Boomo Bugg Show 122925
93.9 The Score WYTK - December 29, 2025
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-122925/

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 here 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? Alabama leaves for the West Coast and according to the report, Cam Coleman leaves Auburn for greener pastures. Good afternoon. Welcome in. How are you?
Well, I've been better. I've been finding a little bit of a cold, but glad to be here. I hope everybody had a great Christmas. Bowl season continues on 93.9. The Score a little bit later today at 12.55, the J-Leo Birmingham Bowl between Georgia Southern and Appalachian State at the top of the hour.
As you alluded to, Auburn Star receiver, Cam Coleman announces he is entering the transfer portal.
And William Redfish Barger is here right now to preview the Rose Bowl with Alabama and Indiana.
William Redfish Barger. Yes, you remember that name. Former Alabama offensive lineman, now co-host of Bounds Radio.
William Redfish Barger, welcome in. Hope you and your family had a great and Merry Christmas. How are you?
I did, guys. How about y'all?
Man, we did all right. Here's the deal. If you wake up, it's cake. Everything else is icing, so we'll take it, William.
It's back to reality now. Alabama winding it up, and isn't it ironic, heading back to where they went 100 years ago to the Rose Bowl.
William, it's Monday. Your thoughts here before the showdown Thursday afternoon in Pasadena?
You know, I may come back on here next week and look like an idiot for saying this, but I really like Alabama in this matchup.
You know, I think if they can, you know, play like they did against Oklahoma and not, you know, give the other team turnovers and, you know, play solid special teams, you know, I think they've got a really good chance of pulling off.
Kind of weird to have to say this, but nobody seems to think Alabama has a chance, so I guess we can pull off the upset.
You're exactly right. William, the team seems to be much healthier. L.T. Overton running around on the practice field after his health issues.
Kevin Riley, don't know if he's going to play much, but back practicing after having the broken jaw, Jeff Allen and his training staff has done an amazing job of trying to put this team back together.
William, this team seems to be fairly healthy going into the game.
Yeah, I mean, I certainly think the, you know, the extra days, you know, after the first round is going to benefit Alabama getting a lot of those guys a little bit closer to being 100%.
You know, I also think, too, if you have to make the plays, you know, to get, you know, get into position to be where Indiana is, and certainly you have to make the plays for, you know, their quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy.
But, you know, for those people that didn't get to see the game, you know, if Fernando Mendoza doesn't, you know, orchestrate that come from behind victory at Penn State, you know, his interception and his fumble, two turnovers, you know, would have been the reason why they lost that game.
And you have to wonder if that would have cost him the Heisman Trophy.
And so, you know, I'm not trying to take anything away from the season the young man's had.
It's obviously been tremendous.
But, you know, he hasn't been very Heisman-like against the better defenses that he's played, you know, against Oregon, Penn State, you know, Iowa, Ohio State.
Six touchdowns, five interceptions.
So, you know, maybe Alabama's, you know, defense that has a tendency to get takeaways from the other teams and can pull some off against Indiana.
Pardon me, William.
Absolutely.
One thing Indiana does do well is they don't beat themselves.
You alluded to Alabama.
Well, I think they're plus eight turnovers.
Indiana's now plus 17.
They're balanced on offense.
251 passing, 221 rushing.
And they haven't incurred a lot of penalties.
Now, Alabama's improved on that quite a bit.
One thing they do well, William, they don't beat themselves.
No, they don't.
And, you know, they are a balanced team and, you know, play fundamentally sound football on both sides of the ball.
You know, they're going to be without probably their best defensive lineman, you know, for this game after he suffered a knee injury and the post-game celebration after the Ohio State win.
And, you know, and I think he is the, you know, the lone difference maker that I've seen along their defensive line.
And, you know, I think if Alabama can kind of, you know, put together a, you know, halfway balanced attack, you know, 120 yards on the ground, you know, tied 275 in the air.
You know, like I said, I really like their chances in this game.
I'm not buying the hate from the college football world that, you know, really isn't giving Alabama a chance to win this game.
Don't get me wrong.
It's going to take their best effort, the mistake-free game for them to do it.
But I certainly think the case for it.
Here's the deal, and I agree with you.
I looked this morning, Redfish.
I saw not one national guy that's recognizable pick in Alabama.
And you look at it, and here's what's amazing about it.
There'll be nine five-stars playing in the game Thursday afternoon, all nine for Alabama.
Mendoza was a two-star quarterback coming out of high school.
Of course, Simpson's a five-star.
Here's what I thought was amazing about it.
Indiana, according to this report, has never signed a five-star recruit out of high school in the program history.
They only have two four-stars starting Thursday.
My point is, you look at the roster, and it's like, wow, this is a no-brainer.
So, obviously, it comes down to what's the difference?
Could it be coaching?
Nobody, obviously, gets more juice out of the orange than Signetti.
They play disciplined ball.
But, to me, this is an extremely intriguing matchup.
When you look at the talent on this side compared to the talent on the other side, it's a head-scratcher.
Well, you know, I think that's something that's a conversation for another time.
But I think we're now in the era of college football where you have to kind of be careful, in my opinion,
using those high school rankings and how you compare talent.
Because, basically, Alabama may have more stars on their roster, but Indiana also has more proven, experienced college football players
because the majority of them came from other schools out of the portal.
So, it's kind of getting to that point now, and it's gotten to the point where I think college coaching staffs are going to probably have to go to more of a mixture of guys out of the portal that are experienced
versus, you know, do you really have time, especially when you're only given two or three years, to get in the position like Alabama and Indiana is,
to, you know, wait on a five-star defensive lineman or a five-star offensive lineman to develop to the point that they're ready to contribute.
Well, William, can Alabama duplicate the success on special teams that they had against Oklahoma?
Connor Taltese hit four out of four.
His last four, they're able to block or run into a punt.
Kick coverage has been decent.
Blake Dowd, depending upon the rain, we'll see how that weather forecast comes out.
They need to flip the field.
Can they duplicate the success that they had against Oklahoma?
Yeah, I mean, I think you have to certainly, you know, doubt hasn't really been an issue throughout the course of the season.
And since Taltese started getting the mean tweets and the stuff on social media, you know, he's picked up his game a little bit.
So, you know, maybe we need to get some hate mail sent to him while he's out there practicing and passing the data.
I don't know.
You know, it's hard to ding the young man with the way he's performed in the last three or four games.
Brent mentioned it there, the weather.
What was the old song?
It never rains in Southern California unless Alabama's going to be playing Thursday.
The good news is it's no longer a 100% chance of rain.
They downgraded it, William, to 99% chance of rain.
There goes, though, that shot of the San Gabriel Mountains at sunset unless you don't see them in the clouds.
But, yeah, obviously both sides got to play in the rain, be that as it may.
Who do you think that is an advantage or disadvantage or part of the puns at a wash?
You know, I don't think that's really, you know, unless it's just a monsoon and, you know, the wind's a factor in the kicking game.
You know, that's kind of a net, you know, net neutral type deal in my mind between both teams.
Maybe you give, you know, Indiana the slight edge there with the way they've had a more successful and sustained rushing attack this year.
I think, you know, I think if anything, you kind of, you know, shift the barometer back over to the defensive side of the football for this game.
And the pressures, you know, on Alabama's front seven, certainly if they can put Indiana in obvious passing situations, you know, I think that that'll help a big deal.
And so, you know, this is the, you know, like I said, I think it's a methodical offense.
They're not a, you know, they're not hurrying up no huddle.
Now, I do think Mendoza's a much better runner than people give him credit for.
And, you know, and they use him at times.
But, you know, he can't escape the pocket.
He can't extend plays.
He is good on quarterback keepers and draws.
So, you know, the linebackers and the defensive linemen just have to be very, you know, conscious of their run fits.
And, you know, when they do get a chance to put, you know, him or other Indiana players on the ground, they need to make sure they do that.
To me, it's pretty simple.
You look at the stats on this thing, William, and yes, he's got very impressive numbers.
But then when you squeeze it down apples to apples, and you see what Ty Simpson's done against ranked defenses compared to Mendoza against ranked defenses.
And there's really no comparison.
Ty has much better numbers.
To me, it's not rocket science.
Let's get at him and dirty up his uniform and make him operate under pressure as much as possible.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I certainly think, you know, a key to watch for in this game because, you know, opposing offenses have taken notice of Yonsei Pierre.
He's kind of a lone survivor over there as a pass rusher.
And he's certainly been effective at doing it.
But once that starts to happen to you and you don't have an answer on the other side, you know, teams are able to chip you a little bit, maybe double team you a little bit.
So, I'm really placing a premium in this game on Keon Keely and some others to be able to help from the opposite side.
You know, it would be great if Alabama could get a consistent pass rush against Indiana, you know, by just rushing four people and not having to bring the house like you've seen them do.
You know, they were pretty good and effective at it versus Oklahoma, but that's not the ideal situation, especially when you're facing an efficient, you know, non-mistake-prone football team like Indiana.
William, you seem pretty optimistic about it.
Have you made a prediction on the game yet?
I do.
I've got Alabama 27, Indiana 21.
Hmm.
I think there are a lot of Alabama fans who certainly hope that happens, William.
Listen, a great way, you know, we've got an abbreviated show today because of the bowl game, but can't thank you enough.
Coming on a little bit earlier, again, glad you had a great Christmas.
Happy New Year.
Let's talk next week and see if your prediction comes true.
Yeah, if you call and I don't answer Monday, you'll know why.
There you go, bud.
Well, let's hope that you're going to be there and right out in Bushetail.
William, listen, man, enjoy the game.
Thank you so much and have a great year.
We won't get a chance to talk again before it, but Happy New Year to you, and hopefully right after the New Year we can talk as quick as possible.
Be safe in the meantime, William.
All right, sounds good, guys.
Thank you.
Thank you, bud.
The William Redfish Barger, former University of Alabama offensive lineman,
and now calls to Bound's radio.
Coming up, Max Howell on deck.
Stay with us.
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As Alabama football prepares for the Rose Bowl,
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I had really two good weeks here in preparation or in the second week of preparation.
Coming off the first round of the playoffs, it's been great for our guys.
I think we've been in a position to where we've probably been as healthy as we have been in a number of weeks.
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so that's always nice with these new freshmen coming in here.
Kind of like Christmas morning for a coach to get to play with all the new toys you recruited.
And those guys have got a great demeanor and bringing some energy out there to practice.
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You know, I think obviously we've got a great opponent.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in.
What would it be before closing to the last Monday of the calendar year for us to not be able to say hello to the Max?
Max Howell, former pioneer in a thing called Sports Talk in the entire Southeast, former assistant coach at Ole Miss and Florida State.
Max Howell, welcome in.
Were you a good boy or a naughty boy based on Santa's gifts and visits to you over the last few days?
How are you?
I reserve the right to not answer that question.
Here you go.
We'll have to wait a while, right, Max?
Well, here's what I figured out, guys.
Once you get my age, you don't have to keep scoring, you boy.
Nah, you don't care.
That's what I'm saying.
Very few people here, including you.
That's right.
Well, my mom always said it best.
My a**, I'm going to do what I want to do, and you're going to like it, so what are you going to do about it, right?
Exactly right.
Exactly right.
All right, Max.
Football is back on the calendar.
The boys are heading west, young man, to Pasadena.
Everybody's saying, I saw one of the commentators say, in effect, why are we even talking about this game?
Indiana is clearly the better team.
Why are we even going through the formality wasting time and money and all that stuff?
Max, where are you on the Monday before the Thursday showdown?
Well, you know, I think, to answer your question first about, you know, who cares, that's why they play the game, and we know that.
Yeah.
And we can go there, and I can go back and check all the games.
I've kind of, I've never, I've never, I will say this, I've never wasted a dollar on a college football game.
Thank you.
But the fact is, I do look at the lines on every ball game just to see what other people are thinking and why they're thinking.
Right, right.
And I think, you know, when you start looking at Alabama and Indiana playing, you've got one team that's probably as well-known as anybody in the country with a one-long weapon for as long as they have.
And that's the University of Alabama, including the National Championships that they won in California.
So, we'll start with that, and then you look at the opponent, had a great year, they've done an outstanding job, and I'm not going to say rebuilding, just building that program.
Because the last time I read, I believe Indiana's got the worst one-loss record in the history of college football, overall.
Wow.
I mean, Bobby Knight was, I mean, he was the athletic source of that university for a long time with basketball.
So, you know, you look at all that, can Indiana overcome in a 60-minute ball game their history?
Let's look at it on the ball.
Yeah.
I personally don't think they can.
Now, here's a couple things you've got to consider.
One is, you look at the weather forecast, it's supposed to be pouring down rain.
That's the first.
And the second is, in the life of me, I can't understand this, but Alabama has never developed a running game.
And consistently, for this year.
So, all the lines, it all reflects that.
I think, what, six and a half, I believe, is a poor spread, and it favors Indiana in that respect.
They've never been to California to play a ball game.
They don't know anything about championships.
They don't have a history in any part of that.
Alabama is favored in every, you check every box in that respect.
I think Alabama's got a great chance to play.
I told another group, I was on another show this morning, if I was Alabama, if I was the offensive coordinator, I'd script the first 10 to 15 plays, regardless of what the weather is.
And I don't care what the defense lines up at, I'd come out and see if I could do that.
If part of those 10 to 15 would be running football, to see.
If I can't, then I'm going to adjust my game plan to do what has been successful against that defense in that ball game.
And I'd do it every snap after that.
I really would.
I think Alabama's got a great chance.
I think the defense on the Indiana side, they're going to line up and come after them.
And I think that's the case.
I think they're going to have to do, you know, screens and they're going to have to get rid of the ball quickly.
Ty Simpson's very capable of doing that.
But I hope they've walked through some of that stuff, and I hope they've got their mindset ready.
In all fairness, guys, I've looked at it.
I think for the first time, the committee might have gotten it right this time with the matchups.
Because if Alabama can beat Indiana, I think they've got a great chance to win it all.
I really do.
Max, your point there, also, you look at Indiana, and you go by history at this point in time,
it's hard to change things overnight.
Indiana loves to run zone.
Ty Simpson is the number one rated quarterback in the country against his own defense.
Of course, the range is going to be a factor, but, you know, you've got to take the numbers
and you've got to look inside the numbers sometimes to get the whole story.
Yep.
Yeah, I think what's going to happen, and that's why I was scripted to start with,
is see if they're going to end up trying to play zone in rush seven,
then you've got that gap in between the defensive backs and no linebackers.
You've got the tight end, you've got the backs out of the backfield.
There's several things you can do automatically out of that.
But to do that, I'm going to find out if my guys can do that actually on the field.
I'm going to call the play and see if they can do that.
But I'm going to have it scripted out so they know going in and just say the first ten snaps,
we're going to do this, we don't care what they do.
And then after that, we'll adjust to find out what worked well against their defense,
and that's what we're going to run the rest of the ball game.
Let me ask you about the other side of the ball.
I asked you last week about Alabama switching from a zone in the second year to a man,
and they played very well in the second half, and they also blitzed the linebackers,
got a lot more pressure on John Mateer.
Do you see Womack doing the same thing against Indiana?
I think so.
I really do.
Look, in a game like this, guys, the surprise element is really the easiest thing to do.
If you can jump out of it, it's something they haven't worked on.
Now, I know by doing it last week, but keep in mind, you know, they haven't worked.
It's not automatic for them to do that, the defensive side.
If they loved their own defense, I'd say hallelujah, keep it.
We won't throw the ball deep.
We're going to throw it in the day all day, all night long.
And I think what we're talking about, guys, is the coaching aspect of it now.
I think that, you know, we know Indiana's got really good players.
They've got a good defensive front.
They've been very successful this year.
But I'm always wondering, let's look at who they beat.
I know that you know Ohio State, I understand that.
But the rest of their schedule, other than the two or three ballgames that they had to play
and really had to play to win, the rest of it was kind of a breeze to them.
Yeah.
On the other side, Alabama had to fight and scratch, you know, everything they got this year.
That's every game.
I think that favors Alabama in doing that.
Plus, Alabama's played two more ballgames since they ended up on the field.
Since Indiana played on the field.
So I think that's going to play a role in it.
And don't tell me that those kids hadn't read the newspapers and watched the sports report.
Everybody in the country telling them how great they are.
You know, they're number one in the country.
That's a whole new avenue for them.
So, I think Alabama has got it set up.
Notwithstanding, Alabama's got to go to play.
They're not going to, you know, that bunch is not going to roll over for them.
You've got to keep in mind their head coach worked for Coach Saban for three or four years.
He took the same game plan to Indiana that Alabama's got.
So, basically, I think it's going to be interesting football.
I can't wait to, you know, we get these games started over here tonight.
What was it, Pat Dye's favorite line to fire up Auburn when it came to the Iron Bowl?
You're not man enough to beat Alabama.
And they'd run through a brick wall to show you how he was wrong.
Let me ask you this, Max.
As far as health, Alabama, yes, they played a tough schedule and then they hit a slack.
Well, one of the reasons, they lost a lot of key starters down that stretch
where they were basically just sitting there and taking punches
and finally winning most of those games.
This is about as healthy as Alabama's been, including Overton coming back.
Your thoughts about that impact.
And overall, it's like Jam Miller is about as healthy as he's been in a while.
Well, it is.
And I think it's certainly going to play a major role in it.
If nothing else, guys, the substitution pattern is going to be different.
They can even start those guys.
They may not be in top shape.
Here's the thing that most coaches do in the preseason or in the postseason
from preparation.
They go one or two ways.
They either under-condition them or they over-condition them.
They leave them on the field many times during that.
And there's no in-between for some reason.
I don't know what the mindset is.
Of course, I make my reference back to the way Coach Bowden handled our situation
when I was at Florida State.
The fact is, though, we never knew.
I mean, there'd be some days, guys, we knew we had a big game coming up on Saturday.
We'd go out there on Thursday, which usually is a pretty good half a practice of a contact
day.
He'd dismiss practice and let them go to big movies or go to the gym and work out or go
to the swimming pool.
I mean, you never knew.
It was almost a guessing game, even with the coaching staff, on how he would handle the week of
a big ball game.
And I think, to me, that warrants some recognition.
And the fact is, if we won more, we lost doing that.
I don't think a lot of coaches do that.
A lot of coaches get tied up and so tied up about winning that game.
They'd say, oh, I forgot, let's go back out and get one more practice session in or whatever.
Or they'd say, hey, they'd take it for granted.
We're going to win this one instead of regardless.
And they'd get upset.
So, you know, to me, the way this thing is worked out on the schedule, again, I'll go
back to that.
I think the committee did a really outstanding job in matching up the way that the teams have
won up to now.
The right teams are in the right position.
From here on, guys, I do believe it will be the best football team wins.
It may be the best team that plays that day.
But you know what?
At the end of the game, look at that scoreboard, and if your team's got more points than theirs,
it was worth the run.
Now, Max, let me ask you two things real quick.
Have you signed up to become Coleman's agent now that he's entered the portal?
So you can get a percentage of the NIL.
And number two, can Georgia beat Ole Miss again in a close game?
I think they can mainly because of the structure of the coaching staff.
You know, we can debate, you know, what Lane did and leave it the way he left and all that.
But I'm quick to remind all my Ole Miss friends, regardless of what you think about Lane Kiffin,
you would never be in that position today without him.
You would never have that situation.
And then back to signing up for an agent situation, I think I pretty well know where he's going.
Don't be surprised if he doesn't end up at LSU.
That coach's staff down there, guys, I'm telling you, they're putting something together that I guarantee you LSU's never seen before.
So I think it's going to be worth watching, to say the least.
I think regardless of a personality, regardless of how people feel about the way he left Ole Miss,
I think he's one of the brightest minds in college football today.
And I think he's going to prove that.
And what I love about it, the LSU people know that, they understand, they aren't buying a pig and a poke.
They know if he stays three years, they win a championship, he'll be gone to the NFL under the same conditions that he left Ole Miss.
And they won't be bad about it.
I promise you that.
Absolutely.
Well, Max Howell's one of the smartest minds in college football, too.
Always enjoy the conversation.
Listen, I hope you had a great Christmas.
Happy New Year.
We cherish the conversations with you.
Let's do this again next Monday.
Let's do it.
We'll do it, guys.
Always my pleasure.
Happy New Year to you all.
Right back at you, Max.
The one, the only, Max, I was speaking of Lane Kiffin, I flipped over the other night for that bowl game that LSU and Houston were in.
And, of course, the broadcast crew, they're in love with Lane.
They had him in the booth.
And then I saw a post after that, right after that interview, he left and went home two hours before the game ended.
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Lane knows where every camera and makeup facility is, does he not?
Coming up, let's see, he's been out at LSU, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.
What's going on in Big Orange Country without the lane?
The B-Man next.
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Welcome back to Winter Hack Radio, the place for clever hacks to survive the season.
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Well, try spreading sand or bird seed to help with traction.
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Well, grab a whisk, brush it off, done.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.
Monday Night Football tonight, the Atlanta Falcons are back at home at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
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In men's basketball action tonight, Auburn is home to host Queens.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back here, BB.
Quickly programming.
No busy.
Day and night ahead here on 93.9 The Score.
Got the J-Low Birmingham Bowl, Georgia Southern.
Taking on Appalachian State.
Just after the show here in just a few minutes.
And then later on tonight, it's Alabama basketball with Yale.
And Coach Tony Pujol and pizza at a very good place to catch it all, BB.
Yeah, lost pizza, UNA basketball night tonight from 5.30 to 7.
From 5.30 to 6.15, the Kenny Whitaker Show, UNA's women's basketball coach.
Tony Pujol takes over at 6.15 until tip-off of Yale at the Alabama Crimson Tide.
I'm checking to see if our next guest has a diploma from Yale.
Vince Rohr, I know this.
He's busy on the radio at 99.1.
The Sports Animal Mornings up in Knoxville on the Ball Radio Network.
Vince, welcome in.
Are you a former Bulldog from Yale?
How are you?
I am good.
You know, USF, Yale, pretty much the same in terms of bragging rights.
No, Bull, not Bulldog, but great to be on with you.
Hope you guys have a great Christmas.
Hey, thanks.
Right back at you, V.
Man, my mom went to Yale.
She spelled it Y-E-L-L, by the way.
Vince, this time tomorrow, you're going to be getting ready for a little bowl action.
Have you got your orange wardrobe out for the Music City Bowl tomorrow in Nashville?
Well, I'm not there.
I'm still in Tampa.
So, you know, seeing the family.
And I will actually, believe it or not, I will be at the rival Vanderbilt's Iowa game.
And those two, obviously, Vanderbilt and Iowa, two teams that Tennessee is very familiar with.
Iowa, they played a bunch in recent bowl games.
And then Vanderbilt is, you know, is the team that beat Tennessee to close out the regular season.
So, yeah, I will be there in Tampa and be sunshining in the low 60s tomorrow.
Let me ask you about Vanderbilt quickly before you jump off there.
Diego Pavia is back at it again.
The dude, if this college football was a cow, she'd be sore now.
He has milked it.
He's been good for football.
Football has been good for him.
With the recent news of the dude leaving the NBA back to Baylor, well, his lawyers get together and say,
we want Diego to have a seventh year based on that president because, let's face it, the dude, he's very good in college.
The NFL, they got to take a flyer on him because of his size.
It's not that he can't do it.
The question is whether they give him the opportunity.
He obviously sees opportunity to make even more millions staying in the college world.
Your thoughts about Diego Pavia and what are the odds of him coming back and drawing an NIL check along with his Social Security check?
Well, I almost think that he may want to fight this just to see if he can get the victory, not necessarily for him to come back.
Now, if I was him, I would play college as long as they would let me because I don't think he is an NFL future.
So, yeah, milk it while you can.
But my guess is that it's more of if he can get that victory and maybe set the table for others.
Now, like Joey Aguilar, I think, is a part of that lawsuit and that pursuit for the extra year of eligibility.
But I think he would certainly want that extra year and play at Tennessee.
The question is, is what will Tennessee have at the quarterback position by the time that all gets settled?
Vanderbilt certainly would welcome him with open arms of everything that he has meant for them.
So, I don't know how it's going to play out.
But, yeah, I see Pavia leaving regardless.
V, let me ask you about the matchup with Illinois.
The Illini have given up a lot of passing yards to some of the best quarterbacks in the country.
Aguilar leading the SEC and his Tennessee and Illinois matchup, V.
You know, it's interesting.
Both teams have certainly had some opt-outs.
Illinois hasn't really had that many.
They're two, two of their best players have opted out.
And J.C. Davis, they're all Big Ten starting left tackle.
And then Gabe Jackis, who is their leading sack man, and he's also all conference.
Those two have opted out.
And then they have Matthew Bailey, one of their safeties that's their leading tackler on defense.
He's injured, so he's out.
But that's about it.
They've had, you know, seven, eight guys hit the transfer portal.
But no one, like Tennessee, no one really of major consequence.
Tennessee, you know, has had Boo Carter and then also Peyton Lewis, a running back, opt out.
So he was one of, you know, maybe the third team running back for them.
So everybody else has been opt-outs for the NFL.
I think Tennessee has been hit harder by that with Colton Hood and Joshua Joseph starting Leo most recently declaring for the NFL draft in addition to Chris Brazel and Arianne Carter.
But I think Tennessee, Illinois doesn't do anything elite.
But Tennessee, I think, will be able to throw the football, to your point, with Illinois' stats.
They're not necessarily great in pass catching, excuse me, in pass defense.
And I think even though Tennessee won't have Chris Brazel with Mike Matthews, Braylon, Staley, two very productive top ten receivers this year.
And I think you'll see one of the two freshmen, probably Rodarius Jackson, step into that role.
And you'll probably see him making some plays.
Tennessee's reluctant to play those freshmen.
But they've been getting a lot of practice time.
So I think Tennessee's offense will be fine.
It's just a matter of the Tennessee defense, what that looks like with William Inge now as the interim defensive coordinator.
And then where does the pass rush come from?
Are they able to exploit left tackle with Illinois not having their top offensive tackle?
And then, you know, the linebacker position, what does that look like?
What does corner look like without Colton Hood?
So I think there's plenty of questions.
But Illinois has not played very many close games.
They only play two one-possession games all year.
It's kind of weird in today's college football, right?
They either get blown out or they beat a team by multiple possessions.
So I like Tennessee by a couple of scores.
I think it'll be a high-scoring game because you would anticipate Tennessee to give some things up defensively as well.
By contrast, Alabama's played a ton of one-score games, including the inter-squad games.
So they wouldn't know anything else outside of maybe Lon Monroe or something like that.
But let me ask you this, Vimeo.
In the old days, people would sit here and say, well, let's do the standings here.
The SEC's doing this, this, and this in the bowl season.
You look at the opt-outs now.
I'm not so sure that's relevant.
I saw over the weekend, what was it?
What was 17 guys that had opted out on one team?
So, I mean, how can you sit here and put in your relevance to that?
To me, the big date is January 2nd, which obviously is Friday when the doors swing wide open.
What do you anticipate there for Tennessee as far as the comings and the goings once it becomes official?
You know, you would think that it was, the roster would be pretty much settled.
And the guys that are going to transfer, they would have already said that to the coaching staff and made their plans.
Look, you have to be ahead of the game.
To think that guys are just going to make a decision on January 1st, hit the portal on January 2nd, and then start looking, that's not realistic.
So, the work has already been done behind the scenes with their agents and trying to find new spots and seeing what's out there and should I go or should I not.
So, if it hasn't been announced or reported, I wouldn't anticipate there would be a ton from Tennessee.
I actually thought there would be more than eight at this point, to be honest with you.
So, either that's an indication that the culture is really good inside and not everyone's trying to bail out.
Maybe some guys on defense are excited about Jim Knowles.
You know, the Rodney Garner news from Pete Nakos from On3 saying that they expect him to return.
I think it's huge, or else you would have had a bunch of defensive linemen, in my opinion, hit the portal.
Yeah.
It wasn't return.
And either that or we're going to have a bunch of last-minute surprises and guys that have kept it under the radar.
Maybe they've been working behind the scenes, but not reported.
So, there'll probably be a couple of new ones, but I imagine most of that is already taken care of
and the coaching staff is already out in front of who's going to leave.
Absolutely.
V, delighted you've had a great Christmas.
Happy New Year, my friend.
Enjoy the bowl game in warm Tampa.
Well, it's going to be 22 degrees up in North Alabama today.
Always a delight, my friend, and really look forward to conversations in 2026.
But where can we get online to get all your great stuff?
Hey, I'm complaining because we're getting a cold front, but actually that cold front is going through everybody else.
So, tomorrow's lows in the 40s and high at 60 tomorrow and 61 for the bowl game with sunshine.
So, I mean, it's brutally cold here.
No, I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
Have V Sports on all the socials for Mom's Cooking and Daphne and all the family and everything else.
But I hope you guys have had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year to you and everybody listening.
Life is good, V, man.
Listen, thanks for asking.
Safe travels back home.
And thanks so much for your time today, buddy.
All right, guys.
Always enjoy.
We'll talk to you next week.
Thank you, baby.
And 99.1, the Sports Animal BB.
Obviously, bowl season is back.
Are you ready for some J-Lab bowl action down in Beham here on 93.9 The Score?
I am ready for it.
It is coming up in just a few minutes.
By the way, that's at Protective Life Stadium, UAB's home.
No longer, of course, at Legion Field.
And tonight, from 537, UNA Basketball Night at Lost Pizza.
If you can't get down, you can listen to it here.
Coach Kenny Whittaker, Tony Pujol.
And then immediately after the UNA Basketball Night, 11-1 Yale at the Alabama Crimson Tide in basketball.
That's what I was going to bring up.
They may have that Ivy League moniker, but the record says they are 11-1.
So stay tuned for that and more right here on 93.9 The Score later on tonight.
It's going to take care of best for now.
On behalf of BB, Greg James Blair, the entire crew here.
Parole Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow on Noonga 2 for the Boom and Bug Show back here on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score.