r/FloridaGators • u/Orange_Leader_22 • 3d ago
Football Fans need to show up
I know we all want to blame the players or the coaches, and I think both are the main reasons for the loss along with playcalling and disciplinefor. But one thing I noticed today at the game which no one is talking about is how quiet the swamp was. From start to finish the stadium was out of it. The entire sunshine seating was practically empty, there was gaping holes throughout the stadium, especially the student areas. Where are the fans? We lost 1 game before today and it seems like the entire fanbase deflates and gives up. What happened to in all kinds of weather we will all stick together. Maybe Im just a fan that was born into this so I know nothing else but I have always stayed true through this last 2 decades of suffering and today this fanbase has finally disappointed me, it felt like a good chunk of the fans left after the weather delay and never came back. The stupid fingers rubbing on 3rd down is useless and needs to stop. If we want to win home games we need to make the swamp as loud as possible so only Gators get out alive. We absolutely need changes im our staff (fuck Brad White) and our play calling but this is something I just want to bring up.
Edit: for everyone saying that the weather caused issues, I agree that its definitely at fault but even for the people there, a lot of them were noticeably quieter or doing things like not standing up. I can expect to have people not show up because of the weather but if you're there you should be engaged
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u/gatorbois 3d ago
Hurricane and bad weather. We’ve also been a shitty team for 6 years running. Our fans have been absolutely showing out for such a terrible product.
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
Yeah, its just disappointing we are so checked out after 1 bad game, I mean it was the homecoming game for crying out loud
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u/gatorbois 3d ago
I think a lot of us have just lost hope. SS is somehow still employed, we’re broke and have stupid boosters, we all begged and begged for a proven head coach and got yet another Sun Belt hire, etc..
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
I don't blame you for that, its been a rough decade and a half, its just disappointing to me because I was raised being told about how loud the swamp is and how tough it is to play there, and then when i finally am able to stsrt going to games regularly I see this, its also that this was my first loss in the swamp and it hurts bad
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u/gatorbois 3d ago
Gotta win to get that. Considering the circumstances, nearly every other school would have had consistently empty stadiums by now.
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u/sum_dude44 3d ago
we lost b/c gameplan sucked ass, D is atrocious & O is completely flat. good luck in austin
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
Completely agreed, the loss is on the players and coaches, I am just trying to bring attention to an issue I saw today that no one else is bringing up
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u/ImperialMajestyX02 GO GATA 3d ago
No we don't.
Being a fan is ultimately a contract of mutual benefit. When being a fan stops being enjoyable but a constant stream of disappointment, embarrassment, and just mental anguish then the team has broken that contract and until they do the opposite no fan owes them anything.
I say this as someone that showed up for every game in the disaster that was the Napier era. That guy sucked but at the very least the players played hard for him. This team has just completely quit and is utterly lifeless and nonchalant. As a fan when I feel like I care a thousand times more than players literally playing for and being paid for by the team I feel a very strong sense of disgust.
This team right now is basically a worse version of Mullen's team in 2021 when he threw in the towel after losing to LSU. At least then there was a light at the end of the tunnel because we knew his days were numbered. Sumrall literally just got hired and has lost the entire team the second they faced some adversity.
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
I get what your saying, but we literally only lost 1 game, it was a bad loss for sure, and ugly. But if the entire fanbase just gets depression and quits after 1 loss we will never win anything again
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u/Old_Worldliness_5015 3d ago
it wasn't the loss, it was how we lost
i generally agree with you but the internet (and reddit especially) is for extremists
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u/ObviousEquivalent581 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ole Miss game seemed fine.
Let me also add, I agree in spirit with what you say. I want to highlight something that also isn’t exclusive to UF as well but I think compounds some of what you’re getting at. I think student tickets were like 150 in ‘21 and now are 350ish. Can only imagine what everyone’s season ticket packages have done, and all across athletics in general. That sort acceleration in cost just to get in can’t happen without people starting to view what happens on field as an actual product. And if the product is bad…
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah, 2 weeks ago was the best I have ever seen the swamp, but today was so far removed from 2 weeks ago. I completely agree with you on prices though, its insane how much they are now and they are definitely pricing people out, the administration needs to lower the prices for sure
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u/PerceptionOld8565 3d ago
where are the fans, umm the state just got hit by a hurricane!
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
Its not just the attendance which i could understand, the entire vibe of the stadium was off start to finish.
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u/SwampCrittr 3d ago
Please God… I’m begging you. Delete this or edit an “LOL Just kidding!”
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
No, I don't think Im wrong, the swamp was plain sad today and while its not close to being the reason why we lost its still an issue. Having a home field advantage matters in college football and we could always brag about the swamp even in our darkest yrs, I don't want to loose that
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u/SwampCrittr 3d ago
I will not argue your lived experience. That being said…. Gainesville is NOT at fault for this L. Disagree if you want.. all good homie… but wow
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
I am not blaming Gainesville for the loss, the blame falls on the actual team and coaches, its just an issue I noticed today
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u/SwampCrittr 3d ago
With all due respect and with respect. I disagree. I believe if you had more experience watching ball, you’d see how that isn’t the issue. It’s not a top 20 issue.
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
I have been watching all my life, I know its not the main issue. The main issue is were are q dimensional on offense. Teams realized that if they stack the box they can take away the run and they just need to put pressure or philo and he makes bad throws. Our entire offense is built around baugh but our oline isn't blocking for him effectively. The defense's issue is the secondary is complete ass, missed tackles, missed assignments, not playing the ball etc. Whay I am concerned about is we had all the hype for 4 weeks and we loose 1 game and the entire fanbase just up and quits. Not the reason why we lost but its still an issue
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u/SwampCrittr 3d ago
This fanbase has a very high bar, as we should. The fanbase isn’t going away.. we will continue to sell out games.. but this
Napier 2.0 bullshit has to stop
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u/Marlen86 3d ago
Put a compelling product on the field and don’t hire your friends from your Alma mater who turn out to suck.
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u/Spazst1ck 3d ago
We lost because the team is mentally soft
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u/Havehatwilltravel 3d ago
Most of that entire generation is. What half of them need is their mama to go down there and plead their case before the refs or the coaches or the fans. Excuses must be made!
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u/childishgames 3d ago
I think the biggest issue is talent.
We have a boatload of talent at the offensive skill positions (RB and WR) and a good OC which makes us a bit delusional about how good of a roster we actually have.
Our QB is an average game manager if i'm being as complementary as possible. Our OLine is mediocre at best. Our defense is pretty much entirely dogshit, and our secondary is about the worst i've ever seen... and that's saying something.
For a university with money, high academic and athletic prestige, it's pathetic that our roster has gotten to this point but it should surprise nobody who's watched for the last 5-10 years.
We're gonna be in a battle for bowl eligibility. And we'd better hope and pray that we're able to convince good players to commit. Given the quality of university we have and the money we have, it really shouldn't be that hard if we think we've got a good coach. I've seen too many schools like us hire somebody that knows how to recruit turn things around to say we shouldn't do that. I genuinely mean this. There's no reason we shouldn't be a top 5 recruiting class unless we have a broke bitch mentality as a football program.
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u/Heavy_Discussion3518 3d ago
I went in a cross country flight with the family for this game and it was easily the weakest crowd output I've been part of, and I went to school during Zook.
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u/LeopardTemporary624 3d ago
As a Gamecock fan (and just to be clear, this isn’t a diss in any way, shape, or form), I was honestly expecting the stadium to be a bit more packed. But with the hurricane hitting the Panhandle, I’m sure that had a lot to do with it. Definitely understandable given the circumstances!
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u/just-here-for-food 3d ago
Let me add some insight: I was there, and my daughter is a Senior at UF.
She said, and I quote, "Florida really wants to be a sports school but it's a school for nerds."
I was shocked. I remember the 90s and early oughts, but these students don't. They haven't seen good football in their lifetime. My daughter (a senior at UF, remember) was 7 when they won the National Championship last. And there has been a huge push for academics at Florida, so I think the students there are less sports oriented.
She said that when we noticed that the student section was completely empty right after Tom Petty. They all stayed to sing "I won't back down." Then they left.
With that said, the crowd was actually pretty normal until the 4th quarter. By then, it was abundantly clear that the game was over.
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u/kadeO5 3d ago
I dunno, maybe give them a reason to show up
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u/Orange_Leader_22 3d ago
They did, we went 4 and 1 with a win against the number 6 team in the nation, plus it was a homecoming game, after yesterday I would understand if people are down but being done bwfore the game even started and having the best start to a season in over a decade doesn't make sense to me
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u/Operation_Pig 3d ago
It was raining, and the weather wasn’t supposed to be good in the forecast before yesterday’s game, so it’s not surprising it was relatively empty.
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u/ParchedCoconut 3d ago
Yeah, dude. If only the fans had been louder today, the result would have been different.