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Auburn linebacker delivers confident message to Alabama ahead of Iron Bowl

Different players often have varying philosophies on how to speak about their opponent before a game.

Some give praise or compliment the other team, looking to avoid giving the opponent extra motivation. Some don’t hide their confidence, and might talk about what gives them that mentality.

Auburn freshman linebacker Demarcus Riddick did the latter, and then some.

In a Monday afternoon interview session that only lasted just under seven minutes, Riddick didn’t hold back on his feeling about the Iron Bowl or arguably Alabama’s two best offensive players.

Riddick isn’t a stranger to the rivalry game, growing up in Clanton, a town that he described as split 50/50 by Auburn and Alabama fans. Ahead of his first Iron Bowl, though, he wants to spread confidence within the team, especially after Alabama’s 24-3 loss to Oklahoma.

“Seeing the results after that game, it was kind of like this team is really beatable,” Riddick said. “I was just telling the team, ‘Y’all don’t really take this team as this or that. They’re really beatable. We’ve got something to fight for.’

“Going into this game I’m just going to be balls to the wall every time. Like I said, Bama is a big rival team. Every rival team I’ve never lost to, and I will not lose to Bama while I’m here.”

Regarding specific players, Riddick was asked first about Jalen Milroe, Alabama’s up-and-down dual threat quarterback who has shown an ability to tear defenses apart with his legs. As someone who often gets the assignment of containing the quarterback, Riddick showed confidence ahead of facing Milroe.

“He is a good quarterback, he’s fast, but he’s not faster than me,” Riddick said. “He will not get out that box this week and that’s something I’m gonna have to work on all week.”

There’s room for Riddick to have confidence against Milroe, given the role he has played in slowing down other mobile quarterbacks Auburn has faced this season.

However, he had even harsher words for arguably Alabama’s biggest offensive star, freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams.

“Ryan Williams is Ryan Williams,” Riddick said. “I mean, yeah, he’s electric, he’s all this and that. But in my eyes, he ain’t really nobody to me. Ryan Williams is himself, he ain’t no big-time player to me.”

Williams is Alabama’s leading receiver this season with 804 yards on 42 catches for eight touchdowns. He has been relatively quiet in recent games, not having more than 50 receiving yards since Alabama’s win over Missouri on Oct. 26.

Riddick’s trash talk was a rare example in modern college football of a player fully embracing a rivalry game publicly. Will it have a tangible impact on Saturday’s game? Who knows.

In a world of social media, though, it’s almost guaranteed his opponents will hear the message.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m

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Alabama’s DeBoer: Jalen Milroe needed to ‘Find a way’ to make tackle on pick 6

Alabama football quarterback Jalen Milroe had a chance to make the tackle. After throwing an ugly interception to Oklahoma’s Kip Lewis, Milroe was the only player who could have got the cornerback down, or out of bounds.

Instead, he completely missed, flying out of bounds while Lewis found the end zone to make the final score 24-3 and end any hope UA had of a comeback in Norman. On Monday, Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked about Milroe’s effort on the play.

“He’s got to find a way to get him out,” DeBoer said. “He’s a good enough athlete to where either using the sideline or forcing a cutback. It’s not something you spend a lot of time practicing. It’s not his position he’s in. He’s got to find a way to get him out of bounds. I trust Jalen to do a lot of things and I trust that he can get him down. Find a way. Find a way to get the defense out there, find some way possible. Hold them to a field goal.”

Milroe threw three interceptions in the loss, but the one to Lewis was the most demoralizing. Alabama’s offense struggled all game, never able to sustain drives.

Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan explained what the Tide teaches quarterbacks to do on turnover plays.

“Certainly the No. 1 priority every time you turn the ball over is to get the guy down,” Sheridan said “And so, there’s different things and fundamentals that you’re trying to teach to players. You’re always trying to front the ball up to try to make it change directions, to try to help the pursuit. But obviously we didn’t do a good enough job in that moment.”

Tackling isn’t something Milroe would practice often. Still, DeBoer said the redshirt junior needed to make the play.

“That’s not something you practice a lot,” DeBoer said. ” I blow the whistle dead every time. Obviously I don’t want guys tackling each other in practice, especially the quarterbacks. So find a way. That’s what I would say.”

Alabama will be back in action Saturday in Tuscaloosa, facing Auburn in the Iron Bowl. The game is scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on ABC.

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Montgomery capital murder suspect captured by U.S. Marshals in Texas

A 32-year-old man charged in a Montgomery double homicide was arrested in Texas, authorities announced Monday.

Bennie Humphrey, of Montgomery, is charged with two counts of capital murder in the Oct. 25 slayings of Jeroderick Bell, 29, and Devin Ligon, 30.

Maj. Saba Coleman said Humphrey was taken into custody on Nov. 6 in Texas by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was extradited to Alabama early Monday and is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Center.

Montgomery police and fire medics responded to the 500 block of North Eastern Boulevard around 1:57 a.m. that Friday on a report of people shot.

Both victims were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Coleman said at the time the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident involving people who knew each other.

No additional details have been released.

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Bessemer man charged in deadly shooting outside 2 businesses on Birmingham’s Third Ave. West

A suspect has been charged in a shooting outside two west Birmingham businesses that left one man dead and another injured.

Jaylin Rashad Horn, 25, of Bessemer, is charged with capital murder in the Oct. 5 slaying of 25-year-old Johndarius Decareious Ward.

The deadly shooting happened outside the Shell station and Boston Fish Supreme on Third Avenue West, a location which city officials have previously labeled as a “launching pad for criminal activity.”

Birmingham police last week released surveillance photo showing the two suspects walking, and also images of their vehicles.

Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said Horn turned himself in hours after police released the footage.

Horn was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 7:19 p.m. on Nov. 22. He remains held without bond.

The shots rang out about 3 a.m. that Saturday in the 800 block of Third Avenue West.

Police received four different Shot Spotter notifications. In all, the gunfire detection system registered about 42 shots.

When officers arrived, they found Ward unresponsive inside a vehicle. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead at the scene.

Roughly two dozen shell casings surrounded his sedan stopped in front of Boston Fish Supreme. Another cluster of shell casings was right in front the Shell, feet away from the store’s front door.

Authorities said it appeared Ward was trying to leave the parking lot when the shooter came from around a building and opened fire on the vehicle.

The shooter or shooters, who police said ambushed the victim, fled.

While officers were on the scene, they learned an additional victim showed up at Princeton Baptist Medical Center via private vehicle. He was transferred to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Ward had been parked outside Boston Fish Supreme earlier, police said. His killing appears to be targeted but a motive has not yet been disclosed.

Once the shooting started, Wade said, somebody outside of Shell also began firing, and that is when investigators believe the bystander was caught in the crossfire.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Krispy Kreme has Thanksgiving doughnuts. Here’s what’s on the menu

Krispy Kreme has reimaged some of our favorite holiday pies in doughnut form. The doughnut and coffee chain’s Thanksgiving Pies Doughnut Collection features a lineup of four fruity and chocolatey treats.

Here’s what’s on the menu:

  • Chocolate Silk Pie Doughnut: An original glazed doughnut dipped in chocolate icing, topped with chocolate buttercreme and chocolate curls.
  • Lemon Creme Pie Doughnut: An unglazed shell doughnut filled with lemon pie filling, dipped in lemon yellow icing and graham crunch, topped with meringue buttercreme dollop.
  • Blueberry Crisp Doughnut: An unglazed shell doughnut with blueberry filling, dipped in blueberry icing and streusel topping.
  • Apple Crumble Doughnut: An unglazed shell doughnut with apple pie filling, topped with pie crust buttercreme and cinnamon cookie crumb topping.

The Krispy Kreme Thanksgiving Pies Doughnut Collection is available in-shop and for pickup or delivery via Krispy Kreme’s app and website. Guests can also enjoy the collection in a Krispy Kreme 6-pack at participating grocery stores and retailers.

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Kalen DeBoer, Alabama football had ‘communication’ with SEC about Ryan Williams penalty

Alabama football and the SEC have been in contact about the Ryan Williams touchdown that was erased against Oklahoma because of a penalty.

“There has been communication,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. “Nothing you can really do now. The game is over. You’ve just got to be comfortable with the communication you have. That’s been the case with the SEC. You just move on. We’re focused on the Iron Bowl.”

Williams leaped to grab a pass on fourth down with 14:07 left this past Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. It would have brought Alabama within two scores of the Sooners. But officials ruled illegal touching on the play by Williams.

“They said it was an illegal touching, so someone would have had to have been covered up,” DeBoer said postgame on what the officials told him. “You know, ineligible.”

Being covered up has to do with alignment pre-snap and how many players are on the line of scrimmage. If you are on the line of scrimmage as a receiver, you can’t have a receiver closer to the sideline (outside of you) who is also on the line of scrimmage for you to still be an eligible receiver. Williams, however, was the farthest receiver on the line of scrimmage, so he should have still been eligible.

ABC/ESPN rules analyst Bill LeMonnier disagreed with the call the officials made.

“I personally don’t see the cover-up there,” LeMonnier said on the broadcast. “I’ve got two (receivers) in the backfield to the right and one guy up on the line of scrimmage.”

Still, it’s a loss of downs. And because the play was on fourth down, it resulted in Oklahoma taking over on downs.

The touchdown might not have made a difference in the outcome, but it would have helped. Because it wasn’t counted, Alabama went without a touchdown in a game for the first time since 2011.

Next up, Alabama (8-3, 4-3 SEC) will face Auburn on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the Iron Bowl.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.

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Jacksonville State quarterback Tyler Huff honored by Conference USA

After helping Jacksonville State clinch Conference USA title game hosting rights, Tyler Huff earned some recognition for his Week 13 performance.

The quarterback was named CUSA offensive player of the week after helping lead the Gamecocks to a 21-11 win over Sam Houston on Saturday to add a conference title game to its schedule.

This marks Huff’s second offensive player of the week honor this season and Jax State’s fifth individual player honor.

RELATED: Jax State set to host Conference USA title game with victory over Sam Houston

The quarterback ran for 177 yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 30 carries in the win, with 81 yards and two touchdowns coming on third down. His 13 rushing touchdowns on the season are tied for the most by a quarterback in conference history.

Huff also completed 9 of his 12 passing attempts to nine different receivers, throwing for 54 yards in the win.

Jax State (8-3, 7-0 CUSA) will travel to Western Kentucky on Saturday to close the regular season before hosting the CUSA championship game on Dec. 6.

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Auburn-Iowa State free livestream: How to watch college basketball game, TV, schedule

The Auburn Tigers play against the Iowa State Cyclones in a college basketball game tonight. The matchup will begin at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

The Tigers enter this matchup with a 4-0 record, coming off a 102-69 win against North Alabama. Johni Broome led the Auburn offense, scoring 30 points and shot 13-17 from the field. Broome also racked up17 rebounds against North Alabama, so he will try to perform similarly tonight.

Broome currently leads the team in points and rebounds.

The Cyclones enter this matchup with a 3-0 record, and they are coming off an 87-52 win against IU Indianapolis. During the victory, four Iowa State players scored double-digit points: Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert, and Curtis Jones.

Jones currently leads the team in scoring with 15 points per game.

Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

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Walmart just dropped more online Black Friday deals
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Walmart just dropped more online Black Friday deals

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Thanksgiving travel 2024: What to know about gas prices before the holiday

Good news for people hitting the road for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday– gas prices are at their lowest level since 2021.

The average price of gasoline in the country has declined for the sixth week in a row, according to data compiled by consumer fuel savings platform Gas Buddy. As of Monday, the average price of gasoline is $3.01 per gallon, the lowest level since May 2021.

Thirty-one states now have average gas prices below $3 per gallon.

Patrick De Haan, the Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, attributes the price decline to “continued corrections in the US economy,” reports Yahoo Finance.

The decline comes as 72% of Americans say they plan to drive to their destination during Thanksgiving week, up from 41% in 2023, according to numbers from Gas Buddy’s 2024 annual Thanksgiving Travel Survey. After several years of travel impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, that number is closer to pre-pandemic levels when 65% of people drove for Thanksgiving in 2019.

According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gas in Alabama is $2.76, down from $2.81 a month ago and $2.85 a year ago. The highest recorded average price in Alabama was $4.63 reported on June 14, 2022.

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