Boomo Bugg Show 041526
93.9 The Score WYTK - April 15, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-041526/

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 ESPN comes out with their preseason big poll. And while a lot of teams in the SEC, they're dead wrong. Good afternoon. Welcome in on a very taxing day. How are you?
Happy taxing day to you and the listeners. Dominic Smith had four RBIs. Matt Olsen played in his 800th consecutive game.
Ratio Inglacius saved his 100th career game with those milestones. The Bravestorm back to beat the Marlins 65.
Benjamin Ray, the voice of the UNA Lions, will join us at approximately 1 p.m. to update all things UNA.
But we're delighted to have back Mike Scarborough of Tiger Bait, who is here right now to talk about Lane Kiffin's first spring at LSU.
Are you sure two hours is going to be enough to start talking about that topic?
We'll see if Mike can agree or disagree with that.
Mike Scarborough again, the fine publisher and recruiting analyst for TigerBait.com.
Mike, welcome in. How are you?
Hey, glad to be with you guys.
Today's sort of a day off.
I'm just doing shows, but we're back out there with another full practice.
He got hired, and we looked at what he did with the media in Oxford.
They didn't get anything.
And we thought Brian Kelly had set the record for the amount of access that we got for spring practices.
We got a full practice in Tiger Stadium scrimmage Saturday.
We had a full practice yesterday.
We get another one tomorrow and another one Saturday.
Wow.
Next thing you're going to tell me, Mike, is this guy likes social media and he loves the Internet.
Mike, we would ask you about LSU's spring game, but confirm there is a problem with that question, is it not?
There is no spring game.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, and look, as much as we're out there, I've yet to see him in full pads and tackling to the ground.
So, he's absolutely operating like an NFL team.
Your thoughts so far, obviously, anytime you have a guy like that, the expectations are off the charts.
A lot of people would sit here and get in the fetal position and say, oh my gosh, you get the feeling Lane embraces this.
Your thoughts, what's your vibe?
You've been around this program, been around life a long time.
What's your vibe right now so far?
I just think there's a sense of urgency.
You know, having covered Nick Saban while at LSU, there's a whole lot of parallels.
I think the press conferences have been fantastic.
I think you learn about the way he thinks and the way he and his staff are running the program.
I really would like to get an interview with his GM, Billy Glasscock.
But there's a lot of clips of him at the coaches clinic from Friday at the way they're managing the roster.
But, look, if you ask him a well-crafted press question, you're going to get a really good answer.
And so, he's been a breath of fresh air in that regard.
So, we're enjoying it so far.
There's a lot of excitement.
But, certainly, from what we've seen in practice, the defense is so far ahead of his offense right now.
And that's expected.
Most of the defense are returnees, whereas the offense is almost like a whole brand-new roster.
And we're still, as media, getting our bearings on who all these players are.
It's a big difference when you've got 60 new players versus, you know, typical years where you're only having to locate 12 or 14 midterm enrollees.
Mike, I know one of the things I've read is Kiffin runs an up-tempo offense with the premise of wearing out the defense.
And I know that's going to take some time to get adjusted to.
Sam Levitt, of course, has come in.
I know he had off-season foot surgery.
Mike, how is his progress?
And one thing that stood out to me in the transfer portal receivers, Jace Brown from Kansas State, Eugene Wilson from Florida, Winston Watkins from Ole Miss, Trey Brown from Old Dominion.
Mike, again, as you mentioned, the defense is ahead of the offense.
What's Levitt's situation in the receivers so far?
Yeah.
Obviously, Watkins, I think, is the big one.
But there's a guy you haven't mentioned is Roman Mothershed from Troy.
I've really enjoyed looking at him at practices.
But, yeah, all the ones you mentioned.
And, you know, that was a question I asked last Tuesday of Kiffin.
And he gave the wide receiver spot as an example.
You know, rather than go for the Jamar Chase type of guy that might be in the portal and spend a crazy amount of money,
when you look at the number of receivers that had, you know, between 400 and 700 yards for Ole Miss,
I mean, that number is like, what, six or five or six?
He'd rather get a bunch of guys that might not be bona fide guaranteed first-round draft picks,
but a lot of guys that probably go second, third, and fourth rounds and have a slew of them.
Mike Scarborough of TigerBait.com.
You look at our Super Bowl roster, and why they got a lot of former three-stars.
It's called player evaluation.
You better know how to spend the money.
And when you put these rosters together, Mike, your thoughts, I mean, you look at paper,
and you got probably on paper anyway, if you took a consensus out there,
the number one guy to come in as a head coach that was available last year,
he's been given all of these toys in his box to play with as far as the budget.
What is realistic as far as numbers, and how would you define success this fall in Baton Rouge?
I think it's crazy, and it seems like each week as the talking heads nationally start putting out there
really early or mid-spring, there'll be a post-spring, I mean, it just keeps getting more and more LSU,
and it's like, by the time August gets here, I mean, are people going to have LSU in the top three?
To me, that's crazy.
When you look at LSU's schedule and 60 new players on the roster, and five,
you knew it was going to happen if you're sitting in Baton Rouge.
Of course, the first year of the nine-game schedule, they get five on the road.
So, I mean, that's tough.
I don't care what you think about some of the road games.
Those are hard wins to get.
And so, if you're going to get to nine and three, which is probably going to be the most common.
I mean, but look, now I'm seeing guys like Josh Pate and others out there nationally
starting to talk 10 and 2 and 11 and 1 now.
I don't get it, man.
To me, that's crazy talk.
Yeah.
But to get to nine and three, if you look at LSU's schedule, to get to nine and three, in my mind,
you have to come out of September and October with only one loss.
Yeah.
That's not going to be easy.
No, you're exactly right.
If you look at Alabama, not just past season one before, they go to Vanderbilt and everybody was laughing.
You saw how that came out.
And that was Vanderbilt when they were Vanderbilt.
But here's what ESPN, back to your reference there about all these preseason polls.
Of course, Ohio State's number one.
The other big O, Oregon's number two.
They got LSU 11th.
They got seven teams overall in the SEC.
The highest, of course, Georgia at third, Texas fifth.
Ole Miss, Lane's former team, nine.
A&M, Texas A&M at 10.
LSU, Mike, is 11.
Oklahoma at 13th.
They got Alabama.
Here's how it's going to be framed here.
Alabama's 16th overall, seventh in the SEC.
Your thoughts?
Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if that list is absolutely upside down come December.
Who really knows?
Look, I forgot.
I didn't get to the main question.
You asked a few questions back about Leavitt.
He had those screws taken out.
He was on crutches for a day or two.
And now he's out of practice running.
Not as well as he was running to start spring camp.
But he's a competitor, man.
And I like the other two quarterbacks that they signed.
Look, how many schools?
We say it every year.
It's just everything sets up to go nine and three.
And Kiffin was asked last week if he was a proponent of the nine-game schedule.
And his answer was on the spot.
I don't know how any SEC coach can be for a nine-game SEC schedule
unless you know for sure that the formula absolutely is weighted towards strength of schedule.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's exactly right.
You mentioned the defenses ahead of the offense.
And I ask you this question every year, and, Will, during the summer.
Mike, is this an LSU defensive line?
It is.
I think this is going to be the best defensive line, interior defensive tackles that Blake Baker's had at LSU.
And I think it's got a chance to be...
It could be LSU's best interior defensive line in many, many years.
And I'm including 2019.
Wow.
They've got some studs there.
Look, LSU has had these guys that look great on the hoof.
You know, Mason Smith, Dominic McKinley, these 6'6", 6'6".
I don't like those kind of guys.
I like a 6'2", a guy that has a big motor and eats up space and is quick.
And even if he's carrying 15 to 20 pounds of bad weight, he can still run, you know, a 4'9", 40.
You know, quick first step.
LSU's had these guys that look great, but it doesn't, it hasn't really produced.
Give me the 6'2", Glenn Dorsey type.
The Booger McFarlane back in the day.
Yeah.
And they've got them now.
Deuce Gerald, Richard Anderson.
And I'm talking about two freshmen.
And plus what they've got coming back and a few others.
I think they've got a great group there.
And then you've got Prince Will coming off the edge.
And then the linebackers when you get weeks 100% healthy.
That group.
And I think it's going to be Baker's best defense.
That's the old saying, they look like Tarzan play like Jane sometimes.
Mike, by the way, Mike Scarborough, TigerBait.com.
Before you jump off here, you've got a lot on your plate.
You've got football.
They tell me you've got some basketball news.
You've got some baseball news.
What's happening elsewhere in Baton Rouge?
Yeah.
As a guy who's been running a website, this will be our 30th year.
If you can't generate page views with Lane Kiffin, Kim Mulkey, Will Wade, and Jay Johnson.
Well, poor Jay.
Then you need to be out of the business.
Let me ask you real quick about basketball.
Damian Stoudemire is coming in.
Johnny Jones.
I think he used to coach LSU.
Rick Stansbury at Mississippi State.
That's an all-star lineup for assistant coaches for Will Wade, Mike.
Well, let me ask you.
Which of those three is the X's and O's guy?
That's a good question.
Now, Stansbury was known for a little bit of defense, X's and O's, and the recruiting.
Johnny Jones has kind of done a little bit both.
But I was going to say, you tell me which one will be.
I don't see an X's and O's guy there.
Well, I can't disagree with that.
And I'm scratching my head on the Johnny Jones hire.
Right.
Of course, he's a former Dale Brown guard in the early 80s and was on the 81 Final Four team.
He was the head coach at LSU before Will Wade got the job the first time.
And I thought his tenure at LSU was a waste of time as much as Trent Johnson before him.
I worry that that might have been a little bit of a political or some sort of way to placate the Dale Brown wing of the LSU men's basketball family.
And I hope that's not the case.
Mike, always a treasure to talk with you.
In 30 years, you've built the best LSU site in the world, bud.
Where can we get online and get all the good stuff?
Appreciate the kind words.
Tigerbait.com.
Of course, LSU Tigers on Tigerbait, our YouTube channel.
Type in Tigerbait in our Facebook.
We've got a lot of free, unique content on our Facebook page.
And we're even on TikTok.
LSU Tigers on Tigerbait.
And I bet you that guy named Lane Kiffin is on there with you, Mike.
Listen, always good to catch up with you.
Keep up the good work.
And thanks so much for your time today.
Anytime.
Talk soon.
Thank you all.
Thank you, buddy.
Mike Scarborough, the owner of Tigerbait.com.
Speaking of Tigers, what's the latest with the Auburn Tigers?
They've got a pretty big date this weekend.
Nathan King on that and more.
Spread ahead.
Stay with us on the Big Mo Bug Show.
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The Score.
We're now back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in, BB.
Is it true you have some BN breaking news?
Our good friend Ben Thomas is at the Alabama Husky Athletic Association central board meeting,
and he wanted to post this.
The meeting's still going on, but the central board approved every basketball coach in the state of Alabama is about to say,
hallelujah, approved a basketball shot clock for all classes in the state of Alabama.
They also approved the mercy rule, so you won't see another 101-40 game, but just wanted to mention that.
All the high school basketball coaches, if you see them later today, they're going to have a smile on their face.
And bring a check with you because some of these smaller schools are going to say,
uh-oh, it may be a good time getting the business of selling shot clocks, BB, across the state of Alabama.
Well, they'll be looking for some sponsors, but that's certainly good news for high school basketball.
Speaking of the states of Alabama, last week they had a spring fling in Tuscaloosa.
They tell me this weekend they got a game on the plains.
Nathan King on that and more.
He is busy covering Auburn at 24-7 sports, part of the Auburn Undercover Paw family.
Nathan, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing great.
How are you guys?
Hey, Billy.
Man, we're doing all right.
Are you ready for some spring football on the plains?
Oh, for sure.
It's been an interesting past few weeks because it felt like it was the basketball season
that never ended because of Auburn's decision to play at MIT, which obviously was a fun time
for them.
And now we've only, you know, fully turned our attention to football for the last couple
weeks.
But it should be a really interesting one.
Alex Golesh talked yesterday about the format.
It'll be a four-quarter, you know, 15-minute quarter.
It should be a pretty long day.
20-minute halftime, two-minute warning, and everything.
Golesh and his staff are thinking, well, why not go ahead and simulate an actual game?
You only get so many of these opportunities.
And so the offense will have an opportunity to score points the normal way.
They'll also get points for first downs and explosive plays.
And it's going to be offense versus defense.
So the defense will have a chance to counter.
They'll get points for three and outs, tackles for a loss, you know, punts, things like
that.
So it should be an entertaining game and obviously an opportunity for Auburn fans to see, you
know, 50 or 60-some-odd new players in action.
Let me ask you about three questions or questions about position battles that you had a very
good article on Auburn Undercover this morning.
I'll let you go into more detail.
And I'm like you.
I want to know about the offensive line.
You've got 17 to 18 dudes there.
The competition has been something.
Stanton Rommel has been out.
Zyrus played pretty well.
Joel Simmons and Cole Bass have played well.
The running back, Delph, who's behind Jeremiah Cobb, and also cornerback.
And Auburn's got some talented guys there.
Talk about your article this morning.
Questions about the offensive line, running back, and secondary.
Yeah, I mean, obviously, we'll get an opportunity to see every position group.
And it'll be valuable to get eyes on where Auburn is.
Sort of a progress report heading into the offseason.
But, yeah, I mean, kind of going in reverse there.
Alex Golesh has talked about it since the early stages of the offseason.
That corner was probably the biggest position of need in the portal because you lose two starters.
And, obviously, that's a very important position on the field.
And so, where are they at?
You know, DeMarcus Van Dyke, the new position coach there, said he wants four starting caliber guys by the time the season gets going.
They've got four players they feel good about.
Rayshon Pleasant returns.
Blake Woodby is back from last season.
Getting UCLA transfer, Andre Jordan Jr. was important for them to get an experienced guy in the mix.
Maybe this will be our opportunity to see who that fourth player is.
So far, it's been Shamar Arnault, the ultra-athletic transfer from Florida State.
But, USF transfer Gavin Jenks has been in the mix as well.
And so, it'll be interesting to see how that group competes against, obviously, what we know to be a high-octane receiving core.
And then, you mentioned running back.
I mean, obviously, offensive line, you know, there's been lots of different combinations with a few injuries there.
I would only put two guys in pen right now for that starting five.
I'll put Joe Sitton there.
We'll see which tackle spot he's able to start at or which tackle spot Auburn needs him at.
And then Cole Best at center.
But, you know, running back continues to be interesting.
Pretty much every guy behind Jeremiah Cobb has received equal reps this spring.
You're only just now starting to see the Baylor transfer, Bryson Washington, start to get his legs under him.
That was Alex Golesh's words.
He was dealing with a minor injury that he was recovering from.
And so, you're starting to see him look like the player that they thought he would be when he came over from Baylor.
And, yeah, it'll be interesting to see.
It'll be interesting to watch the ones and the twos.
On A day, it should be first team versus first team defense, second team versus second team defense.
So, yeah, as compared to some spring games you see and some you've seen at Auburn in the past,
there probably won't be any sort of overmatched players on both sides of the ball.
So, it should be good competition there.
Nathan King, hooking up with us, 24-7 Sports, Auburn Undercover.
Nathan, did Brett and I report this wrong?
We, at one time, reported that Gus Malzahn had left Auburn.
But, correct me if I'm wrong, there was a Gus Malzahn sighting this week at Auburn.
Help us out here, Nathan.
Yeah, I mean, Gus has been around a little bit since retiring.
Obviously, he's got a home at Lake Martin.
We saw him in a basketball game last month.
But, yeah, Alex Golesh said that yesterday, Gus Malzahn attended Auburn's scrimmage.
Obviously, you know, he's known Golesh for a few years.
Remember, they were rival coaches in the war on I-4 between USF and UCF.
Now, they never played each other because by the time they, by the time that Golesh got there, UCF had already moved to the Big 12.
And so, obviously, they, or excuse me, by the time Gus got there, UCF had moved to the Big 12.
So, there was no opportunity for them to face off.
But, yeah, I mean, it should be, definitely should be, it should be interesting to see what Gus is able to help out with.
You know, he was, it sounds like from Alex Golesh that Gus wants to hang around and, you know, be around the program every now and again.
And, really, you know, Gus is retired and he's not going to, I don't think he's going to jump into any sort of, like, Bruce Pearl role where he's employed at Auburn or anything like that.
I don't think that's at all going to be the case.
But, like Golesh said yesterday, yeah, he's open arms.
He's all ears to hear from a former Auburn coach, a guy who had this program in a very successful spot as compared to recent seasons.
And so, Gus took some notes at practice yesterday at the scrimmage and gave him to Golesh afterwards.
And so, yeah, we might be seeing him around every once in a while and Golesh and a bunch.
Look, you know, if there's a former coach here at Auburn who's done it, I've got no ego in this thing.
And certainly all ears want to help him out.
Let me ask you your opinion of three guys that I've seen throughout the spring who have stood out to the coaches, or at least they've been mentioned.
Offensive line we discussed, Derrick Plaz, PLAZZ.
Didn't play very much in Miami, 6'4", 3'10".
Again, I've heard a lot of good things about him, Andre Jordan, a cornerback from UCLA.
And then Cody Sigler, who transferred from Arkansas State.
And, again, a lot of these lesser-known programs, these are good players.
Maybe they were just behind a talented frontliner, 6'2", 3'0", 2.
Those are three names I've heard quite a bit this spring.
Your impressions on them?
Yeah, Derrick Plaz was a guy that we started hearing about after he signed with Auburn that the staff thought,
hey, he's got all the tools to be a player at guard.
You know, he looks the part of a powerful starting offensive lineman, but obviously he doesn't have much experience.
Well, there's an opportunity available at guard.
We've talked about it all through the offseason, available at that guard competition.
And he's been their primary left guard this spring.
And so you've really gotten to kind of see those physical tools that he has.
And it's been pretty impressive there.
Cody Sigler coming over from Arkansas State has probably been Auburn's most talked-about player at defensive tackle.
I mean, they're working in guys like Malik Autry, who are coming back from last season, a former five-star.
You know, a guy like Buddy Mathis came over from LSU.
But those are all kind of younger guys still finding their footing.
Cody Sigler, like you mentioned, it wasn't at a Power 4 program, but he's gone and done it at a high level at Arkansas State.
And so they're hoping that translates to the SEC.
And then Andre Jordan, I mentioned him earlier.
That was the kind of guy you really needed in this cornerback competition with a guy coming over who was going to provide a lot of, you know, competition there at the top.
A guy who's done it at a Power 4 level before.
Obviously, he was a starting corner at UCLA for two years.
And he's a guy who's caused a lot of problems for this passing game throughout the spring.
And so I would put him right up there.
I talked about that cornerback competition earlier.
I really do think, whether it's Rayshawn Pleasant, Blake Woodby, or Andre Jordan Jr., I'm not sure who's the number one or number two or number three corner for this team right now.
That'll be interesting to watch on A-Day.
And certainly a guy like Andre Jordan Jr. helps you to feel a little bit more confident in that spot considering you lost two starters from last year.
Confirmed, Forrest did.
Figgins from Thompson, and I know he flashed some last year.
I'd read several reports.
He had not one, not two, but three interceptions.
I was going to catch your eye.
During Saturday's practice, number one.
And then number two, I know you've got everything covered.
You're looking at the transfer portal in basketball.
Mount Monmouth, you had an article today about one of their guards looking at Auburn.
Figgins, production, and then where can we get online to get all the great stuff from you, Jason, and everyone else?
Yeah, I think Anquan Figgins is in such a natural position right now at nickel.
You saw him play a little bit as a safety, as a true freshman.
But, I mean, as you guys know from hearing about him making plays at Thompson, like, he's just a ball hawk.
He's just a guy in the middle of your defense.
He probably led Auburn in takeaways as a true freshman in practice, like in a practice setting.
Nobody had more interceptions and fumble recoveries than him last year.
Well, like you mentioned, yeah, he had three interceptions at Saturday's practice.
We were on the second day.
We all had five picks during Saturday's practice, so a really good day for them.
Yeah, I think new boy Figgins is in the right place, and he's going to be, if nothing else, like he's going to continue to develop his body as a young player.
But if nothing else, he's going to be a ball hawk this season, and we should see him around the ball a bunch.
And, yeah, you mentioned it, AuburnUndercover.com, basketball transfer, basketball still looking for their first transfer portal pickup.
I would imagine that to be pretty soon as we're continuing to track some of the names for this team in the portal.
You know, another series for Auburn baseball, lots of recruiting visitors on campus just yesterday.
And so we'll have it all covered for you at AuburnUndercover.com.
And it sounds like a pretty good forecast to put a cherry on top for Saturday's spring game.
Nathan, as always, good job.
Thanks so much, and keep up the good work.
Appreciate it, guys.
Talk to you all later.
Thank you, bud.
Nathan King hooking up with us, Auburn Undercover, 24-7 sports.
He mentioned Gus at Auburn's practice.
I wonder what happened to that guy named Saban.
Would he ever show up in Tuscaloosa, maybe for an Alabama workout?
Speaking of T-Town, we'll take you there next with Rodney Orr.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back again.
Time to head on down to T-Town, Tuscaloosa.
Say hello to Rodney Orb.
He's the founder and editor of TiderInsider.com, and his book is called Bigger Than Bama.
Rodney, welcome in.
How are you?
Doing well, Harold and Brett.
How are you guys today?
Good.
Man, we're doing all right.
Appreciate you asking, Rodney.
We're on this side of the spring game.
Last week, we were asking what to expect.
Rodney, is it fair to ask now, do we have a little better idea how to answer those questions?
The spring game this past weekend.
Did the team answer any big questions for you?
You know, Harold, I mean, it's a good question.
I don't think they answered any big questions.
I think what we did see, though, is that, you know, there is certainly some talent.
I mean, there's no question about that.
I mean, it may be across the board.
It looks more talented, you know, when you consider maybe some of the defensive linemen.
I will tell you this, kind of an oddball kind of thing here.
If you want to look at one area that I can almost tell you looks better, that place kicker, Lorcan Quinn, he looks like an NFL kicker right now.
Now, I don't want to hex him or anything, but when I tell you this guy can try it out there and kick a 47-yarder like it's a chip shot, really smooth.
So, I think he might be a big pickup.
Connor Taupe is going to have his hands full with that challenge.
But I will tell you this, too, because this is really what I think people want to hear.
The quarterback, you know, Austin Mack was injured, and he was injured later in the week.
So, he was kind of hobbled around talking to some practice observers.
And I think it certainly impacted him in the scrimmage on Saturday.
But Keelan Russell is a special talent.
And I think, you know, if he can continue to develop and grow, I could see him as a guy that, in spite of your shortcomings, he could kind of carry the team.
Now, I'm not saying he'll be able to do it this year, but when you look at him and his potential, he's got special tools.
Ronnie, let me ask you this.
Did Alabama strike gold in Mr. Brown, the running back?
I think he's a steal.
You know, we talked about him last week and said that's one guy I wanted to see as a kind of sleeper type guy that I'd heard a lot about.
And I thought he lived up to expectations based on what we saw.
What I liked about him is he caught several balls out of the backfield.
He had to make some adjustments on those balls that weren't thrown perfect.
But when he did, he's got that knack to be able to twist his body and turn.
And when he does, he can get up ahead of steam pretty fast, make a guy miss.
He's got some tools as a receiver.
I like him.
And then as a runner, he just didn't carry the ball a lot.
But what you saw, Harold and Brett, was a guy who had that instinctiveness to see a hole before it was there.
You know, and that's one thing that I think we didn't see last year was a guy who could say, okay, that hole's not there yet, but it's going to be.
And, you know, that's just kind of a feel that great running backs have.
They can see it.
That's why they call it vision.
And he certainly showed that on some of the runs.
Don't really know, like, couldn't tell, 100% sure about his speed, you know, if he has that extra gear.
But, you know, he was pretty quick.
Ronnie, the receivers, I remember in particularly Derek Meadows, he had climbed the ladder a little bit last year, went into Missouri,
and was in the lineup, and I had been waiting to see what he could do.
Well, he got clotheslined in that game, got a concussion, played a little bit at the end of the season.
But I was very curious to see what he and Sadarian Morgan could do.
And at 6'4 and 6'5, Russell threw some dimes to these guys in traffic.
But when you've got the Sadarian Morgan 6'4, 225, and Meadows is 6'5,
those are two tall dudes, and they can catch the ball in traffic.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
And they did.
And you've got to give them a chance to make those plays.
And, you know, Russell certainly did.
And, you know, Mack hit a couple of big throws, too.
And he hit a big one down the middle to Ryan Williams.
He also hit a few others.
And, look, Rico Scott made a great catch in the back of the end zone where you talk about moving up the ladder.
He certainly climbed the ladder for that one from Austin Mack.
It was a really good throw, but it was also an outstanding catch.
So, yeah, I like those two guys with the size that they bring.
And I'm really looking forward to seeing more of them.
Now with Noah Rogers out, what we hear, Harold and Brett, four to six months.
Wow.
You know, so, you know, it's a tough break, but I think you still – you have Ryan Williams, you have Lachia Brooks,
you have Rico Scott, you have Derek Meadows and Sedari and Morgan.
And, you know, maybe one of the others that they brought in, the JUCO player, Tyler Henderson, caught a few balls, too.
So, you know, we'll see.
Somebody's got to step up.
It's part of it.
You mentioned that four to six months.
If my math is right, that's basically about half of the regular season.
So, if everything goes well, possibility to be there for the second half of the season.
The other thing that Alabama's kind of got in the bank right now from that standpoint, no E.J. Crowell.
I mean, there's no way the kid could have lived up to the expectations coming out of high school.
The only thing they feared in this camp was kryptonite.
But your thoughts just about having not only what we saw Saturday with Brown, which I thought is the classic example of somebody's out,
take advantage of the situation, and he did.
But your thoughts just having that in the back of your mind, knowing that Crowell also looks like he'll be available once he can get his wheels back under him.
Yeah, I mean, you're right.
I mean, hopefully that won't be long.
I mean, hopefully in camp he'll be ready to go.
But, you know, the running back position, I mentioned Treshawn Brown.
I thought A.K. Deer had a couple of really nice plays, one after a reception, made a guy miss.
He's got explosive ability.
A.K. has just got to do all the other things.
And when I say that, I noticed Treshawn Brown.
I noticed it when it happened.
He laid out Chuck McDonald on a corner blitz.
That was good to see because that pass pro by the running backs has been an issue.
But to see him step up and do that was encouraging, especially for a young player.
But, yeah, Daniel Hill, I thought, you know, you saw him, he's sleeker.
He made a couple of cuts and runs.
He had a big run.
You know, Kevin Riley really didn't have – he's had a great spring, but he didn't have a day where he flashed much in the A-Day game.
Sometimes that happens.
He didn't get a ton of carries.
But what he had, you know, certainly they bottled him up pretty good.
So, but, look, I think they're good enough there.
Hopefully, Coyle will be back, and, you know, they'll be even better.
Rodney, I mentioned this to you earlier this year when Alabama lost Deontay Lawson, Jefferson, and Hill Green.
I thought Alabama should have brought in one more linebacker, inside linebacker, along with Caleb Woodson.
Woodson showed, obviously, he is going to be a force.
But, Rodney, I'll tell you one thing.
These younger guys, they may not be Nick Saban linebacker size, but QB Reese, Mance, Caden Jones, Duke Johnson,
but Duel Sanders are pretty good.
And, by the way, Xavier Griffin put a move on Javon James, Alabama's right tackle,
that would have made an NFL veteran blush.
Not a ton of game experience, but some of these inside linebackers are pretty good.
You know, I was impressed.
I really was.
I mean, we had heard from, you know, people that we've trusted.
They were a bit smallish.
And, you know, you look out there, and regardless of what the roster says,
you can see what they're talking about.
They're not, like, that small, but they're just not real thick.
Agreed, too.
But they're athletic.
Man, they're good.
They're all over the field.
I was impressed with Mets after I kind of watched some of the replay.
But during the game, number 15, Duke Johnson, caught my eye quite a bit.
You know, Bill Sanders.
And, you know, I didn't see number 11, Xavier Griffin.
You know, it's kind of tough seeing everybody, but we know he's talented.
But I think it's a group that, I'm like you, Brett.
I think you need experience, and you probably should have taken another guy with experience.
But I also understand, you know, I can see why they wanted to go ahead and do it with their younger guys.
You know, so, but I thought, speaking of the older transfer, Caleb Woodson, he's really good.
I think he's going to be really good.
Rodney, or tighter insider.com.
So, Rodney, now that at this point in the practice, obviously, they still had two after the Saturday practice.
Two things on that.
Number one, obviously, the elephant in the room was the offensive line.
Do you feel better about that, and where's your gut with this team?
Because they've got some work to do by the Alabama standard.
ESPN came out.
I don't know how they come up with these polls.
Be that as it may, they've got their preseason poll right now.
Alabama, 16th in the country, 7th in the SEC.
Where's your gut right now with this team, Rodney?
Well, you know, Harold, I just have to be honest with you.
I don't know.
I mean...
Who does, right?
Yeah.
I mean, I look at the offense, what I saw.
And I'm thinking Pac-12.
Yeah.
You know, I don't know about the defense.
I mean, they were going up against an offense that was, you know, with that offensive line that's not ready.
And that may be why they look kind of Pac-12, you know.
I mean, I just, there wasn't much physicality up front that I saw.
But again, I understand there's a bunch of new faces, too.
These guys have not worked together.
So you have to be careful, you know, how you evaluate it.
But there was a lot of reliance on the quarterback, which kind of led me to the thought of, you're going to need a playmaker like Keelan Russell.
Thank you.
And that's what I saw.
So unless they can develop a running game, and then maybe they can.
I mean, listen, I want to be clear, because I know there's people that post on Titer and Sider that listen to your show.
They're going to go out there and say, it looks like a Pac-12.
But I want to be clear, you know, we're in April, and there's a lot of time to develop that run game.
And like DeBoer said, it does take a little bit of time when you're meshing up so many new faces up front.
Let me ask you quickly about recruiting.
Alabama picks up a verbal commitment.
McGill Tulin defensive lineman, A.J.
Pauley said, I believe he's a three-star, 6'5", 255, added to that 2027 class.
And five-star quarterback Elijah Haven is going to be announcing April the 25th.
I've been to Alabama multiple times from, according to reports, Alabama seems to be in the lead.
He threw for 4,000 yards, 62 touchdowns, video game numbers, named the Louisiana Gatorade player of the year.
And we know how commitments go, Rodney.
They can change at the blink of an eye.
But tell us a little bit more about A.J.
Pauley and your thoughts.
Will Alabama pick up Elijah Haven, the five-star quarterback, April 25th?
You know, Pauley is just a 6'5", 265-pound defensive lineman that has a good frame.
I mean, he's athletic, of course.
He moves really well.
He's another one of those guys kind of like Jeremiah Beeman from the standpoint of he's got the frame to fill out, you know, and get bigger.
And, again, you like his potential because he can move, because he's athletic, because he can, you know, he's got – he can move side to side, change directions.
You know, so he has all of that, and he has the frame to get bigger.
And that seems to be kind of the mode they're in right now in terms of defensive linemen, getting guys and building them up, getting them bigger.
And then, also, you asked about Elijah Haven, and I think, you know, Alabama, Georgia, and Auburn, one of the three that he released is his top three.
And, you know, if I had to venture a guess right now, I would go with Alabama.
But, again, you don't know.
You never know.
But I do think that when you look at him, I mean, he's – I mean, he's 6'5", 230 pounds or so.
He's big.
He's big.
And he's athletic.
I mean, he kind of looks like a Vince Young out there running around.
And, like you said, he put up some gaudy passing numbers as well.
So, yeah, he's extremely talented, no doubt.
I think Alabama's in good position.
Hey, listen, guys, they're going to get quarterbacks, and they're probably going to get receivers and all of that.
The difference is the guys that get in the trenches on the offensive and defensive line.
And, you know, we'll see how that goes.
Thank you.
You're right.
Rodney, where can we get online and get a recap of a day recruiting?
One more practice, I believe, coming up Thursday.
A little basketball portaling stuff going on.
24-7 message board.
Titer Insider TV.
Where can we get all that great stuff for a nominal price?
Right.
It's TiterInsider.com.
It's only $48 a year.
And you can get instant access with your credit card if you prefer.
There is an address there.
Send a check.
And that gives you, like you said, the premium information, which includes our all-sports form, our community there.
You know, we're a lot of exchange there and a lot of portal news, basketball portal.
Everything that happens ends up right there on TiterInsider.com.
Rodney, as always, good to hook up with you, man.
Keep up the good word, and thanks so much for your time today.
Appreciate it, guys.
Take care.
Thank you, bud.
Rodney Orr, TiterInsider.com.
And, again, his book's called Bigger Than Bama.
Coming up for the next hour, we're going to be taking you all over the place.
Through to you, more on the Tide and Tigers.
Vince Rohr of the Big Talk from Big Orange Country.
And Benjamin Ray, all things UNA.
It's all straight ahead on the Boomo Bugg Show.
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Out-of-state gambling interests have been quietly laying the foundation for getting gambling
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Political action committees for these out-of-state gambling interests have poured millions of
dollars into state races for the 2026 election cycle.
Montgomery Democrat Steve Raby has assisted in the flow of these dollars to various state lawmakers
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A house fire in Birmingham has claimed the lives of two adults and a teenager.
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Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
What do you say we go to, literally, the home of the champions?
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You know we're home to the two best universities in the whole entire world.
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The Boomo Bugg show.
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Today, mostly sunny with a high around 85.
Tonight, partly cloudy with possible gusty winds overnight and a low near 65.
Tomorrow, mostly sunny with a 30% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 85.
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Your weather from 93.9, The Score.
Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM sports voice.
The Boomo Bugg show.
Your exclusive inside track to the tide.
Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
Welcome back, Dan.
Thanks so much for joining us.
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 with that, do we kick off, lead off, man, tee off, you name it.
Benjamin Ray, he is the UNA Athletics Assistant AD and the fine voice of UNA.
Benjamin Ray, welcome in.
How are you?
Man, it's great to be with you guys.
Here is spring.
It's finally hit, I think.
We've got beautiful weather, and we've got a jam-packed weekend of spring sports.
So, if you're itching to get outside, it's a good weekend to be at UNA.
Where in the world do you start?
You've got a UNA buffet with baseball, softball, football, you name it.
Let's start, if you don't mind, though, with the softball.
What I love about UNA, can you imagine a fan of UNA back in the day coming back,
and all of a sudden you say, wow, here's another SEC team, the UNA softball team taking on Ole Miss,
coming up short, but it's nice to see the schedule playing with some of these guys
who across the country are regarded as some of the big guys and girls.
It really is, and that's a testament to the program Ashley Cozart has built.
Not only did they travel to Ole Miss to play Ole Miss, but Ole Miss came here earlier this season.
They did a home-and-home, and it just speaks volumes that an SEC school is willing to put you on their schedule.
It was just how important strength of scheduling is these days, and this is a program that always gives SEC teams a great shot.
So, also, it's kind of surprising that they keep scheduling them because we keep knocking on the door
and then just crazy things happen at the end of the game.
But, yeah, this team this year might be the best of the Division I era, which says a lot
because we've had a lot of good teams under Ashley Cozart.
She's got the pitching, she's got the hitting, she's got the field, and we've always had maybe one of the three, two of the three,
but never all three, five on all cylinders.
So, the excitement level, which is always high for UNA softball, is absolutely sky-high right now.
Well, let's stay with the ladies for a second, go inside the basketball in the works of a brand-new era for UNA women's basketball.
Anna Nims coming to us from Northwestern State, and I'll tell you what, it feels like I have known Anna Nims for years.
She is just unbelievably personable.
At her introductory press conference, you know, we had eight or nine media outlets there,
and she stood up at the top and did one-on-ones with all eight, nine media groups that were there.
And in between, she hugged fans and introduced herself.
So, I mean, she shook hands with over 100 people.
She was like a politician working the rest, but she's very genuine.
She preaches that family connection, and she wants to have that community feel which UNA coaches thrive under.
I mean, you guys have covered UNA for so long, and think about the coaches that have had great success at UNA.
They have been ingrained in the community, and that's what Anna Nims wants to do,
and that's what she's going to do, and people are going to absolutely fall in love with her and her daughter Frankie.
Frankie's 22 months old, almost two, and she stole the show at the press conference.
But Anna Nims is going to bring a lot of great energy to a women's basketball program that has been in a good spot here of late.
It was tough to lose Candy Whitaker, but to land a coach like Anna Nims, I think Dr. Looney hit an absolute home run.
Speaking of being in a good spot, UNA Baseball is on a heater, 13 or more runs in the last three games.
They beat UT Martin with a football score, 21-3, 10-5 in the A-Sun, and I'm telling you, speaking of being on a heater,
Dylan Coleman has been going absolutely nuts, hitting his 14th home run of the season,
now tied for six most home runs in UNA history.
Talk about a hot baseball team.
This baseball team is so much fun to watch.
It's the best offense we've ever had at the Division I level,
and maybe the best offense that we've had in 15, 20 years even,
maybe even going back to the College World Series team led by a guy by the name of Josh Willingham.
I mean, they are just smashing the baseball, hitting the cover off of it,
and Dylan Coleman is a fantastic story,
because if you have kept up with UNA Baseball from Mike Lane to Mike Keene,
you know that back in the Division II days,
Delta State was a huge baseball rival.
It was UNA and Delta State always playing for Gulf South Conference Championships.
Well, Dylan Coleman transferred to UNA from Delta State.
I think he has to be the first ever baseball player to play at Delta State and North Alabama.
I mean, 10, 15 years ago, we would have never thought that was possible.
And now here he is.
He's hit a home run in four straight games.
He's top 25 in the nation in home runs,
and he's one home run away from the Division I single-season record.
And then I think he's three home runs away from the school record overall.
So you talk about a guy coming in and just rewriting the record book in one year.
He's been an unbelievable addition.
He's an outstanding young man.
We've enjoyed chatting with him every chance that we get.
This is a team that looks like a professional baseball team.
I mean, Dylan Coleman and a lot of these guys,
you're talking about guys that are bench-pressing 315-plus pounds.
I mean, they look like linebackers out there, but they are just some dudes that they like to hit.
And we've got the new ballpark, Bank Independent Stadium, Mike D. Lane Field.
And you can't drive past it, walk past it, be past it, without hearing the crack of a baseball bat.
This team is always hitting.
It reminds me of the old Greg Maddox, Tom Gladden, ESPN commercial.
You know, chicks dig the long ball, you know, that they're always hitting it in that commercial.
That's what this team reminds me of.
I mean, 54 home runs, they lead the league in home runs, and they're just absolutely mashing.
It's so fun to watch.
315 pounds.
That's 314 more than Brett and I can do together.
I would imagine, Ben, that this team would love to see some home crowds this weekend.
It's always fun when Lipscomb comes to town.
It's Lipscomb.
It's conference.
Hopefully the weather's going to continue to be good.
Your thoughts about the upcoming series with Lipscomb?
Yes, North Alabama's in first place alone in the gold division of the A-Sun.
Second best record overall in the A-Sun.
Lipscomb is the only team that UNA has dropped a series to this season.
It was the first A-Sun series of the year.
Lipscomb took two of three up in Nashville.
So this is the return trip now.
Whereas UNA has the best offense in terms of power numbers,
Lipscomb's right behind them in terms of just pure average in hitting,
or actually probably slightly ahead in average.
They bring in a really good offense as well.
They're coming off of a series loss to Central Arkansas,
who North Alabama took two of three off of a couple weeks back.
So it's a really good Lipscomb team.
And the gold division is very tight.
All five, really four of the five, have a shot at first place.
So everybody's playing for kind of the same thing right now.
So it's going to be a tough series.
And if you have not been out to the new Mike, Mike 2.0,
Bank Independent Stadium, Mike D. Lane.
So it's going to be the perfect weekend to come watch great college baseball.
And let me tell you, if there is 100 people in that venue,
or there's 1,000 people, because we've seen it all this year,
it's a fun venue to be in.
They've got the video board.
They've got the sound effects going.
Not a bad seat in the house.
I encourage people to get out on a Friday night, 7 o'clock.
Weather's going to be perfect.
And come check it out.
Come be a part of this, because this UNA baseball team is about to embark on a huge journey.
And as we know, UNA teams always perform better when the Scholes area is in the stands with them.
I have seen some clips of the progress on the football stadium, and it's quite impressive.
About two days last week, we're updating that.
Let me update the fans and get you to confirm this.
There has been a change in the schedule in the last couple of weeks.
Savannah State originally, I believe, was at October the 10th.
But they've opted to move from being an FCS independent to a member of the MAC.
So that took them out.
Now, West Florida, who a lot of people are familiar with,
they actually have quite a successful D2 program.
They've come in here to be the final program to replace Savannah State now on November the 7th.
That'll be a home game.
Now, October the 10th will be an open date with that.
Let me ask the voice of the UNA Lions to confirm that.
But now the schedule is finalized.
And, oh, by the way, you need to be reminding of everybody this, too.
The Lions joined the UAC, the United Athletic Conference, on July the 1st,
officially.
Confirm the football schedule with us and tell us a little bit about the new conference.
Yeah, so it's officially official.
West Florida is coming to the United Athletic Conference with us.
I mean, it's looking more and more like the old Gold South Conference right now.
And so it's an exciting move.
Pensacola's a great market.
And it's a scary move because they have quickly been a very good Division II program.
And they'll come in and have a lot of success.
And so we set that game time yesterday.
It'll be 6 p.m., Florence, Alabama.
It'll be one of six home games this year, which is unbelievable.
Six home games.
And so you talk about a new conference, United Athletic Conference, a new football stadium.
And we've got six home games.
Oh, and the seventh game is played in Huntsville against Stanford.
So seven games in our own backyard out of the 12 that we'll play is just unbelievable.
But the United Athletic Conference, you're kind of seeing it's a crazy merger with the Atlantic Sun
and the WAC coming together.
And the A-Sun will still be together.
And pretty much the football schools in the A-Sun are moving into the United Athletic Conference.
So it'll consist of West Georgia, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, of course, North Alabama,
Tarleton State, and Abilene Christian, and now West Florida will compete football in the UAC.
So eight football-playing schools.
You also have Little Rock and, I think, UT Arlington as the other members of the UAC.
They're non-football-playing schools.
So talk about a really healthy league.
And last year, a lot of people were calling the UAC maybe the second or third-best FCS league.
And it only got stronger with the addition of West Florida.
So it's going to very quickly be one of the best football leagues in FCS football.
And, hey, spring football just wrapped up.
And let me tell you, Brent Dierman's team, if you averaged out the height and weight from last year to this year,
we probably got one to two inches taller across the board and 15 to 20 pounds heavier across the board.
He has some big boys on his team this year.
And we are absolutely fired up for this football season.
Do you have anything else going on, Ben?
I mean, how tall is your grass at the house?
And when are you going to get a chance to get out there and mow it?
Hey, I'll tell you what.
I looked at it this morning.
I thought, oh, my goodness, I should have mowed yesterday.
But we got beach volleyball Thursday and Friday, baseball starting Friday, softball Saturday, Sunday.
We've got it all going on.
And then we'll sleep on Monday, I guess, and do it all again here very soon.
But it's spring sports.
Oh, and don't forget, tennis is opening up the A-Sun Championships down in Florida today,
where they're hoping to repeat after last year.
So, I mean, we're full on into spring sports right now.
The weather is turning.
Everybody's smiling around here watching the construction progress.
Let me just tell you guys, this is 11 years of me back at UNA, 16 years overall affiliated with UNA.
And it's never been a better time to be a Lion.
Well, isn't it hard to believe a month, nearly a month from today, Ozzie Newsom is going to be the guest speaker at the Lions Pride Dinner and Auction.
Again, it's May 19th to accommodate his schedule.
Normally, it's in early to mid-August, basically kick off the athletic year.
And I know, I'm guessing some tickets are still available and certainly sponsorships.
Listen, we always enjoy the conversation.
Where can we get online and listen to the games and find out the absolute latest about UNA athletics?
Yeah, Roarlines.com is the one-stop shop.
Social media as well, you can get all your information.
Megan Dye can get you hooked up with tickets to the dinner and auction with Ozzie Newsom.
I'm super excited about that.
It's actually going to be a Q&A session with me and Ozzie.
So, I'm going to get to kind of lead it, interview Ozzie up on stage.
We'll have a Q&A for everybody afterwards where you'll get to talk to one of the greatest football names of all time from high school to college to professional.
I mean, think about it.
An all-American, unbelievable high school career, Alabama career, playing career, and a front office career.
There's not many people that can check all four boxes right there.
So, I can't wait to hear him in chat.
Roarlines.com is the place to be.
We've got you covered on ESPN Plus with home events, Roarlines Productions as well across our social media profiles.
So, we've got a lot going on, and we're trying to do our best juggling it all and telling the fantastic stories of these student-athletes that we have at North Alabama.
We're just flattered that you could carve out time from that busy schedule to join us today, Ben.
We thank you for that.
Keep up the good work, okay?
Always.
I appreciate you guys having me, and thank you for what you do for this area.
Thank you, Ben.
Fine voice of UNA, Benjamin Ray.
Coming up, time to go orange with the V-Man on deck.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
We're back in just calling the big man on the campus of the Big Orange.
The V-Man drives your work mornings on 99.1.
The Sports Animal in Knoxville.
Also on the Ball Radio Network.
Vince Rora, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm good, gentlemen.
How are we doing?
Hey, buddy.
It's time to put on your grading head, Professor.
What kind of grade would you give this Tennessee program this spring?
I would say overall probably in the B range, something like that.
I think even though there wasn't, I'd say, true clarity at the quarterback position,
and it's still, you know, a big question mark that everyone's going to talk about throughout
the entire offseason, and it'll probably cost them in terms of the eyes of many in projecting
this team.
I think the most noteworthy thing that came out of spring is how well the defense played
and how quickly they acclimated and adjusted and learned Jim Knowles' system, because as you
guys know, that was one of the big narratives and talking points when they hired Jim Knowles.
He said, man, it's complicated, probably usually takes about two years.
Well, he addressed that with the hiring of the staff, and Anthony Point Dexter, he's worked with last year
at Penn State as co-DC and secondary coach.
Dexter Jones, who he worked with at Ohio State, excuse me, Oklahoma State as cornerbacks coach.
So they've had numerous, they have numerous coaches on the staff that they have worked with, and then a bunch of GAs,
and then players on every level, total of four Penn State transfers on that defense to help acclimate things.
Oh, by the way, then the strength and conditioning change as well.
That would be another one that I think was clear in how different and how those guys look bigger, stronger, faster.
With Derek Owens coming in from Indiana, as you guys recall, they went and hired him after winning the national championship
the next morning he was at Tennessee because they backed up the Brinks truck, no doubt, to get him and his staff on there.
So I think those are all positives, but it connects to how quickly the defense acclimated and got going.
Granted, it'll be tougher in games against quality opponents, I get it, but that was noteworthy that the defense performed well in the spring.
Yeah, that Brink truck at your front door always has to make decisions a little bit easier.
V-Man, obviously, it all comes back to the QB.
One being, if you're looking at the coaching staff and or fan, one being, oh my gosh, I'm ready to call 911, that's one.
Or 10, we are very comfortable with the quarterback situation here at this point on the calendar.
What number would you put on the QB situation right now?
Oh, H-Man, you know it depends on who you ask.
Yeah.
I mean, probably if we were to average them all out, it's a five, somewhere in the middle range,
because I think there's some that are really nervous about this year and feeling that neither one of those two are ready,
that they wanted them to go, speaking of the Brink truck, go back the Brink truck up and get one of those elite quarterbacks.
There's some that are in the mindset of, why can't we outspend everybody?
There's no reason why Tennessee shouldn't be able to outspend everyone and just, look at all the donors we have.
Look at all the money we have.
There's no reason why we can't do that.
Unrealistic.
Tennessee is more disciplined in how they spend money.
I'll come back to that and tell you what Danny White said about that on our show.
But to answer your question, I think there's some that feel good about the talent level of those two that are competing,
and McIntyre and the five-star and Faison Brandon.
I mean, you watch Faison Brandon throw the football.
It's not quite Joel Milton arm strength, but Kidd is talented.
I mean, he can put balls in there smoothly and quickly into traffic.
Really impressive when he throws the football.
I think he's got even better arm talent than McIntyre,
and I think McIntyre can make the throws also.
McIntyre is just a little bit more deliberate, I would say.
And in the spring game, a lot of short throws.
Some of them he made, some of them he missed on.
Faison Brandon was a little bit cooler in the pocket, but there's going to be issues.
There's going to be freshman mistakes.
But some, I think, that are on the nervous side also, I think, understand that, hey, you know,
every quarterback has been pretty functional and at least pretty good, just not great.
You know, the better Tennessee quarterbacks have been great.
That's how you get to team success.
Even Nico and Joe Milton had their flaws, but it's not like they were awful.
So I think that should be where the floor is, is pretty good, but is it good enough to get us to a playoff?
So that's where it also depends on who, where the, what the bar is in terms of what they expect from the QBs.
Whoever the quarterback is, all they need to do is turn around and hand off the ball to Deshaun Bishop,
who ran for over 1,000 yards last year.
But Delft, every team needs it.
Two-lane transfer, Javon Gordon, I believe has had a good spring, had a good spring game.
I've heard Dwayne Morris, Justin Baker.
But you talk about the Delft behind Deshaun Bishop.
Well, really, the only ones that are proven, I would say, on the college level are Gordon,
who came over from Tulane.
He caught my eye in practice one.
And they were just doing some individual drills in the indoor,
but his cutting ability, explosiveness, you can see that just in regular handoff drills
and going through the circuits and things like that.
And that continued on in the spring, and then he showed it out with a 61-yard touchdown late
in the spring game.
So that was good to see.
I think he's probably your number two back because he has some experience, size and speed,
a really nice pickup in the portal.
And then Morris had his moments, but he was really like fourth in the pecking order,
running back last year, did some punt returning, things like that.
He's a little bit smaller, but has...
Or how to give them the potential of home run hitters.
So having different styles and sizes to those top three backs, I still think Baker, who's a second-year back,
he's a little bit behind those other guys.
But I do think they have potentially a good trio of backs there.
And you mentioned Bishop, thousand-yard back, right?
If you look at the returning yards, the returning rushers in college football,
Deshaun Bishop is fourth in the SEC in rushing yards returning.
Because you've got Hardy and Lacey and Baud, Florida, and then you even have Brown,
really Brown coming in from Arizona State to Texas.
So that would make him fifth if you count that.
So just crazy, the depth of running back in this league.
Let me close with two other names.
T.E. and Lee, the transfer from Auburn, been hearing the term shut down corner.
We'll see about that.
But I know Tennessee really wanting to upgrade that secondary this year after the injuries.
And then it seems Tennessee's got a kicker.
Cooper Ranveer, the Louisville transfer, I know he had two field goals and then hit a 50-yarder in practice.
B. Talk about Lee and Ranveer, the deer, the kicker.
All right.
It took us a while, B.B., with the pronunciation.
Straight me up, B.
Ran-V-A.
Thank you.
That was our second choice.
Yeah, that was my second choice.
Hey, look, some of what you see, those names will change.
Like, somebody will say, this is my pronunciation.
No, Mom wants it this way.
So we'll change it.
So it'll change multiple times.
Camara, Camara, all those things.
Darin Tano, all that.
But Ranveer made all his kicks and 50 easy with distance and height.
I think that could be a difference maker for Tennessee in close games.
And they obviously weren't able to make some key kicks, including against Georgia last year.
So in this league, there's probably going to be a ton of those games that are one-possession-type games.
You need to cash in on your points.
And I think Josh Heupel was unwilling to kick long field goals, even attempt long field goals last year.
And he would punt.
I think that change of strategy, when you know you can cash in from long distance, changes the way you coach the game.
And I think he will be a difference maker in how Josh Heupel coaches.
Plus, you know, you've got your defense.
I think the defense is going to carry the day.
Defense running game.
So I think you'll see Heupel coach differently from that standpoint, too.
But, yeah, I think that was a really good development.
They have an excellent punter, crazy.
The Aussie and Jackson Ross in his fifth year.
So, yeah, so what else did you ask about?
Yeah, he had the Auburn transfer.
Oh, Lee, right.
Yeah, yeah.
In the secondary, there's still open spots in that second corner opposite Ty Redman.
Ty Redman looks good, man.
He looks like the next in line of potential first-round picks a corner for Tennessee.
He's even taller.
He's probably 6'1", 6'2", now a corner.
And he's got an entire freshman year to play, and, you know, especially late in the year, play pretty well.
So he's your corner, he's your shutdown corner.
And then Lee and Trey Poteet is the one that was out there with the ones in the spring game.
Lee is battling with Jadis Richard, transfer from Miami to Merritt.
Those are the guys probably competing for that second corner spot.
And, you know, they're still both of the safety spots.
They have, I think, four good options right now, which is so much more than what they had last year.
And then your nickel star spot, Quay Moss at Kansas State transfer, probably going to be your guy there.
So I think they're in a much better place in the secondary, including in that corner spot.
But, yeah, Lee, squarely in the mix to be that other corner.
Lee, great stuff, buddy.
Where can we get on line and get all these good stuff?
Yeah, I appreciate it.
If you go to Vince Sports, V-I-N-C-E Sports, on Twitter slash X, I have a quote there from Danny White.
He joined us today.
And he said that they went talking, said that roster construction is something he talks to his coaches about all the time.
And they even went on a coach's retreat, and they had Bill Polian and Billy Bean as guest speakers to talk about roster construction.
Like, with the pro model, he said it changes the way you think.
Yeah.
So you can see that, listen to that interview with Danny White.
Vince Sports on all the socials as well.
Sounds good.
Speaking of pronunciations, before you jump off, I got one for you.
Pronounce this for me.
F-E-R-R-A-R-A.
Can you help me with that?
I don't know what you just spelled, but Ferrara is the last name.
That's it.
And hopefully you guys will make it to Tampa, so there's absolutely no way you can't get Mama Ferrara's cooking for SEC football.
Oh, you're right.
That's a great point.
Just smell what's cooking in the kitchen.
We'll be there, V-Man.
Good job as always.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Always the highlight of the week.
You guys have a great rest of it.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, buddy.
V-Man, Vince Ferrara, up in Knoxville on the 99.1 Sports Animal Show.
Coming up, it's Double D.
Drew DeArmond on deck.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9.
The score.
In college baseball action yesterday, South Alabama topped Nichols 4-3.
Troy fell short on the road at New Orleans 11-10.
Alabama yesterday was a winner over UAB 12-6.
While Auburn defeated Alabama State 13-0.
Atlanta Braves rallied for a victory yesterday over the Miami Marlins 6-5 at Truist Park.
The Braves with the victory improved to 11-7.
Both teams had nine hits in the ballgame.
Braves and Marlins will play again tonight at Truist Park.
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Chris Paddock starts for Miami.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back again.
Time to open the door and say hello to Double D.
Drew DeArmond.
He's host of Talking Ball and us with 97.7 FM The Zone.
Drew, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm good, guys.
How are y'all?
Hey, buddy.
We're doing all right.
Appreciate you asking, Drew.
Obviously, it's always a fun time to ask the question after a spring game like they had this weekend in Tuscaloosa.
Drew, how do you answer the question, the good, the bad, and the ugly takeaways by Drew DeArmond?
Well, I mean, I don't know if there was necessarily – the only thing ugly to me was Noah Rodgers' injury.
You know, that definitely was something that was untimely.
They don't have a ton of depth.
The wide receiver, he had two touchdown catches according to, you know, the buzz coming out of scrimmage two and looked to be settling down.
He's going to be definitely, you know, involved in the rotation heavily.
He was going to replace Isaiah Horton, in effect, that had transferred to Texas A&M.
And so, it was just, you know, sad to see him go down.
Don't exactly know what the injury is.
You know, it's definitely lower leg.
It's knee-related.
It could be tendon-related.
It sounds like he's not going to be back until, quote-unquote, you know, October or November, maybe.
And with the college football playoff, and if you go on a deep run now, that could even be considered mid-season.
But we'll see.
But definitely, he's not going to be back for the start of the year in August and September.
And so, it's a tough loss for Alabama because they, of course, strategically, you know, identified him.
And I think he thought he was going to be a big piece of the offense.
And so, that's probably the one ugly part of it.
And then, you know, and then I guess I'd say bad.
I wouldn't, you know, they did have a couple of turnovers.
You know, and so McElon Russell had an intercession.
So, did Austin Mack.
But none of that is, you know, too glaring to me because, again, in the running game, wasn't dominant.
But, like I've tried to tell people, if you're running for 250 yards in a spring game or if you don't turn it over at all,
then people will question what your defense is doing.
Why are they not forcing turnovers?
Why are they not, you know, stopping the run more effectively?
So, I guess if you wanted to say, you know, bad, that's probably the closest to it.
And then, maybe a Connor Tossie 30-yard field goal miss.
But, see, that got overshadowed, King Kongly, by part of the good.
And that is the young man named Lorcan Quinn, who that was my favorite part of it probably because he looked like the Irish Will Riker.
And he certainly was kicked four field goal – or, excuse me, three field goals.
And two of them were from 47 yards.
And trust me when I tell you, even though most people were just listening on the radio that weren't inside the stadium,
the 47-yarder, the first one would have been good from about 52.
The second one would have been good from probably 57.
So, it was very free and easy with him.
I had heard he had a strong leg from Marshall and had a good year last year.
And, of course, he's from Ireland and only kicked in American football for one year.
But I believe he'll be a sophomore in the fall.
And I think he's going to be a true weapon for Alabama.
And, you know, last year Connor Tossie did his credit.
He did finish strong.
I think he made his last five field goals.
But, as you all know, in between that, it was erratic.
It was unpredictable.
Just like I said, you know, if you want to say one of the other couple –
one of the other maybe three bad moments of the scrimmage, he did miss from 30 yards.
And he also made one.
But with Connor, it's always you never know, you know, how he's going to react or how he's going to kick.
Well, I think with Lorcan Quinn, you know.
And I think he can solve a big need for Alabama.
And then potentially maybe you can use Connor Tossie as a kickoff guy who can maybe help Lorcan rest in that regard.
But, again, I thought if you're going to say some bad moments, not many, but that also led to one of the good, which is Lorcan Quinn.
I thought more good if you had to ask me.
I'd say Lorcan was the MVP of the special teams to kind of go in reverse.
And on defense, I would say Caleb Woodson, the transfer linebacker from Virginia Tech.
I thought he looked outstanding.
He was, you know, all over the field, sideline to sideline.
They could play from the opening snap.
And then offensively, you guys have heard it.
I mean, I think it was Keelan Russell.
He was outstanding.
He didn't start the game.
Quote, unquote, that was Austin Mack.
But, certainly, Keelan showcased a tremendous quick release that we've seen before, a lot of accuracy, good decision-making.
He gives you a RPO, you know, aspect to the game where he can make plays with his legs, extend plays, truly make a play.
As far as in the red zone as a runner, and I just thought, you know, he showcased the potential that we've seen.
We saw some of it last year against Louisiana, Monroe, and Eastern Illinois.
And then we've been hearing about it in the spring.
But I really think when it all comes to pass, I know Austin Mack was banged up, according to coach.
And I still definitely think it's a race going into the fall.
But when you see the potential of, you know, Keelan Russell, I just think it's going to be very, very hard for, you know, Austin Mack to hold him off come fall camp.
D2, I know Alabama only ran for about 120 yards unofficially.
But your thoughts on the offensive line?
We'll see.
There's still a work in progress.
But Jackson Lloyd, you know, we'll see if Sanders comes back in the left guard.
Mal Waltram, I know, has got a little bit of time there.
Rayson Delgati from Cal Poly.
Michael Carroll, right guard.
Javon James, right tackle.
D2, your thoughts on the offensive line performance?
Well, I mean, I thought it was okay.
I think they're on the right track.
I know there were some people that were just really disturbed.
They wanted it to look better.
But I also take into account the new pieces along the defensive line that I think have been added that are going to help in the fall.
I do think you mentioned William Sanders.
I think he will be the starting left guard.
Mal Waldrop, who is a center guard, he did start the game at left guard.
I believe Casey Poe, his backup in post, struggled.
That might have been another part of the battle a little bit.
But he really seemed to struggle for Alabama with the twos.
And he's been around three years now.
But I just think overall, when you look at it, I think with, you know, Rayson Delgati, I think he's going to take real first spot at center.
And he's a quicker, you know, a guy that they really like his athleticism.
That's the kind of center they seem to want.
I think Mike Carroll being able to move inside the right guard is going to help that running game.
I feel like he's going to continue to make that transition.
And he can be an all-American level guy at that position.
And then they signed Javon James, who, to me, has a lot of experience at Mississippi State, is a right and left tackle.
And I think he's settling in at that right tackle spot.
And then, you know, Jackson Lloyd, I think he's an outstanding talent, former five-star.
He read through it last year.
They brought him along slowly.
But I think he made some progress in the spring.
So, I think they have the makings for a very solid first five.
Now, they've got to continue to, you know, develop depth.
They've got Strayhorn as the backup center.
And the guard spot, they need to develop some depth there.
Because you don't want Carroll to get hurt or you want Sanders to be healthy.
I think there could be a drop-off after that otherwise.
But we certainly shall see.
There's a lot of work to be done.
But I think the offensive line has made progress.
And don't forget, they didn't have E.J. Crowell.
So, you weren't able to see him run the ball.
But I will say this.
Probably the biggest surprise of the spring was Treshawn Brown.
Yep.
Yeah.
He was an L.A. dad that was probably going to go to Boise State.
And they added him as a late signing at running back.
And he did a great job in the spring as a receiver and runner.
And gives them a guy that can make you miss the open field type ability
that I think will help that running back room.
And budget-friendly, too.
I'm going to assume compared to some of the guys on the market out there.
Drew, you mentioned the line.
We've had some observations from the folks who are pretty good at this stuff.
They said the offensive line still has a flavor of West Coast.
Which, if you code that out, it's kind of like a soft, mobile,
not exactly a physical ACC standard offensive line.
Which, if that's true, we'll see once we get into real action in the fall.
But all the more reason to have Akeelon Russell, who is mobile, who has kind of the it factor,
the instinct.
That's the good news.
The bad news, when your quarterback runs a lot, it goes without saying what can happen there.
It runs up the risk of injuries.
But your thoughts just from that standpoint, how that actually increases Russell's stock,
if you will, to be the quarterback.
Well, I mean, I just think his twitchiness, his ability to move laterally in the pocket.
One thing, Austin Mack struggled, what they, you know, what his buzz seemed to be,
was he didn't throw well on the run this spring.
And certainly, the offensive lines are a work in progress.
Keelan Russell's ability to make the guy miss in small space and ability to make plays with his legs,
I think is going to give the Alabama offense another dimension, if and when he wins the quarterback job.
And so, I think that'll beat the Alabama's advantage.
But I will say this, too.
I still say, after seeing the spring game, you know, we mentioned a couple of turnovers.
But those are some bright spots, too.
I mean, certainly, De'John Lee continues to assert himself.
He got that, you know, interception.
I believe it was Corey Howard who got in the face of Keelan Russell and forced that pick, which is exciting.
And so, he's a true freshman that can maybe help that pass rush.
Because it's hard to say because of the rules.
And they definitely don't want the quarterbacks getting hit and getting hurt in the spring.
So, the one thing I'll say, it's not really, you know, bad or ugly.
You still wonder how good the pass rush is going to be.
You haven't seen a ton of it.
So, you know, who's going to, you know, LTO has got to be replaced.
But I think, you know, Yonsei Pierre certainly this spring, he seemed to have a good one.
He stayed healthy.
And I think also that defensive line, the money they spent.
Bingley Jones started at Nose, and I thought he looked really good.
But, of course, he should.
He's 24, 25 years old, and he'll probably get a Social Security check before he leaves.
But he's an older guy, and so you spend your money, you bring him in from the portal.
You also got Terrence Green in there, who's another one that will be on the interior of that line.
And then Devin Tompkins, I think he's another guy that's going to help you.
So, they look much bigger and more physical up front.
And then that's not to mention, you know, Jeremiah Beeman will be back.
He's having the injury and London Simmons.
So, I think they've got a chance to have some depth along that defensive line and be more physical.
But I do think the mobility at the quarterback spot, Keelan Russell, can bring, will help the offensive line in their protection.
And he also seems to throw the ball well on the move and do a nice job.
And I think also now, with the wide receiver room, and you know you're not going to be without Noah Rogers,
they may get guys like Marshall Pritchett more involved in the passing, like a jumbo flex tight end
that could help that wide receiver core, where guys like Rico Scott, Sedarian Morgan, and Derek Meadows stepped up on Saturday.
Absolutely.
Well, the next time we talk with you, I would imagine we'll have more clarity with transfer portal dudes coming in for Nate Oates.
Brandon Garrison from Kentucky is in the house, and I know they're looking at others.
Demaryon Davis Fleming from Mississippi State visited yesterday, and they've got some others who are looking to come in.
D2, where can we get online and listen to you and Scott's expanded radio program?
Yeah, if you guys want to listen to Talking Ball, we had a great conversation with the legendary James Willis,
who went into the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame this year.
You know, and one question I've always wanted to ask James, and I did, and we got a great response from him,
is that he's the only player that I ever saw in three years that hit David Palmer Square.
And because David Palmer, as you guys know, growing up in Alabama, as I did, and you guys covered the team,
he was a guy that was very, very hard to catch.
And James caught him square in the 91 Iron Bowl, and yet David popped right back up.
But we got a chance to talk with him.
That was a great conversation.
And Jalen Alexander, the new Mr. Basketball in our state who put on the show at the Huntsville City Classic.
And if you want to catch any of that, you can join us 7 to 10 a.m.
If you miss anything, you can go to our SoundCloud page, which is ESPN 97.7 The Zone,
or you can go to 9770ESPN.com, and you can follow us on X at 9770ESPN.
And we always appreciate being on with you guys in the shows.
And it looks like we're going to have a shot clock in high school basketball.
Praise the Lord.
Some breaking news.
I guarantee you're going to expand on that.
In the meantime, Drew, listen, man,
speaking of time, thanks for your time, Dan.
Keep up the good work, okay?
I appreciate it, guys.
Thank you, buddy.
Drew, I'm going to win this host of Talking Ball.
BB, are you ready for some Braves baseball tonight?
Yeah, they got another game with the Marlins.
Big night last night.
Again, 800 consecutive games played by Matt.
And Inglasius had his 100 save.
So, a lot of milestones last night for the Braves.
Yeah.
Got game two tonight with the Marlins.
And with a two-game lead over the Marlins, you've got a lot to pitch in matchup.
Elder, the ERA, 102, paddock for the Marlins.
6-1-4.
I hope it goes by script tonight for the Braves to increase that lead to three.
You can hear it right here on 93.9 The Score.
It's going to take care of business for now.
On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here.
Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two for the Boomo Bugg Show.
Back here on Sports Radio from 93.9 The Score.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.