UF Football - old

NOTEBOOK

Record crowd in house


By BRANDON ZIMMERMAN
Sun sports writer

Published: Sunday, August 31, 2003 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, August 31, 2003 at 1:30 a.m.

A new number was rolled over on The Swamp's odometer Saturday night.

90,000.

The newly expanded Florida Field held a record crowd of 90,011 against San Jose State. The crowd was the largest ever to watch a football game in the state, easily surpassing the previous record, which came on Sept. 7, 2002, when 85,777 fans watched Miami beat Florida 41-16 at The Swamp.

Despite two of the stadium's new sky suites still being unsold as of late this week, Florida officials declared the game a sellout. It was Florida's 85th straight sellout, which is the fourth longest sellout streak in the nation. Nebraska holds the national record with its current streak of 255 straight sellouts.

The Gators new expansion puts the official capacity at 88,548. That is the fourth largest capacity in the SEC behind Tennessee (104,079), Georgia (92,000) and LSU (91,700).

The Gators' other two top crowds were both against Florida State. A crowd of 85,747 watched FSU beat Florida 30-23 in 1999 while 85,732 watched the Gators top the Seminoles 37-13 in 2001. Those marks rank third and fourth now, but will certainly be pushed down to last as this season wears on.

  • WEBB OUT: True freshman cornerback Dee Webb did not dress due to an ankle injury. Webb, from Jacksonville, was expected to see time in the secondary Saturday. Webb injured his ankle Tuesday in practice.

  • GOTTA BE THE SHOES: Florida has gone back to white. The Gators switched back to white shoes for this season after wearing black shoes all of last season.

    Florida had wore white shoes from 1995 to 2001.

  • GAVIN GETS THE START: Redshirt freshman quarterback Gavin Dickey started Saturday, just not behind center. On Florida's first offensive possession, Dickey lined up as a wide receiver and appeared as though he was supposed to receive a handoff from Ran Carthon on an end around. Carthon, though, was crushed for an 8-yard loss.

    "The play was going to be very similar to the last play of last year," coach Ron Zook said of Vernell Brown throwing an interception in the Outback Bowl. "But Tavarus (Washington) missed his block, and the guy got in there."

  • CHANGES ON THE LINE: Florida played three left tackles on the offensive line in Saturday's first half. Junior Tavarus Washington, sophomore Lance Butler and sophomore Randy Hand each played on the left side. Washington had been practicing with the first team through the fall at left tackle while Butler had been playing behind Hand at right tackle.

    "We talked about the fact with the injuries we had (to Anthony Guerrero and Jonathan Colon) to play a lot of guys on the line," Zook said. "That's going to help us down the road."

  • NO FLAG: Zook was excited afterward about the Gators ability to play within the rules. Florida was penalized just seven times for 36 yards. The Spartans, meanwhile, were also penalized seven times, but for 52 yards.

  • TIDBITS: Senior Johnny Lamar started at the other cornerback spot, opposite Keiwan Ratliff. ... Florida scored on its opening drive of the season for the sixth time in the last eight years. ... The 65 points Florida scored against SJSU set the highest scoring output in the Zook era. Florida scored 51 against Alabama-Birmingham last year. ... Florida's final two touchdowns were scored by No. 22. They were Reggie Lewis and Columbia High's Tre Orr. Lewis scored on a 21-yard fumble recovery, and Orr scored on a 73-yard interception return.

    ... Alik Scott, brother of former Gator Ian Scott, saw his first action as a Gator in the fourth quarter. Scott is a sophomore walk-on.


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