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Finebaum Football Friday brought to you by Bryant Bank
[MUSIC PLAYING] It's time for football Friday with Paul Finebaum, presented by Bryant Bank. Your hometown bank with Big Bank benefits located in Mobile and Baldwin counties. Now, here's Dan Brennan and Dalton R. Wig. And of course, Paul Finebaum, from the Paul Finebaum Show that's heard every day on FM Talk 106.5. We're going to get two in the afternoon, Paul, good morning. How is everybody doing here? Are we surviving the first weekend of the season? We did. We did, Paul. And I did the usual 11 AM kickoff all the way through the night game. And then, of course, this weekend, we had some extra Labor Day games, so busy weekend and a couple upsets, but a lot of cupcake games as well. Yeah, that is the same lineup for this week. There's plenty to chow down on if you have a sweet tooth. Yeah, all the while, all those three or four days, Dalton's two young daughters yelling, daddy, daddy, daddy. [LAUGHTER] But he watched the games, Paul. He wanted to make sure he was ready for our conversation. Football Friday's with you. Katelyn DeBore was pretty much smooth sailing right through week one. And Ryan Williams treating Western Kentucky like their McGill tooling, just catching passes like he was in high school. Yeah, and the thing I like is, of course, I've already forgotten Nick Saban. Katelyn DeBore is perfect. The program is already better than it was, and the odds are losing a game in the next 20 years, zero. Yeah, yeah. I mean, to give up zero points, it's a strong way to start. And I was wondering if there would be any kind of slow moving processes they kind of adjust, but at least against the hill toppers, that was not the case. They scored pretty much immediately. Yeah, listen, I don't want to be a cynic even though I am. It's impossible to really know much. And I much prefer this to a year ago. And I don't remember the opening game, but people were upset, and they just liked the quarterback play, and it led to another bad game the second week, which was a loss. And then a terrible game the third week against South Florida. So it's always better to start out like this, although I really don't know what it does for you. I was talking to Brian Kelly, a guy who knows a little bit about losing opening games earlier in the week. And he said, I don't know what good you get winning 73, nothing. And I wanted to say, well, Brian, I don't know what good you get losing your opener. So yeah, it really depends on how you want to slice it. But I'll take Alabama's win. Yeah, yeah. And more on that LSU loss a little bit later. Maybe possibly the game of the weekend, but we also have to talk about Auburn, such to mention Alabama, and Auburn fans happy to see a receiving core out there that, again, against a lower tier team in Alabama A&M, they at least had some fun out at Jordan here on Saturday. Yeah, I think we saw some players we thought we would be good, and they are. But you basically have a guy playing high school football a year ago looking like a professional against a team that got a big check. And people say, what are these games all about? They're about picking up for smaller schools, about $1.8 million, which I saw Richard Rodriguez, the Jack State coach, say the other day, that, by the way, that's hard to believe that Richard Rodriguez is the Jack State coach. But he said, yeah, I'll take $2 million. You can beat me on Saturday and Sunday, and I'll even-- But that's really one of these programs to survive by playing these massacre type games. And every once in a while, you see something interesting in it. We didn't really see much last weekend. Yeah, and these SEC teams and big schools get a good chance to look at who might transfer to them if they happen to have a good game against them that weekend. That might be the best point. Yeah, the best team on the opposing-- the coach will say it happened. Listen, why don't you pull a hamstring because we might be calling you in a couple of weeks. So we have a new folk hero down this way. And was that Jim O'Fisher on the sidelines for A&M? They looked like the same team. And Riley Leonard is now certainly a local, if not national hero. Yeah, he had a nice game. I plead guilty. I'm the one, like so many other. You better watch out. When you go into Kyle Field on a Saturday night, you better bring your lunch and dinner. And that's exactly what didn't happen from the Notre Dame just went in there. That was one of the most impressive wins of the first weekend. And A&M spent $76 million getting a coach for that. Do we think Notre Dame has that good of a defense? Or is A&M going to really experience some offensive problems this year with Wegman at quarterback there? I do think it's a transition. As well as Alabama look, you don't know what you're getting in the first game. And when you play a name-brand opponent, it's going to be much more complicated. But that's why as a new coach, I would hate to have a game like that. There's so many things that you can't anticipate in the film room and on the practice field. Few other SEC teams went ahead and played quality opponents, including the aforementioned coach Kelly taking his team out to Las Vegas to take on USC. And that did not turn out well in the end. Yeah, it was a double whammy, really, for this reason. A friend of mine were out there, and they said the town was 80% LSU Tigers. So not only do you spend a lot of money at the MGM and the Bellagio, but you know LSU fans went into the sports books and bet on their team. So you can't do any worse than lose the opener and lose the spread. So that's one reason why Brian Kelly looked like he was angry. He tried to punch the table. I have some Tuesday if he broke his hand and he said he wasn't that strong. But a lot of LSU fans wouldn't have cared if any broke his hand. They were rooting for the next players to come back positive. Yeah, and then no doubt to lose Emery this week to a torn ACL, LSU not off to a great start this season in the win/loss column or losing there basically one of the only bright spots of the game Saturday. Yeah, I know he's a five star all everything. And those are very painful moments. So good news is they have a good quarterback. They kind of do that anyway. The bad news is they have no margin of error. And what this really means is they now have to be-- they have to pull a major upset. I'm talking about Ole Miss, LSU, somebody like that. And they can't lose-- they can't lose on the road. Their margin of error is raised within right now. Maybe the most disappointing loss of any SEC team was Billy Napier and his Florida Gators looking absolutely listless at home with the hurricanes coming into Gainesville. Does Napier have a chance to remain the coach after the season after that? No, hold on a second. I was sitting in Gainesville Friday afternoon with the athletic director, Scott Scrippling. He told me the Billy Napier is going to be there for a very long time. I didn't know if he meant to October or November. But that was about as disastrous as it did again. And just when you thought he couldn't get any worse, Napier Tuesday at his press conference said that we've got to-- we've got our two better. We've got to do this better. And we can't be listening to some guy in his basement in rural central Florida on social media. Now, rural central Florida encompasses Gainesville. It also encompasses where both Florida fans live. And I pointed out on a show, Pinkie Morning, that not only is Billy Napier stupid, but he's intellectually lacking because I'm not a geologist, but there's no such thing as basement in Florida. He may find one or two, but you can't-- you guys understand what I'm talking about. Yes, yes. Yes, we do. I have my sister lives in Sarasota. So I mean, if you're going to make a statement, make it naturally corrected, you're going to insult your fan base, do it right. Exactly right. We're talking about Paul Feynbaum, football Friday, presented by Brian Bank. Here's a statement that nobody made. Vanderbilt's going to win. And no one made that statement before Saturday's game, but they won. And they beat a good team. That was a team that Chum, not all, but some thought would contend for the playoffs. And I was really impressed with that. And that now makes Florida the worst team in the S.U.C. in Cleveland Square. Wow, wow, that is crazy. Let's talk about some of the games we have coming up this weekend. Like you said, a lot of cupcakes here in week two. But we do get some big match-ups. Texas taking on Michigan. We have a top 10 match-up here with the new S.E.C. team. What do you expect out of that one, Paul? Yeah, that's not far in the best game of the day. And there really are many in contention. I expect Texas to win. I think it's close. Michigan major transition after Jim Harbaugh, they still have the remnants of a very good defense that we all saw in the Rose Bowl. I think it's a game that Texas pulls ahead a little bit late. But by the way, as bad as it was for the S.E.C., they don't even need to lose this one, because if they do, we might just tell Texas to go back to the big 12. Nobody can say enough. It seems about Nico at quarterback in Tennessee. The one with the bowl game plus the start over the weekend against Chattanooga, not a whole big sample size, but people are going crazy over his performance. Yeah, I mean, it was really good. And I talked to a broom McCoy yesterday, the wide receiver for Tennessee. And he's, he brew, I think he's 24. And he said he called Nico the kid, because he's about six years younger, but he didn't look like a kid on Saturday. He was brilliant. Yeah, and I believe Nico much richer than broom McCoy is, but he's rich when it comes to receiving targets this year. You have Squirrel White, you have Broom McCoy, you have the kid from Tulane that came over. This Tennessee team, I think at this point, looking at the national reaction, and we'll see with NC State and Charlotte this weekend, folks are expecting them to be in the mix for the 12 team playoff. No doubt. And I mean, I think Tennessee has somewhat replaced LSU as the school to keep your eye on. And as that next team in the SEC. So they have a big game though. I mean, NC State is sneaky. I don't think Tennessee loses that game, but frankly, there's not many good games this weekend. So assuming you can watch that game and don't have direct GD, which I do. And I might have to watch the game outside on an iPad, or it says that I know a lot of people are angry right now. You know, the show that keeps on giving no matter when or loss every week is the Shane Beamer presser after South Carolina game, Paul. He always looks like it's just about at the edge of his own sanity. And that was with a win, I think. Old Dominion, yeah. Old Dominion, they eat out the win. And they had a quarterback make a tackle on a running back. That was unusual. South Carolina plays Kentucky this week. So what do we get to get out of Shane and his gamecocks? Yeah, I think we're going to get more stupidity and buffoonery from Shane Beamer. Let me only give you his schedule right now. Yeah, he was very lucky to win that game. I happened to get home in time and saw the end of it, and I was like in shock. And Kentucky, and I think they got somebody next week, Akron, or one of those off-brand schools. And then they run into a string of LSU, Ole Miss, Alabama. I mean, they will very likely start the SEC, 0 and 5. Wow. And you're going to start hearing Shane Beamer now on the hot seat, Billy, Billy, and Reaper. So you can't do my-- listen, I understand the hiring was the son of a famous coach. But I will also understand the fire. And Paul, I guess we'll wrap it up with our two end state SEC schools here. Alabama, unlike last year, kind of expected to take care of business against South Florida this weekend. But I think more of a chance, not that there's a great chance. But what happens if Auburn lays an egg against Cal this weekend? It's in Auburn this time, so hopefully they'll be done before 1 a.m. Sunday morning. Last year, I think Peyton Thorne passed for like 80 yards in the wind. Auburn fans have high hopes this year, though. Yeah, I don't see that happening. But it would be very disturbing. I will add, Hugh Freeze has been promising a turnaround. And I think Auburn fans are ready to see it. Thankfully, it's California versus as opposed to USC or somebody of a strong ill. But I'm not too concerned about Auburn. But it will get real for Auburn in a few weeks. And Bama has got that central Florida team that played him pretty tough last year in a rainstorm then in Tampa. But this should be a different story, right? Absolutely. And I know everybody who didn't talk about last year. The last year was really an outlier. I mean, that was confusion at the quarterback position because you had complete buffoon. I think I've used that word a few times now today. It's fair. In the offensive coordinator in Tommy Rees, who told Nick Saban, we can't play J. Winmolo. He's not-- and Miller, yeah, we all remember he did something. And that game-- I think if you take away the bad weather, Alabama would have won the game probably by three or four touchdowns. But it was just chaotic in Alabama. Eek by, but in the end, that game was good for Alabama because Saban realized I've got a boob as an offensive coordinator and I'm putting J. Winmolo back in. Yeah, in a way, this could be a Miller revenge game if you think about it, which would be frightening if you're South Florida. Jalen Miller has not played a single down against South Florida in his career. That's right. This would be the first-- like, who's this team? Good stuff. Paul, we appreciate it. As always, you've taken time out of your very busy week to join us right here on Mobile Warnocks. A pleasure, guys. See you soon. You got it, Paul Finebaum. And it's football Fridays with Finebaum. It's brought to you by Brian Bank, by the way. And we do appreciate Paul jumping on. He talks to about-- I mean, think of all the different podcasts and interview requests he gets, especially as the week winds down to a Friday, so we thank him a lot. Yeah, and that's in between fighting with, you know, Dion Sanders, Rick Flair, and several callers on his program every afternoon. Yeah, and SEC coaches, I'm sure. Good stuff. More of our show, Mobile Warnings on the way right after this. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)