The Head Ball Coach didn’t disappoint.
Before Florida’s 24-7 season-opening win over Massachusetts, the school honored Steve Spurrier by renaming its field Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Gators legend also put on a show as the honorary Mr. Two-Bits.
At the completion of the pregame chant, Spurrier struck a pose that Usain Bolt likely would’ve approved.
“You know, it’s never been done before,” he said. “I’m a guy that likes to come up with different stuff. I was the first to do the Usain in the middle of the field, right?”
It was that same type of creativity that helped Spurrier put Florida’s football program on the map in his 12 years as Florida’s head coach from 1990-2001, during which he won 122 games and lost just 27.
And at halftime on Saturday, UF extended more appreciation for his contributions.
The band marched to the middle of the newly renamed field in formations that spelled out “1966 Heisman” and “1996 Champs”, paying homage to Spurrier’s Heisman-winning campaign in ’66 and UF’s first national championship in ’96, coached by Spurrier.
Naturally, it was a trip down memory lane for the former coach.
“The fans were so good back then,” he said. “Everybody said it, I said it. Best home field advantage.”
And then, as Florida clang to a 10-7 lead in the third quarter, Spurrier shifted his attention to UF’s offensive output — one that wouldn’t have flown under his watch.
“So we need to take advantage of [the home field advantage],” he said. “We need to score some points!”
Indeed, Florida’s Luke Del Rio-led offense looked nowhere near the ’96 squad quarterbacked by Danny Wuerffel.
That year under Spurrier, Wuerffel and the Gators averaged a program-record 46.6 points per game.
In stark contrast on Saturday, Florida mustered just 10 points through three quarters against the Minutemen before tacking on 14 more in the final quarter.
Coach Jim McElwain pointed to the team’s lack of explosive plays after the game.
“We didn’t have any,” he said. “We’ve gotta get ‘em.”
But if anything, Del Rio’s first action as a Gator was encouraging.
The redshirt sophomore threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, and maybe more importantly, he didn’t commit a turnover.
Even Spurrier, a former quarterback who once played in The Swamp, praised Del Rio’s play during the game.
“I don’t think he’s doing all that bad,” he said even before the offense caught fire near the end of the game.
Maybe Spurrier’s words were all it took to wake UF up.
Maybe not.
Either way, Florida’s victory was much more than just its first win of the season.
It was UF’s first win on Steve Spurrier-Florida Field.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @pinakk12.
Steve Spurrier talks to the crowd before the start of Florida's 24-7 win over Massachusetts on Sept. 4, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
