Florida announces 12th straight sellout in Swamp ahead of Ole Miss game

Say what you will about the quality of Florida football in recent years, the fans have absolutely not backed down in their support.

For the 12th straight time, Florida has sold out a game in the Swamp. The program made that announcement ahead of this weekend’s contest against No. 9 Ole Miss. It’s a remarkably impressive sellout streak given the state of the program during that span.

Having said that, Florida has given its fans reasons for optimism in the last week or two.

The team put together a thrilling win over LSU last week in the Swamp, one that featured big plays and a more cohesive all-around effort. Quarterback DJ Lagway has led the charge, operating with pinpoint precision on passes down the field and opening up a new level of explosiveness for the offense.

If the fans were ready to turn the page on the Billy Napier era a few weeks ago, they never showed it in their support at home games. And now it’s easy to argue they’re falling right back into lockstep supporting the head man, particularly after a good run of recruiting in the last week.

There’s work to be done, to be sure, but you have to tip your cap to the Florida faithful.

And the players.

While the fans may have wavered in their support of the head coach, the players never seemed to. If anything, they seemed motivated by the lack of support for Napier as his tenure appeared to hit the most rocky territory.

“We’ve kind of seen it in ourselves first, knowing that we can compete with some of the best in the country,” linebacker Shemar James said on SiriusXM College. “We love coach Napier. We love the job that he’s doing here, and we ultimately believe in him. I’d be lying if I said we weren’t seeing the tweets and the blogs and all the rumors.

“I would say, just wanting coach [Napier] to be here and just playing hard for a coach that you can stand behind. I would say that’s why we play so hard and just wanting to keep coach Napier.”

Florida and its fans will do their best to support the head man on Saturday. The game kicks off at noon ET on ABC.