College Game Day with UCF and the Sports Bozos!

ESPN announced yesterday that their famed “College Game Day” will be in Orlando this weekend where the undefeated UCF Knights will take on the 9-1 Cincinnati Bearcats.   Aside from not understanding what exactly a “Bearcat” is, this has caused a lot of excitement in O-town and you can bet this Bozo will be on hand to cheer on the home town team and most disrespected team in college football the last 2 years.  Rather than bore everyone with my unique take on mascot names, we were able to catch up with Erik Kohler, the UCF play by play man in stadium and host of EK Sports on FM 96.9 “The Game” week nights 7-9 pm.

 

Bozo:   Erik, you have been calling the shots for UCF for many years, but even this stretch of success has to shocking to you, right?

 

Erik:   “This is my 18^th season of calling UCF home football & men’s basketball games…..winning 22 straight games has been a magical ride, need #23 under the lights this Saturday versus Cincinnati.  I’ve witnessed a great deal in my years with UCF but I wouldn’t classify our success as shocking but more as a validation that things were coming our way.”

 

 

Bozo:   When Scott Frost bolted to Nebraska, I admittedly thought UCF would win 6 games this year.  Were you surprised by the success of this team and its 1^st year coach Josh Heupel?

 

Erik:   “   I believed that Scott Frost left behind a full cupboard of talent and that we would still contend to win the American Athletic Conference.  I didn’t see us being undefeated but knew we could win at least 8-9 games.  With this, the success that Josh Heupel has had is due to the fact he didn’t come in a make drastic changes with how the program was ran in the previous 2 years under Frost….allowed for continuity of success & familiarity within the entire football program.

 

 

Bozo:   The UCF knights have felt disrespected by the Bowl committee the last two years; do you think this game against a good Cincinnati team could change that?

 

Erik:   “   I believe that perception has hurt us in the eyes of the national media as really no one outside of our region really knows that we have built a sustainable football program.  Having College Game Day here on site this weekend will help change the narrative in the favor of UCF perception toward the “positive” side.”

 

 

Bozo:   In your opinion, what is the secret to UCF’s offensive success the last two years?

 

Erik:   “ The success has been the weapons we have at the talent positions (WR, RB) & the depth of these positions.  In addition, having a “game changing” QB like Milton has helped continued our progress by spreading the ball around…..we score fast & we score a lot.

 

 

Bozo:   Despite the success of UCF, do you feel that they can stay in the AAC or is imperative to join one of the power 5 conferences within the next 2 years?

 

Erik:   “  The way the current system is with the “Power 5”……it’s all about the TV contracts and the MONEY!!!!!……..we are at a disadvantage in our current conference as we are running a program at 1/10^th of what these other P5 programs get each and every year with their guaranteed TV contracts paying each member institution…..imagine UCF getting $40M EVERY YEAR as opposed to $3-4M?”

 

 

Bozo:   Cincinnati is known as the Bearcats.  Webster’s dictionary defines that as “a bear like climbing mammal”.    In all your time on Rio Pinar golf course have you ever encountered a Bearcat or is it fictional like a Sasquatch?

 

Erik:   “You got me on this one, lol…..at least at Rio we have the famous “Fox Squirrel”…..what in the heck is a BearCat? no clue……..hopefully we can discard of this rodent Saturday night at 8pm “under the lights”

 

 

Bozo:   Where can true UCF fans listen to your broadcast at and can they access your show week nights on line?

 

Erik:     “You can catch me EVERY Tuesday on AM740 or FM96.9 The Game, Orlando’s Sports Leader……7:30-9pm ET….listen to us anywhere by downloading the IHeart Radio app on www.96.9 TheGame.com  and also catch me occasionally on Spectrum Sports as I am an analyst on the segment called “FaceOff”……any past radio broadcasts can be listened to on our websited:  eksportsradio.com

 

 

Bozo:     Thank you for your time and insight and I will see you Saturday night as the knights take on the mammal bear like critter!!!  Go Knights!