texas is looking at this like, hey, we beat Georgia and Athens, and then we beat Arkansas next week, which we should,
and then we beat A&M.
We're going to the playoffs.
So even with their losses overall, their season's on the line tomorrow.
Now, if they lose tomorrow, they're probably done, right, because they can't get in the championship game.
They would be 9-3 without the SEC championship game.
But, I mean, you've got Ole Miss with one conference.
If you've got one conference loss right now in your conference, you've still got a shot.
Yeah.
I think we can answer that question next year.
Just think, this time next year, Alabama's not going to be playing Eastern Illinois the 11th game.
Georgia's not going to be playing Charlotte.
Texas A&M's not going to be playing Sanford.
They're going to be playing one more SEC opponent.
Alabama may be playing Texas.
Auburn may be playing Florida.
Yeah, I think when they go to 9, there will be three teams getting into playoffs.
Oh, well, you mean three lost teams?
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, there's no question.
I mean, there's no question.
And, look, I think that will coincide with the 12-team playoff going to 16, right,
which I think was kind of part of the bargaining for convincing those who didn't agree to go to 9 by saying,
well, look, we're going from 12 to 16.
You know that.
And I think that made it a little bit easier for people to think, okay, well, then if I don't roll through my 9-game conference schedule,
I can still, as you said, get in if there's a log jam where everybody beats the heck out of each other
and we got, you know, a couple of, I mean, it could be two, two-loss teams in the SEC championship game next year.
And then, you know, then you're going to keep a three-loss SEC championship game loser out.
No, you're not.
So, you know, but it's going to be a better brand of football.
And, you know, look, you know how I feel about the cash reclunkers.
I was on another show yesterday and they had to interrupt me because I was on, I went for 13 minutes without taking a breath.
I just, this is, because, and here's the bottom line.
The anticipation that Georgia fans have for the game tomorrow at 7.30 in Athens between the hedges in God's country,
beautiful weather, compared to what we're going to be looking at next week when they host Charlotte,
where we're going to say, who gives a you-know-what?
Come on.
Absolutely.
Just quickly, your thoughts, we talked about this a little bit, it seems like the Braves coaching staff,
the 10-member coaching staff is done.
Some younger guys, Eddie Perez, Tim Hires, the hitting coach, are going to be staying.
Your thoughts on this is for, and again, I know Anthopolis says, well, age doesn't have anything to do with this,
but your thoughts now that the staff is complete, what do you think?
Well, I mean, we all know they should have called me, but I guess they lost me.
I know.
It's still early.
Yeah, well, you know, I think it's a good staff.
As long as Walt's comfortable with it, I'm comfortable with it.
As long as there's no, you know, Charles Manson on here, I'm comfortable with it.
I mean, I think they tried, they had an opportunity to get some people who they thought,
the guy from Minnesota, the third-base coach, who was very well regarded as the third-base coach in the American League,
Jeremy Hefner, who's replacing Rick Kranitz's pitching coach, very well regarded, 39 years old compared to 67 for Kranitz,
but still very well regarded.
So, I mean, I think it looks fine.
You know, there's always going to be coaching staffs now in baseball where we're going to say,
who the h*** is that?
They're different.
They're coming from different levels.
They're coming from different parts of the game.
They're coming from factories.
I mean, you know, baseball factories.
They may get some from the YMCA T-ball, as far as we know, but as long as Walt White is comfortable with it,
that's all that we can hope for.
What time today are the predictions for any Alabama listener to call in and say,
Texas is going to whoop up on Georgia, Alabama is going to win the national championship.
Where can we go and what time can they call in?
Well, these superstations.com, and we'll start taking predictions for my Sooners right around 4.20 Eastern time.
So, what a doubleheader that is tomorrow, huh?
It really is.
Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas.
I mean, I'm going to the Georgia game, and I guess they're going to let you into the Alabama game as long as you clear security.
But, I mean, my gosh, Brett, that's a game where people are going to, like, park themselves in the old recliner
and sit there for about 10 hours and enjoy the heck out of a Saturday, isn't it?
You think Texas is big, Bill Shanks is bigger?
Bill, where can we get online and get everything we need to know from the Bill Shanks show?
Texas.com
Say hello to Arch and the family for us.
Okay, Bill?
You better watch out.
If I see Archie, I'm going to get physical now.
I don't like that man.
He's a horrible human being.
I'm going to walk right up to him and I'm going to say, let me tell you something, buddy.
Buddy, Steve Barkowski ate your lunch.
Screw you.
That's what I'm going to say.
I'm going to say it.
I'm going to say it.
You watch.
You watch.
I don't doubt you for a minute, Bill.
Listen, man, enjoy it.
Thank you so much.
And stay as safe as you can this weekend.
All right?
All right.
Thank you, guys.
See you, bud.
Go Shanks.
Superstations.com.
Coming up in the next hour, one of the best when it comes to breaking it down, the coach,
Pete Cordelli, going to be on board.
Mike Hugen is also going to go coast to coast when it comes to college.
And Zach Pounder says it's playoff party part two in the shows area.
Details straight ahead of the Boomel Bug Show.
Stay with us.
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U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is considering legal action taken against those involved in Operation Arctic Frost.
That operation was conducted under the Biden administration by Special Counsel Jack Smith and others within the Department of Justice and FBI.
Tuberville, along with other Republican senators, were spied on during that time, including their cell phone metadata being obtained through a subpoena that was approved by Judge James Bosberg.
Tuberville took to social media this week, saying that for four years, the Biden administration sought to silence and destroy conservatives from Trump on down to parents, alternative media, Catholics, and other politicians.
Tuberville says that if those involved, such as Bosberg and Smith, are not disbarred and thrown in jail for their actions, then he will sue the living h*** out of them and every Biden official that was involved in Arctic Frost in order to make sure this doesn't happen to conservatives again.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
Where I was living was not a great place to live anymore.
I began to pray for a place to go, praying for all of these things that a nine-year-old would want.
I wanted horses, big house with a bunch of people my age.
I wanted parents.
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Who would that nine-year-old be if she never came to the Big Oak Ranch?
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A federal report card was issued this week when it comes to the quality of public schools here in Alabama.
The state was given an overall 87% grade.
That is a two-point increase from last year's report card of 85.
State school superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey tells WIAT News this is all about executing the plan.
You have to have a plan.
You have to stay focused on that plan.
You have to invest in that plan.
And that's what we've been doing now for a number of years.
And we're finally seeing the payoff.
I'm Andrea Tice.
For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.
And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter.
Get on your way of Northwest Alabama is thrilled to announce the return of its signature fundraising gala,
Shoals Royale, on Saturday, February 21st, 2026 at the Renaissance Shoals Conference Center.
This black-tie optional casino-themed event brings all the glitz and excitement of Las Vegas to the Shoals,
complete with live entertainment, gaming tables, prizes, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar, and all for a great cause.
Now in its fourth year, Shoals Royale has become one of Northwest Alabama's premier charity events,
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Proceeds directly benefit United Way of Northwest Alabama and the 12 local nonprofit partners
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Individual tickets are $125 or $200 per couple, or go in VIP style for $350 or $600 per couple.
Shoals Royale, 2026, Saturday, February 21st at 7 p.m. at the Renaissance Shoals Conference Center.
Tickets are available now at givebutter.com slash ShoalsRoyale2026.
Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9 The Score.
Miss the Boomo Bugg Show today, or Bill King, or Paul Feinbaum?
Miss the last Florence Falcons game?
You can access the latest episodes and game broadcasts at our website, 939thescore.com.
Click on podcast and then all podcasts to access the latest Bumo, Feinbaum, Bill King, and Florence broadcast.
That's 939thescore.com.
939thescore.com.
Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
This is Joe Cox, and he is busy as a columnist there at Saturday Down South.
Welcome in.
How are you, and have you thought out, or has it been as cold where you are as where we are?
It's been cold.
Today, I've been running my daughter around.
She's 16, and she was job shadowing.
So, for off of half a day, she could tell me that work is fairly tedious and fairly boring,
and I could have saved her half a day and just told her that myself.
But you know how it is.
Yep.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Weekdays, noon to 2, on 93.9 The Score.
93.9 The Score weather.
Today's sunny with a high around 75.
Tonight, mostly clear with a light breeze overnight and a low near 55.
Tomorrow, sunny and breezy with a high around 75.
Tomorrow night, partly cloudy with a low near 60.
And for your Sunday, mostly sunny with a high around 75.
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 a free ride around the Tennessee Baylor.
And for Mike Kuginan, taking time out of his busy schedule there.
It's National College Football slash Basketball Analyst.
Mike, welcome in.
How's life in the heart of the Sunshine State?
Yeah, it's pretty good.
We're getting here, obviously, closer and closer to the end of the regular season for college football.
Some big games tomorrow.
So, you can make case that the playoffs already have started, obviously, in a way.
A lot of folks are calling it separation Saturday for a lot of teams on the fence.
They just, there's no wiggle room.
Mike, where do you start as far as the teams with the most pressure on them to pick up a W this weekend?
Well, I think if you're USF playing Navy, USF, the highest rated group of five team.
Navy's a difficult team to play because of their offense.
And, you know, USF, they play as fast as Tennessee.
And ball fans know that sometimes three and outs go, you have the ball for 26 seconds and you give it back.
You don't want to give the ball back to Navy because you might not get it back for six or seven minutes.
I think USF's going to win, but still an interesting game.
Notre Dame-Pitt, I think Notre Dame, another loss removes them from consideration for the playoff.
Oklahoma-Alabama-Oklahoma, another loss takes them out of the running.
Iowa-USC, obviously USC needs to win to stay in the hunt.
And Texas-Georgia, you know, Texas, you could, you know, they're sitting here 7-2.
They're in the top 10, well, they're 10th in the CFP.
I still think they're going to finish 8-4.
I think they lose tomorrow and I think they lose to A&M.
But if Texas wants to stay alive in the playoff race, they have to win tomorrow.
So there's a lot on the line and a lot of games.
Mike, we want to talk all about those games, but you mentioned Oklahoma and Alabama.
You know our zip code.
We know the narrative by now.
It's going to be Brent Venable's defense against Ryan Grubb and Coach DeBoer's offense.
Alabama has the home cookie.
We know what happened last year.
We know about Alabama's running game.
Mike, what can you tell the folks in this neck of the woods about the showdown tomorrow in Tuscaloosa?
Well, yeah, I think that going in, it's, yeah, how well will the Alabama offense play against a really good Oklahoma defense?
The shocking thing to me, the Alabama running game has gone.
They're 14th in the league, 120th nationally in rushing.
They've rushed for 128 yards total in their past two games.
Wow.
And Oklahoma's defense is a h*** of a lot better than South Carolina's and LSU's, which were the last two opponents.
So, you know, Ty Simpson all season long has actually, you know, performed quite well without much help.
Oklahoma's pass rush, though, is a little bit different animal.
Much better than South Carolina's, much better than LSU's.
So even a modicum of a rushing attack tomorrow would be helpful.
And, you know, I'm not talking 150 yards, I'm talking about 75 to 100 would be a good total.
The Oklahoma offense is not much.
John Mateer, since he had his hand surgery, he's been back for four games.
He hasn't broken 200 yards in passing in either of those four games.
He hasn't run the ball all that effectively either.
But, again, the dude had hand surgery in October, so sort of to be expected.
But, yeah, I think the fact that this game's in Tuscaloosa, if this game were in Norman, I think it'd be a little bit more dangerous.
But unless Ty Simpson gets sacked five or six times and tosses two or three picks, I think Alabama wins.
It might not be aesthetically pleasing.
But at this point in the season, it's already, to me, it's survived in advance.
And I think the tide will survive in advance.
Mike, you mentioned you thought Texas would lose to Georgia.
They had a bye week.
Art seems to be playing a little bit better there.
They lead the SEC in rush defense, only giving up 78 yards per game.
But I think Georgia's beginning to come into their own.
They played maybe the most complete game they've played this year, beating Mississippi State.
And Jeff Levy has done a good job there, but they may be running on fumes.
Frazier ran for 181.
Noah Thomas had a coming-out party with the game.
Branch is a lethal weapon.
Gunnar Stockton playing well.
I still think this is a close game.
But I'm guessing you believe Georgia will win and cover that six-point spread.
This has held six of its nine opponents.
I'm sorry, seven of its nine opponents under 100 yards rushing.
That's impressive.
I don't care.
You're rolling football.
That's good.
I think Georgia has been better running the ball up late.
You mentioned Nate Frazier.
Their offensive line has played quite well considering they've had numerous injuries.
They've counted heavily on two true freshman offensive lines, both from Atlanta.
Both those dudes have held up.
I think in Stockton, is he great?
No.
Is he elite?
I don't think so.
But he is a winner, and he makes key plays at key times.
For the most part.
Georgia's defense, the secondary is exploitable.
Their corners, I think, are not nearly as good as you would expect guys who were ranked that high to be.
But, you know, Texas' offensive line, it's garbage.
Texas cannot run the ball.
And, yes, Arch Manning has disappointed this year, but I'll also say that I don't care who you are.
At quarterback, if you're running for your life or on your backside, it's hard to be played.
And that's been the case for Arch Manning a lot this year.
I will say this, though.
Each of the past two games, Manning has thrown for 300-plus and thrown three TD passes.
So, his development is in line with, I think, you know, what you expected all season.
At least he's gotten there.
But, yeah, I don't think the Texas offense can score enough points.
I think Georgia's going to win, beat the Longhorns for the third time in two years.
Well, Mike, you're going to have a national college football slash basketball analyst down in Florida.
And the reason we bring that up, amongst other reasons, Mike, Florida is on the road to Ole Miss.
You know where I'm going with this.
We know all the things that Lane is saying in the pulpit.
I love Ole Miss.
It's been good for me.
It's saved my life.
I'm happy here.
But we also know Florida's throwing some major bucks his way.
Intriguing matchup, Florida against Ole Miss.
I don't think anyone's going to pick Florida to win the game.
But your thoughts about the game and about the back story there with Lane and his future.
Oh, yeah.
I think the back story vastly overshadows the game itself.
Florida beat Ole Miss last year, knocked them out of the playoff hunt.
This Florida team was expected to be better.
It is not.
The offense, you know, Napier's play calling was abysmal.
Well, so is the interim coaching staff's offensive play calling.
Ryan O'Hara, the guy's calling the plays.
The last time he called plays was at Alabama A&M in 2017.
He's not a good play caller.
Likewise playing abysmal football.
The offensive line for an experienced group has been wildly disappointing.
Offensively, if Florida shows up to play, they can make life difficult for Trinidad Chambliss.
They showed up to play against Georgia, had a chance to win in the fourth quarter.
They absolutely laid down like dogs last week, and Kentucky blew them out.
And I think the mindset for Florida, if they show up ready to play, this will be an entertaining game.
If they show up like they did last week, Ole Miss could beat them 56-7.
But you're right.
I think all Florida fans are going to tune in knowing that their team is going to get its butt kicked.
But they're going to tune in to watch Lane Kiffin because, I'll be honest, if Florida has anybody else in mind other than Lane Kiffin,
the fan base surely doesn't want that guy and doesn't think they need to go past Lane Kiffin.
You're right.
They would make him the highest paid coach in college football history.
They would give him a gigantic war chest for NIL, a gigantic war chest for assistant coaches,
which to some extent they've given that to Napier.
He just did not spend it wisely.
Let's put it that way.
I think that Kiffin will not be at Ole Miss next year.
I think he will be in Gainesville.
But I think every Florida fan's nightmare is Ole Miss wins 56-7, and then in the postgame Kiffin walks to the microphone
and says, I just signed an extension this day here.
But I don't think he's going to do that.
But the Lane Kiffin, the Florida stuff, has legs for a reason.
Mike, one of the more intriguing national games, game day, will be in attendance.
Number nine, Notre Dame, 10-and-point favorite over Pitt.
They're number 23, Jeremiah Love has been running wild.
Notre Dame on a seven-game winning streak.
Pitt's rush defense is pretty good, two-and-a-half yards.
They've got three good linebackers in Loveless, Biles and Lewis.
Quarterback battle should be interesting.
Mason Heichel at Pitt.
C.J. Carr, the Notre Dame defense has only allowed one touchdown in five of the last six games.
Does Notre Dame win and cover on the road?
Yeah, this, you know, I don't think the ACC is good.
The idea that, you know, who's their standard bearer?
Miami?
They've got two conference losses.
That's right.
Virginia lost to Wake Forest, for goodness sake, last week.
A Wake Forest team that had been beaten by 35 by an atrocious Florida State team the week before.
Now, Pitt, you're right.
Mason Heichel, that dude can play.
And, you know, you wonder if he will be at Pitt next year because he is going to be offered a boatload of money to leave.
Pitt is extremely aggressive on defense.
Pat Narduzzi, you know, if, you know, nobody blitzes eight plays in a row.
Pat Narduzzi, well, I will, and he'll do it.
CJ Carr is going to see some looks he hasn't seen.
I don't know if Pitt can hold up against the Notre Dame rushing attack.
I think the Notre Dame secondary is exploitable.
I think Hinchel can have a 300-yard passing game to have some offensive playmakers.
But I think Notre Dame wins like 38-24, 38-27, something like that.
Let's talk about the Interim Bowl, Arkansas and LSU.
The reason we bring it up, your thoughts about that scenario and one of the names, I don't know how reliable these stories are,
but one of the names now kind of throwing his name in the hat at Arkansas is a guy named Ed Orgeron.
Now, where did he coach before?
Of course, LSU.
Your thoughts about a crazy game with two interim coaches in the SEC at this point in the season,
and does that have any legs, in your opinion, Ed Orgeron at Arkansas?
I, you know, Orgeron recruits well, but, you know, there's certain cultural fits.
Yeah.
They're a thing, and I don't see Ed Orgeron back-slapping all those Walmart and Tyson.
Walmart.
Yeah.
Tyson Chicken, et cetera, Jerry Jones.
Yeah, I can't see Orgeron there.
You know, Jon Sumrall, that would be, I could see him.
I'm coaching at either one of these schools.
Frank, I also can see him coaching at Auburn.
But, you know, the biggest issue for LSU this year, their offense has been wildly disappointing.
Their rushing attack has been horrible.
Nussmeyer has way underwhelmed.
Well, here comes the Arkansas defense, and the Arkansas defense, they don't play defense.
It's almost like they have a race.
Let's see if we can get off the field.
They have 80 yards to go.
Let's see if we can let them make it in four plays.
And, by God, they'll do it.
So, the flip side, Arkansas' offense is quite potent.
I think this will be a fun, entertaining, high-scoring game.
But, ultimately, it's not going to mean much at all.
It is going to give Frank Wilson, I think, a chance to, for sure, get his first win as the interim.
And I think the idea, I think Bobby Petrino legitimately thought he had a chance to get the Arkansas job.
I haven't seen anything the last couple weeks, though, that makes me think Arkansas is going to let him have the job again.
Yeah, I'm like you.
If you'd win a couple games, it may be a different story.
Great slate tomorrow.
Once again, separation Saturday, whatever moniker you want to put on it.
Always enjoy your insight into these games, Mike.
Have a great Saturday and great week.
Let's do this again next Friday.
There you have it, the one, the only, Mike Hugan of National College Football slash Basketball Analyst down in Orlando.
Coming up, playoff party part two, Zach Pounders on deck.
Stay with us.
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Hello again, everybody.
I'm Roger Hoover.
As we get ready for Alabama football against Oklahoma on Saturday,
here are some thoughts from the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Kalem DeBoer.
I asked for it last week, and, you know, we just need to continue to do our part as a football team
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Obviously a big showdown coming up tomorrow here on 93.9 The Score,
we're in a lot of big showdowns in the high school of Grand Irons down in the neck of the woods tonight.
Zach Panner's got to add more over at the Shoals Sports Report.
Zach, welcome in.
How are you?
Doing good.
How are y'all?
We're doing all right.
It looks, after a rough start on the week for the weather,
it looks like for this time of the year,
Zach, you can only hope that the games tonight are going to be as good as the weather's forecast to be,
including a big showdown for Muscle Shoals taking on their old nemesis in the postseason,
the thundering herd from Parker.
Yeah, Muscle Shoals Parker.
This game, you don't need a lot of hype for it.
The only thing I see a Muscle Shoals disadvantage in this game is
they're trying to schedule, trying to break it for Parker.
They're trying to schedule at 525 win percentage.
They've lost to Kelton, Georgia, Holmwood, and Hooper.
They're combined 26-6 on the season.
So, Muscle Shoals has also had their fair share of tests late.
But, this is going to be a game they've played to the last three years already.
This is actually the first time at Muscle Shoals, though, for this game, which is odd.
But, you never know with road trips, high school teams.
Parker, though, they've been in big games.
They've won that championship last year.
Muscle Shoals have been in big games.
Two of the best programs in the state in the state.
The thing is, Zach, you can't underestimate the power of having the home cooking.
And something else I think is so important.
It's the old proverbial you've been there and done that.
The fact that Coach Scott Bazin, who was on with us earlier in the week, you just can't sit here.
Not only that, his staff's been with him forever, too.
When you've been there and done that as much as this staff has and the home cooking, you just can't overstate how important that is.
Yeah.
Muscle Shoals have actually been in the third round.
I think this will be four straight years if they get to the third round, if they get to the third round three again.
And that will be a still record, I think, if I'm right on that.
But it's a very close game.
Parker did go play Terrells in Georgia in the middle of the season in a 10-0 team.
And lost to home with about one score, I think.
Home with a 10-1, played Hartle tonight in another big game.
So, it's a very close matchup.
Yeah, they lost home with about one score, 35-28.
Very good game, though.
I saw some of the Desher-Nord Jackson game last Friday night.
Desher pulled away in the second half.
They are traveling to undefeated Hamilton.
We talked to Evan Schilt, the coach at Hamilton, two weeks ago.
They beat Asheville a little closer than what a lot of people thought it was going to be.
Mason Holloway, who's had a really good year.
Houston Tibbs, Eli Harris.
But Desher has played well.
Their only loss is to Wes Morgan.
Price Thornton, Garrett Reed is a tremendous receiver.
Also punts, does two or three other things.
Brady McKinney, wide receiver.
Kendrick Gunn, the running back, ran for 830 yards.
Price Thornton is thrown for 2,200 yards.
Very interesting game tonight, Desher and Hamilton.
Yeah, this is one of those games that knows they're very well from other sports across the board.
From golf ball to baseball to basketball and all that.
And it's played in playoffs and all those, except for football a whole lot.
I have an interesting stat with this game, too.
Hamlin has only beaten Desher once in field history in 1718.
And that was 101 years ago, two days to the day.
1924, Hamlin at 39-0 in a regular season.
Don't know where it was from so far back to go.
But Desher has ran through Hampton a few times.
The winner of this game has scored 40 points in each of the last one, two, three, six of the last seven or so.
So, it's a very close game.
The key divider here, though, is, for me, strength of schedule and strength of record.
Desher played a 5-17 strength of schedule.
It has a 4-60 strength of record, losing to West Morgan.
Hamilton has a 4-44 strength of schedule and strength of record.
Asheville was 6-4, but they were 6-4, who had 35-5 combined losses.
So, their losses were to like Trudy County, one time in that region, Alexandria, and one more in that region.
So, a very soft loss for Asheville.
But for Desher or Hamilton, it's a very close game.
I've told many people this week, it's versus the same school, a different shade of red.
They both have a rich school history, a rich athletic history.
And so, again, if it was a first-round game, it would have just as much time as it was a round-four game.
Yeah.
You talked about history, Zach.
Colbert County, obviously, they got one.
So, does Gordo.
Together, correct us if we're wrong, a combined 91 playoff appearances.
Yet, correct me if we're wrong here, they've never faced each other until tonight.
Colbert County on the road to Gordo.
Yeah, it's 91 combined appearances and combined 39 straight appearances for the both of them.
Wow.
It's a very interesting game here.
I think the media is giving Colbert County more credit than I think they are, or should.
Colbert County has scored 50-plus points in the last four games.
Yeah.
If they score in the 60s, it's going to be hard to beat them.
Gordo has scored 61-1 and 70-1 and 56-1.
Colbert County has got to score in the 60s.
I like their chances.
If they cannot score in the 60s, I don't know.
Because most of their wins are 40- or 60-point wins.
That's more of a point score.
But their losses are central, which is very weird to start the season, but a high-class team.
Martial and Dashler by 40-ish points.
That Dashler game was a crazy start, so it was subjective.
But four-game win streak, scoring 32-plus each game and 60-plus in your last four is very impressive.
We know in the playoffs, our run game travels, they had 400-plus rushing yards last week.
Yep.
Three guys with 100-plus yards.
So, if they couldn't do that, I like their chances to get to round three for the first time in, I think, 10 or 11 years.
But Gordo is solid also.
Gordo is one of the best teams in the state when it comes to playoffs.
Everyone knows that during the Miami Heat, not just for the Packers, but for Gordo also.
And everyone knows that Colbert County was off as well.
Yeah, absolutely.
I've seen two Colbert County games.
Frank Hayes, Keyshawn Jones, and Sir Miller, interesting name, have been running wild for them.
Speaking of running wild, Morris Hill does quite a bit of that.
Hudson Higgins and Jackson Penn have run a combined 2,800 yards so far.
Isaiah Owens, Lawson Frederick, Jesse Parker, they're hosting a good Winfield team.
Winfield is 9-2.
Winfield now on a seven-game winning streak.
They lost their season opener to corner and 35-21 to Gordo, who we just got through talking about with Colbert County.
I've talked to several people this week.
They think Winfield can push Morris Hill.
Your thoughts on a 9-2 Winfield traveling to Morris Hill, still undefeated at 11-0?
I've kind of said to believe it was anybody pushing Morris Hill until they came and s*** up for the round three at least.
Yes, Winfield was good at 9-2, but for Morris Hill, your lowest point score is 41 on season.
And that was against a six-half goal in Scottsboro, who was in the second-round playoff.
I mean, for Morris Hill, it's almost like an open child for 3-8, 3-8 North right now.
Who wants to play Morris Hill and who wants to get beat by?
This is the game in the show that I'm most confident in saying Morris Hill wins this week.
And then next week with Geraldine or Westbrook Christian, it could be a five.
But for Morris Hill with the turf, the home-good advantage, not having to hop on a bus for an hour,
I think it's one of those games, if Jackson can play at 100% and Hudson plays at 100%,
it's hard to stop two SPS running backs at any level of football, 7-8, 1-8, 3-8, 4-8, whatever.
But in 3-8 football, it's hard to stop that.
And the WNT, you've got to know the guys covered.
You've got to know where to go on the coverage.
You can't call the ball.
If you call the ball, on the WNT, you'll get lost.
With all the misdirections and fake handoffs and play actions and all that.
But with Morris Hill, I guess the question is, how many points do you want to score tonight?
Last year, that scored 28 on Winfield in round three.
And this year, it's in round two at Morris Hill again.
I guess, how many points do you want to score or can you score?
Yeah.
Let me finish with Lexington, Brett Mask.
I knew he was going to do a very good job there.
8-3, traveling to Coosa Christian, 9-2.
Well, who's Coosa Christian's interim coach?
The one and only Rush Probst.
They've won eight straight games since the opening loss to Pierce County, Georgia, 27 and a 28-27 loss to Pell City.
Thomas Smith is a wrecking machine on the defensive line.
Levin Sank, 17 tackles for a loss.
Zane Kilburn, their quarterback, has played really well.
So, you're Howard, but different animal for Lexington traveling to Coosa Christian.
Yeah, Coosa Christian is one of the more interesting schools for all the wrong reasons this year, probably.
But really, he can win.
I mean, all the off-field stuff aside, he knows how to win.
He was at Hoover back in early 2000, the two days, MTV, won like five out of six championships in six days at that time.
He knows how to win.
And Coosa Christian, they're straight to schedule, it's 5-17, they're straight to schedule.
They've beaten the 6-8 Blunt, and they've lost to Pell City, 6-8 Alabama by one.
And went to play Pierce County, Georgia.
Put that in context, Pierce County, Georgia, down around Savannah.
So, it was a six-hour road trip for a game, seven of the season.
They're going to continue to play six hours away, it's very hard to do at any level of the ball.
But in 2-8, when you have less kids, less parents, less money, ideally, than a program with a Michael Scholes or a Parker, it's very tough.
And they went out there all by 13, but Pierce County is also 8-2, I think, and they're in 2-8 in Georgia.
So, Coosa went out and played who they could to get tested.
They went tough to lose the academy in non-regent in Alabama, who also won the region.
But for Lexington, though, he's got one of the best quarterbacks in the show as a freshman.
He's got three senior receivers and a junior running back around him.
He has set up for public success in the future.
It's insane that Lexington is like about that three years away.
He's got two left of the passing yards as a freshman.
And the Lexington, their score in defense got knocked around by Brooks, scoring 49 on them.
Outside of that, Red Bay scored 34, and nobody else has crossed 28 on them.
Yeah.
Well, it's going to be very –
You know what?
No, no, no.
No, go ahead and finish.
Very tough score that defense, though.
If they can go there and score in the 40s and 50s, it's tough to beat.
Coosa can also score in the 50s.
They scored 50-plus in the last three games, and four in the last five.
Well, it's going to be tough for Lexington to go up there two hours away,
gassing, and play a road game at Houston Christian.
Yeah, absolutely.
Great stuff.
We also wish a lot of luck to Russellville.
They're traveling to Briarwood.
It used to be Briarwood Christian.
And then Heckelberg, Humberville, those two teams played a couple of weeks ago.
I know you're going to cover it.
You've done some pregame stuff, and particularly looking at third round.
Going to be covering all the games tonight and then having the third round up sometime this weekend.
Where can we get online and get your good stuff?
Yes, we'll be live on Facebook at some once this weekend to recap the second round game
and previewing your possible third round game.
But Facebook, Scholes Sports Report, and Twitter, at lowercase, at S-H-O-A-L-S-P-O-R-T-S.
Sounds great.
Zach, again, let's hope the games are as good as the weather's forecast to be.
Thanks so much, and stay safe out there, okay?
Thank you, y'all, too.
Thank you, bud.
Zach Patterson, Scholes Sports Report.
He's one of the best.
Matter of fact, he's got some jewelry.
Call a national championship ring on his finger, and great insight.
Coach Pete Cordelli next.
Stay with us.
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Troy Trojans were beaten in Virginia last night.
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Jaguars 2-7 overall.
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The 12th-ranked Sooners are 7-2 overall, 3-2 in the SEC.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back, Kane.
If you want to get a special insight to this weekend's games,
who better to join than with Pete Cordelli,
the former head coach at Kent State,
also assistant coach at Arkansas, Minnesota.
And by the way, he has some jewelry that every head coach wants out there.
A national championship ring on his finger from his days
as assistant at a place called Notre Dame
under a coach by the name of Lou Holtz.
Coach Pete Cordelli, welcome in.
How are you?
Hey, man.
It's always a pleasure being with you,
especially on a Friday before a big Saturday in the SEC in college football.
Coach, we can't think of anybody better to give us the answer.
Since we're all men, we can't wait that long.
So go ahead and give us the answers now on a Friday
of what's going to happen on a Saturday in Tuscaloosa
and what it's going to take for Alabama to lower the boom on the Sooners.
Well, fellas, you know, Alabama has become a pass-first, run-second team.
I can't remember an Alabama-LSU game where one team ran for 53 total yards
and the other team ran for 52 total yards.
Right.
I mean, we've got 105 yards between two of the more prolific programs in this conference,
and you're going, my gosh, what is going on?
You usually run for that in the first quarter.
This offensive line has got to be better.
When you don't have the threat of a running quarterback,
as Alabama's had in the past with Jalen Milrow,
you tend to gang up on guys by putting more players in the box on defense
that they can block.
And so Alabama's got to get to a point
where they can gain at least three and a half to four yards
every time they run the football
when everybody in the stadium knows they've got to run it.
If not, it's going to be live by the past, die by the past.
You know, Woody Hayes, the former long-time coach at Ohio State,
used to say when you throw the ball, two things are bad.
Two things happen that are bad, and only one is good.
That's right.
Thank goodness for Jimmy Bernard.
He has bailed out the Alabama passing game.
Ryan Williams, you know, I think he's getting better.
Had to overcome some injury.
And Ty Simpson, my goodness, he's getting better every week.
But how much longer can this go on,
especially against a quality defense like Oklahoma?
I think this game, fellas, is going to be very low scoring
because here, the quarterback from Oklahoma,
he's got it ever since he injured that thumb.
He hasn't been throwing it real well, but he's a running quarterback.
So, it's the pass of Alabama versus the running quarterback of Oklahoma.
And Alabama at home, they know that they have to win this game.
They get to the SEC championship with a win.
I like the tide, but it's going to be very close.
Coach, talk to us about putting on your coach's hat.
Obviously, at this point in the season, it is what it is.
Alabama does not have a running game unless, miraculously,
things change tomorrow.
If you believe in miracles, okay.
But from a practical standpoint, what would you do as far as your plan B, Jets?
Sweeps?
What is the answer to kind of loosen up?
And as you mentioned, get those three or four yards on first down for Ty Simpson.
Man, that's a great question.
But I think at this point in the season, you have to identify,
you have to make a decision about your running game.
Are you a gap scheme team where you're blocking a power team where you're blocking down,
kicking out, leading through?
Or are you a zone blocking team where you're running inside zone or the stretch zone where
you could actually get three tight ends on the field and expand that blocking surface?
Like, let's say we've got a right guard, right tackle, tight end.
And then you put another tight end in as a wing.
So you have a four-man blocking surface.
And you're not blocking men, you're blocking area.
So your first step's your direction step.
Second step, you're looking up.
And whoever comes to you, you take.
And now the back, he goes at the outside hip of the guard or the tackle.
And as he reads it, so it's controlled to read the block.
He finds a seam, he plants that foot, and he gets upfield.
It's controlled to burst to acceleration.
And I think Alabama, at this point in the season, they're more of a zone-running team,
whether it's inside zone with the possibility of the cutback or the stretch zone,
because off of that comes a great play-action pass where you can bootleg your quarterback out.
And if you get a fast-blowing defense that overruns, now you come back, you drag the tight end across,
you put Ryan Williams on the deep over route, and Bernard's in the flat,
your passing game off of that run action really puts the defense in a bind.
Pete, Texas and Georgia, a top-ten matchup.
I think both of these teams have improved.
Manning has looked better the last two games.
Texas coming off a bye week, they've got a stingy rush defense,
but Georgia looked pretty good against Mississippi State.
Maybe their most complete game.
Pete, does Georgia win and cover the six-point spread in Athens?
I think they do, and here's why.
The last time Texas played, they had Vanderbilt at home.
And 14 of Arch Manning's passes were behind the line of scrimmage.
So what that tells you is they're throwing a lot of bubble, tunnel, screen.
The first play of the game, he throws a bubble screen to the back coming out.
The linebacker Patterson for Vanderbilt misses the tackle, and the guy goes 75 yards.
Arch Manning threw for 328 yards against Vanderbilt.
Okay?
75% of that.
246 yards, guys, came after the catch.
That tells you he's not pushing the ball down the field.
So the passing game is really not there.
This Georgia team, I got to believe now, at home, on a Saturday night,
and this is their last SEC game of the year.
Because they play two non-conference games at the end of the year.
Yeah.
But fellas, Texas on the road.
They lost at Ohio State.
Okay, tough one.
They lost at Florida in a huge upset.
They had to go to Lexington, Kentucky, and win in overtime, 16-13.
They had to go to Starkville and win in overtime.
And then against Vandy, they were up 34-10, and they gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Yeah.
So Arch has made some progress throwing the football.
But it's been against secondaries that are ranked 70th or lower in the NCAA.
It's Georgia at home with the dudes they have now.
I think they're – I mean, look, C.J. Allen is second in the league right now, tackles with 75.
And he's got five-and-a-half sacks.
So Allen really had a good game against Mississippi State.
The run game came alive from the second quarter on in their gap scheme where they were blocking the right guard down,
right tackle down, the tight end turned out.
And then they were pulling the left guard, left tackle, I mean.
And Nate Frazier ran for 181 yards.
Wow.
Gunnar Stockton's throwing the football with more confidence because, guys, the last two games,
Georgia has their complete offensive line back healthy.
That's a good point.
That's a good point.
He's getting time.
He can step in the throws rather than worry about, well, I can only take a half step and short arm this ball
because I'm going to get blasted.
The protection's gotten a whole lot better.
And the most consistent guy in that offensive line is Drew Bobo, the center, like Bobo's done.
Bobo, he has to call all the protections and things like that.
Georgia's getting hot at the right time.
Yeah.
And at home, it's going to be just a wild environment.
And Texas does not play well away from home.
This game, guys, is going to come down to who is the most physical.
My money's on the dogs.
Georgia, you're going to let the dogs out.
I agree with you, Coach.
Obviously, you're over the neck of the woods of Ole Miss country there,
not too far down the road from where you live.
We know they're taking on Florida.
I don't think anybody's going to pick against Ole Miss in the game.
But your thoughts, which sideline, when these two face each other next time,
which sideline would Lane Kiffin be on, Ole Miss's or Florida's?
Hey, guys, you know how families wear jerseys that are split in half?
Like, I've seen it for years when I did the Egg Bowl.
You know, like half is Ole Miss, the other is Mississippi State.
You guys have seen it with the Iron Bowl, half Alabama, half Auburn, you know,
and they have those license plates, house divided.
I think Kiffin's going to come out wearing an orange-blue on one side
and a light blue and red on the other.
But, hey, what better way than the new job that you're going to
to actually see your new team on the field and go, wow, that's pretty good.
I've got to keep him.
I can't let him get me in the road.
Life is good.
Oh, man.
Hey, hey, guys, who's 75?
Who's 46?
Hey, let's go down, man.
That's my boy.
I mean, hey, we've got to keep those cats.
And then here's what I want everybody to watch.
After the game, how many guys does Lane go up to from the Florida staff,
grab their hand, four players go, hey, I really need you.
I look forward to seeing you in the team meeting.
I look forward to seeing you in the team meeting.
That recruiting is going to start early.
I'm telling you, he's got guys in the press box with binoculars
as they're in pregame warm-up going, coach, this guy's kicking it pretty good.
This guy's looking pretty good over here.
I mean, they're going to have a list of who they want to keep as portal guys
when he gets to Gainesville.
I just got to believe that here's what he said that's kind of –
when they asked him about it early in the week, he said,
well, you know, players, when you're recruiting guys,
they want to know what number one size is stadiums.
Well, Gainesville's a little bit bigger than Knoxville.
Tradition, Florida's been to the SEC championship a lot.
Ole Miss and Texas A&M, two teams in the SEC have never been to the SEC championship game.
That's right.
And, you know, Florida's won a few more than Ole Miss has.
National championships in football.
Florida's won a few.
Location to talent.
And Lane was the head coach in that state.
So, you know, according to Lane, size does matter.
Yeah.
I wish we had another 30 minutes to break down games with you.
Nobody does a better job of it.
Can't tell you how much we enjoy ending the week with you.
We will do this again real soon.
Talk about your book, Making the Gray.
I know you got a workbook out.
I can't tell you how much we appreciate it.
Enjoy a great college football Saturday.
Hey, man, it's always a pleasure being on with you guys.
You do a tremendous job.
And how's the UNA doing?
Well, they're working their way into living life in the Division I lane.
So, as I say, some growing pains.
But, hey, they're heading in the right direction, in my opinion.
There you go.
There you go.
Hey, it's always a pleasure being with you guys.
Have a great weekend.
You too, Pete.
Hey, Coach.
You do the same.
Coach, Pete Cordelli on the radio with us.
Coming up, it's a stupid underdog.
Pick straight ahead.
Stay with us.
Stay with us.