University of Akron football team prepares for season opener against University of Central Florida

AKRON, Ohio - It's almost time to see if all of the planning and preparation has prepared the University of Akron football team for it's season opener.

New coach Terry Bowden and the Zips football team will host The University of Central Florida on Thursday at 7 p.m. at InfoCision Stadium.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

After several disappointing seasons, the university hired Bowden in Dec. 2011 to re-energize the program. Bowden has a 140-62-2 record over his 18-year coaching career.

"The cultures changed. I believe our players believe they are going to win. We may now have to go to phase two, how to handle adversity," Bowden said. "I believe the culture's changed, I just don't know if it's going to mean we are going to go out there and upset UCF first game or it's gonna be a gradual process. These players are practicing like winners."

Thursday's game will also kick off the first-ever Social Media Night . They hope Facebook and Twitter will enhance the game day experience. Fans are asked to tweet about the game using #ZipsGameday.

Bowden, who worked for 10 years at ABC Sports as an analyst and color commentator, was the head coach at Auburn from 1993-1998.