Florida confirms orange end zones will remain for rest of season

Athletes and coaches are known for sticking to routines. Apparently the grounds crew at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium doesn’t have much interest in keeping things the same.

When Missouri visits Florida on Saturday, the end zones at the home of the Gators will be painted orange for the first time in nearly 30 years.

With the high potential of rain today, we finished painting @GatorsFB yesterday. Crew did an amazing job finishing a day early. Hopefully the rain will not be too heavy and the paint still look good for homecoming. #GoGators pic.twitter.com/FjA9obdlrD

— Gators Turf Staff (@GatorTurfStaff) November 2, 2018

Florida in-house writer Scott Carter says that UF will keep the orange end zone for the remainder of the 2018 season, which still includes three home games for the Gators. Next week, South Carolina will visit “The Swamp” and then the following Saturday, Florida will host Idaho.

Carter’s article notes that the last time Florida had its end zones painted orange was Emmitt Smith’s final home game against Florida State in 1989. Steve Spurrier arrived the following year. At that point, the field’s look changed and remained consistent while he was there.

Florida will show off its orange end zones on the SEC Network at 4 p.m. Saturday.