Latest / SEC Football Addiction / Alabama Expert Has IMPORTANT MESSAGE You Can't Miss Before FSU Football vs Crimson Tide!
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- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome back to SEC football addiction. We are presented by
- 0:02Speaker 1: price picks. We're all new users who play a $ 5
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- 0:08Speaker 1: use code HMA drew from nine, seven, seven ESP in
- 0:13Speaker 1: the zone. I was on there this morning and, uh,
- 0:16Speaker 1: the boys were asking me about Florida state Bama. So
- 0:18Speaker 1: I'm turning the chair around and making drew do this.
- 0:20Speaker 1: So drew, how you doing, bud?
- 0:22Speaker 2: I'm doing good, man. Uh, it was great to have
- 0:25Speaker 2: you back on talking ball.
- 0:26Speaker 3: It's hard to believe it's been nearly three months since
- 0:28Speaker 3: we were in Tampa, but The season is underway and
- 0:31Speaker 3: already drama, you know, building in Tallahassee with Michael Alford
- 0:36Speaker 3: being dismissed. And now does Florida State have another bullet
- 0:40Speaker 3: in the gun? Can they shock Alabama or will Alabama
- 0:43Speaker 3: exact some revenge?
- 0:44Speaker 2: I don't know. Certainly Kaelin DeBoer needs this game.
- 0:48Speaker 3: I mean, they've certainly looked impressive the first two weeks.
- 0:52Speaker 2: But this is a litmus test because.
- 0:54Speaker 3: Again, We know Florida State handed Alabama their rear ends
- 0:57Speaker 3: last year, and it was really the biggest win of
- 1:00Speaker 3: Norvell's sixth year. And for the first month, they were
- 1:03Speaker 3: in the top ten in the country. Alabama, it was
- 1:07Speaker 3: a damaging loss. Now they responded well and ripped off
- 1:10Speaker 3: seven in a row and ended up in the top
- 1:12Speaker 3: five in the country and certainly entered the playoff conversation
- 1:16Speaker 3: and made the playoff. But, you know, we'll see. But
- 1:20Speaker 3: Alabama's off to an impressive start thus far. new quarterback
- 1:23Speaker 3: on both sides, but one that Alabama is very familiar with.
- 1:27Speaker 2: And Ashton Daniels, they faced him in the iron bowl
- 1:29Speaker 2: last year.
- 1:30Speaker 3: Now he's in a different uniform and Alabama's got Keelan Russell,
- 1:34Speaker 3: who has had some nice moments in his first two starts,
- 1:37Speaker 3: but for a half against Kentucky TJ, he did look
- 1:41Speaker 3: like a freshman.
- 1:43Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 1:43Speaker 1: What do you think? And that's a good question. Well,
- 1:45Speaker 1: before I go to that, I want to hit on
- 1:47Speaker 1: something you said at the beginning. Um, people talk about
- 1:50Speaker 1: like the revenge factor. I do tend to buy that
- 1:53Speaker 1: less because I think, you know, I don't know how
- 1:56Speaker 1: much these kids need motivation or these coaches need motivation.
- 1:58Speaker 1: I mean, I think if you want to play the
- 2:00Speaker 1: motivation factor, you know, Tommy Castellanos gave them that in
- 2:03Speaker 1: the off season last year and they still didn't win.
- 2:05Speaker 1: So like, I don't know how much revenge like factors
- 2:08Speaker 1: in to like my thoughts on how this game goes,
- 2:11Speaker 1: but I do wonder if, you know, if the game
- 2:14Speaker 1: was to get out of hand and, would DeBoer leave
- 2:17Speaker 1: guys in to make more of a statement because of
- 2:19Speaker 1: last year? Cause my thought is, man, with this sec
- 2:23Speaker 1: slate coming up, I would tend toward like, do you
- 2:26Speaker 1: really need to win by 40? You know, like what
- 2:28Speaker 1: are your thoughts on like how he'll approach it? Will
- 2:31Speaker 1: he try to make a statement because last year, or
- 2:32Speaker 1: is it more like, dude, get the comfortable win and
- 2:35Speaker 1: get onto sec play?
- 2:37Speaker 3: Well, certainly, uh, all the experience for Q and Russell
- 2:40Speaker 3: is valuable, but you also have Austin Mack, who I
- 2:43Speaker 3: think is a really good backup and, If you could
- 2:46Speaker 3: get him a quarter's worth of action, I think it
- 2:48Speaker 3: would be huge. He didn't get that against Kentucky. He
- 2:51Speaker 3: really only got one series, which surprised me a little bit.
- 2:57Speaker 3: I thought he would have put him in earlier in
- 2:59Speaker 3: the fourth quarter, but.
- 3:00Speaker 2: He did not.
- 3:01Speaker 3: But, again, I think it's also because Keelan needed most
- 3:04Speaker 3: of that half after the first half was not good.
- 3:07Speaker 3: I mean, Alabama was trailing 17-13. I was certainly irate.
- 3:12Speaker 3: I know a lot of Alabama fans were. I didn't
- 3:15Speaker 3: think the game plan was very good. I thought they
- 3:17Speaker 3: put too much on Keelan early in the RPO game. Now,
- 3:21Speaker 3: some of that they have to coach him up and
- 3:23Speaker 3: make him understand. Running an RPO is a run-pass option,
- 3:27Speaker 3: run first.
- 3:28Speaker 2: But you have to see it. You have to let
- 3:31Speaker 2: it develop.
- 3:32Speaker 3: If you see the hole developing, you leave it in
- 3:34Speaker 3: the running back's hands. If not, then you pull it
- 3:38Speaker 3: and you decide, okay, am I going to take off?
- 3:40Speaker 3: Or am I going to throw the football? And, you know,
- 3:42Speaker 3: Keelan's a young kid. I thought they came out. They
- 3:45Speaker 3: tried to be aggressive. And they like to be aggressive
- 3:48Speaker 3: with their quarterbacks. But with the way this team has
- 3:50Speaker 3: taken shape with the improved offensive line, and don't forget,
- 3:54Speaker 3: they didn't have Mike Carroll at right guard last week.
- 3:57Speaker 3: So I also thought they should have tried to get
- 4:00Speaker 3: the offensive line more cohesive and comfortable early.
- 4:03Speaker 2: So come out, run the ball.
- 4:05Speaker 3: But, you know, they had Keelan Russell trying to throw
- 4:08Speaker 3: the football around and And there was, I think, the
- 4:10Speaker 3: offensive line, there was probably some miscommunication early.
- 4:13Speaker 2: I think most of.
- 4:14Speaker 3: It involved the operational stuff with Keelan Russell, though. He
- 4:18Speaker 3: was holding the ball too long, you know, a couple
- 4:21Speaker 3: of grounding penalties. So he needs to be smarter with
- 4:26Speaker 3: the football and with his decision-making. But he's a young kid,
- 4:29Speaker 3: and I thought in the second half, and this was
- 4:31Speaker 3: an encouraging sign for me because I've been critical of
- 4:34Speaker 3: this coaching staff and their lack of adjustments at halftime.
- 4:39Speaker 3: And that's what had me worried about the second half.
- 4:41Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, if they don't adjust, you know, then
- 4:44Speaker 3: this is going to be a dogfight. And quite frankly,
- 4:47Speaker 3: you get a feel for games, TJ.
- 4:49Speaker 2: And I just felt like that.
- 4:50Speaker 3: Kentucky is a good team, decent, you know, but not–
- 4:54Speaker 3: I don't think they're a top eight team in the SEC. So,
- 4:58Speaker 3: Alabama was the better football team. That's what I thought
- 5:00Speaker 3: going in. And I was like, if Alabama will just
- 5:03Speaker 3: get out of their own way, not turn it over
- 5:06Speaker 3: and cut out some of those operational penalties– I was like,
- 5:09Speaker 3: Alabama will win this game. And that's what happened because
- 5:12Speaker 3: in the first two games, and this is where I
- 5:14Speaker 3: think the football team is better than a year ago,
- 5:17Speaker 3: is the defense has been lights out. The new D-line,
- 5:20Speaker 3: you know, Devin Tompkins had an outstanding game, had six
- 5:24Speaker 3: tackles and two sacks. And by the way, I gleefully
- 5:27Speaker 3: pointed this out, and I'm sure you would have enjoyed
- 5:30Speaker 3: it too. But Quay Rousaw, James Smith, and Keon Keeley
- 5:34Speaker 3: combined for less tackles than Devin Tompkins had himself.
- 5:38Speaker 2: In the game.
- 5:40Speaker 3: The two lowest graded Ohio State suck eyes, and I'll
- 5:43Speaker 3: say that on your show.
- 5:44Speaker 2: Because I hate them.
- 5:47Speaker 3: The two lowest graded defenders were James Smith and Quay Russo.
- 5:51Speaker 2: In other words, they look like Tarzan, they play like James.
- 5:54Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Earl Little, who spent a year at Alabama,
- 5:58Speaker 3: never could really get healthy, spent two years at Florida State,
- 6:02Speaker 3: really started developing, and had a really good game against
- 6:05Speaker 3: Alabama a year ago. went on to be the Noles'
- 6:08Speaker 3: top tackler. He's transferred to Florida State as well. I mean,
- 6:11Speaker 3: excuse me, to Ohio State as well, pardon me. And
- 6:14Speaker 3: he balled out, and I pointed that out. I gave
- 6:16Speaker 3: him an A. I mean, he had 11 tackles. I
- 6:18Speaker 3: think he's their leading tackler in the first few games.
- 6:20Speaker 3: So Earl Little has been balling. But he's definitely looking
- 6:25Speaker 3: like a quality addition. But so far, and it's early,
- 6:28Speaker 3: but Quay Rousaw, James Smith, non-factors against Texas. And then
- 6:33Speaker 3: Keon Keeley, he's certainly in the rotation, but not dominating
- 6:36Speaker 3: for Notre Dame. But my point is, Alabama got Devin Tompkins,
- 6:39Speaker 3: Kedrick Beanley-Jones, and Terrence Green from Mississippi State with Kedrick
- 6:44Speaker 3: and then Terrence Green, Oregon. I think Oregon could use
- 6:47Speaker 3: him now. And Devin Tompkins, USC. The D-line just looks
- 6:51Speaker 3: much better, along with those returnees like London Simmons, Edrick Hill,
- 6:56Speaker 3: some of those guys, and Isaiah Faga. They just look
- 7:00Speaker 3: better along the D-line. And then the linebacker core exponentially changes.
- 7:04Speaker 3: And I know you're familiar with Caleb Woodson. He was
- 7:06Speaker 3: at Virginia Tech. He's been a tremendous fit thus far.
- 7:10Speaker 3: And then I know you saw the pick six last
- 7:12Speaker 3: week with Luke Metz.
- 7:13Speaker 2: He's my guy.
- 7:14Speaker 3: I think I was talking to you about him in Tampa.
- 7:17Speaker 3: He was one of the guys I've been tracking. I
- 7:19Speaker 3: thought he had a chance as a second year guy
- 7:21Speaker 3: to make a big jump.
- 7:22Speaker 2: He certainly has.
- 7:23Speaker 3: He's from Mill Creek High School, same high school as
- 7:26Speaker 3: Caleb Downs. Great football IQ with him, too. He had
- 7:29Speaker 3: a pick six in the game against Kentucky and did
- 7:32Speaker 3: a great job. I think he had eight tackles. The
- 7:34Speaker 3: linebacker core just looks faster. And the front seven is
- 7:39Speaker 3: just much better than it was a year ago. And
- 7:41Speaker 3: let's be honest, Florida State pushed Alabama around. They busted
- 7:44Speaker 3: them in the mouth. Alabama didn't respond. And so Alabama
- 7:48Speaker 3: has to change that because, look, Florida State still has
- 7:51Speaker 3: a chance in this game because, look, they they alabama's
- 7:55Speaker 3: got some good young backs but chroma will be the
- 7:57Speaker 3: best back on the field i mean i was watching
- 7:59Speaker 3: him against smu and he still made chicken salad out
- 8:03Speaker 3: of chicken bleep times and i'll just be honest with
- 8:08Speaker 3: you i started having sammy smith flashbacks because that's oh
- 8:11Speaker 3: yeah from a size standpoint that's back in the day
- 8:14Speaker 3: when in the late 80s when i started watching florida
- 8:16Speaker 3: state when coach bowden had it rolling but you know
- 8:19Speaker 3: sammy smith was a hell of a player and Croma
- 8:22Speaker 3: is just– Udman Croma.
- 8:23Speaker 2: He's a stud. I don't think he has the best
- 8:27Speaker 2: offensive line in front of him. But if you're Alabama,
- 8:30Speaker 2: you have.
- 8:31Speaker 3: To win that battle up front and you've got to
- 8:33Speaker 3: tackle Croma. If you don't, you're in trouble because he
- 8:37Speaker 3: can keep Florida State in the game. And I think
- 8:39Speaker 3: Florida State's path to playing Alabama competitively late into the
- 8:44Speaker 3: second half is to lean on the run, lean on Croma,
- 8:47Speaker 3: and then I would use Ashton's legs.
- 8:50Speaker 2: I mean– I've been.
- 8:52Speaker 3: Watching your shows, and I know it doesn't seem like
- 8:55Speaker 3: Norvell wants Ashton to throw it a lot. Now, he's
- 8:57Speaker 3: going to have to throw it some, but he needs
- 9:00Speaker 3: to use his mobility. And now this speed increase that
- 9:06Speaker 3: Alabama has defensively in their front seven, they have to
- 9:09Speaker 3: use it, but they also have to be assignment sound.
- 9:12Speaker 3: And to me, Alabama's first and foremost job is to
- 9:15Speaker 3: stop the run and contain this Florida State running game
- 9:18Speaker 3: that's averaging about 200 yards.
- 9:20Speaker 1: Before we go on, I'll give a little bit of
- 9:21Speaker 1: love to our friends over at Alumni Hall. Listen, if
- 9:23Speaker 1: you're shopping for FSU gear, Bama gear, gear of any
- 9:27Speaker 1: other team that Alumni Hall supports, make sure you're doing
- 9:29Speaker 1: so with our code CFA15. It'll save you 15% on
- 9:32Speaker 1: your order at checkout. Use Alumni Hall's code for this show.
- 9:37Speaker 1: CFA15 online or in-store. AlumniHall.com is where you can go
- 9:41Speaker 1: if you're not going to the game on Saturday. Make
- 9:44Speaker 1: sure you are checking out Alumni Hall. We appreciate them
- 9:46Speaker 1: for their support. Yeah, if Bama can stop the run
- 9:50Speaker 1: or slow it down, right? I think Kentucky had 63
- 9:52Speaker 1: yards last week. Obviously, we get anything close to that.
- 9:55Speaker 1: Then you're playing the game of fashion. Daniels beats you
- 9:59Speaker 1: with his arm. Then I think you tip your cap
- 10:00Speaker 1: and you say, hey, man, you did. You took your
- 10:03Speaker 1: secondary option.
- 10:04Speaker 2: You did it.
- 10:05Speaker 1: Personally, I don't think Ashley Daniels can do that. I
- 10:07Speaker 1: don't think Norvell trusts him enough to do that. I
- 10:09Speaker 1: trust this Alabama secondary, but yeah, I mean, that's certainly
- 10:12Speaker 1: the game plan if you're Alabama is you got to
- 10:13Speaker 1: take away their best option. And that is Florida state's
- 10:16Speaker 1: ground game because that's, you know, Cromwell is a dude.
- 10:20Speaker 1: I think he would start, but a lot of places
- 10:22Speaker 1: around this country and there are certainly places he wouldn't
- 10:25Speaker 1: Ole miss, you know, Florida, they're, they're really good running
- 10:27Speaker 1: backs all over, but he's elite. And I know that
- 10:29Speaker 1: word gets tossed around too much. I, I'm hoping that
- 10:32Speaker 1: if there's a new staff, they can retain him. I'm
- 10:34Speaker 1: hoping that he doesn't end up somewhere else. But yeah,
- 10:37Speaker 1: I can see him playing just about anywhere in the
- 10:39Speaker 1: country in 2027. Hopefully it's still in Tallahassee, but not
- 10:42Speaker 1: to give the Bama folks that are listening any ideas.
- 10:45Speaker 1: Don't be coming down. Don't be coming down here to
- 10:46Speaker 1: grab that guy. But Ashton did throw. Now, he wasn't
- 10:50Speaker 1: super efficient. He did throw for 250 yards in this
- 10:53Speaker 1: game last year with Auburn and ran for over 100.
- 10:57Speaker 1: To me, again, you talk about a path to Florida
- 10:59Speaker 1: State being competitive. I mean, he's got to go out
- 11:01Speaker 1: and have one of those kind of performances again and
- 11:03Speaker 1: probably be more efficient than he was because he threw
- 11:05Speaker 1: for 250 on, I think, 39 passes. Like, it was
- 11:08Speaker 1: a lot of throws. And it was hovering around maybe
- 11:11Speaker 1: a 50% completion percentage. So what made him successful last year?
- 11:14Speaker 1: Do you think he did something well? Did it be
- 11:16Speaker 1: a secondary? I know there were guys banged up toward
- 11:19Speaker 1: the end of the year. and this game is obviously
- 11:21Speaker 1: happening at a much different time. But just thoughts around
- 11:23Speaker 1: what made him successful in that Auburn game last year?
- 11:27Speaker 3: Well, I think Alabama's pass rush wasn't tremendous, besides Yonce Pierre.
- 11:32Speaker 2: I think he has help this year.
- 11:34Speaker 3: And if you watch the Kentucky game with Devin and
- 11:37Speaker 3: Caleb Woodson, because I'll be honest, Alabama dominated defensively against Kentucky,
- 11:43Speaker 3: and Pierre only had one tackle and two or three pressures.
- 11:47Speaker 3: He didn't have a sack. The week before, he had
- 11:50Speaker 3: a sack, he had several tackles, and a pick six.
- 11:55Speaker 3: He didn't put up those kind of stats against Kentucky,
- 11:58Speaker 3: and Alabama was still dominant. So for one thing, I
- 12:02Speaker 3: think Alabama has more help than they did a year ago.
- 12:06Speaker 2: And then I do think.
- 12:08Speaker 3: Ashton had a nice receiving core. For whatever reason, because
- 12:12Speaker 3: I know Deuce Robinson can play, and I think Florida
- 12:15Speaker 3: State's receiving core going into the year was supposed to
- 12:18Speaker 3: be pretty good But, you know, they had Cam Coleman.
- 12:21Speaker 3: You know, they had Eric Singleton, who's now a Gator.
- 12:23Speaker 3: Cam's at Texas. They had some receivers that were dudes that,
- 12:27Speaker 3: you know, that were good players. And I think that
- 12:31Speaker 3: they hurt Alabama some in that game. You know, and
- 12:34Speaker 3: I think the mobility aspect has always kind of bothered Alabama.
- 12:38Speaker 2: And this is what will be different, because let's be honest.
- 12:40Speaker 2: Kenny Minchie, he runs the 40 just slightly faster than
- 12:44Speaker 2: I do.
- 12:44Speaker 3: He's not very mobile. was able to move him off
- 12:48Speaker 3: his spot, make him uncomfortable, and sack him. Now, Ashton
- 12:52Speaker 3: is a much better athlete, and I think that Auburn
- 12:56Speaker 3: tape is going to help Alabama, because look, you've already
- 12:59Speaker 3: seen him a lot now. They've changed some pieces on defense,
- 13:03Speaker 3: like I said, with Woodson, and now Metz is playing full-time,
- 13:07Speaker 3: so it's a little different, but a lot of these
- 13:09Speaker 3: guys have seen him, so you know the guy's athletic,
- 13:12Speaker 3: so you better.
- 13:13Speaker 2: Be ready for that.
- 13:13Speaker 3: You better be ready for him to use his legs,
- 13:16Speaker 3: and I do think Florida State can move the ball
- 13:18Speaker 3: at times, but the key, too, is if they do
- 13:20Speaker 3: move it, don't give up explosives for touchdowns and then
- 13:24Speaker 3: make Florida State kick the football.
- 13:26Speaker 2: In other words, punt it or field goal.
- 13:30Speaker 3: Because I do think, after what I saw with Florida
- 13:32Speaker 3: State defensively against SMU, if, you know, and that's an if,
- 13:38Speaker 3: where we need to see growth out of Keelan Russell,
- 13:41Speaker 3: If Keelan can protect the football and make good decisions,
- 13:44Speaker 3: Alabama's got a lot of weapons. I think their backfield
- 13:47Speaker 3: is much deeper than it was a year ago. Those
- 13:50Speaker 3: couple of freshmen, you'll see them on Saturday. EJ Crowell
- 13:54Speaker 3: and Treshawn Brown are impact guys.
- 13:57Speaker 2: And then I think Daniel Hill is a different guy.
- 14:00Speaker 2: I think he's a leader.
- 14:01Speaker 3: I think he had his first 100-yard game against Kentucky.
- 14:05Speaker 3: And I think the offensive line is better, too, from
- 14:08Speaker 3: tackle to tackle.
- 14:09Speaker 2: So, yeah.
- 14:10Speaker 3: I think Alabama is better, and I think their wide
- 14:13Speaker 3: receiver core may not be as deep, and I'm still
- 14:16Speaker 3: not sure we'll see Noah Rogers make his debut, but heck, man,
- 14:20Speaker 3: with all this transferring, Alabama is going to be familiar
- 14:24Speaker 3: with Ashton Daniels. If they give Noah some snaps, heck,
- 14:28Speaker 3: Florida State saw him against it with NC State, so
- 14:31Speaker 3: they're familiar with the guy, but again, I think Alabama
- 14:34Speaker 3: is more well-rounded offensively.
- 14:37Speaker 2: They're using more tight ends.
- 14:39Speaker 3: I think What I want to see is did Alabama
- 14:42Speaker 3: figure things out in the second half against Kentucky because
- 14:46Speaker 3: I think they need to be intentional and committed to
- 14:48Speaker 3: the running game against Florida State. I think they need
- 14:51Speaker 3: to come out and run the football against Florida State
- 14:55Speaker 3: and then.
- 14:55Speaker 2: Allow Keelan Russell to settle in.
- 14:58Speaker 3: And if they do, they can beat Florida State soundly
- 15:02Speaker 3: if they can turn Florida State over, which Aston Daniels
- 15:05Speaker 3: did have that propensity.
- 15:07Speaker 2: He has had it in his.
- 15:09Speaker 3: Career to turn the football over, and that's what's going
- 15:11Speaker 3: to be one of the keys to the game on Saturday.
- 15:14Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 15:15Speaker 1: I think, you know, SMU, I mean, just box score-wise
- 15:20Speaker 1: dominated this game. They were better on third down. They
- 15:22Speaker 1: had 430 yards passing, not that Keelan needs to go
- 15:25Speaker 1: out and do anything like that. They had 155 yards
- 15:29Speaker 1: rushing on 31 carries. Their top dog, Kendrick Raphael, had 6.3
- 15:33Speaker 1: yards a carry. Obviously, if Hill can get anywhere close
- 15:37Speaker 1: to six yards of carry, Bama's going to feel really
- 15:38Speaker 1: good about what their offense is able to do. Florida
- 15:43Speaker 1: State was opportunistic on defense. It was very boom or bust.
- 15:47Speaker 1: SMU was either going down and scoring or they were
- 15:50Speaker 1: turning the ball over inside the red zone. Even on
- 15:52Speaker 1: the drives that SMU turned the ball over. They had
- 15:55Speaker 1: a fumble, I believe, at the 30-yard line. They had
- 15:57Speaker 1: an interception at the four. They had another interception that
- 16:01Speaker 1: they were around midfield, but it was a 30-yard pass,
- 16:03Speaker 1: so it got intercepted around the 20. And then they
- 16:07Speaker 1: missed the field goal, too. That kept a lot of
- 16:10Speaker 1: points off the board for SMU. If Bama can take
- 16:14Speaker 1: care of the ball, and run it effectively. There are
- 16:17Speaker 1: plays to be had against this Florida State defense. Now,
- 16:20Speaker 1: they'll make plays if you make mistakes. You don't get,
- 16:24Speaker 1: you know, some of turnover stuff is luck, right? The
- 16:28Speaker 1: other guy has to throw the ball in a place
- 16:30Speaker 1: you can catch it as a defender. But they showed
- 16:32Speaker 1: a propensity to do that, and they did step up,
- 16:35Speaker 1: and the defense did make some plays. Very bend, don't break. Now,
- 16:38Speaker 1: they unfortunately break a little bit more than they bend,
- 16:41Speaker 1: but they do a good job of being opportunistic. The
- 16:44Speaker 1: big question then becomes, all right, if Bama gives you
- 16:47Speaker 1: a couple of those opportunities, if Keylon or there's a
- 16:49Speaker 1: fumble or just anything, if they give you those opportunities,
- 16:51Speaker 1: can Florida state capitalize? They didn't do a good job
- 16:53Speaker 1: capitalizing on it against SMU, only seven points off of turnovers.
- 16:57Speaker 1: And so for Florida state, man, there are so many
- 16:59Speaker 1: things that need to go right. And for Bama, uh,
- 17:02Speaker 1: I know it's not interesting analysis. It's not like, Oh,
- 17:05Speaker 1: here's the key to the game. Like LSU Ole Miss
- 17:07Speaker 1: or Auburn, Florida or something like that. But for Bama,
- 17:10Speaker 1: it is truly to me taking care of the ball,
- 17:13Speaker 1: being better at the line of scrimmage and you'll win
- 17:15Speaker 1: this game. Like I don't really, Keelan could have a
- 17:18Speaker 1: C type game. And as long as you didn't have
- 17:20Speaker 1: three picks, they're probably fine.
- 17:22Speaker 2: Right?
- 17:23Speaker 1: The offensive defensive lines should be better. Florida state's not been,
- 17:26Speaker 1: been very good in the trenches this year. And so
- 17:28Speaker 1: I think that's the path to Bama winning and probably
- 17:30Speaker 1: winning somewhat comfortably. Florida State needs to go out and
- 17:34Speaker 1: Ashton needs to play really well. The offensive and defensive
- 17:37Speaker 1: lines need to have their best game so far of
- 17:39Speaker 1: the young season really quickly. And then the defense needs
- 17:42Speaker 1: to continue to force those mistakes and the offense has
- 17:44Speaker 1: to go do something with it. I think that's probably
- 17:47Speaker 1: too tall of a task. I'm not telling you that
- 17:49Speaker 1: this couldn't be a 10-point game or a 7-point game.
- 17:51Speaker 1: I think it probably ends up not being super competitive
- 17:54Speaker 1: late in the second half. But we'll see, man. I
- 17:56Speaker 1: guess that's why we play the game. I think Bama
- 17:58Speaker 1: rolls pretty easily here. Do you have a score? Have
- 18:00Speaker 1: you given a prediction just yet?
- 18:02Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm going to stick with it.
- 18:04Speaker 3: I know your audience, the target audience, at least the
- 18:06Speaker 3: Knowles fans, aren't going to like it. I like Alabama
- 18:09Speaker 3: 49-10 big in this game. And it's not for the
- 18:11Speaker 3: revenge factor. It's just what I saw on the line
- 18:13Speaker 3: of scrimmage against SMU and even really New Mexico State.
- 18:18Speaker 3: I know teams are supposed to improve. And then you've
- 18:20Speaker 3: got the turmoil with the athletic director being fired, you know,
- 18:24Speaker 3: Where's Norvell and the staff's head at?
- 18:26Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure they're trying.
- 18:27Speaker 3: To stay focused and keep the kids focused, but this
- 18:30Speaker 3: is interesting. And then Alabama, I'm hoping that they understand, like, look, okay,
- 18:36Speaker 3: the first half against Kentucky offensively is not acceptable. You've
- 18:40Speaker 3: got to come out and play four quarters against a
- 18:42Speaker 3: good Florida State team who handed you your butt last year.
- 18:46Speaker 3: And it's not really the revenge factor. It's just knowing
- 18:48Speaker 3: that this team whipped you, okay? So you better be
- 18:51Speaker 3: ready to go.
- 18:53Speaker 2: And so.
- 18:54Speaker 3: I'm anticipating Keelan playing not flawless, but hopefully turnover free
- 18:59Speaker 3: and certainly being a little more settled in because of
- 19:03Speaker 3: the approach of the game playing on Saturday. And I
- 19:06Speaker 3: just think the running game is better for Alabama. I
- 19:09Speaker 3: think having Carroll back, their best guard, is going to
- 19:11Speaker 3: help immensely, having him back on that right side. Now
- 19:15Speaker 3: I'm more interested to see who's going to be at
- 19:17Speaker 3: left guard because William Sanders graded out higher today. where
- 19:22Speaker 3: he played at right guard last week than the left guard,
- 19:26Speaker 3: Mal Waldrop, and they've been battling it out at left guard.
- 19:29Speaker 3: So will William Sanders get to start at left guard?
- 19:32Speaker 3: That's going to be really interesting to me. I would
- 19:35Speaker 3: lean toward yes because I think that's where they were
- 19:37Speaker 3: leaning coming out of camp, but he had a little
- 19:39Speaker 3: bit of an.
- 19:40Speaker 2: Oblique problem for game one, and then he.
- 19:43Speaker 3: Struggled a little bit, so Mal took advantage in the
- 19:46Speaker 3: second half. But I want to see the cohesion from
- 19:48Speaker 3: the offensive line.
- 19:50Speaker 2: And then I'd like to see the wide receivers.
- 19:52Speaker 3: Rico Scott started to emerge a little bit last game.
- 19:56Speaker 3: We saw– but I think Lotsier Brooks is the dude,
- 19:59Speaker 3: even though Ryan Coleman-Williams gets all the publicity. I thought
- 20:02Speaker 3: in the Kentucky game the money plays were made by Lottie.
- 20:05Speaker 2: I'd like to see that group continue to grow.
- 20:08Speaker 3: And then I think these two young backs can compliment
- 20:11Speaker 3: Daniel Hill, certainly, and EJ Crowell and Treshawn Brown.
- 20:16Speaker 2: And I just think– I do think it will be
- 20:18Speaker 2: close for a half. I wouldn't be surprised if it's
- 20:20Speaker 2: like a– I don't know, like maybe 14-7, 14-10 at half, 17-10.
- 20:28Speaker 3: And then Alabama turns Florida State over a couple times
- 20:32Speaker 3: and starts to separate in the third quarter and then
- 20:33Speaker 3: wins going away. But I just like Alabama to cover.
- 20:36Speaker 3: I like them to cover pretty easily. And right now,
- 20:39Speaker 3: I just think this is a– I think it's actually
- 20:41Speaker 3: a good time to catch Florida State. Last year, yeah,
- 20:44Speaker 3: I mean, everybody's 0-0. Last year, Florida State came out,
- 20:48Speaker 3: got down 7-0, but quickly countered. Gus Malzahn had a
- 20:52Speaker 3: lot of knowledge of Alabama, and they got real physical
- 20:55Speaker 3: with the tie. The tie didn't respond, and we all
- 20:58Speaker 3: know what happened. It was not a good, you know,
- 21:02Speaker 3: performance from Alabama. The rest of the football game, Florida
- 21:05Speaker 3: State played outstanding. Castellanos was amazing. But I think Alabama,
- 21:09Speaker 3: being at home, hopefully getting Keelan Russell settled in and
- 21:15Speaker 3: getting him settled in early will help. And I think
- 21:18Speaker 3: it's a line of scrimmage game. And I just think
- 21:19Speaker 3: this year it looks to me like Alabama has a big,
- 21:22Speaker 3: distinct advantage on both lines of scrimmage heading into the contest.
- 21:27Speaker 1: Drew, what do you guys have coming this week? Where
- 21:29Speaker 1: can people find you? What's the station name and numbers
- 21:33Speaker 1: that people can get a hold of? And we appreciate
- 21:35Speaker 1: you for.
- 21:35Speaker 2: Hanging out, bud. Yeah, man, no doubt.
- 21:38Speaker 3: They can certainly connect with me at DrewD977ESPN because since
- 21:42Speaker 3: I last talked to you, TJ, I've got my Twitter
- 21:46Speaker 3: account back after the night.
- 21:47Speaker 2: Let's go. For eight months, so I've got it back
- 21:50Speaker 2: and they can connect with me there.
- 21:51Speaker 3: They can connect with us at 977ESPN. com for our content
- 21:57Speaker 3: if they want to listen there or they can On WZZN-TV,
- 22:00Speaker 3: as you were on today, our YouTube channel, they can
- 22:03Speaker 3: connect with us every day from 7 to 10 a.m.,
- 22:05Speaker 3: 8 to 11 Eastern Time, 7.
- 22:08Speaker 2: To 10 Central.
- 22:09Speaker 3: And then, of course, if you miss any of our content,
- 22:11Speaker 3: we put it on our SoundCloud page, 97.7 ESPN The Zone,
- 22:16Speaker 3: and you can catch it there. But we always enjoy
- 22:19Speaker 3: being on College Football Addiction with you. You do a
- 22:21Speaker 3: great job covering the sport, and we look forward to
- 22:24Speaker 3: seeing you on Saturday inside the confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium.
- 22:27Speaker 2: In the We hope you can brace for the heat.
- 22:30Speaker 2: You and your friends have a good time.
- 22:32Speaker 3: But we'll see if the Tide can make a better
- 22:36Speaker 3: acquitting of themselves than they did in Tallahassee.
- 22:40Speaker 1: The last time I saw him was that Georgia game
- 22:41Speaker 1: in 2024.
- 22:42Speaker 2: That's right.
- 22:47Speaker 1: Well, I saw it last year in Tallahassee, but last
- 22:49Speaker 1: time I was in Bryant-Denny was the Georgia game in 24.
- 22:51Speaker 1: So if we can get anything close to that, I
- 22:53Speaker 1: know the Bama fans want a better game than that,
- 22:54Speaker 1: but if we can get anything close to that, then
- 22:56Speaker 1: I'll be thrilled. If we can get that for even
- 22:58Speaker 1: a quarter, I'll be pretty happy. So, Drew, we appreciate
- 23:01Speaker 1: you for hanging out. Appreciate our friends over at PrizePigs. Again,
- 23:03Speaker 1: all new users there. Play $ 5, get 150 in lineups
- 23:06Speaker 1: instantly if you win using code HMA. Good luck this weekend, man.
- 23:09Speaker 1: We'll see you in a couple days.
- 23:11Speaker 2: Yes, sir, man. Thank you for having me.