Boomo Bugg Show 092226
93.9 The Score WYTK - September 22, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-092226/

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 in to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in.
Where?
Welcome to fall, y'all.
It's day one.
Plus, Brian Grubb uttering those words that every husband eventually utters to his wife.
I'm sorry.
Good afternoon, Brett Beaird.
Welcome in.
Have you ever done that, my friend?
I lost count how many times that I've done that in my lifetime.
Happy Tuesday to you and the listeners.
Andrea Adelson of ESPN gives her firsthand view of Alabama and Florida State.
Las Vegas insider Bruce Marshall previews the greatest schedule in SEC history coming Saturday.
But first, Roger is here to recap an amazing day at Bryant-Denny Stadium before he heads to the Tennessee Valley tonight.
Wow, Mr. Lightning and Thunder himself, literally Roger Hoover on the Crimson Tide Network.
Roger, welcome in.
Did your golden voice ignite all that bad weather this past weekend?
How are you?
I'm doing really well.
I don't think so.
I was behaving very well on Saturday.
And then all of a sudden, I was getting ready to say hello to Brett and the rest of the press box.
And I got a summon back to the booth, back to the airwaves, still for another hour and a half.
Wow.
Roger, has anyone asked you about this team, their three games, kind of the strategy?
It was summed up, I think, pretty well yesterday by one of our guests.
They said if Alabama played in the second half every game like they played in the first three, they'd be a top five team.
It's that first half that's a head scratcher.
You thought, I don't know if you know Redfish Barger, former Alabama offensive lineman.
His quote was, I don't give a quap, quap, quap how they begin.
It's how they end.
But, Roger, it is an interesting strategy so far, is it not?
Yeah, that's far more eloquent than I could ever do.
Yep, yep.
I totally agree.
It's been some interesting starts.
And I think for the first time, you know, the defense, even though Kentucky scored some points, Alabama's offense mostly helped them get that first half lead against the Crens and Tide as opposed to the defense.
But this group just, for whatever reason, gave up some big plays to Florida State.
And they have some big-time playmakers on that side of the ball, like Ashton Daniels, the quarterback.
Deuce Robinson certainly had a huge game and wide receiver for the Noles.
So, you know, for the defense, first time that they've really faced some adversity this season.
And I think what gets lost in the shuffle of how well the offense kind of bounced back with 2.36 to go in the second quarter and all of a sudden started scoring all the points.
And Alabama has the lead going into the quote-unquote halftime.
The defense got a very key three and out during that stretch.
So, even though that was not Alabama's best thing defensively, there was still a lot of winning plays made by that defense.
And three interceptions against an experienced quarterback I'll take any day.
Roger, the thing we heard all summer was, can Alabama run the dadgum ball?
Well, week one, they ran for .227.
Week two, they ran for .155 yards.
Week three, they ran for .247 yards.
They have 11 rushing touchdowns in three games.
That is most in the SEC.
Roger, yes, they can run the dadgum ball.
Yes, and we're still not even at full strength.
We still haven't seen A.J. Deer, who was doing so well with three-season work before he was injured.
And I love the fact that Alabama's going to have to be very strategic.
I think that Terry's moving forward.
And it's nice to hear as well that E.J. Crowell, Daniel Hill, should be just fine.
They're getting a little banged up against Florida State.
So, the running game is really good.
And even Treshawn Brown looks like he can handle all the load.
He had gone his shoulders alone in the fourth quarter.
So, I think that's a really good sign.
I think this offensive line had one of its better days this past fall game.
Because, not only did he run the ball with authority, he and Russell got to operate out of a very clean pocket all throughout that moment.
Yeah.
Roger, Hoover and Huddle with us.
Roger, it's interesting you say that because at the top of the show, I'm sure you heard a little story about Ryan Grubb, the offensive coordinator.
Basically, to paraphrase what the reports was, when they had the delay went into the locker room.
And I won't use exactly his English.
Basically saying that if you listened to the fans, we would not have, well, I won't use the word.
But anyway, he kind of was perceived that he was coming down on the fans.
Since then, Ryan Grubb said, well, maybe I need to apologize for that.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
It's a tough job, but Alabama's a tough job itself.
Oh, it certainly is.
And look, you know, I think there were a few things that you just kind of go, oh, kind of why go there?
Why should the fans be there?
Why should Ryan Grubb be talking about the fans?
I think all of that kind of works together over the course of this kind of mini story that hopefully will be very much in the rearview mirror
by the time we get to Saturday and talk about Alabama and South Carolina.
But look, it's a passionate fan base, it's a passionate coaching staff, passionate players that all want to do well.
And man, I'm glad that we're able to have these kind of talks that after scoring 50 points and everybody's frustrated, we're not scoring 63.
I think maybe that is a good sign that this team is as hungry and as locked in as the fan base is.
Roger, we were talking about the running game.
Let me add, one of the reasons for the success of the running game is the blocking by the tight ends.
Caleb Edwards, Marshall Pritchett, Lindsey, Ford.
It wasn't that four-yard student body right that E.J. Crowell scored on in that four-yard run with three tight ends in front of him.
By the way, the tight ends caught four passes, one for a touchdown.
They have been a revelation the first three games of the season.
Absolutely.
And I think it goes to show that, you know, even while there were young guys playing last year, Marshall Pritchett and Caleb Edwards,
look how much they've improved from that year to the next.
And, you know, maybe that's part of kind of the huge plan that Caleb DeBoer had for that unit, even going into last season,
knowing there's maybe some growing pains along the way.
I mean, it's all paying off right now.
And Josh Ford, essentially, I think they should just list him as a different position as opposed to tight end.
Extra offensive linemen, offensive weapons, something else.
I mean, or just put blocker on him.
I mean, he is just a people mover when he gets moving down the field.
And it's been a lot of fun to see that group improve as the season's gone along.
And that was another coaching change we had going from last year to this year with a new tight end coach.
And they have responded to Coach Allen's teachings very well.
Roger, your thoughts about the wide receiver room today?
Obviously, like you said, they've done quite well.
And Noel Rogers has been wiped the sideline.
It looks like he's coming back.
But I think two things along this, in the last couple of games, RCW has not dropped the ball.
And what does Cedarian Morgan do for an encore?
His first catch as a true freshman goes for a touchdown.
And that wasn't a give-me-catch.
I think he lived up to his hype.
When you can catch the ball, I call them with baseball hands, in traffic, when you're contested,
and then do the yak the yards after the catch.
That was pretty impressive by the young man.
It really wasn't.
I don't even know if he got back on the field the rest of the game.
You're right.
He's a dynamic playmaker.
And that was fun to see.
And it's great to add in Noel Rogers to this mix.
And look, I think from what we've seen from the top three wide receiver options,
last year Brooks, as well as Rico Scott and Ryan Coleman-Williams,
I think on their own, they can handle the load pretty well once we get to the toughest stretch of our season.
But to have the kind of depth that can rotate in there, I think is really, really good.
The speed is excellent.
That's the main thing.
I think even in the last few years, you've seen a few more kind of tall, possession-type receivers,
red zone kind of specialists.
Not the case this year.
I mean, all three of our top options, plus some of the guys coming off the bench,
can all do a lot of different things.
And I think that's why you're about to see this offense really take off.
Let me ask you about South Carolina.
It's a team that Alabama struggled with.
Two years ago in Tuscaloosa, they had to hold on.
South Carolina recovered an on-side kick, and the defense stood up.
Last year, Alabama had to come back.
Ty Simpson led them in the last two minutes to come back.
And they've got some very good players.
Lenore Sellers, a quarterback.
Peek, a tremendous offensive lineman.
Nick Harber, and they've also got three Alabama players.
Sean Murphy is one of them.
Roger, your thoughts about what I think is an underrated South Carolina team.
I think underrated is a good word and maybe just a bit underachieving over the last two years
for the Gamecocks compared to a good season they had right on the cusp of the college football
playoff when they challenged Alabama and Tuscaloosa back in 2024.
Last season, with a good roster, they had some just head-scratching losses
and probably at the top of the list is their loss to Alabama.
That was a game that, in so many ways, South Carolina should have won.
So, for whatever reason, they are having a very tough time holding on to a lead.
We saw that against Mississippi State and just playing very inconsistent at times.
And you just hope that this is not the week they start to figure things out.
Morris Sellers returns to the form that he had as one of the best freshmen in the entire nation.
So, it's a puzzling thing because when you look at their roster
and you look at their recruiting rankings or transfer rankings,
I mean, this is one of the more talented rosters would be in the upper half of the SEC,
no question about it.
But the results have not matched their talent over the last year and a half.
And, again, Alabama's going to have to play its best game,
making sure that those things don't reverse themselves coming up this weekend.
You know, Roger, I was thinking about the old James Taylor song.
You've got a friend.
When you're down, you're out and all that stuff.
Who was down and out more than Conor Talty last year?
Got booed by the home fans in Tuscaloosa.
And this past week, he picks up the NCC Special Team Player of the Week Award.
It's a lesson for everyone who gets what the other song is.
I get knocked down, but I get up again.
Shout out to Conor Talty.
Yeah, he was tremendous.
You know, he's been great all season long.
And I think, you know, he's somebody that responded to a challenge.
And I don't know if we necessarily think about that with the kickers.
But he took the competition, working Quinn extremely well
and provided some really good results.
And I think working Quinn has been excellent in his goal in kickoffs.
I mean, nearly everything has touched back to this point this season.
So to go into these games at the moment,
and, again, everything can change with kickers in a heartbeat,
but to not be as concerned about special teams is a far cry from where we were a year ago
with the same field goal kicker.
I mean, that's remarkable to have that kind of turnaround.
Usually those things do not happen.
So, yeah, give him a ton of credit.
He's from Chicago.
He's tough.
And I think he's brought that second blue collar attitude to the third of the media.
Listen, don't worry about eating a lot for lunch
because once you get to Greenbrier tonight,
the Hush Puppies, Catfish Barbecue could fill up the incredible hug.
A lot of people really looking forward to listening to you,
meeting you tonight at Greenbrier.
That starts at 6 o'clock.
I think there's going to be a very good crowd there.
Tell us about your week.
I know Bray Hubbard is one of your Crimson Drive guests.
And then, of course, the big broadcast on Saturday minus lightning delays.
Thank you, God.
Roger, tell us about Roger Hoover's week.
Yeah, I'm going to be heading the road in a little bit
to see you guys coming up later tonight at the Greenbrier.
We're looking very much forward to that.
I really appreciate Freddie Kirby, the invitation I received a while ago.
I'm just excited to get back to one of my favorite parts of the state.
So, I'm looking forward to that tonight.
As you mentioned, Crimson Drive with Bray Hubbard.
Today, Red Morgan will be my guest coming up on Thursday's show at 2 o'clock.
So, those interviews you can find on the Alabama Insider Podcast, the CTSN YouTube page.
And then, yes, we'll be starting at 3 o'clock and hopefully be done in a reasonable hour coming up on Saturday.
I really am looking forward to all the ranked matchups this week
and actually be able to watch some of the early window.
I feel like I didn't see anything last week.
I know.
Outside of just an empty field and save and field.
And then the game Alabama played against Florida State.
Otherwise, I'm just looking at an empty field, looking at the clouds,
and then looking across the booth to James Spann to have a matchup.
Yep.
You've got to bring it.
Hey, if your GPS tears up tonight, just goes north on 65, go east on I-65, that exit,
go to the water tank, and follow your nose.
That's it.
And you'll find Greenbrier.
That sounds good.
Thank you so much.
Just in case the GPS.
Thank you, baby.
Safe travels to you.
The Roger, Roger Hoover, Crimson Tide Sports Network.
Her network is ESPN.
Double A next.
Stay with us.
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Coach, you know, I heard a little rumor that you were in the locker room giving old me some pep talk before the game.
He said it.
Home Fun Gone, weekdays at 3 Eastern on the ESPN app and the SEC Network.
The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in, Brad.
I just need to clear up something here, just brought up the top here.
Is it true that when we're blessed enough to have Andrea Adelson in the Yellowhammer State,
if a game starts at 2.30, it stretches out to at least 8.30 or 9.30?
Is that, can you confirm that?
I can confirm that.
I can confirm something else.
She was also deserves Mother of the Year award.
Again.
While we were talking during the one hour and 40 minute lightning delay,
she was watching her daughter, I believe it was Annabelle, play soccer.
And she got a little ding, but listen, she's like her mother.
She's tough.
You know, just rub some dirt on it and get up and keep playing.
Yeah, there you go.
Andrea Adelson hooking up with us from ESPN and Motherhood.
Andrea, welcome in and welcome back home from your visit to the state of Alabama.
How was it?
Appreciate y'all fellas.
It was great because I get to see Brett and he saw me rooting on little AA.
And yeah, she did rub some dirt on it and she was player of the match.
So, hey, you know, I was bragging the time for me.
There you go.
Just a chip off the old block there.
Andrea, good for that.
Obviously, first of all, good to see you.
I didn't get a chance to see you, but Brett did.
So, you got the better half there.
I guarantee you that.
But now that the outcome is in the house, let's start with the perspective of Florida State.
I see different reports.
A lot of people are surprised.
The thing that surprised me is how Florida State came out with her hair on fire,
made Alabama come back, take the rally route.
But where do you start in breaking it down?
Oh, man, that's a great question.
I was a little surprised at the emphasis Florida State put on the passing game right out of the gate.
And they obviously had an open date to prepare for this.
And there were a lot of questions about why they were not getting the ball to Deuce Robinson in their first two games.
So, it made sense that this was going to be a priority for them in this game.
And what surprised me was the ease with which Florida State was able to get some of those pass plays.
Because nothing came easy for them in the first two weeks of the year, including New Mexico State fellas.
And now they're facing what was supposed to be one of the best defenses in the country.
And they were able to get some yards.
And while Ashton Daniels made some mistakes, I was impressed by his ability to get the ball down the field.
They were able to target Deuce in the ways that they wanted.
He made some big catches.
It was his first 100-yard game of the season.
So, that, to me, was the biggest surprise of the game.
Some of the folks I was talking to in the press box, I was like, ah, I mean, Florida State can't throw the ball.
Then suddenly they're throwing the ball all over the field.
And I'm like, well, way to make me look bad, guys.
So, I guess that was the first part of it was maybe that caught Alabama by surprise, quite frankly, because they hadn't seen a lot of that on tape.
And maybe they weren't expecting it.
Obviously, they made adjustments on the second lightning delay that helped them kind of win the game.
But that, to me, was the biggest takeaway.
It feels like there's a lot this defense needs to work on because this isn't close to the best passing attack they're going to be facing this year.
Double-A, they do have some players.
Look, everybody's well aware of their, you know, his, I think he's, what, 7-19 now in his last 26 games.
But I'm like you, Dix Robinson's a first-round draft choice.
Danzie is a good receiver.
The running back, Croma, is probably a first or second round, probably second round.
In the NFL, their linebackers were quick.
They've got some defensive linemen.
This team does not lack for talent.
No, it doesn't.
And I think that's one of the biggest frustrations with the Florida State fan base is they did go out and spend more money on this roster than they had in the past.
They believe they have talent.
And then you go out and you watch the team not play up to its capability.
And certainly, like, jumping out to a 21-6 lead is playing up to your capability.
But if you score 36 points on Bama, on the road, you should be able to win the game.
The fact that they gave up 50 and just made it look as if they were either out of position, not communicating well, being out-schemed.
I mean, there were five straight drives of touchdowns, which Alabama didn't really face much resistance from Florida State defense that did spend money on guys.
I mean, you talk about the DeSere twins, they were on their way out to Ohio State.
Florida State ponied up more money to keep them.
You look at Ryland Kennedy, who they got from A&M.
Chris Jones from Southern Miss.
You mentioned the linebackers.
Some of the help that they brought in in the secondary.
And they're not really playing the way that we were told in the preseason that they were going to play.
And so that, to me, is the hardest thing to watch about this team is you see the talent.
But they're not on the same page.
They're not seeing it all together.
And it leads to situations like this one in which they had the lead, they were playing well on offense, but the defense couldn't quite get their act together.
And it ends up in the score that we end up seeing as the final.
The other week against SMU, the defense was playing great.
They forced four turnovers.
And yet the offense couldn't get it together, right?
So it's a team that's not on the same page right now.
And I think that's the frustrating thing for the Florida State fan base is that you see the talent.
It's just that they're not putting it all together.
Double A, ESPN.
Andrew, your impressions of Alabama after the first three games?
Where do I even start?
You know, it feels like it's been a roller coaster and this team is 3-0, right?
I mean, you've got the incredible highs where, as I just mentioned with Florida State, you see the talent.
You see the potential.
You see what Keelan Russell can do.
You see flashes of what the defense can do.
And there's other times where you watch it and you're like, is that Bama that I'm watching?
Who's that?
You know, a bottom-tier SEC team, right?
It also feels very disjointed.
It doesn't feel like it's a consistent effort right now on both sides of the ball.
Obviously, they're 3-0, right?
So we can sit here and be very nitpicky, which is what Alabama fans like to do, right?
You have that luxury of being 3-0.
And you can kind of point at all the little things that you don't like.
And I know their D.C. had to come out and apologize yesterday because he was upset about the fans booing.
Look, if I'm the fans and I'm watching that first-half defensive performance, I'm pretty upset, too, fellas, right?
Because you're not necessarily expecting what Florida State was bringing to the table.
So I get where the Bama fans are coming from because this doesn't feel like a team.
You see the talent.
Again, it's the same thing with Florida State.
You see the talent, but it doesn't really feel like a team that's quite put it all together yet.
And certainly, it's only three games in.
There are some flashes.
I mean, Crowell looks fantastic.
I mean, that's a guy that you want to kind of build the offense around, right?
And you see all of the recruiting hype and why it was.
We saw that in this game.
Obviously, we saw some of those runs from Hill that were fantastic.
You can see what Keelan can do.
But it feels like this team is a complete work in progress right now.
And they're going to have to get it together fairly quickly because it's not like there's
any gimme's on the schedule, fellas.
Double A, one team that does appear to have it together are your Gators.
They just mauled Auburn at the line of scrimmage.
I'm going to guess Florida alums like you and fans are more than a little excited about
Jon Sumrall's Gators.
I was having this conversation with my husband last night because I found this little graphic
that someone had put out there.
And it's Idris Elba wearing a Gator hat and the tagline, I want you to put the word out
that we back up.
Because that's what it feels like from the Gator fan perspective, right?
We back up.
And so he said to me, do you think Florida has a chance to beat Ole Miss?
And I like vigorously nodded my head yes.
And he was like, why are you saying that?
Because you're a Gator graduate?
And I vigorously nodded my head yes.
Look, here's the thing, fellas.
Here's why I'm encouraged.
And whether they beat Ole Miss or not, you know, it's kind of like besides the point.
This is a team that is easy to root for because they are doing all of the things that Gator
fans love to see.
Number one, scoring.
Number two, prolific offense.
I guess that goes hand in hand.
Number three, dazzling skill players.
It all goes hand in hand, guys.
But when you've got an offense that is this fun to watch, the Gator fans will take the defense
giving up a bunch of big pass plays, which obviously would be problematic against Ole Miss.
Let's cut that aside for a second, right?
But if you're a Gator fan, the number one thing you want to see is a competent offense.
And that's exactly what Florida has this year.
And, you know, the hard thing to kind of stomach with the Billy Napier era,
these guys were on the team last year.
Jaden Ball was on the team last year.
Vernell Brown, Dallas Wilson, all of these guys, right?
It's just that Billy was calling boring, terrible games.
Let's be honest about it, fellas.
Now you've got a play caller from Georgia Tech who obviously, you know, started out at Georgia.
He knows what he's doing on offense.
Look at the difference in the Georgia Tech offense this year.
They're bad.
Florida went from bad to good.
And Buster Faulkner is the one who's got, you know, the keys to all of it.
So Jaden Ball, to me, has been so dynamic, so fun to watch.
And he is the key to make everything go.
We're not even talking about the quarterback, fellas.
I mean, Philo's been fine.
But you don't have to be dynamic at quarterback when you've got these playmakers
with capability of doing what these guys on offense are doing.
They've blocked it up nicely up front.
That's what encourages me.
And why do I think Florida has a chance to win this game?
Trinidad Chambliss is going to make plays on this defense, right?
There are flaws in that secondary.
We saw it from the beginning of Florida Atlantic.
They gave up way too many passing yards in that game.
They obviously did against Auburn as well late in the game.
You know, Byron Brown made some key throws.
Ole Miss, the thing to me, and you guys know this better than anyone,
when you have an emotional game and an emotional victory that they just had,
and now you have to turn around and go on the road to one of the harder places to play.
When Florida is playing well, the Swamp is a very difficult place
for the opponents to come in and win.
I wonder about the emotional letdown that Ole Miss could potentially have in this game.
Florida's riding high.
They're feeling good about themselves.
The fan base is feeling great.
It is going to be loud.
It is going to be raucous.
It is going to be an incredible atmosphere in this game.
I will be there.
I'm excited to see it, and it makes sense to me why Florida is the favorite going into this game.
It might not make sense to others, but it makes sense to me when you combine the game Ole Miss is coming off of
and the way that Florida is playing right now.
Great point.
No, I'm like you.
I think Jane Bo and Trinidad Channel are the two best players in the SEC right now after three games.
Listen, it was so great to see you again.
You know you're a favorite of ours, and we're proud of everything you've been able to accomplish at ESPN.
Listen, have a great week.
I know you're looking forward to getting back to Gainesville again.
Where can we get online and get all of your great stuff?
Well, appreciate that, fellas.
The feeling is mutual.
It was so great to see you and give you a hug in the press box.
You've got to get Harold back in there next time around.
But for folks who are paying attention, ESPN.com, click on the college football page.
You've got a lot of great stuff.
And inside access this week on ACC Network for folks who want to tune in.
Manny Diaz is our guest.
Duke is 3-0.
They play William and Mary.
If they get to 4-0, this will be, I think, their third start in the last four years at 4-0.
And that's something that hasn't happened since like the 1930s.
So people sleeping on Duke.
They're the reigning ACC champs.
And Manny's got them rolling this year with their own running back who's pretty good in Nate Shepard.
Double-A-I-Echo Bread Sentiments.
It's good that we back up with you.
Let's do it again soon, okay?
Yeah, absolutely, fellas.
We on the back up.
Thank you, dear.
We back up.
I still waiting for that little noise.
You know, when you go to the store and that thing's backing up.
You're like, doot, doot, doot.
Still waiting for that.
She mentioned that Florida is a favorite.
Let's go to where they set those lines.
Las Vegas and Bruce Marshall next.
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After a day of yesterday, the Atlanta Braves are back in action tonight at home.
The Braves take on the Cincinnati Reds.
J.R. Ritchie will start for Atlanta.
He's 1-3 with an ERA north of 5.
The Braves are 92-64.
Week 2 in the NFL got wrapped up last night in L.A.
The Rams beat the Giants 28-6.
Jackson Dart, the Giants quarterback, left the game with a knee injury.
Coming up this week, the Atlanta Falcons are back in action.
Falcons will play on Thursday in Green Bay as they take on the Packers.
The Falcons announced yesterday that Michael Penix will make his season debut and get the start at quarterback in the matchup with Green Bay.
The Falcons are off to an 0-2 start.
Here are the Braves in action tonight as they take on the Reds.
First pitch at 6-15.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
Let's go to the hub of the college.
NFL Sporting World when it comes to the game.
That's called Las Vegas.
Where the king is Bruce Marshall.
He's visiting our Las Vegas Insider for the gold sheet.
Winners and whiners.
Picks and parlays.
And many more.
Bruce Marshall, welcome in.
How are you?
I am really good.
And I am really happy.
I saw this weekend the Tennessee Titans, of all teams, run a full house backfield in the short yardage.
That's the first time I've seen that this year.
I'm so tired of these direct snaps back to the quarterbacks in 31.
You know, but that was kind of refreshing.
One other quick note, and just to mention this.
Remember a few years ago, colleges talk about speeding up the games that were in the TV window and all that.
And now you don't stop the clock after every first down.
Well, how come the games are going 15, 20 minutes longer now?
I mean, none of these games are fitting in three hours.
I mean, you know, 3.30, 3.40.
It's the review process.
Thank you.
I mean, maybe I'm spoiled watching Major League Baseball, but every time you challenge a play to get the camera out there
and set it up and put the headphone on the ref and then he takes a couple minutes looking at it.
I mean, you're picking up every one of those takes three, four minutes at least.
And then the games are just way longer.
I mean, call up Rob Manfred, figure out how to do this a little bit quicker because it's just throwing these games down too much.
I think you bring up a good point.
I think some of these officials, they like it.
I get worried when I see they've gone to the gym, worked out all week, get a shirt that's too small,
sew their pecs with shine, they get a pedicure, a manicure.
I think sometimes they like that FaceTime.
I'm not sure, but it's crazy.
I totally agree with you.
But you know, the thing is, Bruce, a mutual friend is going to be on the show with us tomorrow.
Brett Norsworthy, and I think Brett's going to bring it when it comes to this question.
I know the NFL is great.
It's good for business.
But when it comes to passion, is there anything like college football?
And if anything indicates that better, what was on a 1-10 scale or more of the atmosphere at Oxford this past weekend for the Lane show?
Well, I was 11 on a scale of 1-10.
I mean, it was, I mean, you compare it to the NFL games, you can't compare it.
But that's it that way, a lot.
And, you know, we'll talk about some of these games this week.
I mean, I can't wait.
I mean, what's Knoxville going to be like on Saturday when Texas comes in?
You know, and LSU's going to be popping with A&M coming in.
So, it is.
The atmospheres are great.
I just wish they'd move these games one a little bit more because these reviews are taking too long.
Mm-hmm.
Let me ask you about Ole Miss at Florida.
Florida had a very impressive win over Auburn.
In fact, they made the game, Auburn made the game closer at the end.
But Florida really won the line of scrimmage.
Jaden Ball right now, second in FBS with 458 yards.
Ole Miss had such an emotional win.
I wonder if they may be a little drained going to the swamp.
But they better be ready.
But I'll tell you one thing, two of the best players in the country, Jane Ball, Trinidad Chambliss, are going to have a showcase here.
Florida is right now, I believe, a three-and-a-half-point favorite.
Your thoughts?
Yeah, it looks like they're not giving Ole Miss a lot of respect here.
Even Jon Sumrall was saying, wait a minute.
I mean, this team with that great quarterback, they're an underdog here.
But that's what he was supposed to say.
No, I mean, Florida fans are saying, why didn't we make a hire like this a few years ago?
Because, you know, Sumrall's proven what he should do.
Bringing Buster Faulkner in to coordinate this offense from Georgia Tech has also been a stroke of genius.
Because you can tell, very creative.
He keeps the teams off balance.
His running backs really moved at Georgia Tech, too.
And you can tell Jaden Ball, he is having so much fun calling plays for this guy.
And he could be in the Heisman race, too.
I mean, I think he's the best running back in the country.
Fowler's been very good at quarterback.
I mean, they have been just whipping the ball all around the field.
He's getting the ball downfield, too, which is good.
And, yeah, that scored a little closer than it should have been probably at the end.
What I don't know, I'm a little bit leery to underestimate Ole Miss, though, just because
Chambliss is so good.
Listen, Florida, that was an emotional game for Florida, too, going into Auburn.
You know, they were all out last week, too.
So I'm not sure about the letdown thing.
Here's the overarching thing in the SEC for me, and we'll talk about this in some of these
other games, too.
Now that there are nine conference games, you are doing, getting to six and three is actually
really good in this league.
And there's going to be some really good teams at six and three in the league.
There'll be some good teams at five and four.
And toward the end, toward end of November, December, you're going to hear some complaining
that those teams with three losses might be on the outside of the playoff thing.
And they will blame the extra conference game.
There's just no soft touches except Arkansas, I think, in this league.
And, you know, every week there's just a minefield.
So this one looks kind of tough to me.
I wouldn't go against Ole Miss yet.
I'm not saying I like the Rebels, but it looks like they're being downgraded a bit too
much for that.
The letdown thing, they've built that into the price here, and oddsmakers usually don't
do that, but they have this week.
Bruce Marshall, Gold Sheet, amongst other places.
Quickly, let's follow up from the Florida game on the other side.
You know, it's just natural.
Whoever won that game, the other fan base say, I told you we should have got that coach.
Your thoughts as far as what Auburn did to meet or not meet your expectations to the point?
Yeah, I think they're going to be a little bit disappointed, Auburn.
You know, the Baylor game was not smooth for sure, and then that was one they really wanted
to win last week.
You get one at home like that.
So they've been a little bit of a disappointment here.
And, again, I want to be careful about that because, I mean, Florida might be really good,
and Auburn's going to have a chance to put up some things here.
Byron Brown, though, has been okay but not great yet.
He hasn't quite looked like he has at South Florida.
He's thrown a few too many picks.
He's running but not quite like we saw him run at South Florida.
So they're having a little trouble getting this off.
I know they scored some points late in that game, but Brown hasn't quite clicked yet.
And I think, you know, here's the next.
Listen, Auburn has got this schedule stretch coming up.
I mean, Vanderbilt's not going to be an easy one.
Then you've got Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss in a row.
They've got to figure this out really quick.
Or, you know, they could take some losses here.
So I think this is a very crucial bounce-back game this week.
Let's see if they can get the offense in gear because that's why they hired Goalish.
And so far I think they're a little disappointed it's early yet,
but they wanted to be 3-0 hitting this stretch coming up here,
and they've already got that one loss.
Five top 25 ranked matchups this weekend.
Of course, you alluded to one earlier, Texas.
At Tennessee, the Longhorns, a 3.5-point favorite.
Deshaun Bishop, Tennessee's really running the ball well.
Well, people don't understand.
That's one of the misconceptions of Josh Heupel.
But Deshaun Bishop had a hip injury, according to our sources.
Be curious to see how that goes.
Arch Manning, how does he handle the atmosphere in Knoxville, Texas?
3.5-point favorite.
Bruce, did they win in cover?
I don't think so.
And I might be getting a little ahead of myself with Tennessee here,
but I'm also going back to last year.
Maybe I shouldn't do that with Texas.
But when they went out as a visitor last year, yeah, the first game at Ohio State,
it was Ohio State, so I don't want to go out for that.
But they lost in Florida, and Florida kept Napier on the job a couple more weeks last year.
They got boat raced to Georgia in November.
I mean, they went over time, you know, at Mississippi State and Kentucky.
They really struggled away from Austin last year in the SEC, and it's kind of been that way.
You know, it was that way.
You know, the schedule also broke much easier for Texas its first couple of years in the SEC
than it did, than it's doing this year.
This is a much tougher schedule for Texas, and it'll come up this week.
We'll really get another test of this in the SEC.
I want to see Faison Brandon against a real team.
Tennessee hasn't played much yet, but Heupel, the move to put him in there
and not go with McIntyre, I think that's brilliant.
You know, the upside was so much more with Brandon.
You're right.
They can run the ball.
We'd like to see Bishop in there if you're a Tennessee fan, but I think they can run.
Heupel's offense, you know, it's not just pitching the ball all around the yard.
I mean, they run tempo and they run the ball, too.
It's kind of like, you know, it's not too different than Lane's offense that he runs at LSU.
I think Tennessee can get them here.
The Georgia Tech game really impressed me because I don't think Georgia Tech's as bad
as it looked against Colorado.
They can do a few things, but once Tennessee got going in that game, I mean, they really took charge,
and I think that might work well this week.
I'm going to give the Vols a shot.
The wisdom of Bruce Marshall, the goal sheet.
Bruce, Florida State threw for almost 400 yards on what was considered to be one of the best,
if not the best, second tier in the country.
Alabama came back, and after basically slow starting, they scored on nine straight possessions,
and now they're facing another pretty good quarterback.
They've got the home cooking.
Your thoughts on Bama and Carolina?
Yeah.
By the way, there were some Florida State fans cursing Bama for a while last week,
saying, you know, you guys are making us keep Mike Norvell longer than we should.
Remember last year's game and then they're missing.
That's right.
And then it fell into character.
Hot seat, you know, I'm not sure Shane Beamer's off of it yet either at South Carolina.
That was a tough loss last week at Mississippi State.
Impressed.
Two years ago, they came into Tuscaloosa and were a two-point conversion away from forcing
overtime, and that's where we really got the idea that that South Carolina team was something special.
I don't know that Beamer has the sort of defense he had two years ago.
He certainly didn't last year.
But I think the offense should be better, and so far it's shown better with Norris,
who did not click with Mike Shula as the coordinator last year.
In fact, Beamer ended that experiment before the end of the season.
With Kendall Bryles, it seems a better fit.
I mean, they were out well ahead of Mississippi State last week,
and I don't know what happened in the middle portion of that game.
They just sort of lost their bearings and they came back late.
But Norris is a playmaker.
Alabama's defense has been giving up a little too much here.
And Keith and Russ and CBS will be able to pull games out.
I wouldn't want to – it's nearly a two-touchdown spread.
I think that's too much here.
Alabama's going to probably win, but I think South Carolina might keep it closer than that.
So I might take the game to the plus.
Let me ask you real quick before we let's go.
Texas A&M, but LSU, Kentucky, well, Texas A&M.
Marcel Reed did not play well.
I think both Reed and Levitt have combined for eight interceptions.
LSU, nine and a half at home in Baton Rouge.
Do they win in cover?
Something tells me they will because watching that game, I think they just ran into a super hot Ole Miss
and what Chambliss can do.
Listen, Marcel Reed has been disappointing us for it.
They didn't look good against Arizona State two weeks ago.
Very misleading score.
And they did not look good at all against Kentucky.
Kenny Minchie picked that secondary apart.
And this is supposed to be one of the strengths of Texas A&M.
It certainly was last year.
And Elko's defense, pass defense, particularly one of the best in that country.
Minchie was finding guys downfield open all game.
I still think there's a lot of upside with Levitt.
I get very entertained with him running.
He looks like Galway Hirsch running out of the pocket there.
He's going to get hurt at some point this year.
That's what I worry about.
He's running wild like that, but he's very exciting to watch.
And I think something is wrong at A&M right now.
I'm not sure what it is, but part of it is Reed looks like he's struggling a bit.
And I think A&M's in a little trouble.
Loser here, two losses, and the playoff hopes are almost out the window before we get out of September.
So it's crucial.
It's like a must-win.
I think I'd rather take LSU at home, and I'll go ahead and lay the points.
I think you're exactly right.
But quickly, you're under the radar game, and where can we get on line to get all the great stuff?
Watch this Iowa State.
Now, the number has come down a bit against Utah.
It was 10 1⁄2, 11 on Sunday.
It's like 7 1⁄2, 8 now.
They're playing at home.
This guy, Jimmy Rogers, this might be the best coaching hire in the country this past year.
He won a national title at South Dakota State at FCS a couple years ago.
He made Washington State very competitive.
He is a very, very good point spread coach.
And Iowa State darn near beat Iowa, which is a good team, two weeks ago.
They get Utah at home.
Utah has not played a road game yet.
They've played very beatable teams.
And now they've got to go in here and win this game.
I'm not sure they're even going to win.
Jalen Rayner transferred out of Arkansas State, really clicking at quarterback in the Rogers offense.
And they had a punt return and a kickoff return last week for scores.
Aiden Flora, big play running back.
The receivers are playing well.
Iowa State might upset Utah this week, so that's one I would look at.
Check us out online.
Hey, we had a pretty good weekend in college football.
Won all the picks.
And we're going to be back this week with some other good ones coming up, we think.
Plus NFL won our 5% release.
Two of them are we had the Bills and the Cowboys last week, so we'll have another one of those on Sunday.
Those are my picks up there at wagertalk.com.
You can also get the gold sheet up there tonight, and that's where you can also find winners and winers and picksandparlays.com.
It's going to be an interesting weekend.
I don't know what we're going to do after last weekend's show there in Oxford, but let's give it a shot.
Bruce, man, as always, thanks so much for your time today, and have a great week.
Okay, buddy?
Have a good week, gentlemen.
Thank you, bud.
Bruce Marshall going to be there amongst other places at the gold sheet.
Coming up, he's got it all covered down the heart of Florida.
What are they saying in Genderland and Seminoleland after the trip to Tuscaloosa?
Matt and Michelle on that.
Cole Peaston talking to Auburn Tigers.
And Ben Thomas got everything covered from the shoals to the shore.
It's all next.
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Get comfortable.
Football season is back at the carriage.
There are a few things we love more than a good Saturday in the South,
and football season is officially back at the carriage.
All season long, we'll have the games rolling with plenty of cold drinks,
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or the better part of the day.
Game day Saturdays get $5 craft drafts, $2 off wine slushies,
harafs of mimosas, and game day bites from the kitchen.
Stock up in our markets before kickoff with plenty of snacks, dips, cheeses,
something sweet, and all the good stuff for your game day spread.
Football season looks pretty good from the carriage on East Mobile Street
in historic downtown Florence.
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18-19 news.
Two doctors with ties to Alabama have signed on to an open letter that was sent to the
Trump administration regarding the mRNA vaccine technology.
Those who signed on to this letter are urging the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert
Kennedy Jr., to keep his campaign promise regarding the removal of mRNA vaccines from the market
due to the notable harm this new technology has caused in humans with the COVID-19 vaccine.
A letter from many leaders say that RFK Jr. failed to help those who have been harmed by
the mRNA vaccines and his policies are now failing to protect pregnant women and children.
Dr. Kenneth Varley, who's an anesthesiologist in Birmingham, and Dr. Benjamin Marble, a graduate
of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, who is now a Florida-based doctor,
signed on to this letter, along with U.S. Congressman Thomas Massey, Tucker Carlson, Brett Weinstein,
Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Mary Talley-Boden, and Stephen Kirsch.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
Brian Dawson here, CEO of 1819 News.
I'm also the host of 1819 News, the podcast, and we'd love for you to join us by listening
to our weekly show on all the top podcast apps, both in audio and video format.
At 1819 News, the podcast, we are in pursuit of a free and flourishing Alabama.
Every week, we're having important conversations with guests from across this great state,
all with the goal of equipping Alabamians to be in pursuit of a free and flourishing Alabama
with us.
New episodes are released weekly.
I hope you'll join us.
Two Alabama natives were quickly chosen by country singer Riley Green to be part of his
team on the Voice singing competition.
The NBC television series started its 30th season this past Monday with Caroline Alexis of
Ozark and Joe Henley of Grand Bay getting another Alabama native, such as Green, to be their
coach for the upcoming competition.
I'm Andrea Tice.
For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.
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Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
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Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9.
The Score.
Welcome back in, hour two 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 time for us to go from the shows to the shores of the state of Alabama.
And Ben Thomas checking in.
He's got everything covered between here and there when it comes to high school sports at al.com.
BT, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
And I maybe misheard the weather forecast, but I think they said mostly cooling off.
Yes, they did.
I think that's an old forecast, Ben.
We'll double check that, okay?
How's everything on your end of the state, my friend?
Are you ready to watch this, I guess, officially the second half of the regular season kicking off now?
Yeah, well, I'm ready for it to cool off.
Yeah.
That's for sure.
And I think we're getting there.
But, yeah, we're, well, we call it, as we know, we had this discussion last week.
We at al.com call it week six.
High School Association calls it week five because they have it week zero.
But, so, yeah, this is the official midway point of the season.
Hard to believe we're here already.
A lot of teams across the state idle this week, I think, in our power 25 of those 25 teams that were ranked, 16 of them.
Are not playing this week.
Probably the best matchup statewide is Viger going to Benjamin Russell, which is pretty intriguing.
A lot of prospects on the field, a lot of SEC, future SEC players on the field in that game.
But, you know, a lot of the other teams are not playing this week, the Thompson's of the world.
So, but, yeah, if you look back on the first half, you know, what's interesting to see what surprised us and what the storylines maybe were.
Thompson is number one in the power rankings.
Boy, that's a shock.
Trent Seaborn, Mr. Football, I know you mentioned, is he a lock?
We'll see.
Bobby Coleman at Central Phoenix City is having quite a year.
But it's been, no, I'm kind of like you.
We've got a lot of undefeated teams up here.
We'll get to that in just a minute.
Thompson, of course, but Fife.
Paul Benefield has got their steamrolling everybody, BT.
Plainview with the Pruitt boys, 300-game winner.
I know Laverne, some of the other teams.
St. Michael, of course, with Gunnar Rivers' injury, has not been.
Who are some of the teams that are doing well and not doing well so far?
Yeah, it's funny you said that about Fife.
I mean, you know, I talked to Paul Benefield this summer, and, you know, judging by what he said, I thought they might lose every game and be defeated by 40 points in every game.
But we know not to take all that to heart.
But, yeah, you know, if this is the last year for Coach Benefield, we hope it's not.
But if it is and there are indications that it is, he looks like he's got a chance to win another one.
Certainly so far, they've been good.
St. Michael, we do our little podcast now, myself and Randy Kennedy and Thomas Ashworth.
In fact, it just went up on AL.com.
If you want to check it out, it's about 10 or 15, 10 or 12 minutes each week.
But I think it's pretty humorous.
Anytime you get Randy Kennedy in there, it's going to be pretty humorous.
And we talked about our, you know, what our thoughts were, you know, what's the overwhelming thought on the first half of the season.
There's a bunch of them.
You mentioned a couple of them, Brett.
Certainly Thompson's domination and Tripp Seaborn's play so far is right up there.
I mean, you know, he's right now, if we had to vote on Mr. Football, I think he gets every vote.
We don't vote on it right now, and anything can happen in the second half.
But it's certainly looking like he's a good fit there.
You mentioned St. Michael.
That was my takeaway, the fact that Gunnar Rivers got hurt in the first quarter of the first game and hasn't been back since.
They had a great comeback win last week over St. Paul's where they scored two touchdowns, I think, in the final two minutes.
And Gunnar has not suited up.
He looks a little like he's moving a little bit better on the sidelines.
He's going to be back in the next couple of weeks, and as we've talked about, in that AA private division, they all make the playoffs.
So it's really just about seeding right now in the regular season.
So, you know, they could go, you know, two and eight or whatever and win the state championship.
Gunnar Rivers is back and healthy in the postseason.
So that's going to be fun to watch.
I wrote down some other teams.
I mean, obviously, you know, we talked about Thompson endlessly, but they've been great.
Maybe they're probably the most dominating team Mark Freeman's had there, and maybe, depending on how they finish, one of the state's best ever.
You know, a couple of surprises that I wrote down, I don't know if they're surprises, but Prattville and Hillcrest Tuscaloosa are really good.
Prattville looks like they might be the biggest contender, along with maybe Central Phoenix City to Thompson.
Those two play, Prattville and Thompson play in a couple of weeks, so that'll be interesting to see.
Hillcrest drops back down from 7A.
You know, they were in 7A last year, and they're now back in what we call 5A, which was 6A, if you can keep track of that.
And they look like a contender to get to the championship game.
They've run into Fairland a lot in the past and haven't been able to get past.
This might be the case when they do.
What about Briarwood Christian in that AA private school division?
They're looking really good.
And up y'all's way, I mean, we talked last week about Florence and Falcons 5-0.
I think they're one of the many teams that are idle this week.
And as you know, Brad, I picked it, Columbia, as one of my surprise teams.
Absolutely.
They've lost the last couple, but they did win the first two.
And I think they got a chance to win again this week against Grissom, a Grissom team that's really struggling.
So those are kind of the surprises.
I mean, kind of on the other side of the fence, Auburn is just 3-2, and they've given up 156 total points.
That's not like your normal Auburn team.
Grissom has been outscored 146-45.
And they're 0-4.
So those are just some off the top of my head and certainly up y'all's way.
I mean, we've talked about them, but, you know, Red Bay, 5-0.
You know, doing a great job there.
Hackleberg's 4-0.
And, of course, they've been good traditionally lately.
I think they were state runner-up just, what, a couple years ago.
They were, yes.
And then our buddy Brett Mask at Lexington.
Tremendous year.
5-0.
That's right.
I was looking back at it earlier.
I don't think they've been 5-0 since 1982.
44 years.
You're right, Ben.
44 years.
Yes.
The 80s was a great era.
Yes, it was.
That's the era I still like to live in.
But that's a long time.
So great job on Brett Mask.
Now they've got a lot of tough games.
A lot of these people we're talking about, their toughest schedule lies ahead with some tough games.
But great start so far by all those teams.
AL.com is the place to get that.
And a chance, if you can make his list of getting a certificate with his picture on it, it's called Ben's 10.
Ben, what's the latest 10?
I need to get y'all a special certificate.
You need to.
Yes, you do.
That's right.
If Thomas Ashworth does those for me, if he's listening, we're going to get special two more bugs certificates made.
But this week, yeah, so we do that every Monday morning.
It's my top 10 impact players from across the state from the week before.
This week, it's interesting.
We had four quarterbacks.
It seems like we're almost always going to have a couple of quarterbacks in there because those are the stats we traditionally get.
But on the other side, you mentioned Bobby Coleman, who at Central Phoenix City, a lot of our quarterbacks, especially in the higher class, have been overshadowed by what Seaborn's doing.
But, you know, Bobby Coleman last week, and they routed Auburn, their big rival.
He was 23 of 31 for a career-high 422 yards and four touchdowns.
He's a Georgia State commit, so he's been doing a great job.
We had Jaden Rice in that from Bob Jones, 38 rushes, 272 yards and three touchdowns, and their big win over Buckhorn.
So that was big.
And then I think St. Michael I mentioned, Braden Walton had an unbelievable game, 12 receptions, 178 yards and three touchdowns.
So each of those guys, as you mentioned, get their certificates that they can put on their dartboard or frame or send back to me and have me autographed, whatever they want to do.
But it's been fun to pick those out each week.
Yeah, you mentioned some of the Scholes team.
Central beat Elkmont 60-13.
They're 4-0.
Lucas Price has been running wild the entire year.
Mitch and Hackleberg, they beat Bell Green.
Maddox victory has had a really good year.
I'll tell you one thing, a team to look for a B.T. in the playoffs, Desler.
I've seen them twice.
They beat an undefeated Priceville team, 51-7.
Bryson Williams has been going wild, too.
Rodgers is undefeated at 4-0.
They beat Colbert Heights.
They host White-Sport Christian.
White-Sport Christian is coached by former Decatur coach Jerry Adcock.
His offensive coordinator is Kevin Rose, the former coach at Bob Jones.
And Wilson is 3-1 just in our area.
What else have you got?
You got your lousy picks on Thursday.
I know tomorrow is the five questions in Huntsville, Mobile, and Birmingham.
And then you've got previews of the games, obviously.
What else have you got on top this week?
Yeah, I also want to mention Muscle Shoals.
You know, the big 45-14 win over Hartzell.
Exactly.
I think I missed that one in my lousy picks.
I wasn't too stellar.
I think I'm not too stellar 14-6 this week.
But Carl Prather is doing a good job up there.
He's doing some good picks.
So, you did mention, Brett, our five things to know about this week's games.
This week, we're also doing mid-season awards, you know, most surprising teams and stuff like that.
That'll be a part of that five things to know that you'll have on Wednesday.
Randy Kennedy's best in Bama.
If you looked at that last week, you know that Trent Seaborn is now number one.
He's kind of moved steadily up.
He was number 12.
And now he's number one with Gunnar Rivers, you know, having not played since that first game.
So, that comes out on Thursday at 2.
And then, of course, on Friday night, one of our biggest things that we do during football season is the football high live,
which is on the AL.com about 4.30, but about 6.45, we start updating that really about every five minutes until late, late in the night.
It's free.
And also, the podcast is free.
If you want to go online and watch that, watch Randy and Thomas and I cut off, cut up.
So, check that out.
That's great, man.
Listen, man, thanks so much.
Have a great week.
Let's do it again soon.
Okay, buddy?
All right.
Sounds good.
Y'all have a good week.
You too, bud.
Those cooler temperatures up north.
There you go.
I hope you nearly, my friend.
B-T-Benton, S-A-L.com.
Coming up.
Now that the dust is starting to settle on the plains, water of the thoughts from the inside out,
Cole Pinkston on that and more straight ahead.
Stay with us.
Roll Tide, Dama fans.
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interpreter was fired today. Ipe Mitsuhara ran up gambling debts to a Southern California bookmaking
operation. The inside story of the biggest scandal in modern baseball. He was absolutely bananas the
amount of bets he was making. I've never seen anything like it. From 30 for 30 podcasts this is
the betrayal of Shohei Otani. Presented by Gusto. New episodes available now. Listen wherever you get
your podcasts. Dishler basketball will host dinner in the dome on Saturday, October 17th at 7 p.m.
in the Dishler dome with guest speaker, former University of Alabama men's basketball coach Mark
Godfrey. There will be a silent auction from 7 to 7 30 along with a meet and greet with coach Godfrey
and a steak dinner that starts at 7 30. Tickets are $100 and reserve tables are $1,000 with eight
tickets included. For more information call coach Brian Pounders at 205-246-0644.
That's dinner in the dome at Dishler high school on Saturday, October 17th.
From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide today. It's daily update on Bama sports and
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's
more from Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer after Saturday's win against Florida State.
Our energy has been good. Our energy in practice, our energy before the game. Now it's just a matter of
coming out and executing as a football team early and often. That's what we got to look at. I think
there's obviously pieces that I think it's sometimes just very simple things that you can't have happen. A false start early in the game puts you behind the sticks after a solid gain on early downs.
And so then you end up being a couple yards short from converting. And so, you know, those type of things happened in different ways where we just did execute. And, you know, again, it wasn't an energy thing. It wasn't a want to. You can see the guys straining. It's just a matter of going out there and playing clean football.
I'll have more in a moment.
Are you ready for game day in Tuscaloosa? Don't miss the ultimate pregame experience this season at Vector Security Champions Lane. Opening four hours before each home game. This fan fest has everything. Located next to the walk of champions, you'll enjoy live music with our great concert series. Plus player autographs, food trucks, giant LED video boards to watch games, and ice cold beer at Legends Lounge, where there is never a cover charge.
Check out championslane.com each week for the latest updates. Roll Tide.
Join us this afternoon for Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, streaming live at 2 p.m. Central on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN.
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Hey, it's Evan Cohen. Coming up Wednesday, we'll continue to react to all the QB injuries around the NFL and look ahead to which head coach has put himself squarely on the hot seat.
It's on Sportsman like 6 a.m. Eastern right here on ESPN Radio, ESPN2, and ESPNU.
The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in. Really appreciate free ride around the Tennessee Valley and for checking out the 93.9 The Score app wherever you may be checking in.
Cole Pinkston checking in from AuburnSports.com.
That's part of the On3.com family.
But, Cole, welcome in. How are you?
I'm doing good.
Hey, bud.
Thank you.
Appreciate you taking time out.
Cole, you're one of the best at breaking it down.
All fans in the preseason want to believe you're going to go unbeaten and win 50 to nothing, and that's 50 at the half.
Reality is hard sometimes to swallow.
Now that we're three games in, Cole, your lessons overall about this Auburn team,
starting with the latest lesson this past weekend on the Plains.
Yeah, I feel pretty good about how we identified this team early over at Auburn Sports and some of the things that we said about them and was harsh at times.
But I think that's, you know, you look at it now and you go, okay, it makes sense.
I think you're a little bit thin at some key positions on defense, and it showed against Florida.
You know, I think that on offense, your offensive line is going to give up some plays.
You're going to have a hard time running the football consistently.
But I'll say this, I really am pretty impressed with Byron Brown and what he brings to the table.
You obviously have to be pretty excited for what the USF transfers are doing for this team.
And, you know, the guys that believe in Alex Golosan and the guys that he believes in, they all look pretty good.
So, a lot of positives, but, you know, there's some head-scratching things going on, too.
Let's break some of those down.
To me, one of them is just flat-out basic one-on-one football, and it's learning how to tackle on a consistent basis.
Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, I believe it was on talking to you guys, where it was something like, you know,
it makes sense that D.J. Durkin's back and the defense would be good, but nothing about Auburn ever makes sense.
So, let's just look into that a little bit.
You know, the defense to me is, I had a feeling they'd take a step back because of Keltrick Falk and Heron Crawford
not being there and replacing the edges, and that's where I saw a lot of issues from a pass rush
and definitely getting run on on the edges.
So, they got work to do there.
I think the linebackers, as talented as they are, they're a little late to the run game sometimes,
and that's where some of these big plays come from.
Then up front, I thought they got beat by Florida's front, and then you have all the missed tackles on top of that,
and it looks really, really bad, especially when you go back and look at it.
I don't know if you're harsh.
I think you're astonished, and Brian Matthews has been the same way with us for years.
You have a very good column.
You write it, your thoughts after the game, before you see the film, and then one after,
and just one of your questions, which Auburn fans have asked me,
why do other new coaches not have this problem as far as inconsistencies?
Well, a lot of them do, but as you said, it's simple.
The overall roster talent is not good enough to go toe-to-toe with a roster like Florida's
unless the execution is nearly perfect on both sides of the ball.
I don't think that's so much harsh as just being honest.
Yeah, you know, it's sort of flipped from the way it was a year ago.
I think fans are starting to see now that Hugh Freeze and his staff actually did accumulate a lot of talent
and had talent on the football field but weren't getting a lot of the details right.
Well, now you're starting to get some of the details right,
and I can prove in a lot of places where they are starting to get better at the game of football offensively.
Defensively, you're taking a step back, but I think it's more of a talent issue than it is, you know,
just they're not good at defense because, and it's not really the starting 11.
It's more so the guys that come in.
You don't have as many of those.
I think you were rotating probably 24 guys last year.
You're not.
You're thin at corner.
You have Andre Jordan and Rayshawn Pleasant.
You need more there.
You don't have a lot of answers behind the Sean Womack and Jared Smith at edge.
There's just some places where they don't have a lot of playable depth.
Cole Pinkston hooking up with us again, AuburnSports.com.
Cole, one thing that's going to happen, I don't care where you are on any given Saturday,
take the number of games played and half the teams are going to lose.
That's a given, right?
The question is, what happens after that?
This is one loss in the conference and a lot of teams are echoing and singing that same song across the country.
The question is, can you bounce back?
And the old fans are saying, well, it's Vanderbilt, so let's go ahead and go ahead and look ahead.
Not so fast, my friend, if you look at the past couple of dates with the Commodores.
Your thoughts about Auburn being able to bounce back starting this weekend against Vandy,
albeit without Diego, but they do have a miracle in their pocket.
Yeah, you know, if you read anything that I write, you know I'm very high on Vanderbilt
and what Clark Lee's done over there with that program.
They don't have their sheet code anymore with Diego Pavia, but they do have Jarrett Curtis,
who is on his way, I'll put it that way.
It's going to take a little while.
I think Auburn's lucky they're catching him early because he's really talented.
On the road.
Yes, on the road as well, this will be, you know, this will be tough for him.
But the thing about Vanderbilt that I think I see a lot of Auburn right now is where you
struggle in areas where you may not have a talent matchup with the other team, you're just tough
to beat.
And that really showed when they, you know, beat entry state in the most improbable way ever.
I think Auburn's in that same category.
So I see these teams on similar standing right now.
And I think this is an evenly matched game with Auburn having just a little bit of a talent edge.
And I'm very interested to see how that goes.
Auburn needs to find a win here.
You mentioned a couple of players.
Deshaun Womack is flashy but highly inconsistent.
The defensive line as a whole got pushed around by the Gators.
Not a good showing for Dallas Walker or Malik Altry.
On the other side, who were some players who had a positive performance in your eye?
Once again, Elijah Melendez, he's playing possessed right now and just having a fantastic season.
And that didn't change.
He had, I think, double-digit tackles in the first half of this game.
So he's playing at a really high level.
And then I think Jordan Crawford's a guy that started getting more snaps as the game went on.
And I like what I've seen from him.
Chris Murray is somebody that stands out to me.
He played okay.
I think he's still coming off of a little injury.
So those three, other than that, it was really sloppy on the defensive side.
Too many missed tackles.
Sylvester Smith is another guy that sort of stood out to me.
He's kind of defined to a role, but he played well in it.
No, absolutely.
Well, listen, great stuff as always.
Highly recommend our listeners get online and read kind of the before and after,
and particularly after as far as looking at film.
And this is a rebuilding development year for Auburn.
And I think you and Brian have kind of hit that and talked about it throughout the summer.
Great stuff as always.
Where can we get online and get yours, Brian, and the team's good stuff?
Yes, sir.
I appreciate it.
Auburnsports.com, part of the Rivals on three umbrella network there.
And come check us out.
I think you get in for $1 right now and get you in for a week and you get a trial run.
And I think once we get you in, you'll be in.
So come check it out.
Sounds great, Cole.
Listen, man, have a great week.
Thanks for your time, Dave.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, bud.
Cole Pinkston is going to get up with us.
Auburnsports.com, part of the on three dot com family.
Matt Michelle is in the state of Florida.
The Gators are high.
What about the Seminoles post Alabama?
Matt Michelle on deck.
Stay with us.
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In the latest college football top 25 poll, Texas sits at the top of the poll.
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Welcome back in.
He is in the heart of the state of Florida.
Matt Murchell.
He's busy there with the College Insider 4, the Orlando Sentinel.
And his podcast is called Gridiron 365.
Matt Murchell, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
How are you guys doing today?
Man, we're just curious.
Have they in Gainesville started building the statue for Jon Sumrall yet?
Yeah, you know, I mean, I think if that would probably more likely happen after this weekend,
if they were to somehow upset Ole Miss.
Listen, I will say this.
It's been an impressive start.
You know, this is the last time Florida started a season 3-0 was in 2019.
So, it's something Billy Nacre was never able to do in the four years he was there.
But Jon Sumrall already has a leg up on that, you know what I mean?
And so, we'll see what happens this weekend.
You know what I mean?
This is the true test right now for what Jon Sumrall's been able to do.
Talk about his blueprint because it's easy to say, well, it's a first-year coach.
He's got to, you know, get his system up and running.
And let's go ahead and give him the honeymoon and throw this away and start next year.
That's an easy way out.
But at the same time, it also shows what happens when you kind of come in and say,
gee whiz, that other staff, they had a Ferrari and didn't know how to drive it.
I mean, if I'm wrong, Florida had the same running back last year as they have this year.
It's taking all the tinker toys and knowing how to put them together sometimes, too, is it not?
Yeah, sometimes.
I mean, let's not forget.
I mean, this is something that was a detriment to, you know, to Billy Nacre was Billy wanted to call his own place.
He did not want to have an offensive coordinator.
And I think that's been the biggest difference between what we've seen from Florida is the fact that, you know,
you know, John Summerall is not afraid to use lean on his offensive coordinator.
You know, they've been able to do those things.
Aaron Filo has had a strong start to the season, 73% completion rate, six touchdowns, two interceptions.
He's only been sacked twice.
You know, Jane Faw is probably, you know, leading to the SEC and rushing right now by a large margin in about 100 yards.
So, you know, they've had some pretty good weapons right now that they've been able to use.
They've got good receivers.
You know, you're looking at Ronell Brown, the third, and Dallas Wilson, the two guys.
They're getting Eric Singleton back.
That's going to be huge for them as well.
And then defensively, that's really where I think, if anything, where maybe they need some improvement.
I think they need to get better on the defensive side of the football.
They're still not necessarily as sharp as they can be.
But even then, you're still at the 3-0 mark, and you're still stronger.
You're not a real stronger threat than what people would have thought.
I agree with you.
Buster Faulkner coming from Georgia Tech has been a revelation for the Gators.
Let me talk about that other Florida team I got in from a high school game last Friday night to see the end.
And Darian Mensah completed his first 24 passes as Miami beats Wake Forest.
Gio Lopez from James Clemens High School transferred to Wake Forest.
He had a pretty good game, too.
Malachi Tony, Mark Fletcher.
Once again, we'll see because Mario has a tendency to drop a game he's not supposed to.
But, boy, I tell you one thing, Darian Mensah, whether it's four or eight men or something in between,
so far, he's had a pretty good return on his investment.
Yeah, he has a good return on his investment.
But I always caution people, listen, you know, Miami's schedule is not a juggernaut schedule.
No, no.
They won at Stanford.
They played Florida A&M, and they won at Wake Forest.
They get Central Michigan this weekend.
Really, honestly, their biggest test on their schedule is Notre Dame and November.
You know, they're at Clemson.
That's a game that I would maybe keep an eye on, plus the Pittsburgh game.
You know, on October 24th.
But, honestly, you know, there's no excuse why Miami can't go either undefeated or 11-1 with this kind of schedule.
And that's the challenge for Mario Cristobal is, you know, making sure you keep your guys up for games that you should, as we talked about, you should win.
But you end up, maybe something happens.
And, you know, they've got some injuries.
They've got to bounce back with some of those injuries.
But they've got some games on their schedule they should still be favored in most of them.
And they've got to make sure they don't let themselves get too caught up in complacency because they're going to need to put up points.
They're going to need to do that for a lot of these games.
They're going to be impressed with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee because the fact their schedule isn't the strongest.
There may be a point down the road, guys, where 11-1 Miami team may be sitting on the outside of the playoff because a 10-2 SEC team has a much stronger schedule.
That's right.
And maybe they find a way to get it, especially if Miami somehow doesn't win the 8-2 SEC team.
We'll see what happens.
I mean, it's a long way to go before we get that.
Yeah, let's just hope Indiana can survive those games against Western Kentucky and Howard up there.
But, Mike, your thoughts about that?
Let's just stay with the theme of Florida schools in the state capitol, Tallahassee.
They jumped out to a big lead over Alabama on the Tide's home turf.
Here comes the bad weather.
And then Florida State turned bad, Alabama turned good.
Your respective thoughts about the Seminoles and Alabama now that the game is over?
Well, you know, I just think this is, you know, Florida State has a lot of problems.
But, I mean, number one, their defense is really bad.
I mean, this is the worst defense in the agency right now.
They've given up a lot of points.
You saw what happened after they jumped out to their early lead.
Alabama started figuring some things out, and then all of a sudden they had no way to stop it.
You know, if you're looking at a glass-half-full type situation for Florida State,
I think they've got an opportunity to win some games.
They're still good enough to win, maybe get the six games, you know, and maybe a bowl game.
I don't think that saves Mike Norville's job.
I still think he's dead man walking because, again, let's not forget, they fired their athletic director two weeks ago, Michael Alford.
You know, they've got a president now who's looking to find a way to maybe shake some things up.
Wouldn't shock me if Norville's going to be one of those shake-ups.
So, for Florida State, you just want to continue to be competitive.
You want to continue to go out there and try to win some games, try to look good doing it.
Maybe you can make a convincing argument to give me one more year and let's see what happens.
I'm just not sure that's going to happen.
For Alabama, I mean, Alabama did what Alabama had to do.
They fell behind.
They didn't panic.
They didn't let that become, you know, all of a sudden hit the panic button and you're scrambling around.
They found a way to get the win when they needed to.
And I think that's a big statement for Alabama, especially when you fall behind her.
You've got South Carolina coming up, but then you've got a murderer's row of mis-ranked teams from Mississippi State, Georgia, Tennessee, A&M, which probably won't be ranked at that point, and LSU.
So, you're going to have to find a way to make sure all the things that you did right in the last three quarters of this game against FSU, you continue to do those things because they're going to need that.
You know, the thing is, here's what I take away from it as well, and that is, if the coaches say these are fixable problems and you fix it, this is the best thing that can happen to a young team.
This is a young team.
They don't need to sit here and get out to start beating everybody 50 to nothing, start reading the headlines and believing it.
Because, as you mentioned, the teeth, the schedule is about to slap them in the face.
They can get away with some of these mistakes against these teams.
Can they do it against the Georgias and others?
That's going to be the real test.
In fact, starting this weekend against South Carolina.
But, to me, this, in some ways, is the best thing if, indeed, the coaches say these are fixable problems because there's nothing like a dose of humble pie sometimes.
Yeah, very much so.
And it showcased some of the issues that Alabama has.
Listen, you know, Keelon Russell is really good.
You know what I mean?
He shows potential there.
You know, he can throw the ball and run the ball.
He only has four touchdown passes.
He's been sacked six times.
The offensive line needs to be a little bit better.
They're not running the ball nearly as well as I think maybe some people would like to see them doing it when they're used to seeing it.
And then defensively, you know, again, they gave up some points early on, and they got some explosive plays against them.
They're going to have to find ways to limit those things, especially when they face an offense.
They've really got to have a lot of potential, as you mentioned, down the road.
Mississippi State, for one.
You know, how they handle that, I think, is going to be a challenge.
Man, the SEC's got five top 25 matchups, which is incredible.
It's the most in history on Saturday.
One of those is the early game.
Texas at Tennessee.
The Longhorns are a three-and-a-point favorite.
Tennessee's played well.
Brandon, the freshman quarterback, has played well.
Tennessee's running the ball.
Deshaun Bishop's got a little bit of a hip-pointer.
We'll see how that goes.
Texas does not play as well on the road under Sarkeesian.
And, boy, is this ever going to be an interesting environment.
Texas is a three-and-a-point favorite.
Matt, your thoughts?
Yeah, I mean, this is going to be the challenge for Texas.
We talked about, you know, last week when, you know, when Ohio State was number one, you know, in the poll,
that when you get that number one, you know, number right on the left side of your name,
you're a target.
And this is what Tennessee's taking in there.
Tennessee's saying, listen, we're going to go out there.
We're going to play as well as we can.
We're going to find a way to win this game because, you know, knocking off Texas would be huge for them.
And this is what, for the SEC, you mentioned all these games against ranked opponents.
This is where the challenge comes because you're going to see some of these teams,
the good teams arise, and all of a sudden some of these other teams will start to fall really quickly
because they're going to face some real challenges, you know.
And I think that's where, for Steve Sarkeesian,
you've got to find a way to make sure that you keep the team locked in and focused
because, you know, you're going to have a challenge.
You know, you mentioned Tennessee's got, you know, Faison Brandon's a really good quarterback, you know,
and they've got some good rushing attack.
You know, two guys with over, you know, 200 yards, you know, rushing.
So, there's going to be a challenge there for Texas.
You're going to have to find a way to win.
Matt Merchelle, the Orlando City.
Well, isn't it interesting, Matt, last week there was only one topic, and that was LSU and Lane Kiffin.
And here we are, just late into the conversation.
I didn't even mention them.
Here's the bottom line.
Your thoughts.
What did you learn about LSU and Lane Kiffin from the Ole Miss game?
And let's face it, it was one of those.
The game was a coin toss at the end.
We saw how it ended.
Now comes the question, where does LSU go from here?
Did you see enough to say, well, these things happen in big games like this, especially on the road.
But on the other side of the coin, LSU fans have not as much patience as Alabama fans.
So, your thoughts about LSU and Lane post the trip to Oxford.
Well, I think for me, it's, you know, I don't know if I learned anything so much.
I mean, I think definitely LSU has some issues.
I mean, you know, saw some of those Ole Miss were able to take advantage of.
Trinidad Chabas was able to take advantage of that.
You know, saw what they were able to do.
You know, I think maybe now that they're out of the bubble of this game, you know,
maybe that will take a little pressure off LSU.
Even though this was all about Lane Kiffin, there was a lot on the LSU sidelines.
There was a lot of this on the team wanting to try to help win this game for their coach.
And it just didn't happen.
So, you know, maybe that happened.
But I'm going to say this.
This is the challenge for Lane Kiffin.
Because now he goes up, he's got to face next to the man of another ranked team.
If they lose again, all of a sudden you go from being, you know, maybe everyone's like,
we were going to win a national title this year to, you know, all of a sudden now,
can we make the college football playoff?
And that's really going to be the question mark.
It's can Lane get past that.
Can they find a way to, you know, because you look at their schedule,
there's going to be other obstacles.
Texas is on that schedule.
Alabama's on that schedule.
Tennessee, we just mentioned.
Mississippi State.
So, there isn't, the margin of error is smaller and smaller.
If LSU finishes 8-4 or 9-3, do LSU fans think that's a success?
Or do they just go, okay, we wanted to be in the playoff.
We want to be playing for an SEC championship in the national title.
That's where I think we're going to see how Lane Kiffin, how this whole experiment really works.
It's how they kind of finish out now that they've got this first.
Matt, let me ask you about an interesting game.
I bet I don't know how many sources I saw that predicted Oregon to win the national championship.
They're going to the Coliseum to face USC on NBC Saturday night.
They should have lost to Boise State.
And Oklahoma State took them to the cleaners.
USC, Malvia, has had a very good season.
They've got some freshman wide receivers who are playing well.
But the USC defense gave up five touchdown drives of 75-plus yards to Rutgers, of all teams that lost to UMass.
Wouldn't it be interesting to enter October with Oregon having two losses if they lose to USC?
Yeah.
I mean, and let's not forget, they play Ohio State and Michigan.
So it's not like Oregon is going to walk through the rest of the schedule.
You know, so, yeah, the challenge.
I think what's interesting about this game is here's two coaches that need to be kind of, you know,
not that Dan Lanning is going to get fired if they lose this game, but, you know,
Lincoln Riley's got USC atop the Big Ten standing.
And yet, USC fans are happy with Lincoln Riley.
You know, they don't like the way this USC program has kind of gone.
This is a big year for Lincoln Riley.
He's got to really kind of showcase himself and say, we've got this program in the right direction.
A win over Oregon would do that on Saturday, obviously.
But for Dan Lanning, yeah, you lose two games.
All of a sudden, everything just becomes a lot tighter.
The tie gets a little tighter around the neck.
You start thinking, okay, what are we going to do now?
You've got to figure out what's going on.
Again, as I tell people, I've talked to groups the last couple weeks, two losses don't necessarily mean you're out of it,
considering it's a 12-team playoff, but it doesn't help things.
And it makes things a lot harder as you move on.
So, yeah, Oregon's got issues.
They went out and blew out.
It was Portland State this weekend.
Yes.
They've got to hope their offense is up and running because they're going to need it.
Man, it is amazing how quickly we can say, wow, we didn't see that coming.
Through this point of the schedule, the top two quarterbacks in the country, at least according to a lot of folks,
not that boy out in Austin, Texas, not that boy out in Oregon, not that boy out of Columbus, Ohio,
the top two are from the Miami State of Mississippi, a transfer from Ferris State, the D2 program, one of them.
And, Taylor, who in the heck is that?
Isn't it amazing that the state of Mississippi has the top two top college quarterbacks right now?
Yes.
And, you know, the funny thing about all that is that there's already people now talking about, you know,
where some of these guys are going to end up, you know, obviously Trinidad's not going to be around.
But, you know, how this impacts, you know, Camario Taylor, you know, where is he going to be next year?
There are already people talking about him joining Miami's roster next year.
So, you know, enjoy it, I guess, if you're a Mississippi State fan, because nothing, you can't enjoy anything in college football anymore
without someone pointing out, don't worry, there's other schools with more money that are going to come back to your quarterback soon enough.
But great performance by him.
I think that Taylor's a guy that put up a lot of big numbers, you know, again, fits well in the Jeff Levy offense.
To me, it's going to be about, well, can you finish that way?
Because Mississippi State's only going to go as far as Taylor can go.
And he's a young guy, and so if he can continue to play well, I think they've got an opportunity to really kind of shake things up.
But if he struggles a little bit, then you're going to see where this team maybe falls a little bit loose with that period there.
So it's a great story, great story from Mississippi, and it'd be wonderful to see kind of both those teams
and how they kind of finish off the team.
Absolutely, and then your team, Central Florida, beat Georgia State coming back.
They lost Barnett, but they ran the ball very well.
By the way, welcome back, Rich Rod.
Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia beat Virginia pretty convincingly 38-27.
Rich Rod has got West Virginia playing pretty well so far through three games.
Matt, always enjoy the conversation, my friend.
Where can we get online to get all the great stuff?
Yeah, you can go to orlandosentinel.com to check out all the latest,
or you can follow me on social media at OS Matt Merchel.
Matt, it's always good to catch up with you.
Have a great and safe rest of the week, all right?
All right, thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you, bud.
Double down, Matt Merchel, the Orlando Sentinel.
Maybe the Braves are back the last Tuesday night of the regular season for the Bravos.
It's amazing, the last homestand against the Reds.
Martin Perez pitching, and you can hear that game.
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Complete with a postseason berth, already in the house,
along with another divisional title.
The pressure is off.
Have fun.
It's going to take care of us for now.
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