Gameday in Gainesville: Fans waste no time returning to the tailgate scene

While Saturday marked the dawn of a new era of Florida Gators football as first-year head coach Billy Napier led the Gators onto Steve Spurrier-Florida Field for the first time, some things will never change – including the smell of barbequed meats and ice cold beer as early as 6 a.m.

For Gainesville native Tony Young and his group of tailgating buddies, Saturday meant waking up at 3 a.m. and getting their 12-foot trailer out to the grassy area in front of Norman Hall on the University of Florida’s campus by 5 a.m.

“A lot of preparation,” Young said. “A lot of going over the checklist… It’s all in the guys communicating. Everyone’s got certain things they need to do and that’s what happens.”

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Young and his core group have been doing such for the past 15 seasons, meaning they had plenty of drinks on deck, as well as two Boston butts to keep the hunger at bay.

Meanwhile, closer to the stadium, Keith Combee of Lakeland and his group of tailgaters got to their spot near Murphree Hall as soon as the parking lots opened at 8 a.m.

Like Young, Combee and his crew have been tailgating Gators games for 15 years. And waiting for that first game of the season can feel like an eternity, especially considering he doesn’t see many of his “Gator friends” unless it’s football season.

“They’re not all from Lakeland,” Combee said. “Even the ones from our hometown, we don’t get to see except at Gator games… It’s fun to get back with everybody.”

But at Combee’s tailgate, he welcomed more than just “Gator friends.”

Utah fans feel welcome

Russ Swonson and his group of 10 other Utah fans stumbled upon Combee’s tailgate and offered to play a friendly game of Utah vs. Florida cornhole.

“Everybody’s been wonderful,” Swonson said of Gainesville’s hospitality after he and his Utah partner won the cornhole game 21-14. “We’ve been getting a lot of ‘good luck’ and ‘go easy on us’… Everybody’s been really great.”

Swonson, who tries to get to one away game a season, called this year’s trip to The Swamp a “bucket list” trip.

“You’ve gotta go to The Swamp whether they’re playing Utah or not,” Swonson said. “I would’ve come back here to see Florida play anybody… just to see The Swamp. But then when I saw that we’d scheduled a game here, it was a no-brainer. You’ve gotta go to the Utah-Florida game.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Football season is back. And so is Gainesville's tailgating scene.