Record 61,000 watch Gators in scrimmage
University of Florida freshmen Eddie Reiner and Clayton Hunter turned the Gators' annual Orange and Blue game into a 24-hour affair.
The pair of freshmen started by attending the football team's final practice Friday afternoon, and then proceeded to spend all night outside the gates of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
They left campus only twice in that span: a midnight run to Wal-Mart to buy body paint, and a trip across University Avenue to eat at Pita Pit at 3:45 a.m.
The rest of the time they spent tossing a Frisbee back and forth. As the only students who chose to spend all night outside the stadium, they attracted a bit of attention from the university's police.
"Oh, we talked to a bunch of cops," said Hunter.
"They didn't understand kids camping out for a spring game," Reiner added.
But when the line of fans started outside the stadium at 7 a.m., Reiner, from Miami, and Hunter, from Wesley Chapel, were first. They painted their hair and bodies blue and orange and snagged a prime spot in the north end zone bleachers, where they could get a close-up view of the ESPN College GameDay set as well as the game, which Tim Tebow's Blue squad won 28-14.
By kickoff just after 1 p.m., approximately 61,000 fans had poured into the stadium - a Florida record for the annual spring scrimmage.
"They're going all out, so we're going all out," Reiner said.
Such fanaticism is exactly what Florida athletic officials envisioned when they agreed to allow ESPN to air its GameDay show from inside the stadium and broadcast the game live. Florida added other fan-friendly events to turn what normally is a routine scrimmage into a full-fledged event.
"I keep wanting to give back to our students and our fans, because look across the country, you don't see a spring game like that," coach Urban Meyer said. "That was real. It was a great day for us."
ESPN brought a 90-person crew and 23 cameras to produce GameDay - its first-ever broadcast in spring - and air the game.
Nearly every Florida player - everyone, it seemed, but Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin - signed autographs for more than 90 minutes. Fans waited in a long line to pose for pictures with the 2006 national championship and 2007 Heisman trophies.
There also were fan-centric events, including the "Fastest Fan" race that pitted 15 students in a 40-yard race against Chris Rainey, Deonte Thompson and Louis Murphy.
Rainey, running against the five fastest student finalists, was clocked in 4.24 seconds, according to UF officials, while the fastest student, Bolaji Agbede, a sophomore from Brandon, ran 4.53.
"That was really fun," Rainey said. "I told the coaches they should do something like that every year."
Meyer, though, seemed to glean more joy from Rainey's performance in the scrimmage. Rainey, who missed most of 2007 after having shoulder surgery, racked up 140 total yards (75 rushing, 65 receiving) and scored two touchdowns.
Tebow completed 13 of 21 passes for 200 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, despite having a 102-degree fever and severe nausea on Friday. He also put a crushing hit on safety Major Wright, who was blocking for Lorenzo Edwards, who had caught Tebow's second interception.
"I didn't mean to," Tebow said of the hit. "I was irritated I just threw the pick. I got cheap-shotted enough in spring to lay one on them."
Running back Emmanuel Moody, a transfer from Southern Cal, ran for 111 yards and a TD on 14 carries. However, he also fumbled into the end zone.
"He's not very good at ball security," Meyer said. "He will not play football if there is a chance of it going on the ground."
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