Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Soon after he began speaking into a microphone late Saturday night at his postgame press conference, Dan Mullen turned his attention from what the Gators did on the field to what their fans did in the stands.

Florida's 40-17 victory over the Seminoles was its first in a decade at home over FSU and capped a perfect record at the Swamp (6-0) in Mullen's second season at the helm.

"I want to thank all the Gator fans,'' he said. "You've heard me say it over and over. If we pack the Swamp, we'll win. Not we win, we'll pack the Swamp. Doesn't work that way."

In front of a sellout crowd of 89,409 on a celebratory night, the Gators won their eighth consecutive home game to cap an unusually turbulent decade along Gale Lemerand Drive compared to the previous two decades. When Steve Spurrier returned to Gainesville and woke a sleeping giant to kick off the 1990s, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium turned into a nightmare for opponents.

Spurrier went 68-5 at home in his 12 seasons as UF's head coach from 1990-2001. The Gators dipped to 13-6 at the Swamp in three seasons under Ron Zook, but when Urban Meyer took over at the start of the 2005 season, he won 30 of his first 32 games inside the Swamp to restore the Gators' dominant homefield advantage.

However, in 2010 during Meyer's final season, the Gators suffered a home loss to LSU, a homecoming loss to Mullen's first Mississippi State team, and a deflating home loss to Spurrier's South Carolina team that clinched the first SEC East title in school history for the Gamecocks.

The rest of the decade was topsy-turvy.

The Gators lost twice at home in Will Muschamp's first season in 2011, then went 7-0 in 2012. However, Muschamp split his final 12 home games and was out of a job following the 2014 season. In came Jim McElwain who was 13-3 in 16 home games but lost his final two prior to his exit late in the 2017 season.

The Gators have won 11 of 13 at home under Mullen and finished the decade with a 47-17 record at home. Since the start of the 1990 season, Florida is 160-30 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, second only to Ohio State (180-24-1) for the best home winning percentage in the country over that span.

Three of the most memorable home games of the decade happened since Mullen took over: last season's win over LSU, this year's victory over Auburn and Saturday night against FSU.

Senior receiver Tyrie Cleveland could tell it was going to be a special night during the bus ride to Gator Walk.

"I was getting emotional,'' he said, noting the home atmosphere has improved since Mullen's arrival. "It's a big difference. The program has changed over the years. They headed down the right direction. The future is bright for this team."
  SWAMP TAB

A look at how the Gators have fared at home the past three decades:
 

COACH	SEASONS	RECORD	NOTABLE
Steve Spurrier	1990-2001	68-5	Won first 23 home games; school-record 30 in row
Ron Zook	2002-04	13-6	Lost to Miami by 25 in second game to signal slide
Urban Meyer	2005-10	36-5	Dominant until 4-3 home record in final season
Will Muschamp	2011-14	18-8	Big wins, ugly losses to Vandy, Georgia Southern
Jim McElwain	2015-17	13-3	Won 13 of 14 until losses to LSU and Texas A&M
Randy Shannon*	2017	1-1	Lost to Muschamp's South Carolina team, beat UAB
Dan Mullen	2018-19	11-2	Has urged fans to show up and they have responded

 
*Interim coach final four games of 2017 season

Gators at Home
1990s: 57-4
2000s: 56-9
2010s: 47-17