The Miami Hurricanes thoroughly dominated the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday. Miami doubled Florida's total yardage, won the time of possession and turnover battles and walked out of The Swamp with a 41-17 win over their in-state rivals. Miami is now 6-2 against Florida since Y2K.
To make things worse for the Gators, they had recruits in the stands. Obviously, this isn't the first time a group of recruits saw the team hosting them lose at home, but Florida appears to have made a major mistake in where they sat the perspective student-athletes.
Many people pointed out that as the Hurricanes players headed to the locker room after the win, they were able to celebrate with the Florida recruits. At the very least, they were able to exchange pleasantries with the recruits with minimal effort because Florida sat the young men right next to the visiting team's tunnel. Which also means they spent the game in the midst of the celebratory vibes of the visiting fans section.
In one video in particular you can see the players walking into the tunnel, but as more players come, they see faces they know in the crowd and go over to say hello. That's when one Gators staffer tries to keep things moving, but at that point there's really nothing that can be done.
Miami players were chatting up Florida’s recruits (wouldn’t you?) and the Florida recruiting staffers were trying in vain to stop it. https://t.co/MxkSLybHNl
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) September 1, 2024
Miami players did not exactly walk into UF’s recruiting section: Florida inexplicably put the section between the only two sections officially for away fans, right next to the Miami tunnel so that when Miami hosted a victory party on the field with fans, recruits could join in. https://t.co/MLRARBo2Fv
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) September 1, 2024
On top of that, some of the recruits may have even gotten caught in the moment during the actual game.
Gators Recruits Cheering For Miami 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 #GoCanes pic.twitter.com/vBrreSTTsw
— Florida Boy Corey 🌴🍊🌊☀️ (@floridaboycorey) August 31, 2024
How close any of these players were or are to an official commitment to Florida, this is just a silly look for the Gators. They got thumped by a rival at home and their own recruits got to enjoy it with the other team while the winning coach walked around flashing the U.
Coming off three consecutive losing seasons Florida looks like a school with a football program headed in the wrong direction.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Miami Included Florida Gators Recruits in Their Celebration at The Swamp.
