"The Swamp"



  Welcome to "The Swamp" home of the Florida Gators! This week the Gators played the South Carolina Gamecocks with the winner of the game advancing to the SEC championship! Big game this week...so buckle up once again and enjoy the journey to...... The Swamp.


Ben Hill Griffin Stadium seats 90,000 noisy fans. This is one of the toughest places to play in America. Not many teams that visit this stadium leave out of here with a victory. When you visit, "The Swamp" you normally lose the game....a very tough place to play.

 

The South Carolina Gamecocks are the surprise team of the SEC this year. Not too many people thought that they would contend for the SEC championship. They have beaten some strong teams this year, and they now find themselves playing in the biggest game of the season. The "ole ball coach," Steve Spurrier is the head coach for South Carolina. Spurrier actually played for the Gators and won the Heisman Trophy in 1965! He also served as the Gator's head coach for many seasons and won lots of bowl games, SEC championships, and a National Championship. Tonight he returns to "The Swamp" to coach against his former team.







Florida has a rich college football tradition. They have been one of the top teams in the country for many decades. One player in particular has become the "face" of  Florida football...Tim Tebow. He is the most decorated football player EVER in college football history. "Google" him and you will be impressed with everything he accomplished at the University of Florida. Two National Championships, Heisman Trophy winner, 3 time All-American and the list goes on and on.....He is admired and loved by all Florida fans. His famous jersey #15 is seen all around town worn by men, women, and children.




This is "The Promise" that Tebow made to The Gator Nation after an unexpected loss. He promised that he and his teammates would play harder, commit to excellence, and give everything they had for the rest of the season. Tebow and his teammates lived up to "The Promise"...they won the National Championship that season! That's about as good as it gets!





If you like Gatorade......then this is the place where it all began!




You will see gator statues everywhere on campus. It's a constant reminder that you are in The Swamp!




You are now officially inside "The Swamp." What an unbelievable college football setting. It was a "blue out" as head coach Urban Meyer wanted all Florida fans to wear blue...and they did.




Oh, by the way...I got to hold this real live alligator!!! Needless to say, I was a little nervous holding this gator.





OK...glad to get the gator out of my hands! Now back to the action. As you can see, the fans are right on top of the field. They can get very loud which makes it hard for the players to hear. On the opening kickoff, the Florida player ran the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and the stadium went bonkers. That is the loudest that I have ever heard a football crowd. (For that one moment, it was louder than Death Valley - LSU). It sounded like a jet engine getting ready to take off. Unfortunately for Florida, that was the only bright moment of the game. South Carolina dominated the entire game and easily won the game. The Gamecocks will now play Auburn for the SEC title in what should be a great game.




The Gators get ready to take the field for second half action. However, not much action was produced by Florida this evening as South Carolina "ruled the roost tonight."




South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia surveys the field and is ready to make another big play for the Gamecocks. Marcus Lattimore #21 was the player of the game as he ran the ball 40 times accounting for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns. Amazing performance by Lattimore and he is only a Freshman! Can you say 'Heisman winner' in a couple of years!




The Gators tried everything on offense, but the Gamecock defense was just too tough!





Thanks Gators for the opportunity to visit your beautiful campus and to experience a Saturday night in The Swamp. I enjoyed everything about the trip except I left the stadium a little bit disappointed that the excitement was taken out of the air by the middle of the second quarter due to a dominant South Carolina team. Tip your cap to the Gamecocks for playing a near perfect game. As I mentioned earlier, it's very hard for visiting teams to win in Gainesville, but tonight Coach Spurrier had his team ready to play. Final score...South Carolina 36 - Florida 14. Ironically, after the game, the Carolina players gave Coach Spurrier a "Gatorade bath" by dumping the entire cooler of Gatorade on him. A perfect ending for the "ole ball coach."
The journey continues this week as I head to Tuscaloosa to see Alabama play Georgia State on Thursday, then on Friday I head to Cambridge, Massachusetts to see Harvard vs Yale. It will be my first ever Ivy League experience and I am excited about attending what is called, "The Game." It will be a unique football experience! Westminster students...until next time...keep your eye on the ball...
-Coach McGuire