BATON ROUGE, La. - For the second time in three years, I hopped in my Civic and made the eight-hour trip to Louisiana for the Florida-LSU game.
Much like 2007, we drove west in two cars, made a stop in New Orleans and stayed in a hotel off of I-10, Exit 163.
The game was highly anticipated both times, with the Tigers ranked No. 1 way back when and the Gators ranked No. 1 this time around.
My experience, however, changed substantially. Including, but not limited to, the difference between visiting Bourbon Street as a 19-year-old in the middle of the day, and hanging out at the same spot as a 21-year-old on Friday night.
On my previous trip, I came as a fan hoping to watch UF knock off the No. 1 team in the nation behind a mostly unproven sophomore quarterback named Tim Tebow.
No one knew how he would react to the raucous crowd of Tiger Stadium. Ironically, not much changed this time around, though for a very different reason.
Saturday, I parked my car in a decal-only lot - as opposed to finding a hopefully tow-free spot somewhere on Nicholson Drive and walking 20 minutes - and made my way to the press box to cover the biggest game of my young journalism career.
I fully expected the Gators to win by a healthy margin, with or without a healthy Tebow, despite the Tigers' No. 4 ranking and 32-game win streak in Saturday night home games.
When the whistle blew, the scene on the field looked completely different from two years ago.
UF was tested by a strong LSU defense that seemingly bent at a 90-degree angle but refused to break in front of a record home crowd.
The Gators defense was even better.
Brandon Spikes played at the highest level I have ever seen him play over the last four years.
The previously unassuming pass rush harassed LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson all night. And the secondary blanketed the opposing receivers for the duration.
Last time I found myself looking into the eye of the Tiger, both offenses traded blows on the way to a 28-24 LSU victory. Quarterback Matt Flynn and running back Jacob Hester drove the Tigers down the field at the end of the fourth quarter, overwhelming an inexperienced Gators defense that was unable to come up with a stop in multiple short-yardage situations.
Both times, I never really questioned what the outcome would be, no matter how close the score.
I got the feeling that a battle-tested LSU team would eventually impose its will on UF just as the Gators imposed their will on the Tigers in 2009.
Neither win was pretty, but both were huge confidence builders for a couple of talented veteran teams in the early part of the season.
After UF's loss, I walked out of the stadium and back to the car with my Orange-and-Blue friends, trying to avoid any gloating LSU fans in my path.
This time, I sent my final story for publication and walked down to the empty, perfectly lit field with my sportswriter friends to take some pictures.
The differences between the two trips were numerous, but both times I left Baton Rouge believing I had just watched the eventual national champions grind out a tough win against a young team that was in way over its head.
