UCF 2025 Season Preview w/ Blake Blahut

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
How's it going, guys, Thanks for tuning into this episode
of the Phil Talk Sports podcast. We are exactly one
week away from the kickoff of the college football season,
not counting week zero. Blake Blayhood is with me and
we are going to preview the UCF twenty twenty five season.
We did this last year, Blake, I don't think we
can be any more incorrect than we were last year,

(00:32):
but with all the question marks like, there should be
still some room to get some things right.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
No, absolutely, no, Yeah, it's great to do this again
with you. I know it's been a kind of crazy.
I think that the year ago we were talking about
our second season in the Big twelve, and now we're
getting ready to talk about our third season in the
Big twelve. And yeah, I know, I'm really excited for
the you know, the changes that have come and and
what the season will bring, whether it be for better

(00:58):
or for worse.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Compared to twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Yeah, I mean, we couldn't have got it more, not
just us.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
I think we can cut ourselves some slack that you know,
we were talking nine ten wins. We were talking r J.
Harvey as a Heisman candidate, which I don't think that
was overly terrible of a choice. I think the team
was just so bad that he didn't get the coverage
you would have otherwise.

Speaker 4 (01:19):
But you know, we were talking nine to ten wins.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
We were praising what we thought we were gonna get
in kJ Jefferson, and none of that happened. None of
it happened. We said that if for some reason didn't
work out, Gus would retire before anything, no one had
him jumping jobs and taking a demotion of sort.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
So many things have happened since that.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
We did do like a check in episode, which hopefully
we can do maybe at the mid season point again
this year. But the biggest thing that's happened since then
and now, and I did like a monologue episode on
my own because we couldn't quite sink our schedules up,
but the return of Scott Frost. And I know you've
probably talked about it on Twitter a little bit, but
you know, I kind of gave a lot of my

(01:59):
thoughts at the time. I'm a more bitter person than
maybe you and other people, so I I was probably
one of the more negative people. And I wasn't even
that negative. I was just more of a wait and
see type thing. But most people were like elated immediately
that Scott was back. I'll admit already, when we haven't
played a game yet, I'm coming around to everything.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
But what how did that the wave of emotions go
for you?

Speaker 1 (02:19):
If you can remember, it feels like it's already been
like seasons but we haven't even played a game yet.
How was that when when Scott when the news broke
that Scott Froster was returning to UCF.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
For you, honestly, that week felt like the longest week
of the whole season, because you know, when we knew like, hey,
a coaching search is gonna has begun, and Terry Mahandre
was like, hey, you're not going to hear from me
for a while because you know, doing my search and
my interviews and and so I admit that it was
kind of on pins and eels because everybody was talking about, oh, no,

(02:50):
it's going to be you know, cold Well from from Liberty,
which I was really excited about for a minute because
like everywhere he's gone, he's built a really good winning culture.
And then everybody was talking about out DJ Keene R Kenney,
I'm at Texas State, and he would come back to
UCF as like the up and coming young coach and
and then so like that whole week was a whirlwind.

(03:11):
But when the rumors really popped up on Wednesday Thursday
of that week that hey, Scott Frost and then a
particular writer that is, you know, very notorious and the
the UCF circles had said like, Hey, Scott Frost has
like a real chance at this job. I kind of
almost didn't believe it at first. I had mixed feelings.

(03:33):
I still kind of have mixed feelings. But for the
most part, I'm actually very excited because I'm just happy
to see what he brings and what he brings back
because obviously he learned a lot at his previous job
at Nebraska, and you know, in the turbulent time he
had there, so to speak. And so I feel really
excited about it for the most part. And I think

(03:54):
it's really just going to be a matter of how
he how he responds to this new of college football,
because obviously he's been out of it for a while.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, we talked a lot during that whole search time,
which really only went a couple of weeks, it felt
like months and months.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
I was a big KEYJ.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Kenney Joy. You know, he was a quarterback coach at
U C.

Speaker 4 (04:17):
Fleck, GJ.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Kenne excuse me, as played for the Eagles, So I
remembered him from that time after playing at Tulsa. But
I was big on him and you had, you know,
a few more sources than I did, and there was
like a window of time that you're like, we might be.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
Getting the guy that you wanted. And I don't know.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
If his situation was just like a little too good
to leave at the time, but there was a moment
that it looked like that was gonna be the case.
There was a moment it was a Liberty coach. There
was a moment it was UNLV's coach. There was a
moment it was Penn State's offensive coordinator.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
And then the Scott You brought it up, the Scott
Frost thing like hey, they're they're actually talking to Scott
and like I'd I immediately dismissed, like you said, believe it,
Like I didn't even think they would talk to him.
I understood that. You know, Mahadger wasn't here, so we like,
if Danny White's still here, that's not happening, right, That's
a given because he's better. He's a petty person like

(05:07):
I am. I'm pretty sure so that would not even
be an opportunity.

Speaker 4 (05:10):
But when you.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
Said that, I'm like, there, they wouldn't even interview the guy.
I would be shocked to learn that. And a day
or two goes by. Those other names either fully commit
to the school they were already out of, they'd take
another job, and Scott was what seemed like the last
one left from the names that we've heard at least,
And then that faithful day, I don't usually listen to
like press conferences and stuff, but when he showed up,

(05:32):
like I got to hear this whole thing, and like
it's still hard to be Like I'll wake up random
days when I'm getting ready for the season or talking
football with people, I'm like, oh, yeah, Scott Frost is
our head coach, Like it's still a little hard to
believe all these months later.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, And so I again, like when it came up,
I think it was like midweek, when you know, about
three four days before, like he was announced, like, hey,
Scott Frost is going to be the guy I And
when I saw like, hey, he's been interviewed and the
rumor is is that you know, Terry Mahaddra flew out
to Dallas and met up with Scott Frost basically halfway
in between La and Orlando. I was like, no way,

(06:08):
because like if he was interviewing of that means that
every person that was you know, the three or Foard
names that were thrown around very seriously in the previous
few days were just like.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
They were out.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Like if all sudden, Frost's name was thrown into the hat,
that just means that those other, you know, candidates again,
like you said, they had just committed to their schools,
they got extensions. Maybe they leveraged the UCF job for extensions,
which I wouldn't put past some coaches in this day
and age. But yeah, I think that for the most part,
it's really good for our program because I'm not saying

(06:41):
that there were some other coaches that they could have
gotten that would have gotten the fan base excited and
re engaged, considering you know, how disappointing last season went.
But I think Frost kind of added like an element
of extra excitement so to speak. I know, donations went
through the roof, and I believe that we're actually we
have our highest level of shareholder society members, so that

(07:03):
number spiked up a little bit as well, which as
you know, are are you know a level of donors
to the UCF athletics, And so I think that it
just adds a certain level of excitement that no other
hire probably would have been able to accomplish.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Definitely, and we we mentioned the other got you had,
you know, the Liberty coach was kind of your favorite
of the selection, Kenny?

Speaker 4 (07:26):
Was it for me?

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Those guys would have been good for different reasons, Like
the Liberty coach, like his body of work at Liberty
speaks for itself. He was more like the personality people
didn't know with gel here and then with with Kenny,
it was like, you know, we had the familiarity he
had this, but like he had only done it at
a smaller school, so you didn't know if it was

(07:49):
going to be to jump from a what c USA
to a big twelve?

Speaker 4 (07:53):
Was that too big of it?

Speaker 1 (07:53):
Like there was yeah, butts for everybody, But was Scott
the only thing I wanted to point out to people
because every coach, which every school, it doesn't matter where
it is, whoever they hire, they always make it seem
like that was their first, first and only choice, right.
I think we can admit that somebody said no along
the way. Scott was not the first choice. He might
be the best choice. We might three years from now

(08:15):
be like, you know, this is the best thing that
could have happened. But I think it's important to note
that that was not the first choice. And when you
look at it that way, it makes a little more sense.
And I don't think because mahdgra wasn't here in those
days for good Infrabad, he's not gonna get as caught
up in the nostalgia. He would take the interview for
what it's worth.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
And I don't doubt that Scott Wowedham in the interview,
because there is, even now after kind of a humbling
experience at Nebraska, there's something about Scott Fross. When he speaks,
you believe him.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
He doesn't really use the coach speak nearly as much
as most people that I've noticed, and he commands the
presence in the room that a lot of coaches just don't.
You feel like they're trying to sell you on something,
and he's just a little different. So it doesn't shot
that he nailed the interview, but it's a matter of
I'm still a little surprised that there wasn't more negative

(09:06):
about it. I think people, you know, I, like I said,
I'm the most I had the most negative opinion of
anyone in my circle, and it wasn't even that negative.
Everybody was sold on it pretty quick.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah, No, And I think that, like there's still a
number of people that are maybe I shouldn't say skeptical,
but they're just kind of like still in the wait
and see because it's like, hey, you know, he's been
out of the college, you know, game for a while,
because like literally when nil became what it is now,
he missed all of that transformation. Like he kind of
like got out just as like hey it's gonna be
like implemented and you know things were you know, starting

(09:39):
to come out and about. But I do think that,
you know, he is the right coach for us right now.
Will he be a great long term coach? We'll find out.
Is there an opportunity that he would you know, not
to meet Devil's advocate here, but if he was to
be successful at you see F which I hope and
pray that he is, is there an opportunity.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
That he would leave UCF four.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
Again, I don't know, And again I always like think
about that because my head always just goes to like
the what if, all, what if he's great after three
or four years and someone else calls him maybe, you know,
an NFL job, And as I mean not saying that
that would happen, but because he did seem like he
really was a fan of the idea of playing being
a coach in the NFL at least is what it
sounded like. So I'm not sure if he still has

(10:26):
those aspirations or not. But but yeah, I liked coldwell
that the coach at Liberty just because I love what
he did at Coastal Carolina, because really, no one talked
about Coastal Carolina. I didn't even know they existed, to
be honest with you. But then when I started looking
at like just the winning year after a year after
a year after year, and the new year six Bowl

(10:47):
game bids that they almost could have gotten while he
was there, it just tells me that he's a true
program builder. And then what he sustained at Liberty just
tells me that, like again, just whatever it is, whether
he's a great recruiter or just a great players coach
or all the above. I think that he could have
been great for UCF. But again, maybe he just wasn't

(11:10):
really interested in the UCF job.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
Or maybe.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Scott for Terry Mahadger just couldn't seal the deal.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
Who knows.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
But but again I think that Scott Frost is the
right guy for the time right now.

Speaker 4 (11:27):
I do based on looking back.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
I still have my you know, with Kenny, there's still
some about that guy that I can't quite shake that
I don't think wouldn't have been a great fit. But Scott,
you know, if you piece together, because you'll tell like
a little bit of a story. And each time he
really sits down with someone in an interview at a
press conference, and when he was because he's with the
Rams after Nebraska, each took like two years off. Is
really only coaching even in the spotlight at all. He

(11:51):
coached like the All American Game for high school or
something at one point, and then he was with the
Rams as an offensive analyst, and he seemed pretty safe that,
you know, maybe I'll be a quarterback coach, maybe I'll
be an offensive quarter maybe one day I could be
an NFL head coach. But he seemed pretty content is
the word I'm gonna use here that like, my future
in this job be at the pro level. And he's

(12:12):
said one thing he has said in many interviews is
really the only college job he would have considered was UCF.
And you know me and you both listen to the
Marketinos radio show every morning or most mornings. One point
he dropped the nugget that last year Gus actually Wont
reached out to him about the offensive coordinator position, and

(12:33):
Scott felt like, if he was going to come back
here connected to the Gus wagon, if the Gus wagon
doesn't work out, that strikes two A and three right there.
So that was a I don't think that conversation got
very far, but it was one that happened. So that's
just another what if scenario. But I think, and of course,
especially in today's college football, you always worry players. Coaches

(12:55):
are like if they're gonna leave I truthfully, and maybe
we were naive to think this before after everything with Nebraska,
because let's be honest, in twenty seventeen, that is the
only job that Frost would have left for. And I
think we're so far enough for a move that he
didn't really want to leave. I think we know that now.
I think that's more confirmed than ever. I think we
always had reservations if that was the case. But realistically,

(13:15):
now let's say, like you said, he has a solid
above average three four years in that contract coming up.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
What would it take.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
It would have to be a school that you know,
and we shouldn't take too much time on this, but like,
I really don't know what type of package it would
take to get him to leave UCF if he actually
does get it back on track, as he would be
getting his career back on track as well as the program,
So it'd be really hard to Like, this guy was
as down as you can get, Like his wife had
to talk him into working with the RAMS because you're like,

(13:43):
you need to do something, you need to get it
out there again. So it would be really interesting perplexing
to see what kind of package it would take to
get him to leave, not that we would want him
to leave again if things are going And the flip
side of that is if this year doesn't go fantastic
and next year doesn't go great, like what's his leash?
When do fans start turning on him? Because a very

(14:04):
interesting stat about Frost as much as he has the
lore here, he's had one winning season as a head
coach and it was the year we went undefeated, so
that is still something that's that's worth noting.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, well, I mean, I think that it might not
necessarily be a money thing that would take him from
USEEF just because of all the money that he got
from Nebraska and the buying out that he's out there.
So he's probably, I would imagine, you know, set for
you know, him and his family are probably set for
life for the most part. So it would have to
be like a job that I guess that would just

(14:36):
make really speak to him like, hey, this is something
that I would be passionate about. But no, and so
I I, yeah, I think that in terms of the
leash that he has, I think he has two full
seasons and if they are just really bad twenty twenty five,
twenty twenty six, and then twenty twenty seven, which is
say it's four or five games in and it's going

(14:58):
pretty sour, then we actually have the means at that
point because of thankfully, at that point we'll have two
full years as a full revenue share of the Big twelve,
by the way, right to likely make a termination if
it was if it was warranted. Now, I don't think
that's gonna happen. But again, nobody can know how well

(15:19):
he's going to do twenty four, twenty six thirty games
into this contract, and so we'll see.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
So if it was me setting the parameters, I say,
you got two full years to make and win a
Bowl game. I think that is a realistic expectation that
may be harder than it is right now. Is wed
here because if the playoff expands or maybe less Bowl
games to go to, so that that could be something
that you got to look at in the future. But
that's realistically where that puts me. But that's you know,

(15:52):
that's the Scott Frost talk that we didn't get to
have when it got hired. I'm glad we got to
catch up on that. He's now walking into over this
whole trend for portal both windows, because there's still two
of them. For some god reason, there needs only be
one transfer window. That's a topic for another day. But
we are walking into a team with over sixty new players.
So this past weekend I went to the UCF fan

(16:14):
Fest actually got to meet Scott for the second time.
I met him at the fan fest when he first
was our head coach and then this time and I
had him signed the helmet I have back here, the
gold one. So it was really cool to meet him. Actually,
this was a really cool moment. Right as me and
my buddy were getting to the front of the line,
his family happened to come down, so like all of
his kids just like a scamper, scamper over to him
and like hug him and tackle him stuff. It was

(16:36):
actually pretty sweet moment to see. But you've been to
You were at fan Fest two for a little bit.
We didn't get to link up, but you were there.
This team is so new that, aside from the twenty
minute line, I waited to meet and get an autograph
from Scott Frost, no one knew where to Like in
other years, R. J. Harvey has the big line, right,

(16:58):
Jarp has the big line. Maybe the receivers the past
couple of years would have a big line. There was
nobody knew where to go because they didn't know who
to go see. The team is so new that like
you know Paul the offensive lineman, the guy from Germany,
John Walker, Naje Kelly, they'd have like ten people in

(17:18):
their life. You know that it'd be still be easy
enough to get through. But it was one of the
weirder fan fests that I think I've ever been to
because nobody knew where to go, and it really was
the antithesis of, like, I forget how many scholarships you're
allowed to have.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
Is at eighty five ninety we have sixty new players.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
We have over two thirds of the team are people
that weren't here last year, And it's just such a
weird scenario in the fan fest.

Speaker 4 (17:38):
Just like put a microscope on that.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
In my opinion, Yeah, I know, and.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
I really feel like the only recognizable people just well
obviously it's kind of hard to miss him is a
Paul Rubilt aka Berlin Wall, because you know, he's six
foot ten and he's if I and you can correct
me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure he is going
to be the only returning starting guy on the offensive line.

(18:06):
I think the rest of our offensive line is comprised
of transfers. Yeah, but just to kind of put something
into perspective, and it kind of almost like just you know,
ratio wise kind of tells you what the rest of
our team is. It's like literally you know, eighty percent
of our offensive line is new, so it's just a
but with FanFest, though, I mean, it's good to see

(18:28):
that there was a lot of people that were engaged
in going and heck, I couldn't even see Scott Frost
because the line was so long, and forty five minutes
towards the end, there wasn't enough time for them to
allow me to enter the cueue because it was already
so long. So I think that it speaks for the
excitement that fans have even despite the team having, you know,

(18:48):
mostly new faces that no one really knows. And I
admit that earlier today when I was doing a little
bit of due diligence on the roster, there was a
lot of names and it kind of made me think
of that. I'm not sure if we've seen the movie
Major League and they're looking at me. Look, I figured that,
but I didn't want to assume.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
That's like one favor, so you assumed, right, yeah, yeah,
it's up there.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
It's like a top ten for me. Oh yeah, But
like that when they're like they're looking at the roster
after spring training and they're.

Speaker 3 (19:12):
Like, who are these guys?

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, Well I was kind of like thinking like that
for a moment earlier today because it's like, man, who
is this?

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Who is that?

Speaker 2 (19:21):
But then of course I've kind of familiarized myself with
a few of them with you know, the press conferences.
But but I also saw on social media that looks
like the players that were here are here now. We're
very engaged and seemed like they were excited and they
embraced fan Fest and if anything, hopefully it allows the
players to feel connected to the fan base more than anything,

(19:42):
and for them to kind of put a face to
the people that they're they're you know, outside for of
course their families and themselves who they're playing for.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
You know, Yeah, I agree, it seemed like a very
engaged group, like there was only a handful of guys
one to remember. But as far as like from fan
Fest to fan fast.

Speaker 4 (20:00):
Like TJ.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Bullard is a guy that like the few times I've
gotten to interact with him, I always enjoy. You know,
his dad is a w B wrestler. I'm a big
wrestling fan at work in wrestling now with PWR. So
he's actually signed. The w B has like an nil
deal thing they can sign the college athlete now and
then if they chose to go that career route in
the future, they you know, they're already signed up. So

(20:22):
he's already signed one of those. So I'm like, hey, man,
we canna see in the ring after your senior year
and all that stuff. So like that was someone that
I enjoyed seeing. Miles Montgomery was a real joy to
talk to. I complimented him on the hosting the podcast
that he's been doing on the YouTube channel for UCF.
I thought he's done a very good job with that.
But outside of the Henderson Twins, right talk to them
for a minute, uh, not a lot of other It

(20:45):
was really hard to like there is I'll be honest
with you, I don't know if you have the new game.
Playing College Football twenty six has helped me get like
acquainted with this roster a lot because of how how
new everybody is.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, O, well, I admit I don't have as much
time to play it as I would like to, but
I definitely have played it more than a handful of times.
And and yeah, the roster and of course I and
I almost when I was playing with UCF the first time.
Of course, I'm sure we'll talk about this in a minute.
Or two. I was like, h is it foreshadowing who
is starting quarterback is going to be because they because

(21:16):
obviously had already had someone there and what their rating was.
But but no, I I could see how this video
game can help people get familiarized with with the rosters
because all you got to do is update the roster
online and then at any given time they're able to
uh to see you know, who's who, who's on it

(21:36):
without even having to go look it up.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's gonna be a necessary
tool from year to year. If these transfer portal classes
can continue to be as like Outrand just as they are,
it's gonna be a necessary tool, I feel.

Speaker 4 (21:50):
But uh, you you hinted on it.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
And it's really the biggest topic of the whole offseason
outside of Frost being hired. Is uh we by the
time you guys hear this, we're recording on a Wednesday.
I'll drop it on Thursday, will be a week away
from the first game. We as fans are no closer
to knowing when that ball gets snapped. We don't know
who's gonna receive it as of right now, and if
you're a fan, you don't know any more than you

(22:13):
did the moment those quarterbacks got here. We believe it's
a three person race, so we are going to take
out I guess de facto four stringer Davey Belfer, the
son of UCF fighter. Oh jeez, I forgot his name,
Victor Belfer. Excuse me. Used to be a UFC fan,
Not so much anymore, but so he hasn't been talked

(22:33):
about much, So we're gonna safely put the red shirt
freshman in the in the fourth slot. Maybe he's gonna
get red shirted, but that is gonna leave us with
the collection of Tavian Jackson, a quarterback formally at Tennessee
and Indiana. We have Corey Brown, one of the few
returning players who did start.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
A few games last year.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
Did have a memorable game against Arizona State where we
narrowly knocked them home. He had an amazing rushing performance,
but has been limited as a passer, at least in
the Gus mels On offense. Maybe Scott Frost will change that,
who knows. And then there is Cam Fincher from Marshall
and Fau, particularly bad FAU team last year, but he

(23:16):
still had some highlight moments. People viewed him as a
talented quarterback despite that team not doing so well. But
that is the three man race, and you mentioned the
video game.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
I had one other.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
Usually you're the one with the sources between the two
of us, but I had a very interesting conversation. I
don't want to even give a lot of detail on
this person, but like allowed me to believe that Tavin Jackson,
at least early in camp, got a majority of the
first team snaps. And maybe that's even out over the camp.
But that is also who when you bought the video game,

(23:49):
who was starting in the video game. In a lot
of the preview magazines, the phil Steels of the world
also had him, But we truly are no closer to
We're leaning that way. Maybe they are as well, But
I feel like there's been a late push for Fencher
just online, but obviously nobody knows anything. But I don't
know have you. Have you noticed that the late push

(24:09):
for for Cam.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Honestly, I would not be surprised if the Cam Fancier
content online is kind of a ploy to throw people off,
not just the fans, but maybe, like you know, other
teams that might be trying to already do their due
diligence on on UCU because they play them within the
first know X amount of weeks.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
I know that Fancer, believe it or not, he has
the most experienced by far, Like it's not even close,
because he started at Marshall for a while, and if
you look at a stat line, I admit, it's not
like the most impressive. I mean, I'm I'm a huge
stats guy, but but you also have to factor in
the circumstances. You know, he played for, you know, a

(24:52):
Marshal that was transitioning into the Sun Belt, which is
debatably a better, more competitive conference than c USA, at
least in recent years. And and then of course you have
Cam Fanscher, who was on an FAU team that last year,
and that when I was looking at his you know
stats there, from my understanding, their offensive line was just decimated.

(25:15):
So he was playing behind an offensive line that wasn't
wasn't experienced, so he probably had to improvise how the
scramble a lot. He got sacked twenty six times I
believe it was, which just sounds like a lot over
the course of the twelve game season. So I do
think that there is some potential there that it is Fancer.

(25:35):
My gut wants me to say that it's Jackson, Tavan Jackson,
just because I think that he sort of fits the mold,
so to speak of of you know, McKenzie Milton, his
uh his quarterback coach, and what Frost typically likes historically
likes to run on offense. But then again, Frost, he
did say that what he did in the AAC might

(25:56):
not work in the Big twelve, so he might be
forced to adapt his offensive philosophy at least a little bit.
But if he's going to stay true to his identity
in the past with quarterbacks, I think Tavin Jackson is
probably going to be the guy. If he wants experience,
then I think Cam Fancher will be the guy, and
jack Cory Brown. Something tells me that he won't be

(26:18):
the starter, but that's just what my gut tells me.
I think it's really between Fancher and Jackson and Brown.
I don't my gut tells me he's not going to
be the starter, but we'll find out, hopefully soon.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
I agree that I don't think Corey Brown will be
the starter, but I think it's for a different reason.
I believe he won't be the starter because he's the
one of the three guys. Out of the three guys
that you can still create a small package of plays
around and make that wild night that we've seen in
years past with various guys. If he's the starter, you're
not doing that with some of the other guys. And

(26:50):
Scott has mentioned that like he's not going to play
three guys in these early games, that.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
No disrespect for the opponents.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
If things go the way we expect him to, you
would be able to try some things and still get
to win. Jackson Jackson State. Jacksonville State won the CUSA,
so we really shouldn't overlook them too much. But the
A and T game, maybe you would think in theory
you can try a few more things. So I think
in this first game we are going to see Fencher

(27:17):
and Jackson, and then in the second game, whoever the
starter is, we'll see and we'll maybe they might save
it for the North Carolina game, but I think they
will be planning maybe a red zone. You know, we
saw a lot of that late last year too, because
gusted everything but won a normal play in the red zone.
He either direct snap to Harvey or brought ja Corey Brown,

(27:38):
and so I could see a wild night ja Corey Brown,
and it's quietly actually a two quarterback race. And that
would not shock me if that's what we see in
the first game.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, I agree, Honestly, I think that that's exactly how
it's gonna go down. It's just gonna be a matter
of just who really, like they're like Frost and I'm
not sure, you know, if this is just kind of
what Mark Daniels kind of was hinting a while back of,
you know, apparently after that first scrimmage that they did,

(28:10):
he had something along the lines of like while they
don't still they still don't have their guy, that it's
become more clear, and now it's kind of like a
hint that, like, you know, Dana's because Daniels was in
attendance at that scrimmage, so he and he knows ball
just as good as anybody, so he probably saw like, Okay,

(28:31):
we obviously can't say officially, but there's probably a good
idea of who it's.

Speaker 4 (28:36):
Going to be.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
And I think they probably have known it since that
first scrimmage. Maybe they just didn't make it official. Maybe
they wanted to give the other guys an opportunity, not
just based off of one scrimmage or one week of practice,
but I can see how there's probably going to be
at least two quarterbacks playing those first two games. Obviously,
we don't want to overlook Jacksonville State because again, they

(28:59):
won conference, you say, and if I'm not mistaken, I
believe it was their first year at the FBS level
or second year. So that's pretty impressive for them to
come and take that step up from FCS and win
a conference championship right away, no matter what the conference is.
I think that's impressive. So that game might be a
little bit closer than we won, at least for a
portion of it. And I hope whoever is going to

(29:22):
play quarterback that game or at least three quarters of
that game, comes ready to go and doesn't turn it
over the football, because I'll tell you what, if we
turn over the ball a couple of times, that game
could look a lot different on the box score at
the end of it.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
Yeah, I mean, that is the team that went into
tallahaff See and be Florida State a couple of years ago. Granted,
Florida State wasn't having a great year, but we're not
coming off a great year either, so it's I think
it's a pretty comparable thing. So if I no means
should we look past them? You know, between the Florida
State thing and you know, I would compare it almost
to the Sam Houston game last year where the final
score was you know what you'd expect, but you know,

(29:58):
if you were there or watched it, you know they
they were in it for about a half, pulled away
with some big explosive plays late in the game, and
the score was what the score was. So I would
compare it to that, which they're both. They had a
great year last year too, their first year in the FBS,
and they I think they had a nine win season.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
I believe they won their bowl game. You know, they
had a great year.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
Sam Houston State did, so I would compare it to
that and to the people I think too that are
saying like it's an issue that we don't know the starter.
I as we sit here and record on a Wednesday night,
a week before the game, I think they know who
it is at this point, but it doesn't benefit them
to say anything to anybody. So I don't think like
the first Gus year and I'm sorry the second Gust

(30:36):
year when he brought in j RP and it was
like keenan JRP. And they did the whole QB one
graphic with the cool video, Like, I don't think we're
getting them this year. I think we're gonna find out
when that guy runs on the field and guess what
the next drive, it'll be the other guy. So just
because he started doesn't mean we know that's the guy.
I don't think we're gonna know till week two. I
think is real is really what we're gonna find out

(30:57):
because you're gonna want it's a little in the FCS
level game that you're playing, and you want that to
played ninety percent of the game unless you're winning by fifty.
So I don't think I think we'll leave. You know,
you're talking about going to the first game. I'm hoping
to go to the first game. We might leave there
not one hundred percent knowing who that next guy is,
who the first guy is.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, And and I admit that just being kind of
like the way I am. If if it's not very
apparent after that first game, even though it is Jacksonville State,
and yet it's gonna it's not exactly a tune up game.
Our tune up game is our game too.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
So to speak.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
I feel like then that the quarterback position is a
little bit more in flux than than than we had realized.
But I do like to believe that we are in
a much better spot quarterback wise than we were last year. Obviously,
last year we're like, hey, it's a slam dunk, it's
kJ Jefferson. He's gonna have a Cam Newton like year
or borderline Cam Newton like year. But I do think

(31:57):
that it should be now, and I'll kind of take
a few words from Mark Danel's it should be more
clear who the starting quarterback is after that that Jacksonville
State game, even even if so you know, it was
fifty to fifty, we had someone playing for half of
it and then someone else playing the other half of
it or whatever. You know, whoever performs better, and she'd

(32:18):
be okay, that's the guy, fans er. He passed better,
he made better decisions, he didn't turn over the football,
Jackson did this or something. Yeah, yeah, exactly, like because
because I remember how remember Brandon Wimbish and Wimbish and
Dylan Gabriel back in twenty nineteen. I believe it was
they both played the first.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Game and started too.

Speaker 4 (32:41):
People forget that when.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Started and everybody's like, yeah, he's the guy. He started
playing a Notre Dame, and you know, Dylan Gabriel is
going to learn behind him and it's going.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
To be good, good, right, Well it was.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
It was about one quarter, yeah exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
I was about getting ready to say a fifty to
fifty game, but but I guess it was only about
a quarter that wombish, you know, he didn't throw over
many passes. But then Dylan Gabriel played the rest of
the game and it was like, Okay, it's very clear
that this is the guy. We weren't necessarily expecting it
to go down this way, but this is how it
went down, and we're glad it did.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
So I think that that could be another another with
Justin Holman to McKenzie Milton. Like Justin Holman played that
whole game against South Carolina State where they won thirty
eight to nothing or whatever it was, thirty eight to seven.
We had no reason to think if he didn't get
hurt at Michigan, maybe McKenzie milton doesn't play when he played,
but like they were prepared to go with the But

(33:33):
in that case that was a senior versus freshman in
an era where like that, those classifications still meant something,
so that could have something to do with it. We
could We could probably go another thirty minutes on quarterbacks alone.
Do you have any other last minute things on them
before we move for our next topic.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
No, just I'm just really excited to see who it is.
But I do agree that it's probably going to go
down along the lines of how you described it a
few minutes ago. I do like fans, and I do
like Jackson, and something tells me it's give me one
of those two guys, and Brown is probably not going
to be a starter. Maybe maybe he'll play, but I

(34:09):
don't think he'll be the starter.

Speaker 4 (34:13):
Yeah, I agree. I think it'll come down to that.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
And I think once everything is figured out, we will
get the Jacory Brown wild night. I think that's an
element of it that's gonna make a lot of sense.
I think if like these same guys were here, right
but Gus was still here. I think the the fact
that Jacory Brown is like, oh, he's the returning guy.
He's returning, but he's returning to a whole new system,
So I don't know how much that even helps him

(34:35):
out in this scenario.

Speaker 4 (34:36):
It is important.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
You know, we talked when we did our mid season
check in or whatever, like we were talking Jacorey Brown
now dying risk later. And it's interesting that like risk
transfer a couple other quarterbacks transfer, none of them no
matter where they went. We're able to secure the starting
jobs wherever they went, so that, you know, take that
for what it is. But to talk running backs here

(34:57):
for a second. You talk about the back picture becoming
more clear over time. This is a little bit clear.
This is a two man race, and of course with
running backs it really doesn't matter because if you're gonna
play both of them, it's just a matter of playing
them effectively. We were under the impression, you know, it's
gonna be the Miles Montgomery show. He showed great things
last year when healthy Penny boone was gonna be that

(35:19):
number two. He battled injuries all year, so Miles became
the de facto two. Had a lot of good stuff
and now as a red shirt senior, like he's hoping
to make you know, his stuff known already. But then
the wild card thrown in there, and a lot of
the preview magazines. I remember when I bought my first one.
I sent you the photo of it. They have the
running back from Western Michigan also red shirt senior Jade Nixon.

(35:42):
They list him as a starter in a lot of
these things. The other person that would have potentially been
in that Tavon If I say that correctly, Swint is
apparently dinged up to start the year. So it really
is just gonna be like a two man thing. This
is a little less like important, not that the running
back position isn't important, but like just because one starts
doesn't mean the other one impact. But I would be

(36:04):
hard pressed to not know, especially the way they're marketing
Miles Montgomery.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
Like I feel like.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
He's going to start the year as the number one
back and Nixon would have to just completely overpower it
or to just show it on the field every week
for that to change. I would be shocked if that's
not the case.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
No, I agree, I think Miles of Montgomery is going
to be the featured back, so to speak. But don't
be surprised if it's kind of like a sixty forty
so to speak, where Miles Montgomery gets most of the workload,
and Jaden Nixon it gets good a good chunk of it.
I can see in Montgomery, you know, getting you know,
twelve to fifteen carries a game, and then maybe Nixon
gets like, you know, another you know, ten or so,

(36:43):
and then you know, you mix in, you know in
another running back who gets a few, you know, touches
here and there when it comes to Swint. From my understanding,
according to Frost and his press conference, he did, I
believe it was yesterday or Monday. Unfortunately he tore his meniscus.
It sounds like it might be out for a good while.

(37:04):
But but it seems like for the most part, we
should be pretty well set with Montgomery and Nixon. But
if I had to guess, it's absolutely going to be Montgomery.
He was going to be the featured back. But don't
be surprised if if they both get a double digit
touches each game.

Speaker 4 (37:22):
Yeah, I would.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
I think it's comparable to like the Latavious Murray Storm
Johnson year and then the Johnson stand back year. I
think it could be a lot like that where Cleuly's
no doubt who the starter is, but probably more like
the Storm Johnson Williams stand back here, because there were
three or four games that year that stand back just

(37:42):
took over and they fed the hot hand and it
was the difference between winning a loss. But in eight
of the twelve games it was a Storm Johnson show
and they put stand back in when you know, he
needed to break so I could. I can easily see
and it be similar to that. That's a pretty clear,
pretty clear description on that position. The one that's gonna

(38:03):
be even harder, maybe even harder to discuss than the quarterbacks,
is the wide receiver room.

Speaker 4 (38:08):
Because I saw a stat today that blew my mind.
I'm not sure we knew it was bad. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
It was not not that the players are bad, I
mean the situation, when you say it out loud, no
one on this roster has previously caught a pass in
a nice uniform. So yeah, that's what we're working with here.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
I think I saw something about that posted on on
x formally known as Twitter, but I know that it's
always Twitter. But the but the nice thing though, is
that everybody, well not everybody, but we do have at
least some experienced wide receivers. Even though I know Scott
Frost has kind of said, hey, it's like it's unproven talent,

(38:47):
but you know, we have talent, but it's unproven talent.

Speaker 4 (38:50):
But you have.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Marcus Burke from from Florida. I know, while he had
limited playing time, he did at least you know, see
the field, so it's not like he just you know,
rode the bench the whole time. And and then you
have Dwayne Thomas, who I know that he transferred in
from Charlotte at one point, which is you know, now
in the the American Conference. No longer the A A sets,
just the American Conference. Great by the way, Yeah, no,

(39:14):
I agree, I think it was. It was a good
branding move for sure. But yeah, Dwayne Thomas, he is
going to be kind of more of a what's the
I'm trying to think of, was it Quincy McDuffie. You know,
so he's going to do returns from my understanding recording
from you know, from a press conference. Uh, he he

(39:35):
had actually was he he was answering questions and they
had him doing some doing returns. But he also he
kind of moves all over the field out wide receiver,
not the you know, not the biggest guy so to speak,
but He's very quick, and so I know that he
is going to probably be a.

Speaker 3 (39:53):
Featured receiver for sure.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
But Burke and Thomas and then I can't really speak
to anybody else beyond that, but those two I think
are gonna really stand out at wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
I'm intrigued to see DJ Black. He came from a
small school Limestone. That's a college, not a rock, apparently
they're telling me. But again, I'm basing some of this
off the video game, but just like the way the
formations were pre set into it. I'll tell you one
that I'm definitely disappointed is Rick Darius Goes by Day
Day Farmer. He's number six on the roster. I think

(40:27):
they had a lot of big plans for him. He's
gonna miss the entire year. I hope it's one of
those scenarios where he at least stays and can play
next year. But we've seen a lot of situations where
when guys never even get a chance to see the field,
they just transfer over to find you a place they
can play. But that is someone I hope to see
in a nine uniform next year. I thought he was

(40:47):
gonna be a big part of the plans this year.
But like you said, while they don't have experience with
the Knights, this unproven group is at least a like
experienced unproven group, which is better than just a bunch
of young potentially better than a couple of young guys
like Jaden Bridgewater. He's been on the team a couple
of years, hasn't played yet. That's someone that can make

(41:07):
a chance. There was one other I had here, So
there's guys that have been on the roster. And then
if we if we're just talking pass catchers, you got
Kylon Fox at tight end and Dylan Wade at tight
end he's transferred in from Maryland. Cayden Penning another guy
at tight end, so we can hopefully see some of
these guys. I think we'll see the tight end position

(41:29):
utilized a bit more as it was in the Jordan
Akens days with Scott Frost at UCF.

Speaker 4 (41:35):
I think we'll see someone try to fit a role
like that. So that'll be helpful with these receivers.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
Oh no, I agree Kylon Fox. I'm really excited for
about that because I know that he actually had entered
the transfer portal. When you know the Gus Malsan was
announced to no longer be the head coach, and from
my understanding, he had a nice long talk with Frost
when he was hired, and he decided to take his
name out of the portal and come back. And so

(42:02):
I hopefully, I really hope that he has a big
year because again I like that that he, you know,
chose to be loyal to the program after because I
can understand wanting to, you know, enter the portal and
those circumstances, because obviously you have to look out for
yourself and your future. But I guess when he realized that,
you know, he it was a coach that he feels
like he could be successful with, he decided to come back.

(42:24):
So I think him Thomas Black, who I mean, I
don't know a whole lot about, but but I guess
if he went to a place called Limestone, you know,
that's something special and Uh, and then of course we
have UH and Thomas and then Marcus Burke. I I
feel like we're gonna probably be better off at Wide

(42:46):
Receiver than some people realize. Just because it's just a
group of guys that haven't really played together in the
past doesn't mean they're necessarily going to be able to
find a way to be a cohesive unit.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
Right, It's just it's just the question marks of not
knowing these guys. You can look up, you know, you
can look up their previous school highlights, and highlights are
just that you're gonna see the good in it. But
there was ultimately a reason why they didn't play enough
with their former school to still be there and to
be a productive member and something. For some of these guys,
it's gonna work out perfectly.

Speaker 4 (43:16):
We've seen it, you.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
Know, our past two star receivers that are now both
in the NFL transferred here from other places and we're
able to get drafted off their production here. So I
can I totally see that as the case. While we're
while we're talking other players, I meant to mention this
when we were still talking about the fan fest, and
I did want to mention this before we get out
of here because we're probably going over the time we

(43:37):
planned for this. But when we went to the yard sale,
we were in line next to a player. He is
a red shirt freshman, so we didn't know him yet.
He was there with his family. They were gonna get
some merch or whatever. Offensive lineman he will hopefully played
this year he was red shirt. Last year, number sixty seven,
Noah Senka. We talked with him in line the whole time.
And I go to fan fest and I get in

(43:58):
the line and he goes, didn't I didn I talk
to you with the art stale. So he recognized me
right away. Made me feel pretty good. So this podcast
will be a Noah Sanka fan club. And we hope
to see number sixty seven out on the field this year.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Oh yeah, no, absolutely, I know. I remember him a
really nice guy. I really hope that he has a
chance to to you know, to see the field, and
and I think he has a great opportunity to actually
do that. And and I know that he also, if
I recall correctly, he kind of chatted a little bit
about just how he really likes the culture that that

(44:30):
Frost seems to be implementing, even though it was very early,
you know, the healing had been there for about three
or four months at that time, but they had essentially
a whole spring of practice and uh and scrimmages at
that point. So I did like that he dropped the
nice and encouraging nugget that that again, it just felt
like a good culture shift in a positive way.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Yeah, and he's the guy like his story at least
that that he told us was pretty old school in
the set, like he's from Simon. Also, he's a local
guy that like he got other offers before UCF and
kind of held out hoping to get a UCF offer
because that's ultimately where he wanted to go. So that
was that was really good. And you mentioned other than
Paul la Wall, like all the entire offensive line is

(45:13):
gonna be new people. This kid's six six two two
seventy so like maybe you know, he can get in there.
So that's definitely something that that I hope happened. So
shout out to Noah. He was he was cool to
us and then cool to me again at the fan fest.
So definitely looking forward to that. Any last minute things
you want to mention before we get out.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
Of here, Yeah, no, well I do want to give
a just a a random player that I am excited
about to see, and that's the Cole Kazlowski. So I
think that while defense isn't necessarily getting talked about enough,
I do think that they're actually going to be our
strongest point, specifically our defensive line. You know, obviously John

(45:52):
Walker being kind of the focal point of that and
very well could be an NFL prospect after the season,
by the way, but that could be a topic for
another night. But but but yeah, Cole Kolzowski, I really
looking forward to him because he did some big things
and at the FCS level, I think that he's going
to step up and and do really well and and
and he just looks like someone who has professional potential.

(46:15):
So I know, no one's really talking about the defense
a whole lot, but I think that some people might
be pleasantly surprised to see that our our defense is
probably going to be, you know, prepared to withstand a
tough schedule in the Big Twelve this year.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Yeah, I think the defensive line specifically is going to
be one of one of the high points. And like
with a guy like John Walker you mentioned a minute ago.

Speaker 4 (46:39):
Like hopefully fully healthy.

Speaker 1 (46:42):
I feel like even though he's at his injuries, I
feel like he's been on the team forever. He's a
red shirt sophomore, so really it hasn't even been that long.
But he just seems like the guy that we've been
anxious to see played his full potential, and hopefully we
can see that this year. That was another guy that
you know, could have went the portal. I think he's
one of the few that didn't even bother to go
in the portal. Then we had like Christian Peterson the
defensive back when the portal decided to come back, like

(47:04):
some of the other guys we mentioned. So like in
this type of world, I guess you can't really fault
them for seeing what's out there. But if the offers
are comparable to where they already are, they're like, no,
then I'm gonna If it's all the same out there,
then I'm gonna stay where I aim because I overall
like where it is, so like in the world of transfers,
that's kind of all you can hope for these days.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
No, absolutely, yeah. And I think John Walker is him
being a local he went, you know, to Asciola. I
think that I played a lot of it. I think
he really wanted to, you know, be that true you know,
hometown hero. And and he knows, you know, not to
speak for him, but he probably knows that he can
be great almost anywhere he goes, So why not be
great in front of his family and his community and

(47:46):
and and who knows maybe he'll go down depending on
how he does this year or following year. Maybe he
can go down as the UCF great. Who knows technically,
since this is this is his third year. If he
does phenomenal, they'll be surprised. He has a phenomenal season,
he's healthy, don't be surprised if he becomes an NFL
prospect for the twenty twenty six Brath not saying that

(48:07):
all happen, but I would have seen that a.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
Few times where guys they real only have the one
big year, but it's the big enough year that they
strike while the iron's hot. Let's end on a fun
one here. I don't know that if you. If you do,
feel free to share if you have plans to travel
downy away games this year, but even just in general,
what would be your away game destination of choice this year?

Speaker 2 (48:27):
Well, I admit that I usually have the tradition to
going to at least one year. This year it's not
looking like it. But if I was to go to one,
I would have loved to go gone to Baylor, just
because I hear that their game day atmosphere is awesome,
kind of like how when I went, you know, went to.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
TCU last year.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
It was a very easy flight in and out of
Dallas Fort Worth there, and I just hear that has
just a fantastic stadium and just a great you know,
atmosphere there, And so Baylor would have been one I
wanted to go to now if you want to go
to one that's easy to get to, because there's literally
only one on our whole schedule that's actually easy to
get to, and that Cincinnati. I've been to that stadium

(49:08):
as well. I went back in two thousand. Honestly, I
love that. I loved it. I mean, you know, of
course I know their arrival, but I'm going to be
blint blantly almost. They have a great game day atmosphere.
It has a mixture of a Big ten slash kind
of like modern it because because you have like the
old building in one of the end zones and then

(49:29):
you have like the limestone or like the bricks in
one part, but then you have this super modern looking
press box, and so it kind of has like a
very like a Big ten meets modern kind of vibe
to it. And so I will give Cincinnati respect. They
do have a great game day atmosphere. I would go
back again. I would have considered going again this year,

(49:49):
just because it's easy to get in and out of
and not exactly easy to get in and out of Lubbock,
Texas or Waco right now.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
You know, all the years I've worked with the Daytona Tortugas,
they're affiliated with Cincinnati Red, So Cincinnati in general, I
don't hate as much as maybe I'm supposed to as
a UCF fan. Obviously, game game week, it's game on,
but like in general, don't have like the hatred that
some of their fans could could take a couple of seats.
But other than that, you know, I'm pretty okay with
it if I'm just going on and you're looking at

(50:21):
this logistically, because you're the one to actually go into
these games sometimes, so I don't know which ones are
hard to get to, you know, easy to get to.
But if the BYU football experience is anything like their
baseball experience, like that view in the out you know,
over the outfield of the mountains and stuff, it's got
to be nearby, it's got to be on one campus.
So like, if I'm just looking for a great view,
I think BYU would be the answer for this year.

(50:43):
As far as like Big Twelve opponents like West Virginia
just seems one of those like maybe they're not blue bloods,
but like they're the type of school that is what
you love about college football, I think with their fan
base and they don't set couches on fire anymore unfortunately,
but like the passion is still there. So that's another
place that you know, would be cool to go to
at some point. We play them at home this year,

(51:04):
but just something to throw out there.

Speaker 2 (51:07):
Yeah, no, I mean I've heard great things about West
Virginia BYU. Of course you see the pictures on X
about just like wow, look at the mountains and everything.
The same thing with Colorado. Kind of similar vibe with BYU.
But you know, I do have Colorado on my list
because getting in and out of Boulder, because as you
know me, I'm pretty logistics heavy when it comes to

(51:28):
away games. If it's hard to get too, I'll think
about it a little bit longer. But getting the Boulder Colorado,
I have a feeling that in twenty twenty six when
we go there, I might actually make that trip.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
What's been your like least logistic travel that you're like,
I'm not doing that again because that was a nightmare,
no pun intended.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
You know, trying to think.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
Well, actually, so the only time I actually had to
do like connecting flights was getting to Memphis. I couldn't
get a direct flight fairly, Okay, yeah, yeah, I mean
well because for me it's like, hey, it has to
be a direct flight. And so I've gotten direct flights
to Cincinnati to Dallas, for Worth to oh to the

(52:17):
Fiesta Bowl even But but the Memphis is the only
one where I had to do a connecting flight, so
I guess that one would have to be the only one.
And then the rest of the away games were either
us F FAU or FIU and then Tulsa, but that
was in the Marching Band, so I can't I can't
count that one because the Marching Band handled the logistics
to Tulsa, Oklahoma that year, So makes sense.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
I'll end on this and then I'll give you one
last question and then we'll be done. Not knowing anything
about Scott Ross the first time, the moment he won
me over is when he went and introduced himself to
the band. I don't know if you remember that video
from back then, because I'm like, all right, this guy's
alright in my book. He did it again. I don't
know if you've seen it from this week, but he
went three and I'm like, all right, this guy's won

(53:01):
me over all over again. But that's just the band
kid in me. Final question, is a reaching a Bowl
game a realistic expectation this year?

Speaker 2 (53:11):
I think so, because the way I see it, you
win at least two of those three out of conference games,
and then you win, you go four and five in conference,
which I know is kind of said, like, hey, we
go four and five in conference.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
You know we're okay.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
Yes, I do think it's a realistic expectation. I think
the flour and I'll just be bluntly honest. The floor
is four wins and the ceiling is seven, and I'm
totally fine stats ceiling.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
That's basically what I had to I mean, if if
something crazy goes our way, it's eight, but yeah, I
seven is yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
I pretty much said the same.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
I don't know if I can't really do the win
lost thing because we don't know who's starting, we don't
know anything.

Speaker 4 (53:53):
Maybe maybe at the midweek.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
And one thing that it should be noted that we
get our Jacksonville State game, our A and T game,
then a bye week and then North Carolina, and I
think that's huge because by then we know who it
is and we're gonna have a whole you know, that's
the big game this year, the way Colorado was last year.
Scott Frost for is Bill Belichick a situation that we
never thought we'd be in.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
But I'm looking forward to doing Bill Belichick in person.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
I've done it from afar for so many years that
it's gonna be fun to, you know, do it in person.
So I'm looking forward to that very much. But yeah, guys,
the season, by the time you'll hear this, it'll be
less than a week away.

Speaker 4 (54:27):
Technically week zero is like four days away, but we'll be.

Speaker 1 (54:31):
We'll be getting ready for the season, and Blake will
look forward to seeing you out of a couple games
this year. I always appreciate your time and always appreciate
you guys listening. Go Knights charge on college Football's back.
Everyone have a good one.