The game was in Miami, but you wouldn't know it from the noise at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center during the BCS National Championship Game Thursday night.
10,300 pairs of arms and legs chomped and stomped in the stands of the O'Dome as fans watched the Gators snag their second title in three years on four jumbo screens in the corners of the stadium.
Fans sprung from their seats in unison after the Gators drew first blood against the Oklahoma Sooners in the first quarter and stayed on their feet through much of the night.
After each touchdown, fans hollered, hopped around and high-fived.
They wore orange and blue shirts, wigs, hats, jerseys, beads, scarves, plastic Hawaiian leis, and face paint while a small group of cheerleaders and pep band members tried to add to the energy of the already pumped-up crowd.
There was a brief period of panic around 10:45 p.m. when the video feed cut out and a rotating Gator logo replaced the game.
After what seemed like hours but was only a minute or two, a relieved crowd cheered when the image was restored.
Across campus in the Orange & Brew, the crowd held their collective breath and clasped their hands in prayer as the Sooners approached the Gator goal-line at the end of the first half. The intoxicated crowd screamed and pounded the tables after the Gators denied the Sooners end-zone entry.
Amid the sea of orange and blue, a lonely Oklahoma fan shook his head. He declined to comment when asked for his reaction to the game.
Meanwhile, Shannon Corwin, a UF mathematics junior, said the Gators were going to win because it was her birthday. "They won last time on my birthday too," she said with an empty Blue Moon sitting on the table in front of her. "I'm good luck."
Her friend Kate O'Neal, an education senior, thought the Gators would win for a different reason.
"I'm wearing my lucky underwear," she said.
The atmosphere off campus was equally spirited.
On the sidewalk outside of Tijuana Flats, a football fan in an alligator skull-topped UF cap greeted passers-by, telling them how great is to be a Florida Gator.
Midtown bars and restaurants filled with fans but were noticeably emptier than the 2007 championship, said 23-year-old Christopher Cedros, a bouncer at The Swamp Restaurant.
"This is a little more mellow than last time," he said, as he checked IDs at the restaurant's entrance.
On the restaurant's outdoor patio, the mood was more animated than mellow.
Fans knocked down pitchers of beer and plates of hamburgers and fries, as three big-screen TVs played ESPN highlight reels of UF and Oklahoma's football seasons.
Inside the restaurant, people clanked orange and blue hand-clappers to the beat of the song "Chicken Fried" by The Zach Brown Band.
Fans cheered the Gators' dazzling offensive drives and defensive stops but jeered referee calls in favor of Oklahoma.
The whistle for halftime snapped them out of their football frenzy, as fans took rest room breaks and ice cream seekers rushed to Ben & Jerry's during halftime.
Ben & Jerry scoopers Shannon May, 20, and Brittany Isom, 18, were ready for the onslaught of customers. Staff made extra waffle cones and cookies to prepare for the night, May said.
May, a junior marketing major from Clearwater, was a little disappointed about working during the game.
"I tried hard to give my shift away," she said.
As soon as the clock ran out, fans poured out of the O'Dome and rushed University Avenue in Gator Championship tradition.
Chants of "It's great to be a Florida Gator" and "Orange" and "Blue" filled the night. Streams of toilet paper sailed over the crowd and people stood on top of crosswalk signals. Across the street, a shirtless fan did pull-ups from the top of a street pole.
"I'm having the best time of my life," said Ely Mercil, a fan who climbed a greased light pole.
His hands and arms were covered with the PAM cooking spray authorities applied to poles before the game to discourage climbing.
"We destroyed Okalahoma. We own this shit," he yelled.
