This week’s Southern Sports Stillhouse started with the Game of the Week already setting the bourbon agenda.

No. 24 Louisville and No. 9 Ole Miss meet in Nashville, so Scott went with Rebel Small Batch Reserve while I poured Old Forester 1924. Rebel for the Rebels. Old Forester for Louisville. Sometimes the pairings make themselves.

Unfortunately for Scott, the football Rebels may have considerably more punch than the bourbon did.

The Rebel Small Batch Reserve poured amber to light copper. Scott found fruit on the nose, including a light cherry note, along with a clear wheat presence. There was some soft tropical sweetness, maybe banana, but nothing that really jumped out of the glass.

On the palate, corn arrived first and rather aggressively before giving way to oak and buttery notes. There was some creaminess and a hint of caramel apple, but the sweetness of the corn tended to dominate. The mouthfeel was nicely oily, so the flavors did stick around, and the finish added anise and licorice. Scott compared the lingering note to a black jelly bean before another buttery note appeared at the end.

At 110 proof, though, the whole thing somehow seemed weak.

Maybe unlike Ole Miss.

Scott’s overall impression was pretty simple: meh. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t anything he expected to reach for when he wanted a special pour.

Scott’s score for Rebel Small Batch Reserve: 72.18.

And he admitted that might have been generous.

My Old Forester 1924 had a much better night.

The color was mid-copper, and the nose immediately announced itself as Old Forester. I got a banana split: chocolate-drizzled bananas, caramel, vanilla whipped cream, a cherry on top and maybe a few toasted pecans scattered over everything.

The palate delivered most of the same dessert, although somebody rearranged the toppings. The cherries moved toward the front, followed by caramel and nutmeg. There was a lot of butter in this dram, too, with toffee and some cinnamon pushing through as the sip developed.

The mouthfeel was a little lighter than I expected, although still decently viscous. The finish wasn’t the strongest part of the whiskey, but it was still better than average, with tart cherries, caramel and light oak hanging around the longest.

This bottle also has a personal connection for me. Old Forester 1924 was the bourbon I drank at my daughter’s wedding.

It didn’t disappoint then, and it didn’t disappoint tonight.

This is a bourbon to toast with.

My score for Old Forester 1924: 85.50.

So Louisville won the bourbon matchup pretty comfortably.

Scott and I were considerably less optimistic about the Cardinals on the football field.

(Last week, I did the only picks. Here’s my record — Straight up: 6-3; ATS: 4-4; O/U: 4-4)

Game of the Week: No. 24 Louisville vs. No. 9 Ole Miss

The funny thing about our Game of the Week is that Scott and I arrived at almost exactly the same conclusion.

He likes what Pete Golding showed after taking over Ole Miss during last season’s College Football Playoff run. Golding was thrown into an unusual situation, but he showed that he could lead the program when the pressure was highest. Now he gets his first regular-season game as the full-time head coach.

It doesn’t hurt that he has Trinidad Chambliss at quarterback and Kewan Lacy at running back.

Chambliss gives Ole Miss an established quarterback who has already shown he can protect the football while creating explosive plays, and Lacy gives the Rebels a back who can control a game on the ground. That is a pretty comfortable place for a new head coach to begin.

Louisville’s biggest advantage may be Jeff Brohm.

Brohm has built his reputation on offense and quarterback development, and he now turns the Cardinals over to Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz. Kienholz has ability, but he doesn’t have Chambliss’ experience. Louisville also has Isaac Brown in the backfield, which should give Brohm enough balance to prevent Kienholz from having to carry the offense by himself.

The question is whether Louisville can keep this from becoming an Ole Miss kind of game.

If the Cardinals can run the ball, shorten possessions and keep the score in the 20s, they have a chance to make things uncomfortable. If this becomes a game where Kienholz has to trade scores with Chambliss, that strongly favors the Rebels.

Scott believes Golding gets his first win by 10.

Scott: Ole Miss 31, Louisville 21.

I’m expecting a little more offense, but exactly the same margin.

Doug: Ole Miss 34, Louisville 24.

Apparently the Louisville bourbon has a better chance of winning than the Louisville football team.

Liberty at James Madison

There wasn’t much disagreement here either.

Scott gives James Madison the traditional three-point home-field advantage and thinks that may be about the difference in the game. He also thinks Billy Napier is in a much more comfortable environment than he was in the SEC.

As Scott put it, Sun Belt Billy couldn’t handle the SEC, but he is solid at this level.

Napier takes over a James Madison program that reached the College Football Playoff last season, but there has been significant turnover. That means the Dukes may not immediately look like the team that finished last year.

Liberty, meanwhile, still has Jamey Chadwell and an offense that is particularly irritating to prepare for in an opener. The motion, option principles and quarterback involvement can create problems for a defense that is still learning a new system.

JMU also has last year’s 31-13 win over Liberty in its pocket.

Scott sees another close Dukes victory.

Scott: James Madison 24, Liberty 21.

So do I.

Doug: James Madison 27, Liberty 24.

We apparently agreed on the margin and just disagreed on how many field goals the scoreboard operator would have to count.

Baylor vs. Auburn

Records: Season opener; Baylor finished 5–7 in 2025, Auburn 5–7
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Aflac Kickoff Game) — Atlanta, Georgia
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET (Saturday, September 5, 2026)
TV: ABC
Line: Auburn -7.5
Over/Under: 58.5

Scott likes Alex Golesh.

More importantly, he likes Golesh bringing quarterback Byrum Brown with him from South Florida. Brown already knows the offense, which means Auburn isn’t asking a new quarterback and a new coaching staff to learn each other at the same time.

That matters in Week 1.

Scott also thinks Atlanta will feel a lot more like an Auburn home game than a neutral-site matchup. Auburn fans don’t exactly have to cross the country to get there.

Baylor has its own interesting quarterback in DJ Lagway. The Florida transfer gives the Bears the kind of talent capable of changing a game, so neither of us expects Auburn to simply walk away.

Scott sees a defensive game.

Scott: Auburn 21, Baylor 17.

I see the same four-point margin but considerably more offense.

Doug: Auburn 31, Baylor 27.

That gives us one of the better discussion points of the week: not who wins, but what kind of game this becomes.

Boise State at No. 2 Oregon

Scott wasn’t interested in overthinking this one.

Oregon is too good.

Boise State has a veteran quarterback in Maddux Madsen and enough history against Oregon to prevent the Ducks from treating this like a glorified scrimmage. The Broncos have caused Oregon problems before and nearly beat the Ducks in Eugene in 2024.

Scott just doesn’t think this Boise State team can hang with this Oregon roster.

Dante Moore returns at quarterback for the Ducks, and Oregon enters the season as one of the legitimate national championship contenders.

Scott thinks Oregon wins comfortably.

Scott: Oregon 31, Boise State 17.

He also said it could be much worse.

I apparently believe him.

Doug: Oregon 38, Boise State 17.

We agreed exactly on Boise State. I just found another Oregon touchdown somewhere.

Wyoming at Colorado State

And finally, we got our first actual disagreement.

Scott has a personal reason to lean toward Colorado State. His parents met there.

That may not show up on the analytics sheet, but it counts in the Stillhouse.

He also likes Jim Mora’s leadership. Mora has enough coaching experience that Scott thinks Colorado State will have the advantage in a rivalry opener, even with all the changes around the program.

I’m going the other way.

Wyoming looked like the more settled team to me entering the opener, and it’s hard to completely ignore what happened last year when the Cowboys beat Colorado State 28-0.

Colorado State may eventually have the higher ceiling under Mora.

I just don’t know that I trust all of those pieces to be in place in Week 1.

Scott: Colorado State 27, Wyoming 21.

Doug: Wyoming 24, Colorado State 21.

Finally, somebody gets bragging rights.

And at that point, Scott decided he’d had enough of the Rebel.

Bourbon Break

Scott abandoned Rebel Small Batch Reserve and reached for one a recent purchase of Old Forester President’s Choice.

That changed his evening quickly.

He called the nose a cherry bomb and the overall experience heavenly. The color reminded him of molasses in a glass, with cherries and red berries exploding from the nose. The palate followed through, and the finish brought cherry pie filling and cinnamon.

Apparently Scott didn’t dislike bourbon tonight.

He just disliked that bourbon.

I stayed in the Brown-Forman family but moved slightly away from Old Forester with Cooper’s Craft Barrel Reserve.

The grooved barrel used for Cooper’s Craft gives it a distinctive profile despite the very approachable price. The signature Brown-Forman cherries exploded from both the nose and palate, followed by oak and brown sugar sweetness.

There wasn’t a lot of complexity, but that wasn’t really a problem.

It was fruity, sweet, oaky and completely satisfying.

That makes it exactly what I want from a Bourbon Cheapskate bottle.

Clemson at No. 11 LSU

Scott believes Saturday night in Baton Rouge is where dreams go to die.

Lane Kiffin is now running LSU, and Scott expects him to take advantage of every edge he can find. Clemson may also call itself the Tigers, but Scott believes the real Tigers are wearing purple and gold.

I’m not going to argue very hard.

Clemson still has defensive talent, and Dabo Swinney’s program isn’t suddenly devoid of players. But LSU has the home field, the talent and now Kiffin directing the offense. (Not to mention the potential of professional players suiting up for the Tigers.)

The biggest uncertainty is how quickly all of LSU’s new pieces come together.

Apparently neither of us thinks that will be much of a problem.

Scott: LSU 31, Clemson 20.

Doug: LSU 31, Clemson 21.

One point.

That’s our disagreement.

UCLA at California

This one gives us our second true split.

Scott likes Bob Chesney and believes UCLA simply has too much talent for Cal.

Chesney has won everywhere he has coached, and UCLA gives him more raw material than he had at James Madison. Scott thinks that talent advantage will be just enough to overcome playing in Berkeley.

Scott: UCLA 24, California 22.

I’m taking Cal.

Both programs are going through significant transitions, and in that situation I tend to lean toward the home team with the quarterback situation I trust a little more.

I think this one stays close all night.

Doug: California 27, UCLA 24.

So Scott has UCLA stealing one in Berkeley.

I have the Bears holding serve at home.

One of us gets to hear about that next Tuesday.

Washington State at No. 17 Washington

Scott doesn’t think Washington is particularly good.

He just thinks Washington State is worse.

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it’s enough for him to take the Huskies in the Apple Cup.

Washington also has Demond Williams Jr. back at quarterback, and the last meeting between these teams wasn’t competitive. The Huskies beat Washington State 59-24 last season.

Scott doesn’t expect another 35-point massacre, but he doesn’t expect much suspense either.

Scott: Washington 31, Washington State 20.

I’m slightly more optimistic about Washington.

Or slightly more pessimistic about Washington State.

Doug: Washington 38, Washington State 17.

Either way, neither one of us expects the Apple Cup trophy to leave Seattle.

Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Notre Dame

Scott thinks this could be Notre Dame’s year.

That is dangerous territory for Notre Dame fans, because history has provided plenty of opportunities for optimism to become emotional trauma.

But the Irish enter the season with legitimate national championship expectations and CJ Carr back at quarterback.

Wisconsin brings an interesting threat in Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph, whose running ability gives the Badgers a way to manufacture offense even when traditional things aren’t working.

Scott doesn’t think it matters much.

Scott: Notre Dame 31, Wisconsin 10.

I’m giving Wisconsin one more touchdown.

Doug: Notre Dame 31, Wisconsin 17.

Same Irish offense.

Different opinion on whether Wisconsin can make the scoreboard look respectable.

No. 19 SMU at Florida State

Records: Season opener for SMU; SMU finished 9–4 in 2025, Florida State 5–7 (FSU enters 1–0 after a Week 0 win)
Where: Doak S. Campbell Stadium — Tallahassee, Florida
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET (Monday, September 7, 2026 — Labor Day)
TV: ESPN
Line: SMU -2.5 (consensus range SMU -2.5 to -3)
Over/Under: Approximately 52.5–53.5

Florida State has already played.

Whether that helps the Seminoles is an interesting question.

Scott thinks playing at home will bring out a better performance from FSU than many people expect. He believes the Seminoles will make SMU work for everything and come very close to pulling the upset.

But not quite.

Scott: SMU 21, Florida State 20.

I’m expecting a little more offense from the Mustangs.

Kevin Jennings gives SMU an established quarterback, and Florida State showed enough defensive issues in its Week 0 win to make me think the Mustangs will find opportunities.

I still expect FSU to compete.

I just don’t expect the final score to be quite as uncomfortable for SMU as Scott does.

Doug: SMU 31, Florida State 24.

So after 10 games, Scott and I agree on eight winners.

The two arguments that matter are Wyoming-Colorado State and UCLA-Cal.

Everything else is just us deciding how dramatically we want to be right.

Final Sip

Scott finished the night with Free Bird, one of my barrel-aging projects.

He said the color could hold its own against anything we had poured all evening. The nose was solid, the flavor followed through, and the whiskey was sweet, delicious and offered good value. That is exactly what I wanted Free Bird to become.

I finished with Old Reporter, 3rd Edition, the third expression to come through my aging barrel. There isn’t a tremendous amount of complexity here. The profile is mostly cherries, toffee, caramel, oak and cinnamon. But I don’t need every whiskey to require a flow chart.

This one is simply delicious. Old Reporter 3rd Edition is a winning everyday sipper. And that seems like an appropriate place to end this week’s Stillhouse.

We started with Rebel and Old Forester representing our Game of the Week. Rebel didn’t survive the first half. President’s Choice had to come off the bench. Cooper’s Craft kept Brown-Forman represented. Then we finished with two bottles that had spent time in my own barrel.

Now all that’s left is football.

Scott and I agree that Ole Miss beats Louisville by 10 in Nashville. If the Rebels play anything like Scott’s Rebel bourbon tasted, Louisville has a chance. If they play the way we expect them to? Pete Golding gets his first regular-season win.

We’ll find out this weekend.

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Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.