A day at the Swamp: Fan’s perspective of Florida’s Week 1 loss to Miami

Florida Gators football managed to leave their home crowd stunned as they were routed by the Miami Hurricanes 41-17.

Florida football was left embarrassed at home in the Swamp by the visiting Miami Hurricanes.

All the months of hope and optimism, the speeches of improvement and change by head coach Billy Napier and his staff, were sucked down the drain as the Hurricanes completely dominated the Gators, 41-17, and left the fans at a loss for words.

From the moment the game kicked off, Miami was in utter control. Miami quarterback Cam Ward looked comfortable all game because Florida’s pass rush was not getting anywhere near him.

Even when Florida blitzed, they weren’t getting to Ward. He had all day to throw and he torched the Gators defense, throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns.

On offense, the Gators looked lifeless. As if all the weeks of preparation for this crucial season-opener were thrown out the window.

Florida had just 261 yards of total offense. Yes, that’s it. And imagine what that number would be if running back Montrell Johnson Jr. hadn’t broken away for a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Quarterback Graham Mertz was getting knocked around all day long by the Miami pass rushers and eventually had to exit the game due to a concussion.

It was an all-around embarrassment for this Gators football squad that needed to get off to a strong start to this season. Because the schedule certainly doesn’t get any easier moving forward.

A day at the Swamp from a fan’s perspective

I attended this game as a fan. I had family and friends drive up from Miami (my hometown) and stay in Gainesville for the weekend. We did the whole experience. Tailgating outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was a blast.

The energy was off the charts and there was a sense of belief that this Florida team was going to make some noise on the field that afternoon. Of course, there were a decent amount of Hurricanes fans, but it was all friendly banter pre-game.

As we headed into the Swamp and made our way through a sea of blue and orange, chants of “Let’s go Gators!” echoed through the concourse. Fans were pumped up and ready to see their team play some football.

Jevon Kearse was the honorary “Mr. Two Bits” for the game and by the time Kearse was finished leading the cheer, the Swamp was deafening.

Unfortunately, that was the highest the energy ever got that day.

Right from the opening kick, there was not a whole lot for the Florida fans to cheer about. Miami moved the ball down the field with ease on seemingly every possession and right then you knew that the Gators’ chances of winning the game were slim to none.

As Florida trotted back into the locker room at halftime, they were being showered with boos from the home crowd as they trailed Miami 24-10.

Not long into the third quarter is when we started hearing chants of “Fire Napier!” and “We want (DJ) Lagway!” erupt from the student section.

Water bottles and other debris were being thrown down as fans were displaying their frustration at Florida’s poor level of play on the field.

By the time the third quarter came to an end, the stadium was doing its tradition of playing Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”.

At that point, Florida was down 38-10 and there was no shot at a come-from-behind victory. The fans needed something to be happy about and that’s when everyone got together and started singing along. For a rare moment all game, the energy was high and fans were smiling from ear to ear.

But the moment the song ended, the stands started to empty quickly and fans were piling out of the Swamp. Not quite the home opener Florida was hoping for.

How often do you see Gators fans leave before the fourth quarter on their home turf? Never. When was the last time Florida got blown out like that at home? It’s been some time.

It was a complete embarrassment by the Florida football team and they need to figure it out as fast as possible because the fans have, if not, are very close to running out of patience.

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