The Swamp Is Lit Again. It just feels so right! And Welcome Back GatorBait!

You can cruise along arms folded like Sumrall (center) when it goes well (Chris Spears Photo)

Baugh was something to behold with three rushing touchdowns and it made you wonder just how good he is going to be. 

By BUDDY MARTIN

GatorBaitMedia.com

GAINESVILLE — We said hello to a new coach, goodbye to four years of a football famine  and welcome back to an old friend called GatorBait.

Life is good again in The Swamp. Very, very good. It feels like we’re among the living again.

As my colleague, Edgar Thompson of the  Orlando Sentinel wrote:“Florida blew out FAU in Jon Sumrall’s debut, but this didn’t feel like another season opener against an overmatched opponent. After four years of Billy Napier, it felt like an exorcism.”

As for the glorious return of our beloved Gator Bait cheer, thank you, thank you, thank you!

In some ways, I’m sorry it had to come to this, because I’ve got good friends on both sides of this aisle. But when something is wrong and it was taken from you because there’s injustice involved, then we must stand our ground and, as the song says, don’t back down!

Joy is a great thing! And The Swamp was lit with it Saturday night because this one felt so right in so many ways – not the least of which was the way Jon Sumrall‘s team performed. Yes there were glitches, but it was a display of some awesome offensive fire power and it felt like the beginning of something special.

And you know what? We deserve this!

It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, but mark this down anyway: Number 13 is going to be a lucky one for the Florida Gators and after the 160 yards rushing by Jadan Baugh and his spectacular return for a third and likely final season, we will begin to see a lot more number 13 jerseys. 

And by the way number 12 ain’t bad either, because Aaron Philo can, indeed, rip it. And spin it. It was also good to see backup Tramell Jones Jr. get in for a cameo roll that included a touchdown pass.  And by the way, thanks to Sumrall for not embracing that stupid game of “let’s be nice and not score“ because Florida Atlantic was doing everything in its power to stone Tramell and his offense. 

As is the culture around here, run your offense and see if they can stop it. They literally get paid to do that now.

The 66 points were the most scored in an opener since 1994 when they racked up 70.

Baugh was something to behold with three rushing touchdowns and it made  you wonder just how good he is going to be. Maybe not Emmitt Smith great, but depending on whether his team keeps winning, he’s got to be in a conversation for the Heisman.

Baugh passed 2,000 career rushing yards on his 367th-career carry, which is the 10th-quickest in program history – one carry faster than Earnest Graham (368), who surpassed 2,000 career

yards in the 2002 opener.

Baugh said he felt empowered by the fans.

“It felt great to me. Just being in The Swamp, seeing the fans, hearing how loud they get,” said Baugh. “I think early in the game got very loud. I looked back at the stands like, ‘wow, that's crazy.’”

Offense has officially returned to The Swamp and the 90,025 patrons (5th largest season-opener crowd) were downright giddy. 

And what can we say about the legacy star Vernell Brown III? Every bit as good as advertised, and maybe even better!

Not to hand out a bunch of bouquets here because it’s early and there is much work to be done, but as the cliche goes, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. And the Florida Gators certainly did that on Saturday night.

I was particularly impressed with how the offense performed so smoothly, without a rash of illegal motions or stupid pre-snap flinches  and — dare we say it – penalties for wrong substitution!

Nobody was more grateful than the new head coach, but he was also quick to admonish them that there is work to be done yet.

“I thought our guys came into the came with the right mindset, right approach,” said Sumrall. “They were prepared. They didn't take the opportunity for granted. They were emotionally charged and ready to go.”

As for what’s next?

“A lot to clean up. By no means a perfect performance. Long list of things we have to get a lot better at if we have high goals here.”

He was also grateful for the fans. 

“Unbelievable turnout. Energy was electric. You know, got asked just a little bit ago about running out of the tunnel. It surpassed my expectations. I had pretty high expectations what it was going to be look.

“What an unbelievable crowd. Great support. They had a huge impact on the game and that was -- we need that.”

Finally, those of us on the front line of the fight for GatorBait all these years felt vindicated by hearing the Florida band playing the cheer on several occasions.

And the band played on! (Buddy Martin Photo)

Here was how ESPN and AP wrote it:

By ESPN

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Florida revived its "Gator Bait" cheer Saturday night during its season opener, bringing it back more than six years after the school banned it because of "horrific historic racist imagery" associated with the phrase.

New school president Stuart Bell said in June that "traditions matter" and hinted that the cheer could return because "it's meaningful to the Gator family."

It returned to the Swamp early in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic  and was welcomed with a raucous reception. 

”Congratulations Buddy!” one of my colleagues shouted at me in the press box. Many other people texted or wrote me on X which I greatly appreciated, yet it really was never so much about my company or me. But at times it felt exhausting.

I’m sorry for those who remain offended, but this feels to us like things are slowly returning to their rightful place in this universe.

I’m not going to shy away for the fact that our company, gatormedia.com has been at this business for a half century and when we bought it, another colleague was about to leave at the curb for trash pickup. I’m happy we did now. Let us have some peace and enjoy it, and by the way, if you’d like to join in on the parade, I’ll give the shameless plug for the new GatorBait gear, which is now available. If you order now, you could have it on time for the Ole Miss game (my bosses made me say that!) It’s the company Shane Matthews represents so you know it’s quality stuff. 

And it may help us keep the lights on here a little longer!

Here’s the link. Cut and paste.

New GatorBait Gear

https://gatorbait2026r .itemorder.com/shop/home/