Home Field Advantage
The Swamp has acquired a reputation for being a very difficult place for opposing teams to play, and has regularly been ranked at or near the top of lists of top home field advantages and/or best game day experiences in college football
One of the major reasons is the stadium's design. Originally built in a shallow sinkhole, the playing surface is below ground level. Various expansions over the years have enclosed the playing area on all sides with steep stands, and the fans are within a few feet of the action.
The enclosed playing area also enhances the effects of Gainesville's warm and humid fall climate. Game-day temperatures at field level have been known to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius), creating a swamp-like atmosphere. (This was the impetus for a University of Florida researcher Robert Cade to develop Gatorade as a way to combat dehydration.) Furthermore, during hot and sunny day games Florida's sideline on the west side of the stadium is in the shade provided by the press box while the visiting team's sideline on the east side is exposed to the sun.
Florida Gator fans are both loyal (having sold out every home contest from 1979 until the first game of the 2011 season, when the streak ended against Florida Atlantic University) and loud, thus creating a tremendous home field advantage for the Gators. The size and exuberance of the home crowds, when combined with the stadium's close-in design of the seats, concentrates the fan noise at field level, making the Swamp one of the loudest stadiums in America.
Combined, these factors create an intimidating environment which can rattle and disrupt opposing teams, making it difficult to hear playcalls and execute assignments. Florida Field has been repeatedly ranked by various publications as being the toughest stadium in which to play for opposing teams.
The Gators' performance at home illustrates this effect. From Spurrier's arrival in 1990 until the end of the 2009 season, Florida posted a 113–13 home record, which is the best in the nation during that time period. The Gators enjoyed a 37–5 home record under Urban Meyer from his arrival in 2005 until his retirement after the 2010 season.
Read more about this topic: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Famous quotes containing the words home, field and/or advantage:
“Caesar should be a beast without a heart
If he should stay at home today for fear.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“And through the field the road runs by
To many-towered Camelot;”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“With wonderful art he grinds into paint for his picture all his moods and experiences, so that all his forces may be brought to the encounter. Apparently writing without a particular design or responsibility, setting down his soliloquies from time to time, taking advantage of all his humors, when at length the hour comes to declare himself, he puts down in plain English, without quotation marks, what he, Thomas Carlyle, is ready to defend in the face of the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)