Boomo Bugg Show 010626
93.9 The Score WYTK - January 6, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-010626/

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 Tide, 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.
Is anyone anywhere shocked that BB is Auburn's new QB?
And Mr. Smith says goodbye to Tuscaloosa.
And another Hollywood says hello.
Good afternoon, welcome in, and how are you?
Happy Tuesday to you and the listeners.
We'll be talking with Brian Matthews about that in about 25 minutes, about Bowen Brown now finally being an Auburn Tiger.
And talk about some of the other guys coming and going.
Also, Andre Adelson of ESPN gives us a report on Miami and Omin straight from Arizona.
Las Vegas insider Bruce Marshall previews the CFP Final Four and always delighted to have Roger in the huddle with us to recount the Rose Bowl and talk some Bama basketball.
The man who never gets a wink of sleep, Roger Hoover on the Alabama Crimson Tide Network.
And we mean the network.
Football, basketball, always having a ball.
Roger Hoover, welcome in.
How are you?
Boomo Bugg.
I'm doing really well.
Thanks for having me on for the first time in the new year.
Yeah.
And the topic is the last game of Alabama football for this season.
Roger, now that we have seen this thing from the Alpha to the Omega, where do you start in breaking down Alabama football 2025 and I guess technically 2026?
Well, a really tough start, a really tough ending in between some really good moments, I think, for this group.
To play like they did in SEC play and essentially be the regular season champion of the SEC.
I know that's not technically how it works, but if the SEC championship game ever went away, I think you would have seen Alabama this year as the champion based on the 7-1 record.
And how strong the schedule Alabama did against.
You know, I heard Dixieland Delight a few times out in California and, you know, the lyrics beat Auburn and LSU and Tennessee, too, that all the fans sing kind of around the lyrics from Alabama.
Those things happen this year.
I think it's a good year when you can beat Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee, too.
So I know ultimately it wasn't what fans wanted finishing as one of the eight best teams in the country when this fan base expects more, 4-2 or 1.
That's where Alabama fans obviously want this program to be, and it's always been about national championships and SEC championships in Alabama.
But the Crimson Tide were able to put themselves in a position to win both after some really long odds that people gave them to begin the season.
And I think Alabama fans should really look at what Kalen DeBoer did with a lot of gratitude for the way he was able to keep this team together.
When, you know, at different points of the year it could have splintered, especially for me, more than anything, after the loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game, wasn't a lot of optimism around the program.
It gets even worse when you start down 17-0 on the road to Oklahoma.
But come back and win that game, I think, says a lot about this football team.
And kind of those are more of the memories I'll have from this group versus, you know, how the season ended in the Rose Bowl or even how it began against Florida State.
Roger, it's safe to say the I word could end up describing this team this season, I meaning inconsistent.
They went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
You mentioned the bookends as far as how it began and how it ended there.
Obviously, any smart person, any smart group, any smart team is going to go to the drawing board now that it's the offseason.
Now is when you, in NASCAR terms, you take a pit stop, you find out what needs to be tuned up, and you go from there.
I guess it all starts with trying to overcome the inconsistencies from this season going into next season.
Yeah, absolutely, especially with a lot of new players, it looks like.
And please don't have me to break down who's in the portal, who's out.
Roger, can you break it down for us?
I'm staying away until I see a final roster in August before we need to really get ready.
No, I know there's going to be some turnover.
That's college football these days.
Your most successful programs are going through this.
The ones at the bottom of the league are going through this, and sometimes they're able to make it to the top of the league pretty quickly,
like Vanderbilt, Indiana have shown the last few years, even Miami to a degree.
So, you know, there's going to be some roster churning as well, and you don't know if any staff changes on the horizon.
But I think you hit it perfectly at finding ways to be consistent, because Alabama at its best this season could have beaten anybody,
probably still has one of the most road wins of the year when they picked up a win against Georgia earlier this season.
But when it was going, when Alabama just couldn't find an offense, it made life very difficult, kind of no matter what the defense was doing at times.
So, yeah, finding a way to get that consistent performance is going to be really critical coming up for this year.
I had a couple of people ask me to ask you about the Rose Bowl Stadium itself, the trip.
It was obviously a bad weather day, and particularly in the morning it cleared off late.
And fortunately, Indiana was far ahead, and I know a lot of the bands had to stay in the stands because of the field conditions.
Some of our listeners have been to the Rose Bowl.
A lot of them have not.
Roger, your thoughts on the stadium and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Well, it's like a trip back in time.
This is the oldest bowl game in college football history.
It's the one that started them all.
You know, they call it the granddaddy of all.
Amal, you have to kind of know that going into the experience.
It's very, very different than, say, going to the Superdome or a Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta,
right in the heart of downtown with all these modern amenities.
There's not very much modern about that stadium.
For me, I love it because, you know, look, I grew up a big Cub fan.
I grew up loving Wrigley Field and always enjoyed the fact they didn't have a video board.
Well, you know, now Wrigley Field's been updated and it's kind of modern.
And the Rose Bowl's gotten a little more modern over the years.
But it is a throwback experience to how things used to be in college football.
And, you know, the stadium's in the middle of a neighborhood.
You're all, you're winding around all these great houses and all of a sudden there it is.
And you're parking in a field or some people parked on a golf course, you know, to come to the stadium.
So, it's very different from that aspect.
But when you're there, you feel the history.
You feel how special it is.
And it's kind of nice to have, to me, a little bit of a throwback experience.
Wish the weather would have been better.
Wish we could have seen those beautiful San Gabriel Mountains a little bit more.
They were blocked by clouds most of the day.
And then I really hated the time change, playing an hour earlier.
So, we were kind of missed the sunset while we were playing the game.
Now, luckily, during my post-game show, I was able to see it as Indiana's band was playing on the field, kind of celebrating this win.
But it's still a tremendous experience.
It's one of those bucket list experiences that if you love college football, you've got to find a way to go at least once.
Because you're going to get to be at a place where Alabama history was really forged 100 years ago.
And one where hopefully we'll make some new memories in the next 100 years.
Roger Hoover on the Crimson Tide Network.
It's easy for fans to sit here and, you know, shock, shock at Alabama.
If you don't win a national championship, everything is second best in more ways than one.
But on the other side of the coin, trying to be realistic, you look at some of the kids.
In this place, these are still kids.
You've got to love the spirit of a Tide Simpson.
I know he took his share of criticism.
But you look at the whole story.
And to me, the story that kind of gets lost in the shuffle, especially the way things ended, was Jeremy Bernard.
This kid is, if you are a parent, this is a kid you want.
Yeah, Jeremy did everything the right way in his time at Alabama.
And I think it's going to go down as one of the key players that helped, you know, kind of bridge the gap.
Even though he didn't play for Coach Saban, just he needed somebody like him in these first two years.
Like Galen DeBoer is the head coach.
I think you can say the same about Josh Quavis, Parker Brailsford, on and on from all these different leaders.
And guys like Deontay Lawson who did play for Coach Saban.
And then I had a great run as a two-time captain here for the last couple of years under Coach DeBoer.
So, yeah, all these guys made a great impact.
Jeremy had some great touchdowns, that great catch over the back of an Oklahoma defender a few weeks ago.
He's somebody that I think Alabama fans are always going to remember fondly.
You know, that go-ahead touchdown against South Carolina was so critical a few weeks ago.
And that's a game you lose, and you're probably not looking at a Rose Bowl or a college football type season.
So, there were contributions all over the place.
And I think, you know, Ty Simpson, I believe you mentioned off the top as well, he's someone that's battled.
And he battled through a lot of things this year and gave Alabama a chance to be competitive all throughout the season.
Let me ask you about Bama basketball.
Both teams doing well.
My goodness gracious, the women improved to 15-1, 1-1 in the SEC.
They beat Arkansas, ratted them in the Coliseum, 77-48.
We've got the Kentucky Wildcats coming up on Thursday.
Bama women beat Kentucky, not Bama women, Bama men beat Kentucky for the fourth consecutive time, 11-3, 1-0 in the SEC.
Houston Millett, 14, Amari Allen, 11 points, 9 rebounds.
Noah Williamson had a coming-out game with 10 points, making some plays.
Aidan Holloway, 26, LeBaron, final on 17, coming on late.
A tough trip, Roger Hoover tomorrow night to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on the undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores.
Bama basketball very early in the conference season.
Both teams doing well.
Both teams doing well.
Well, let's start with the men's team.
Coming off that win against Kentucky, just really impressive the way Alabama's style of play was good.
And, you know, for a guy like LeBaron Filon Jr., who missed the game against Yale the previous Monday, you know, didn't miss a beat coming back in his return.
You know, unfortunate to still be dealing with a few injuries, like Aidan Shirell not being available for the rest of the first half and the second half.
But then you have a player step up, like you mentioned, Noah Williamson, who had the best game by far that he's had in a Crimson side jersey, getting those tough rebounds.
And if Alabama is able to get production from its post, you allow that to go along with the great backcourt shooting we're seeing from this group.
I think this team's unstoppable.
This looks like another Nate Oates team that can run away with an SEC regular season championship and then obviously hope for the tournament success, both in Nashville and then in March Madness.
But this looks the part of a really good Alabama team.
And now you've got to take this toughness on the road and pick up a tough victory coming up tomorrow night against Vanderbilt.
I think it's going to be a tremendous test.
And you have Texas right after that.
I mean, this is going to be a tough first month of the season.
Tennessee is looming in a few weeks in Tuscaloosa as well.
So you've got to get through this tough first part of the schedule before you even have more marquee matchups in February.
But again, this is an Alabama team that really looks the part of a championship contender already on the men's side.
Women's team doing terrific.
You know, tough loss against South Carolina to start conference play, but Alabama competed about as well as most SEC teams.
But again, Don Staley and the Gamecocks, again, they look Final Four national championship level good once again.
So the best thing about it, you didn't let that game linger at all.
You blew out Arkansas like you should have.
Arkansas had just lost Arkansas State a few weeks ago, picked last in the SEC this year.
So you handled your business there, and now you take on a Kentucky team that's trying to punch its way to the top along with the South Carolinas and the LSUs and the Texases.
Kind of everybody expects Kentucky to be on just that tier, kind of outside those Power 3 programs that are clearly at the top of our league right now.
So for Alabama, you get to welcome in Kentucky a team that's right there knocking on the door.
And if you're able to get this win, then you become one of those teams that's really knocking on the door at the top of this conference.
So it's going to be a fun week of Crimson Tide basketball.
Really looking forward to our home matchups, again, for the women against Kentucky on Saturday.
And then the men's team against Kentucky on Thursday.
The men's team on Saturday against the Texas Longhorns.
Coleman Coliseum, a good place to be.
And Memorial Gymnasium, a good place to be coming up tomorrow.
For all you North Alabama fans, find a way to get up there, get some tickets, and enjoy a good trip to Nashville and share on the Crimson Tide.
I was going to talk to you about that because it's the U-word comes into play.
It's unique.
Your thoughts about playing at probably the unique place in the entire SEC and one of the more unique places in the entire college basketball world.
Also, the health of the team coming in.
And maybe more importantly, after the game, particularly if Alabama wins, will they stop again at Bucky's on the way home down I-65?
I wouldn't be surprised.
I know I'd stop at any Bucky's I can get to, especially in Athens, Alabama.
I keep using the name Richard Hendricks, and I keep expensing 20% off, and they still look at me, and I'm like, you know, yeah.
So we're going to keep working on that.
But, no, it's a great trip.
Again, another kind of like the Rose Bowl, a fun, historic venue that I'm glad we still have in basketball.
It's been modernized a little bit.
You no longer have kind of that floating backboard like you used to have in that building.
Now it's kind of a more modern style.
And, you know, coaches can go up and down the sidelines where they used to couldn't do that.
So Vanderbilt's changed a little bit with that stuff, but it still has some of that old character and flavor.
So, yeah, hopefully this team gets healthier.
I think Nate's going to have a press conference soon to give us the latest updates.
So, yeah, you hope you're a full go for a matchup like this, if not for tomorrow, then certainly on Saturday against Texas.
Tell us about Crimson Drive.
I noticed London Jemison, who is beginning to improve, had a big three against Kentucky.
Some of the other guests you've got lined up for today and Thursday in your week.
Nashville on town for Wednesday.
Women's game Thursday.
And then back to the Coliseum for Texas on Friday.
Tell us about Roger Hoover's week.
Yeah, you ran down the week really well.
And on Crimson Drive, we'll have London Jemison today.
And then the Pride of Loretta, Tennessee.
Carly Weathers coming up on our Thursday afternoon show.
So we're going to be talking all things David, Ryan Weathers, and Carly Weathers talking about her senior year playing for the women's basketball team.
I can't wait for fans to get to hear about that, plus how she's juggling a nursing degree with playing basketball at a high level.
It's incredible what she's done in the classroom in addition to on the court.
So we've got all that coming up.
Crimson Drive driven by NASCAR, 2 o'clock on all of our CTSN social media platforms.
Hope our fans can join us.
101% of the radios in Loretta will be tuned in to you, Roger.
Listen, man, safe travels to and from, and thanks so much for your time today.
You guys are the best.
Thanks for having me on.
Roll talk.
Thank you, buddy.
Roger, Roger Hoover, Crimson Tide Sports Network.
Is it going to be the University of South Florida North on the Plains?
The latest with Brian Matthews next.
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Hey, fans.
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Hey fans, welcome back to Fansville's Cheers and Tears.
Okay, so like everybody deals with losing, right?
To a rival on a last second field goal.
Whatever, it's fine.
I'm totally fine.
But I cope with losing with an ice cold Dr. Pepper.
Those 23 flavors are like so delicious.
They totally wash away the pain of your college football team taking a big fat L.
College football.
It's a pepper thing.
The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back again.
Time to take a little road trip down to the plains.
Say hello to Brian Matthews.
Got it all covered there for Auburn as a senior editor for AuburnSports.com.
Brian, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing great, guys.
Thanks for having me on.
I'm doing great, man.
We appreciate it.
Could it be labeled the world's worst-kept secret, Auburn's new QB as initials of BB,
and it's not Brett Beaird?
Well, they couldn't afford Brett, so they had to go with Byron.
That's it.
It's all about making the right valuation.
That's right.
You've got so much money you can spend on that position.
That's right.
Yep, yep.
Byron Brown, officially an Auburn Tiger now, all signed and ready to go.
That's a big portal addition for Auburn, right?
Probably the best.
Well, I don't say probably.
He is the best quarterback since Bo Nix, which is also the last time Auburn had a winning season.
So it's a really important addition.
You know, 3,000 yards passing, over 1,000 yards rushing, you know, a guy who can do a lot
of great things and be a good leader from what we've been told, too, on and off the field.
So that's a really important addition for Auburn.
Let me ask you about this.
I know some fans and even media have been snickering.
Fred Gaskin III, I believe, is the safety, is the eighth South Florida player added to the portal.
Yeah.
And, you know, the joke now is, is this north-south Florida, and I told a friend of mine yesterday,
look, number one, these guys are talented or the Auburn coaches will not be looking at them.
Number two, they're familiar with the staff, and they can come in and the transition is not as bad.
Wait a minute, your thoughts on adding the eighth South Florida player.
Well, that's exactly right.
I mean, you look at Auburn defensively, you know, you've got D.J. Durkin back, you've got some pieces there,
linebacker, safety back there, some other guys.
And, you know, you just want to rebuild that defensive line because you have to, and you want to, you know, fill in the depth chart,
make sure you've got players.
And, of course, you've got to get some cornerbacks, too.
They both left.
But, you know, offensively, brand-new coaches all on that side of the ball, brand-new philosophy, brand-new system.
But now you're bringing in the quarterbacks that are in that system.
You've got two of the top three receivers here.
I think they're going to get the number one receiver, Singleton, here fairly shortly, not a promise.
I just think that's the way it's trending right now.
So you're getting some key pieces from that offense now, running back, too, that will be able to step in
and be able not just to run it but also help the other guys that are new to the system come along to it quicker
and off-season workouts and such and help people understand, you know, what this coaching staff is about
and how to fit in and how to be a part of it on and off the field.
So I think it's important to get, you know, as many quality South Florida players, you know, as possible.
You look at Indiana a couple years ago.
I think they brought in 13 JMU players.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I also think it says something about the coach, right, that these players want to follow him,
want to play for him, right?
They believe in him.
We did not see that, was it, five years ago when Brian Harsin came from Boise State, right?
So that's another thing that stands out to me, too.
Brian Matthews, AuburnSports.com.
Brian, what it also says to me is the days of bringing in a guy and developing,
it's never going to go away completely, but it's definitely changed.
These coaches now know they're taking the blueprint at Indiana and other places,
bring in familiarity and start winning as soon as possible.
But in some ways, is it so that it's the bird in hand versus the two in the bush?
You may go out and get a five-star promising guy, but it may take two or three years.
These coaches ain't waiting two or three years.
They're not.
And we'll see if Auburn can complete this, right?
This is just one that you've got to rebuild the offensive and defensive lines,
which is going to be a very, very big task for them to do.
So, you know, we'll see about that'll go a long way to determine whether or not this team can start winning right away.
But, I mean, adding out like Brian Brown to me is a message that that's the way this is going, right?
You just went out and got a quarterback with one-year eligibility that can absolutely light it up and be a difference maker.
So, I would think, you know, this team is going to surround him with a quality offensive line to protect him
and get the running game going and then have a good defense on the other side of the ball to help support that offense.
So, you think that's the way it's going, but it just hasn't happened yet.
I think you're up to 11 incoming transfers now.
Yeah.
Three or four, I'd probably say, are going to be starters, but they've still got a lot to go as far as the line of scrimmage goes.
We're on that topic.
You mentioned 11 coming in.
What's the number going out at last camp?
We'll be quick with the question because it could change before I finish the statement here.
What's the number so far going out?
Yeah, it's 30 going out, and I'm sorry.
I had 10 coming in so far.
So, that's probably going to change the day.
I would imagine they'll pick up a few more.
That's the way it's kind of been going.
But, yeah, so 30 out.
I put about around 10 of those as, you know, guys I would say would likely be starters next year.
So, some really important pieces you've got to replace there,
and then some important pieces you're losing because guys are eligible to go into the draft,
especially on those offensive and defensive lines.
All right.
Speaking of defensive line, I know some guys have entered the portal.
Malik Blockton.
Yeah.
You've got a couple of guys going to the NFL.
Eventually, Malik Altry, Jordan Crawford.
I mentioned that they are coming back.
Yep.
A couple of names that I saw.
And, again, you probably got 150 names in your head as far as potential transfer for the dudes.
Arkansas State transfer, Cody Sigler.
Oklahoma State transfer to Marion Thomas.
Or two that I've heard Auburn is interested in.
North Texas transfer defensive lineman, Sadiq Clemens.
Your thoughts on replacing a lot of these guys on the defensive front.
Yeah.
Cody Sigler is a guy that came in early on a visit, but I think he's turning another direction right now.
So, I'm not expecting that to happen.
But, Oklahoma State to Marion Thomas.
I think Auburn is probably the team to beat there.
North Texas, Sadiq Clemens is supposed to be in, well, was in yesterday.
So, I don't know if he's left yet or not.
And then, you look at the edge position.
Auburn really needs some help there.
They've got some dudes coming back.
Of course, Jared Smith, J.J. Falk are two, I think, going to be good players that haven't played a lot of SEC ball yet.
So, that's an area they need to really step up and improve at, too.
So, that's one to watch defensive end and edge, too.
On the defensive side of the ball.
Let's talk a little round ball action.
Tough loss on the road to a ranked team, Georgia, in overtime, triple digits for both offenses.
And now, no time to cry in your soup.
You've got to get busy, what, tonight against Texas A&M.
That's right.
Bucky ball coming to Nethle Arena tonight.
It's going to be probably another high-scoring game unless Auburn really plays great defensively.
You know, Bucky is a guy who likes to press, likes to shoot a lot of threes, shoot early in possession.
So, it's going to be a pretty wild game.
They're a little bit deeper than Auburn, which gives them, you know, advantage in playing that way.
And, you know, Auburn played a team in Georgia that likes to play that way, too.
So, that gives them maybe a little head start in preparing for A&M.
But, it should be an exciting night.
I'm sure this team appreciates being back home with all the tough games they played,
mostly away from Nethle Arena here in the non-conference and then open up at a top 25 team.
So, it'll be a big atmosphere tonight at 8 o'clock.
Monday Musings, I always enjoy reviewing.
You always come up with one stat that blows me away.
Auburn has had one offensive lineman drafted in the past seven years.
During that same period, Alabama's had 10, LSU's had 10, Georgia's had 15.
So, B, what does that tell you?
It tells me that Auburn has really, really failed in that area.
Every coach, head coach, analyst, everybody involved with recruiting that position over the last six or seven years
has done a terrible job at Auburn, just to be honest.
Now, they may have a couple of guys drafted this year, right?
So, that's better.
But, that is a position that has not been recruited well, not been developed well,
and that has to change for Auburn to be successful.
It's 35-1 over the last seven years as far as the NFL draftees on the offensive line.
It's just, that's a despicable stat if you're looking at the Auburn perspective of that, right?
So, we'll see.
You know, Auburn, Coach Gullis looks like he started out early trying to address this,
you know, put a couple of USF guys he believed in on the offensive line,
went out there and got Bear McWhorter, a former Michigan commit, who got his release there.
So, I had some high school guys I can bring along, got some, what I think, some guys back
that were registered last year or didn't play a lot.
And Todd Buster and Jacoby Ward, I think, have a chance.
Kyle Ellis, another freshman last year, got to play and start at center.
So, you know, there's some pieces there, but they are going to have to really go out the portal
and hit that area hard.
Unbelievable.
You also mentioned that Todd Pettiford did not start the other day against Georgia,
tremendously talented player.
And, again, you're not being critical.
You're just pointing out that he's got all the potential in the world,
but he needs to focus and get serious because he's one of the most dependable players,
should be a leader.
As you put it, Auburn needs more from Pettiford.
Yeah, I do.
I'm not trying to be too hard on him, but, you know, he was, you know,
suspended from the starting position for the SEC opener, which is never a good thing.
And he is not performing at a very high level when it comes to shooting threes
or getting assists.
And nobody expects him to be the, you know, SEC leader in assists.
He's not that type of point guard.
He's more of a scorer.
But he can certainly be a top 15 guy in assists or maybe top 10 or top 12.
And he's just not playing.
He's not taking that step forward like he thought he would.
And Auburn needs that to really reach their potential.
You know, they don't have a, you know, a whole lot of, you know,
depth on the front line, the bigs.
And they need those guards to really play well, really be dangerous,
really make teams have to defend that perimeter all the way around
to open things up for them.
And they play better perimeter defense, too.
That's something Coach Pearl has really talked a lot about here recently,
especially after Georgia and the failures they had there.
Going to be curious to see what you think about Bucky Ball
because everybody knows him from Samford.
And I thought it would take him a while for a system to get going.
But I'm going to be curious to see how he goes.
I know you and your staff are going to be, I mean,
minute by minute on the transfer portal as far as having to cover it.
Basketball, baseball gets started here in a couple of weeks.
I can't think of a better time to subscribe to AuburnSports.com
and tell us how they can do that.
Yeah, they can do that right online.
We're running a great deal right now, 50% off for the rest of the year.
So that gets you all the information you could ever want.
The transfer portal, the football team, everything going on there
with all the additions.
So still, maybe some people leave them, we'll see.
And then, of course, basketball, as you mentioned,
baseball getting started here soon.
All that for AuburnSports.com.
Give it a try.
Check us out.
I don't think those agents are giving 50% off of their players.
No, they're not.
We know you have that covered, too.
Listen, man, thanks so much.
Break out the earmuffs.
You're going to need them tonight.
And thanks so much.
Let's do it again soon, okay?
I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me, guys.
See you, bud.
Ryan Matthews, senior editor of AuburnSports.com.
Time to head west, young man, all the way to Las Vegas.
And Bruce Marshall on deck.
Stay with us.
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Move over, Tom Brady.
Bruce Marshall is a headliner in Vegas.
Bruce Bezier there at Las Vegas Insider.
Bound Sports.net.
CBS Sportsline.
Winners and Winers.
His podcast, Bet Rivers, Vegas Insider.
Bruce, welcome in.
Have you had a Tom Brady sighting yet?
How are you?
Yeah, well, no.
I have a feeling he's going to be doing the Raider interviews via Zoom,
which is one of the problems the Raiders have.
But, you know, we will see.
We got through Black Monday yesterday and more to come on that NFL coaching front.
I got to ask you about the Raiders.
I saw a story the other day.
The owner of Mark Davis, I saw he was with this absolutely gorgeous woman,
and she said that she liked his haircut.
The odds of that, and where is his house that he's building there?
Is it next to yours there, Bruce?
No, I don't see him around, and I don't go to his barber either
because I don't know that anybody else would.
Nobody else does.
Let me say this about the Raiders, though.
We talk about dysfunction with a capital D.
Since 2000, they have now had 15 coaches.
15 coaches since 2000.
And, you know, Pete Carroll's probably lucky to be out of there.
During the course of the season, I had heard before the trade deadline that one guy whose name was out there,
the Raiders didn't want to trade.
Carroll didn't want to trade.
And Chip Kelly, when he was still there, the defensive coordinator, was Jacoby Myers, the receiver.
He was the only wideout who would ever get open.
And if you watch the Raiders enough this year, the only ones who, receivers who really ever got open were the tight ends.
And Byers in particular.
But the wideouts never were.
And that's why Geno was always on the move.
And he really doesn't make plays on the move.
And the whole thing was a mess.
But the Raiders went ahead above Carroll's pleas.
They traded Myers to the Jags anyway.
And, oh, by the way, they love Myers in Jacksonville.
I think he might have just signed a contract extension.
The guy never drops a pass and he gets open.
I mean, this is the dysfunction the Raiders had was not Carroll's fault.
It goes back a long way.
Could be worse.
It could be the Jets.
Let me ask you this, Bruce.
In terms of Vegas, what are the odds that college football's Final Four would be this Final Four if we went back to the beginning of the season?
Yeah, I was thinking about that, guys.
And not the, you know, really long odds would be these four.
Yeah.
You know, I think Oregon might be the only one you'd say would be there.
I think some people needed some more convincing on Indiana, though they thought they'd even.
Actually, this year, no, Indiana was regarded down in the Big Ten.
But I look back at some preseason, you know, polls are down fifth, sixth in the league.
So that's a surprise.
And Miami hadn't really done it.
They thought they might be.
We heard that last year when Cam Ward was there.
And not sure the back would make a difference.
And who would have thought Ole Miss would be the last team standing from the SEC?
Greg Sankey wouldn't have guessed that back at media this in July.
So, no, I think you're right.
I think this is a very long shot, sort of a final four, as long shot as it could be in the final four.
And that's what we got, though.
Let me ask you about these coaches.
They've got a couple of things in common.
Number one, they believe in winning the line of scrimmage.
It won't go into detail with the two games with you in just a minute.
Lanning was only at Alabama for one year in 2015, and they interviewed him and said,
I learned more from him in a year than I had my entire time in coaching.
Cristobal came after being fired at Florida International 2013 in the mid-2010s.
Offensive line coach.
Golding, for five years, was able to learn under Saban.
Signity started when Nick walked in the door in 2007, was his receiver coach, recruiting coordinator,
before going to Indiana University, IUP.
And they've talked extensively this week about what Nick Saban has done for their career.
It's amazing, Brett, how the Saban coaching tree has spread so far and how he connects to so many of these guys.
And they all pretty much say the same thing about him, you know, that he really taught them how to run a program.
It's interesting, you know, one thing about Coach Saban, when he used to be at, when he used to work at Alabama,
and he used to go to the media days, when I would ask him a question, he really answered in detail.
And a lot of the coaches don't. Kirby doesn't answer the questions that good.
But Saban was really thoughtful about it.
And I remember once asking about, you know, which coaches that he, you know, molded him the most.
And I was kind of leading him in the same Belichick.
And he mentioned Belichick a little bit. The first one he mentioned was Don James.
He said, that's the guy. He said, that's the guy.
He gave me the blueprint. He showed me how to run a program when I was at Kent State.
He said, that's, and so that's when he was a player there, too.
And he said, I learned more from Don James than anybody.
So I think he, and that, you heard other coaches say that about James.
So this tree actually goes back to Don James and a little bit further.
And you're right. He has influence on so many guys and all these guys in the Final Four.
It's amazing. I'm going to ask you about that, Bruce.
Bruce Marshall, Vegas Insider, amongst other places.
Have you ever seen a more intriguing story than Ole Miss?
Because when you go through what they've been through, it's supposed to blow everything up.
You've got a built-in excuse.
Well, we got this far, but we had a coaching change and we got off track.
It seems as if anything, this team has been coalesced, to borrow one of the big words there.
Your thoughts about the showdown coming up on Thursday night, not too far from you, down in the desert there at the Fiesta Bowl.
Yeah, I guess Brett's going to be coming down to Phoenix this week, huh, with the Ole Miss radio crew.
So he'll be down there.
No, I haven't. Not specifically like these dynamics.
I guess the one thing that sort of comes to mind in a cross-sport reference was Michigan basketball in 89.
Bill Frieder, you know, announced right at the eve of the tournament he's going to Arizona State.
Bo Schenbeckler is the AD. I'll talk about him more in a second.
You know, so you're not coaching us in the tournament. I'm going to promote Steve Fisher.
Now, the difference there was Frieder, that was sort of a Pearl Harbor announcement.
Nobody knew that was coming.
I mean, Lane's departure from Ole Miss was telegraphed.
He'd been playing forever.
Yeah, it was like one of George Foreman's roundhouse rights at Ali in the number of the jungle.
You could see it coming for a mile.
But the way they have coalesced around it, it does give you that sort of Michigan Frieder-Fisher feel of 89, the way they have done it.
But the distractions keep coming.
Now, I see they're going to let Charlie Weiss, a junior coach, be able to stay as offensive coordinator for this game.
But, man, there's a lot of distractions around Ole Miss.
They seem to have put it to the side.
But I come back, you know, and Chambliss, I mean, he's had distractions, too.
I mean, he's trying to fight for another year of eligibility and all that.
But on the field, he seems to be actually getting better.
But I've circled around in this game, boys, and coming back to my old thought, I mean, it's not me.
I mean, this is forever.
People have been saying this.
Defense wins championships.
And this Miami defense is something else.
And Georgia had been playing really good the last month and a half before the Sugar Bowl last week, too.
That was impressive, the way Ole Miss is moving the ball against them.
But this Miami is a little bit different.
I mean, they've got some NFL guys in the defensive front like Bain.
If Chambliss is going to do magic, I mean, it's going to have to take it to another level against these guys.
You know, until Ohio State scored well into the third quarter last week,
this defense had not allowed a TD versus A&M and Ohio State through six-plus quarters in the postseason.
And I also thought in the fourth quarter when Ohio State made that run and all Miami buckled up the chin straps
and just uncorked that TD drive, most of it on the ground, that said something to me.
I mean, I think, you know, these guys are playing with a purpose, too,
because they're playing with a chip on their shoulder because a lot of people,
the Notre Damers especially, said we should be there, not Miami.
I think Miami's going to get them.
And I think Miami, I think it ends for Ole Miss here.
It pains me to say that because I have enjoyed this story and this run.
My gut says Miami gets them and covers that price and maybe a little lower scoring game
than Ole Miss-Georgia last week.
I'll tell you one thing, if Trent and Ed Chambliss replicates the fourth quarter,
he has had to get to Georgia.
That's going to be a fun game.
Let me ask you about the Peach Bowl, Indiana, and Oregon.
Everybody saw what Indiana did to Alabama.
Their receivers, Becker, Surratt, Cooper, who caught the touchdowns,
they've got very good running backs, Hemby, and friends,
but they won that game at the line of scrimmage.
Alabama was just whipped at the line.
I was impressed with Oregon's defense, and everybody talks about their offense.
Finney had three turnovers, which was amazing.
They forced four sacks, seven tackles for a loss against Texas Tech.
Both of these teams can certainly move the football.
Indiana, Oregon, and the Peach Bowl, my friend.
Yeah, Brett, well, a couple things here.
You know, we've got the other thing, the regular season rematch angle,
and if you go back to conference championship weekend in December,
that's now 6-2 this season, so keep that in mind.
That would favor Oregon here.
That first game was kind of, you know, close back and forth,
and Indiana finally pulled free right at the end.
Dante Moore threw a couple picks late in the fourth quarter,
and that sort of turned that game around.
Here's my thought about Indiana, and you're right.
You know, by about late in the first quarter last week,
I began to realize my Alabama pick wasn't going to work
because Indiana was gouging out five, six, seven yards on the first down.
And you two said this last week, that this is actually a run-first team.
I mean, with Embi and Black, you know, they're, you know,
this is about a 60, 63, 64% run, as good as Mendoza is.
It's a run team.
What Cignetti reminds me of, and I've been trying to think,
this guy is really special, who, you know, Barry Alvarez sort of came to mind.
And I thought, no, no, no, he's not more than Alvarez.
And I arrived at Bo Schembechler.
And not necessarily Woody.
Woody was a little too peculiar, and Woody was more stubborn than Schembechler.
If it wasn't working, he'd keep trying it.
That's why I think Schembechler was a little better coach.
That'll get me in trouble with Ohio State people, but so be it.
But what Schembechler's teams used to do, and what Cignetti's teams are doing,
when they have an advantage at the line of scrimmage,
they don't back off at all.
They're merciless, and they just keep hammering you like that.
And this is, look back at some, especially in the 70s with Schembechler,
about midway in 69, his first year at Michigan.
And I guess he did this at Miami O before that.
They killed teams, but they just did repetition, the same thing.
You either stop us or you don't.
And I remember one Michigan game I actually saw in person with Schembechler in 87.
They played Long Beach State at the Big House, my alma mater.
And Bo spent the whole, most of the first half running between the tackles.
Just, we dare you to stop us.
And if you can't stop Indiana like that, Cignetti will, merciless, he's ruthless.
Just like Schembechler was.
Now, can he do that here?
I don't know.
They didn't run that well the first time against Oregon.
They only gained three yards per carry.
They didn't run that well against Iowa.
They didn't run that well against Penn State.
So I think this is going to be completely different than the Alabama game, because you guys mentioned
what Oregon did against Texas Tech.
They manhandled Texas Tech.
I didn't expect to see that.
That was an angry team.
And I think, you know, they kind of took the second half off against James Madison the week
before.
They came under some criticism for that, but I don't think Indiana is going to be able to get
this ground game going.
It's not going to be like the Alabama game.
I like the revenge factor.
I'm still needing some convincing on Dante Moore, you know, being, you know, the one or two
pick coming out in the draft if he does.
But something tells me they just scaled it back last week, and they decided we're going to
play this sort of game against Texas Tech, and that's what they did.
I think that was actually more impressive even than what Indiana did.
I think Oregon gets them here.
I think it's probably a lower scoring game going under the total.
But the rematch angle in Indiana, everybody's loving Indiana now.
They're sort of forgetting what Texas, what Oregon did last week.
I'm going to take the Duckies.
Very interesting.
All right.
We're not going to let you go without asking you about college basketball.
Alabama going to Nashville to play the undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores.
Bama beating Kentucky Saturday for the fourth consecutive time, which is quite interesting.
Kentucky fans are not happy, to say the least.
Your thoughts, Alabama going to Nashville to face those undefeated Commodores.
You know what?
I've had some Vanderbilt people tell me that this is not only the most exciting Vanderbilt team
they've had, but they think Mark Byington is a save-up.
I mean, the way they play and the athleticism that they have.
And he has really worked the portal well.
Now, some of these guys were, he got some of them in last year.
But bringing Duke Miles in, and I don't know how many teams Duke Miles has played for.
But, man, has he fit in there so well.
And they're shooting, you know, over 51% from the floor.
Wow.
They'll hit you from all angles.
And I think this is going to be a real struggle for Alabama to go in there and deal with these guys,
because they just hit you from all different angles.
I'm curious what the total is going to be, because, you know, Alabama, you know, puts a lot of points on the board.
These teams combine for about 188 points per game.
Are we going to have a total in the 180s?
We rarely see that.
But I almost lean to Vandy.
I want to see somebody beat Vandy first.
I've seen Alabama lose a couple times.
No disgrace losing to Purdue and Gonzaga.
The Arizona game bothered me a little bit, because I thought they just sort of went completely off the rails in the second half.
But, you know, let's let somebody beat Vandy before I pick against them.
We'll see.
Bruce Marshall is still the gold standard.
Wish you a wonderful 2026 with your 25 platforms.
Where can we find the gold standard online?
Yeah, thanks, Brett.
Check me out online, the old standbys for the picks, Vegasinsider.com.
Also, up there at CBS Sportsline, sportsline.com.
And the new places for picks with a different twist at winnersandwiners.com and picksandparlays.com.
You are a busy boy.
Keep it up, Bruce.
And thank you so much for your time today.
Thank you, boys.
Have a good week.
Thank you, buddy.
Bruce Marshall again, amongst other places, Vegasinsider.
Coming up the next hour, we're going to be going all over the place.
Matt Michelle checking in along with Joe Cox at ESPN's AA.
Andrea Adelson, it's all for the head of the Bumbo Bug Show.
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U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville spoke recently at the Gulf State Park Lodge.
Just a day after he filed the necessary paperwork to run for governor of Alabama in 2026.
Tuberville said that his priorities for the state of Alabama, should he be elected as governor, would be to evaluate what is being taught in public schools and colleges.
Tuberville said too much indoctrination is going on and students end up leaving those schools with massive student loans and woke ideology.
Tuberville also wants to look into fraud going on in Alabama and says that taxpayer money should stay in the person's wallet or their business rather than be sent to the federal government to be squandered through programs where fraud is present.
The senator also said that the West Alabama Corridor project needs to be reviewed since it's only using state money in its construction rather than also having federal financial assistance.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
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Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith is confirming the condition of a little boy who was found dead in Walker County, two miles from his home in Jasper.
Sheriff Smith says that four-year-old Jonathan Bowley did not show any signs of trauma or assault when his body was found this past Friday.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine cause of death for the little boy he went missing while he and his older brother were visiting his father on New Year's Day.
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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.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tide.
Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in our tour to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
And for AA, taking time out of her busy schedule there at ESPN.
Andrea Adelson, welcome in.
How are you?
Happy New Year, fellas.
I'm doing great.
How's y'all doing?
And we're doing fine.
Are you ready for college football's final four?
Brought to you by one Nick Saban's former assistant coaches.
I'm ready.
I'm in Arizona right now, ready for this Fiesta Bowl with two of his former assistants.
It's going to be exciting, fellas.
You're in Arizona.
I had Arizona, Simon.
Many, many years ago, I went out, and it was in the springtime, and a guy had been out there
before and said, make sure you pack your shorts and flip-flops.
I got out there, and the desert wind, they had a cold front move through.
It like to froze me to death.
There was no mountain.
You got mountains.
You got camelback and all that stuff out there in the Phoenix area.
But how was the weather in January?
It was not Chamber of Commerce weather the last time I was out there this time of the year.
How's the weather for you?
Yeah, so I walked outside this morning to just get a cup of coffee, and I just had my usual
leggings and a little long-sleeved top on, and I was freezing.
And I get it because I'm a Floridian, so if it's below 70, I need the full parka.
But it was very chilly.
But I have to tell you guys, I was just standing outside in the sun,
and I was worried about getting sunburned.
So it's that desert effect of, like, in the sun, it's really hot.
But when there is no sun, it's really cold this time of year.
Yeah.
Well, I didn't have leggings on back then.
I still got cold.
Let's talk about what's hot, and that's the topic of the showdown.
Let's talk about that.
What are the odds of four coaches being here, and all of them come off the Nick Saban tree,
none more intriguing than Pete Golding, because this guy was basically running out of Tuscaloosa
on a rail when he was a mere defensive coordinator.
Lane Kiffin said, come on down here, and now he is a top rebel in Oxford.
Your thoughts about the journey that Pete Golding got to get here, and then, of course, the matchup itself?
Yeah, I don't think if you were to write this in a Hollywood script, people would have envisioned it when he was run out of town at Alabama.
It kind of feels like living in a fairytale, and not just that, fellas, to be able to beat Georgia with that fourth quarter last week.
I don't think anyone expected that, particularly because we kind of saw the same script in the first meeting, right?
Yeah, to a big lead, Georgia comes there.
Ah, we've seen this before.
But the fact they were able to come back and win that game with Pete Golding as the head coach, right?
Yeah.
Not Lane Kiffin, who thought, oh, I'm going to go to LSU.
I may have a better chance of winning a national championship there.
I don't know, guys, they're one game away from playing for a national championship with what Pete Golding has done in the first two games of the playoffs.
It's remarkable, and quite honestly, I think it's probably a bit hard to fathom considering where Ole Miss was sitting here about a month ago.
You know, to add to that story, you look at the back story of Ole Miss' quarterback.
I saw the other night they had a good stat.
Last year at this time, he was playing in front of 350 people.
350, okay?
And now he started out the season on the bench, and here he is hoping that the clock doesn't strike midnight for his Cinderella story.
Yeah, and what a remarkable performance in that fourth quarter against Georgia last week.
And we've seen him make plays like that throughout the course of the season.
But for him to be able to win the starting job the way that he did when Austin Simmons got hurt and then never lose it and get better week after week.
The thing about him, too, though, is because he played for a national championship last year, I think we see that poise of a leader, of a champion, someone who's been there before.
And it may be D2, and people kind of maybe want to poo-poo that.
But when you've got a guy who's played in big games like that, who's made plays to win games before, games with high stakes, games that have titles on the line,
I think that probably translated to what we saw last week.
It doesn't seem like he's a guy who gets flustered.
It doesn't seem like he's a guy who gets his feathers ruffled.
He feels like he's in complete command right now.
That's exactly what you want from your quarterback heading to a game like this one.
Now, Malay, I knew that Mario Cristobal, once and again, he's had a history of dropping one or two games every year that are really head-scratchers.
But the one thing about Mario, I know when he was at Alabama, he was the offensive line coach.
Everybody knew sooner or later, once he established the line of scrimmage at Miami, they were going to be a tough out.
Obviously, defensively with Bain Jr., Masedore, they got all over Ohio State.
Ohio State averaged, I think, less than two yards of carry, sank, and sang five times.
And their defense is incredible, but they ran the ball very effectively.
My Goa, Francis My Goa, and help me with that pronunciation.
But the unsung hero of that offensive line is number 52, a kid by the name of James Brockermeyer.
Even his brother Tommy came to Alabama about three or four years ago.
Tommy was an offensive tackle.
James was the center.
James ended up playing more than Tommy did because he was injured a good bit.
And then they went to TCU, and James transferred to Miami.
And I noticed him against Ohio State.
He doesn't say much.
He doesn't search and look for the fanfare.
But he is one of their unsung heroes on that offensive line in this team.
Well, there's no question about that, particularly because he came in last year and had some pretty big shoes to fill from who their center was a year ago.
And he has been a steadying force for them on the offensive line, one of the veterans of this unit that has helped establish the run, which is so important.
You fellas know that.
For any team in the playoff.
And the fact that Miami has found its way again with its run game, which kind of, they didn't have it midway through the year.
Part of the reason why they lost to Louisville and SMU is just weren't running the ball consistently.
Now they are.
And they don't have to rely on Carson Beck to make magical throws to win games, which is something you probably don't want.
If you're Mario Cristobal, you want to establish the run and really take control of games.
And they've done that in the fourth quarter against Ohio State and against Texas A&M.
And the fact that you've got the center there who's leading the way, who's making the right calls at the line, who's making the right checks,
who knows what he's doing, who's been a steady leader, has been huge for Miami in just being able to establish what they're doing.
A lot of folks have been talking about the defense because of how well the defense has played.
And yes, the defense is playing simply outstanding.
But the fact that Miami has relied on their offensive line to win both of these games and to dominate the way that they have,
I think is a huge testament, not just to James, but to that entire group as a whole.
Andrea Adelson, ESPN.
Is it true that a lot of folks had to go out and buy a new TV?
You're familiar with this term, MTV, called a cutaway.
When they saw the cutaways of Kurt Zignetti the other night in the Alabama game, it's like he melted a lot of TVs.
Is he in the running with Nick Saban to give the meanest stare into a TV camera, Andrea?
Did he learn that from Nick during his time at Alabama?
I think he was.
Is that, is that, you know, because, and by the way, like, Mario.
I hate you. I hate you too.
Mario's got a pretty mean stare too, so maybe that's all part of the training when you go and work for Nick Saban.
But it's funny, I was, I saw a t-shirt somewhere on social media with Kurt Stare on the t-shirt.
And the memes that have been created, like that stare, this is the look my wife gives me when I'm loading the dishwasher.
Yes, that is the look I give my husband.
Sorry, blow down, human being.
Exactly. What are you doing? That's not how you loat a dishwasher.
No, but the job that he has done at a place like Indiana, and by the way, the fans traveling to the Rose Bowl from Indiana and taking over that stadium, right?
I mean, we talk about, like, fairy tales and what we just said about Pete.
I mean, what about the job that Kurt Signetti has done, essentially taking a program that had never won anything, undefeated right now, just wipes the floor with Alabama, right?
I mean, what, it was four decades since they lost a game that badly?
And Kurt Signetti's staring down people and pretty p***** at the end of it and, like, refusing to smile.
Where have we seen that before?
Did Nick Staven smile after beating people 38 to 38?
Well, Alabama was good.
Very similar, fellas, very similar.
I'm going to ask you about Hollywood.
Alabama's now got two Hollywoods going into 2026.
You know the ACC very well, you know, North Carolina State.
Hollywood's mothers committed and signed with Alabama yesterday, visited on Sunday or Monday,
and eventually signed 5'11", 195, rushed for 939 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games in 2025,
ended the season four consecutive 100-yard games, including a 164 job against Wake Forest.
Double-A, he's also a pretty good receiver, got 37 passes, coming out of the backfield.
How good is Hollywood?
I mean, he's obviously somebody that Alabama desperately needs because he's a playmaker
and he's electric with the ball in his hands.
You know, it kind of reminds me of when Alabama went and got Jameer Gibbs from Georgia Tech
to be able to do what he did for that offense, very similar in terms of the ability to be able
to make some of those catches out of the backfield.
But I think Hollywood is a guy who can be a little bit more explosive than what Jameer is.
And Jameer is an explosive player, if there's any question about that.
But he was the heart and soul at times of what NC State was doing on offense.
He missed a couple games.
He was a little bit banged up.
But I think we saw the best of him, particularly also against Georgia Tech at the end of the season.
And what he meant to that offense, I think it's a huge get for a team that simply,
you guys don't need me to tell you this, just could not run the ball this year.
And how maddening was it that Alabama simply could not run the ball,
particularly with some guys on the offensive line who were rated as first-round prospects
at the beginning of the season.
Keyword, rated.
Rated, right?
When you don't have that group in sync and you've got running backs that are banged up
and maybe not game breakers that we've been used to seeing for Alabama,
that obviously was the number one position to need for this offense.
So the fact they were able to get a player like Hollywood Smothers, I think, is huge.
I'm a huge fan of his.
Fantastic player.
And I think Alabama got a great one.
Double A, before we get away, we'll take you piecemeal.
First things first, who comes out a winner in the respective final four games this week?
Guys, I'm tired of picking against Miami, so I'm going to pick Miami.
I just think they're playing at a really high level on defense right now,
and I'm going to go with that old cliche of defenses winning championships.
I do think Trinidad Chambliss obviously presents, I think, the biggest issue that they've faced, right?
I mean, Marcel Reed with a scrambling quarterback doesn't have the accuracy that Trinidad has, right?
And, of course, the quarterback they faced last week wasn't a scrambler, right?
So I think Trinidad Chambliss is the complete package and is going to prevent a different challenge for this Miami defense.
I do think Miami will be able to handle it.
And on the other side of it, it's hard to go against Indiana right now.
I know it's hard to win a rematch.
I know it's hard to win a rematch.
But the way Indiana's playing right now, I was at the Orange Bowl and I saw Oregon play.
I just don't think Oregon has got the firepower, quite frankly, to be able to keep up with Indiana.
No one talks about Indiana's defense.
That is one of the best groups in the entire country to do what they did, not only Alabama,
but what they did at Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game.
I think they will have similar results to what Texas Tech did in terms of just slowing down their run game
and not giving them the type of balance they like on offense.
So I'm going to go with Indiana and Miami.
Who had that on their preseason pick-em board?
Who tells the truth?
Not me.
No.
Not many had it on their bingo card.
You're exactly right.
Listen, have fun in Arizona.
I know you've got media days for both teams later today and look forward to your articles.
Listen, have a great 20-26.
You know we love you.
Proud of all the sass you've had.
Which means you're out there covering one of the CFP games.
Safe travels back.
And where can we get online, young lady, and get your stuff and the teams?
Appreciate that, fellas.
You know how much it means to me.
Y'all have me on every week.
ESPN.com.
Plenty of coverage there from our entire team, both here and at the Peach Bowl.
And if folks have ACC Network, you can tune in tomorrow, 4 o'clock Central Inside Access.
We're going to be live from the stadium.
We're going to have some special guests, including Timbo Fisher, is going to be joining us on the show.
Wow.
Hopefully, y'all can tune in and watch that as well.
You're a very intelligent woman.
Fun in the sun in Florida and Arizona and getting paid.
Your IQ is off the charts.
Stay safe out there, Andrew.
And thanks so much again for your time today.
All right, fellas.
Thanks for having me again.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, Dave.
Hey, Andrew, it's in the ESPN.
Wouldn't it be interesting if Miami and Oregon do play?
I wonder what's going through the mind of Mario Cristobal.
Guess who was the former Duck who's now going to be trying to beat the Duck if that comes to fruition.
In the meantime, all over the SEC with Joe Cox on deck on the Bumo Buck Show.
Stay with us.
Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.
Zoe, this thing weighs a ton.
Kersky, lift with your legs, man.
Santa, Santa, did you get my letter?
He's talking to you, Bridges.
I'm not that.
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Right, Santa?
You know, my elf Drewski here, he handles the nice list.
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Rich Eisen here.
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From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today.
It's a daily update on Bama Sports, and it's brought to you by Vector Security Champions Lane,
the best pregame fan fest in college football.
For more information, visit ChampionsLane.com.
Hello again, everybody.
I'm Roger Hoover.
Here are postgame thoughts from Alabama head coach Christy Curry,
following Alabama's win in its SEC home opener on Sunday against Arkansas.
I think the response was pretty evident.
It was with great character and energy, and I'm so proud of them.
I do want to say this.
What an amazing crowd.
And thank you to the Steelman band for showing up for us today.
They are big time, and it says a lot about those students to come over and do this for us.
And it means the world to us to have a band in the stands.
So thank you to Steelman and our amazing crowd.
What a great crowd on Alumni Day.
It's great to have Coach Moody and Miss Sandra in the house and so many former players.
And just what a great day.
Well, I know you're hoping for a similar crowd against Kentucky on Thursday.
I'm sure you're just now starting to get into the weeds with that matchup,
but they just pulled off a big win at LSU a few nights ago.
They're a good team.
What do you want the focus to be leading up to that matchup on Thursday?
We're just going to have to play exceptional.
I'll have more in a moment.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
Really appreciate giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley and for Joe Cox taking time out of his busy schedule.
There's columnist for Saturday down south.
His book's called A Fine Team Man.
Joe Cox, welcome in.
Before we talk chalk, hopefully you're feeling better than the last time we got in the huddle together.
Willie Nelson, after taking several meetings and several readings, I'm surprised to find my mind still fairly sound.
So, if it works for Willie, it'll work for me, I guess.
We've got to read that man's book.
Who in the world would have thought Willie Nelson would still be rocking in the likes of Elvis Presley and a host of other folks,
including Mick Jagger and some of these other guys.
They're still rocking.
What are they drinking?
Maybe that's not the right way to say.
What are they eating that we're not, Joe?
I think Willie's had some help from some organic greenery over the years.
Yeah, it's more like what's smoking.
He's been living out of the patch for a while, has he not?
I think so.
All right.
Here we go.
Who's going to reap the benefits and who's going to have the fiesta at the bowl out in Arizona?
Ole Miss and Miami.
What are the odds of us having a conversation about Ole Miss in the final four here, Joe?
Everything is upside down.
You know, everything we thought we knew, we didn't know.
And just hang on tight.
I've got to say, in terms of a single game by a single player, what Trinidad Chambliss showed in that Georgia game from Ole Miss,
I was just astonished.
He would manage to shake off an incredible pass rush and then would just throw a dart again and again and again.
And I thought, you know, you watch this and you kind of get an idea of why this sport is upside down
because it's a guy who was slinging it around for Ferris State a year ago.
How did everybody miss out on that?
I have no idea, but I'm glad we're getting to see him at the big stage now.
You know, based off the way he played, I feel like he showed more in his win than Carson Beck did in taking down Ohio State.
Carson Beck kind of reverted to the old Georgia Carson Beck and said, I'll manage the game and not beat us.
And that was good enough, but I think it's going to take a little more against the Rebels,
particularly if they get Chambliss on the same page he was in that last game.
Let's stay with him for a second, if you don't mind, Joe.
Aside from the bowl game, his future, obviously the eligibility issue is up in the air.
But according to the reports that we're seeing here, everybody thought it was the foregone conclusion
that Lane was just going to pack him up and take him to LSU, plug and play and have instant success down there.
Not so fast, my friend, according to getting back to those reports,
it looks like if he clears the hurdle as far as his eligibility issue,
he's going to stay a rebel at Ole Miss.
And your thoughts about what that does for Ole Miss and what that does for Lane
when you sit here and maybe missing what he thought at one time was the centerpiece
of his first year in Baton Rouge.
Yeah, I mean, that's a massive keep for Ole Miss.
Obviously shows, despite the coaching change, they don't intend to go anywhere.
You know, the one that surprised me, maybe even more than him, was Austin Simmons
because I thought there might be a situation where the Rebels managed to keep Chambliss,
but Austin Simmons is now bound for Missouri.
So I can only assume Lane's on some completely other page.
You know he's got something dialed up, and I guess he's in the next.
Tom Brady, maybe?
Yeah, who knows?
At this point, he might get a couple more years of eligibility.
And the only thing we know is that we don't know, but I'll enjoy figuring it out.
Joe, I think the biggest question in this game is Chambliss has incredible scrambling ability.
He can't improvise, and the difference between him and Carson Beck, he can run 40 yards,
run out to the right, and throw an absolute dime 30 yards down the field.
He threw one of the most incredible passes against Georgia.
Tua did something like that to Waddle a couple years ago against Tennessee.
But Miami has an elite line of scrimmage.
Mesidor and Bain Jr. are very good.
They completely dismantled the Ohio State run game.
St. Jr. sang five times.
Now, if anybody can do it, it's going to be Trinidad Chambliss.
And Kiwan Lacy is going to be a big factor.
Still ran for 100 yards with a bad shoulder.
But to me, Joe, can the Ole Miss offensive line keep this ferocious front seven off of Chambliss?
Yeah, I mean, that's going to be your challenge.
But the interesting thing, as you noted, Chambliss is one of those guys who maybe the more heat you get on him,
the more dangerous he is.
You almost say, let's just keep him in the pocket and give him chances with our secondary.
So, you know, if you're Ole Miss, there's an element of saying, oh, come on, bring what you got.
And after he ducks under a couple of guys, he'll beat the guys who are left.
So, you know, yeah, that to me will be the kind of the chess match is does Miami just say we're going to rush,
but we're going to rush in a very disciplined way and try to keep you in the pocket?
Or do they just come loose with some pressure and then we're going to get some backyard football?
Joe Cox said it down south.
Joe, your thoughts about the other side of the coin.
Everybody's in love with Indiana and why not?
It's hard to bet against them after what they did to Alabama, completely embarrassing.
The worst loss of this millennial.
You've got to go back to the latter part of the other one before you saw a margin that big for Alabama football, period.
That was under DeBose, not DeBoer.
Your thoughts about Indiana and, of course, the script is it's hard to beat a team twice.
Will that script continue when Indiana and Oregon get back together?
You know, it is tough to beat a team twice.
But, yeah, we can't jump over the fact that I understand down in your neck of the woods there are a lot of people who are just shaking their heads about Alabama.
And I think you can both shake your heads about Alabama and still give credit to that Indiana team for, you know, just, I thought Paul Feinbaum maybe said it best when he said, I think what hurts for Alabama fans is they watched a Saban disciple put a Saban-like beating on Alabama.
That's right.
Yep.
And that's very true.
I mean, Indiana just dominated the game all the way around.
And the thing that has impressed me, you know, after the first year, maybe there was a little bit of, okay, they're a one-trick pony.
They'll come in and they'll throw the ball all around the lot and outscore you.
But, no, their defense is legitimate.
Their running game is legitimate.
They look like an all-around good team.
But, as you know, beating a team twice in a year is a hard thing to manage.
And this is just a really solid Oregon team.
It's a really intriguing matchup because they similarly are, they do kind of the same things with a little bit less podash.
They can run it.
They can throw it.
They can defend pretty darn well.
Maybe not quite as flashy as Indiana, but a very similar blueprint.
So, you know, again, we don't know anything.
Watch it be 38-3 again, but it looks like the game.
It should be a really good competitive game.
Joe, I'm guessing Kentucky Joe, I asked this question, too, that Kentucky fans, Big Blue Nation, may be blue today after Alabama beat Kentucky for their fourth consecutive win.
15 points in Tuscaloosa after beating them in Nashville.
Joe, your thoughts on where Kentucky's going in a big game tomorrow night, Alabama and Vandy?
Yeah, you're getting a lot of unhappy fans in Big Blue Nation, and it's not so much losing to Alabama.
Much like we were talking about with Kalen DeBoer, it's not so much the wins and losses, it's how you take a loss.
And to see Kentucky just get throttled, there are people who certainly don't find that acceptable.
It's a long season.
It could still be turned around.
You know, I've learned a few lessons on that over the years.
I've seen teams that I wouldn't give you a nickel for in January, turn around and be world beaters in March.
So, it certainly can be done.
Will it be done?
That seems to be a little darker.
And, you know, the SEC is looking really good league-wide.
My son, who's about to turn 14, he's already been scouting out the SEC tournament tickets, and he said, we should go the first day.
And, you know, it used to be nobody wanted to go the first day because it was the four worst teams.
I said, you know, honestly, it's not a bad thing because the SEC's number nine team this year is probably going to be a really good team.
Yeah, absolutely.
Does Bama give Vandy their first loss of the season tomorrow night, Joe?
And secondly, where can we get on line and get yours and the team's good stuff?
You know, I think they probably do.
I do think it's kind of an amazing thing that the Vanderbilt men and women collectively in basketball haven't taken a loss yet.
So, that can't last forever.
Maybe the guys are going to be the trailblazers there.
And I like the way Alabama played against Kentucky.
There's no secret to the fact that they've got the horses to do it.
And, yeah, I would pick the tide to pull that one out.
Saturday down south, we'll be covering hoops.
And, gosh, guys, the weather unseasonably mild up here makes me even start thinking about that other round ball sport,
the one with the hard round ball.
And that's going to be coming around here before too much longer.
We're all just on the carousel, aren't we?
We can't wait.
Joe, Vanderbilt men and women both unbeaten as Diego Pavia play basketball, too.
Is that the story there, Joe?
Probably.
He's probably trying to get some more eligibility.
Really?
What a story in the big, big country.
Joe, listen, man, thanks for your time today.
Stay safe and enjoy the warm weather up there, okay?
I'll do it.
You guys take care.
Thank you, bud.
Joe Cox, Saturday down south.
He calls Florida home now, but he's from a state called Indiana.
What's going on?
I think we know Matt Merchelle with the latest next.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in. Time to check in with the man who's always got sunshine in his backyard.
Matt Merchel, college insider with the Orlando Sentinel.
And the host of his podcast called Gridiron 365.
Double M, welcome in. How are you?
I'm doing well. How are you guys doing today?
Seeing if you can confirm or deny our opposing fans now flashing signs, we won't Indiana.
I'm not sure if that's the case.
I mean, you know, Indiana is playing really good football right now.
You know what I mean?
And I think you saw what they were able to do this past weekend against Alabama.
You know, this is a team right now that is locked in and ready to go.
And it's going to be interesting to see if they can find a way to beat Oregon, you know, second time around, which is always hard to do is beat the same team twice in a season.
So it's going to be interesting to see if Indiana can find a way to do that.
But they're playing some of the best football right now.
And probably a team not many teams want to face right now in the college football playoff.
You've got roots to Indiana.
Have you been able to talk with some of your friends over the years?
I would imagine that state is on fire.
Did you ever think you'd say this for Indiana football, not Indiana?
They don't make movies about Indiana football.
They do about Indiana basketball.
I mean, Hoosiers, one of the best of all times when it comes to sports movies.
But have you had a chance to talk with some of the folks up there who I would imagine right now are right in cloud nine?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, everyone is excited.
Obviously, they still feel like there's a lot of work that needs to be done, you know, when you think about the success that Indiana football, you know, really hasn't had.
It wasn't until I think it was in the 60s, you know, when they went to a Rose Bowl in the late 60s, you know, that they had this kind of attention to success.
Yeah, I think, again, I've said this to you guys several times.
I mean, the job Kurt Cignetti has done has been outstanding and the commitment that the school has put into the football program.
I mean, I think that's what was lacking, you know, over the last, you know, couple decades was just, you know, kind of a financial commitment.
Well, now that we're seeing the college football world kind of change and morph based on, you know, what's going on with name, image, and likeness and revenue sharing and things like that, you're seeing Indiana invest money.
You're seeing their donors investing money in the football program, and that's paying off right now.
You're seeing that pay off in a spot in the semifinals.
Now, if they can get to the national championship game and possibly win a title, I think it would say a lot about what Indiana has been able to do.
And I'll say it again, if that happens, they'll build a statue of Kurt Cignetti right out front of the stadium, and they'll do it within a few months.
They won't wait around very long.
Well, you used the right word there.
They're investing.
Other teams are spending, like Texas and a lot of the other teams.
There's a big difference between the two words.
But to me, it reminds me of what happens as far as – I appreciate you bringing it up at this point.
Mal Moore and Kurt and Nick Saban, that was the perfect chemistry.
You had somebody upstairs who was smart.
You had the perfect chemistry between the two.
It's a different ballgame.
You probably couldn't do that now.
But the principle is the same.
To me, one of the things I think Cignetti is doing is it's safe to say he is using the blueprint for success down the road.
It's one thing to have a nice resume, but you better have that knack of being able to identify talent, develop talent, and sit here and spend wisely.
And one of the things I think a lot of folks caught the other night is we're so caught up in these 18- and 19-year-olds.
Back in the day, you could bring them on, develop them, and in two, three years, they would live up to that.
But now you've got to win yesterday.
And one of the ways that a lot of folks observed from that game was Cignetti.
He brought in a lot of older guys, if you will, those old 22, 23, and maybe even 24-year-olds.
They weren't intimidated by that stage or this season.
No, not at all.
I mean, you saw it early on.
I thought Alabama had a really good plan, at least in the first couple possessions, where they came after Fernando Mendoza with a lot of pressure,
mainly kind of being disruptive.
And, you know, this is what Kirk Cignetti did.
He's a very mastermind-type scenario, much like Nick Saban, where all of a sudden, okay, we're going to make adjustments.
And they were able to do that.
And their line was able to give Mendoza time.
They were able to run the football.
All of a sudden, you saw the momentum switch.
And once the point started going up, you know, it just wasn't going back.
I think that's – you hit on it with the talent evaluation.
I think that's what Cignetti does a really good job of.
I mean, you're seeing it now.
Listen, they're going to lose Mendoza to the NFL.
He goes out in the transfer portal and gets Josh Hoover, the TCU quarterback, who's a very talented quarterback,
a guy that probably will come in there and basically assume the same mantle as Mendoza did.
And once you've won that Heisman Trophy there, once you've proven that you can win, it's going to be a lot easier to open up that pipeline to bring guys in.
And he's got a plan in place.
Okay, we're going to get experienced guys.
We're going to fill holes.
We're going to figure out what's best for us.
We're not just going to throw money at the highest, you know, biggest name in the portal.
We're going to find guys that we think are really going to fit into what we're trying to do.
That's, I think, the secret for anybody right now in college football is don't just throw your money out there.
I mean, yeah, Texas Tech's going to throw their money out there.
The Texans are going to throw their money at guys' big names in the portal.
But I'm going to say right now, it's the team that can sit down and say, okay, we're going to pick these guys.
And maybe this kid went from Central Arkansas State.
And maybe this guy went from an FCS school.
We're going to find those guys the best at what we're trying to do.
Yeah, it's a talent evaluation.
Matt, Ole Miss and Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
We were talking with Andrew Adelson about this a little bit earlier with some of our other guests.
I think this comes down to the Miami front seven is just absolutely ferocious.
Can the Ole Miss offensive line block them?
Can they pick up blitzes coming out?
Keylon Lacy ran for 100 yards with a bad shoulder.
Trinidad Shambler has been on one of the most incredible performances I've ever seen by a college quarterback
against a very good Georgia defense.
Can the offensive line keep?
And we know we can scramble.
And Joe Cox of Saturday Night Live had a good point.
They may just maybe want to keep him in the pocket and let the secondary try to win.
But can the Ole Miss offensive line block that Miami front?
Yeah, I think that's going to be the key to this game.
I mean, you know, listen, Miami is only allowing about two and a half yards per carry in the playoffs when it comes to running the football.
They've only allowed one rushing touchdown.
You know, that's the secret right now.
They've got to find a way to shut down Ole Miss' running game.
They've got to be really kind of stout up front.
They've got to put pressure on the quarterback.
You know, they've got to be disruptive.
This has been Miami's success, the plans for success the last two games, is the defense has stepped up and been able to really kind of contain these teams.
And then Miami's offense just does what it needs to do to find a way.
Think about that Carson Beck goes from a Georgia program that was competing for a national title, goes to Miami.
He's got a chance to get back to a national title.
There's a reason why Miami signed Carson Beck.
And this is because of it, because you want an experienced quarterback who can come in here and say, I've been here before, I know what it takes, I'll be a calming effect in the offensive model, and I'll make sure that we don't get kind of rattled by something that happens.
Because Ole Miss is going to throw the kitchen sink at them, for sure, to see if they can get a chance to win.
But they're going to have to find a way to really kind of get past that defense, as you mentioned, that really just seems to be playing at another level right now.
And, of course, if they do get by, they will take on the winner from the aforementioned Indiana Hoosers and Oregon.
Folks in Florence remember that name.
UNA fans can say the name Signetti can be beaten because back in the day, UNA beat the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the national championship game for Division II.
The coach on that Indiana-Pennsylvania team was Frank Signetti, your papa of Kurt Signetti.
So, speaking of family trees, it can come off of that.
A little bit of trivia there, but your thoughts about the old proverbial saying, can Indiana make it twice this year, knocking off Oregon, which so far has been hard to do.
Alabama-Georgia, Alabama-Oklahoma, we can go up and down the list.
Your thoughts about the rematch there and the other semi?
Yeah, I think that it's going to be a challenge.
I mean, you mentioned it.
You know, it's really hard to beat a team twice in the same year.
You know, you have to find a – you know, because I know Dan Lanning's probably picked out – gone over that first time, that film, and said, here's the things we didn't do well, we need to do better at.
You know, I'm sure Kurt Signetti's doing the same sort of thing.
You know, you're basically re-game planning a whole new game plan trying to figure out what's the best way to make this happen.
You know, you look at the defense, you know, Indiana, like I said, Indiana's defense has played a lot better.
Oregon needs to step up and play a little better, you know, defense if they're going to have a chance to win.
This is huge.
I mean, these two teams don't understand exactly what's going on.
But I think this is going to be a chess match, you know.
I'm not saying that Miami Ole Miss isn't going to be, but I think these two coaches, Signetti, you know, and Lanning, both understand what's going on.
This is going to be them trying to figure out.
Someone's going to score early, how do you answer that score?
Someone gets a turnover, how do you answer that?
So I think it's going to be kind of who makes the best adjustments, you know, whether it's at halftime or whether it's in-game adjustments,
because that's really the team I think has got a chance to come over with a win in this game.
We've talked with you on and off during the course of the season about Lincoln Riley at USC
and how key a year this was going to be for him.
USC had a 24-14 lead against TCU in the Alamo Bowl and ended up losing that.
Ken Seals, who was the quarterback at Bandy a couple of years ago, actually ended up winning the game.
Lincoln Riley's record the last two seasons, 16-10.
Same record as P.J. Fleck in Minnesota, who, by the way, improved to 7-0 in bowl games.
I know you mentioned that Lincoln Riley came out on the wrong end of that Notre Dame-USC scheduling squabble.
Look, we all take losing a bowl game with a grain of salt, but once again, that did not help Lincoln Riley moving forward.
No, it really didn't.
And, you know, again, I think, you know, he continues to kind of act like this is something that Notre Dame's doing.
I think that, you know, this falls on the school.
It falls on himself.
You know, listen, you want to, you know, one of the things that we've seen over the last four or five years
has been disappointing with realignment and everything going on is these traditional rivalry lineup games, you know, are going away, you know,
because, you know, conferences don't want to, you know, do them.
The teams don't want to do them.
They want to move around and schedule the easier opponents.
Well, this is one of those situations where both teams should sat down and say, let's make this happen.
You know, let's make this happen.
We'll figure something out.
We'll make it work, but instead you just kind of draw a line in the sand and say, I'm not going to do this.
You know, we tried, but they're not willing to work with us.
That's not the case.
And I think, you know, really for Lincoln, it's going to come down to he's going to have to start winning.
You know, it's fine and all that you have the title and everything, but when things start to go bad,
if you start to struggle a little bit and you're not, you know what I mean,
and you're not competing for a Big Ten title, it's going to be awful hard to convince people, you know,
yeah, I'm the right guy for the job because you're looking at Indiana, which is a program that came kind of out of nowhere,
so to speak, in a couple of years, and it's found itself deep in the college football playoff.
You're looking at Oregon, which joined the Big Ten and it's found a way to make notice there as well.
You can't use that excuse.
You can't say, well, the Big Ten is tough.
We're going to take time to adjust.
Oregon's already said, listen, we can do it.
Why can't you?
So this is USC we're talking about.
This isn't, you know, no offense, this wasn't, you know, like the old Pac-12 with Arizona or something like that.
This is a program that should be one of the top blue bloods in there
and it still hasn't found a way to find a good back there.
So I think Lincoln's going to have a challenge and he's going to have to find a way to quit talking about it
and just getting out there and finding a way to win games.
Somebody else who ended the season on a good note, Steve Sarkeesian is probably smiling.
Texas beat Michigan and Arch Manning had maybe the best day he's had all year.
was named the Citrus Bowl MVP and I know you're quite familiar with that.
21 to 34, 221 and ran 455 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder when he just simply outran the entire team.
Boy, if Arch could pick up in 2026 where he left out in 2025,
Steve's going to be doing a lot more smiling next season.
Oh, very much so.
I was at that game and thought, I mean, listen, I was impressed by Arch Manning.
I mean, we knew Arch Manning had talent, but when you see him kind of thread the needle
with some of the throws he made in that game, and then late in the game he had a 60-yard touchdown run
where he was just not, no one even came close to getting him.
He just took off running.
And it made me laugh because I think I said in the press box that his Uncle Paige
sure couldn't have done that, you know what I mean?
He just run 60 yards.
So I think you see he's got the talent there.
If he could take that next step, if he could get himself back and really kind of get those pieces together
and everything could work and gel, I think Texas has got to get another big chance.
I don't think they want to be ranked number one going into the season after what happened this year.
I think they would love to come in under the radar, but I also think that, again,
this is an opportunity for Arch to kind of take that next step and for Texas really to kind of say,
okay, let's go in there and handle this a little differently.
Let's not try to build as much, what do you call it, buzz, I guess, surrounding him going into the year.
Maybe that will help kind of ease a little bit of pressure on him as he goes into the year.
I think now that maybe Arch may be taking over for Eli to pitch Jersey Mike's sandwiches.
He may have lost his job after that performance by Arch.
Matt, as always, good to hook up with you, man.
For the folks who want to get the very latest with you, where can you take us?
Yeah, you can go to OrlandoSentinel.com and check out the latest, or you can follow me on social media at OSMattMichelle.
Sounds great.
Listen, man, thanks for your time today.
Keep it up, and let's do it again soon, okay?
Okay, sounds good.
Take care.
Thank you, bud.
Matt, Michelle, hooking up with us.
OrlandoSentinel.com.
Maybe quickly, Portal News, Alabama and Auburn, of course, very active these days.
Yeah, James Smith entered the portal.
He is the 17th Alabama player.
Now, Rico Scott decided he was coming back, but James Smith, again, that defensive line, as far as the depth, we'll see where that goes.
Dylan Imbakwe and Joseph Iannata transferred or entered the portal.
They have committed and signed with Georgia Tech.
So, Brent Key getting two former Alabama players today, and then Byron Brown that finally decides to pull the trigger,
and he is going to be the quarterback for 2026 for the Auburn Tigers.
And in case you missed it, the door also has an enter on it, and that's where Hollywood Smothers comes down from North Carolina State.
A running back, Alabama now with two Hollywoods.
That's going to take care of us for now.
On behalf of B.B., Greg, James, Blair, the entire crew here.
Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow at noon to two for the Boomer Buck Show.
Back here on Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.
We'll see you next time tomorrow at the Boomer Buck Show.
We'll see you next time tomorrow at the Boomer Buck Show.