21 months. 644 days. 15,456 hours. 927,360 minutes.
However you want to break down the time, it's been a while since the Florida Gators had the opportunity to run out of the tunnel. When a deep voice bellows, "The Swamp, where only Gators get out alive!" and the fans collectively lose their minds as the team emerges from the tunnel and onto the field is one of the treasures of college football.
One that the team has waited a long time to experience once again.
Florida has 89,409 that Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2019 for the season finale against Florida State. With COVID restrictions in 2020, it never cracked 16,200.
Florida didn't get the opportunity to have their home field advantage and to listen to Dan Mullen speak about it, the Swamp might as well be the twelfth player on the field.
"You feel the crowd. You don’t just hear it, but you feel it," Dan Mullen said of the Gator Faithful. "And I think that’s something that can really draw out things inside of you that you don’t get through last year when your self-motivation and desire to go play. When you can feel the energy of a crowd, it lifts you up even more.”
This Saturday the Gators are expecting a capacity crowd, the student section sold out a week ago, and they're urging fans to wear white, as the team will be in white jerseys at home for the first time since the early 2000s.
There are 21 true freshmen on the roster who will have their first Swamp experience Saturday. Include in 25 sophomores and redshirt freshmen, and several transfers, and there will be a lot of first-timers on Saturday. Two players might feel at home in the whiteout. Penn State transfers Antonio Valentino and Justin Shorter have both experienced the school that made whiteouts in the stands famous and they've each had the opportunity to play in some Big Ten football cathedrals.
“I was definitely blessed to be able to play in those stadiums. It was a crazy experience. I’d say a whiteout at Penn State, that’s as crazy as it can get," Shorter said. " From what I hear they say the Swamp is just a whole different experience. I have yet to be at a full-out capacity game, so hopefully, we can make this first one a great one.”
Xzavier Henderson is only a sophomore, but he's seen a lot of games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The receiver would travel north from his family's home in Miami to catch his brother, cornerback defensive back C.J. play. He took a few unofficial visits and an official visit but sitting in the South end zone stands watching is a whole different world than running out of the tunnel in pads.
"The last time I was in a full-capacity game was during my recruitment in the stands, so it's going to be kind of exciting to see how the fans bring the energy for this first game and throughout the season."
Finally, Emory Jones has been waiting for this moment. He's played in big games and big moments. He's played in rivalry games and bowl games but he's never taken the first snap. He's never been the guy that an entire team looked to lead them to victory on Saturdays. In a days time Jones, dreadlocks bouncing on his shoulder pads and eye black in the shape of a cross on his cheeks, will run out of the tunnel as the guy. Even with that fact, when asked what he's most looking forward to, he pointed to the fans.
"I'm just looking forward to all the fans being back in the Swamp, I mean it's been a year since everybody has been here," he said. "I'm just ready to see the atmosphere, like of The Swamp light back up and just hear all the fans go crazy, that's the main thing that excites me."
