10%

Season in Review: Florida Gators Football

Our favorite photos from the Florida Gators Football 2017-18 Season

By Matt Pendleton Photography

November 27^th, 2017

Season in Review

We cover the Florida Gators Football team for Gator Bait Magazine (247Sports Florida). The season ended for the Florida Gators on Saturday, November 25th with a loss to the Florida State Seminoles in Gainesville, FL. They finished with a 4-7 record ultimately terminating their head coach, Jim McElwain, and then hiring Dan Mullen to replace him. Scroll down to see our favorite photos from the 2017-18 season.

For football, we use the following equipment to provide coverage:

Camera Bodies and Lens

Canon 1DX and 1DX Mark II bodies
Canon 17-40mm f4L lens
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L lens
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L II IS lens
Canon 200-400mm f4L IS with built-in 1.4x Extender

Gear and Accessories

Lexar Pro 32GB CompactFlash and CompactFlash 2.0 Memory Cards
Lexar USB 3.0 Memory Card Readers
SpiderPro Dual Camera System Holster
ThinkTank Airport Security 2.0
ThinkTank Airport Advantage
ThinkTank Shape Shifter 15
Hoodman HoodEYE Eye Cups
Oben Monopods

We love covering sports and would love an opportunity to cover your team. Get started now at https://mattpendleton.com/services/sports.

Season in Review: Florida Gators Football

We're Talking about Practice

The season started in the first week of August 2017 as football practice officially kicked off. Media and photographers are permitted 15 minutes to shoot practice and it's a mad rush to get any quality photos.

The first football would not occur until September 2nd in Dallas so we spend most of the month of August capturing images of everyone.

gm 1: Michigan (L 17-33)

The Gators opened the 2017-18 season vs. the Michigan Wolverines at the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, TX. This is the same stadium that the Dallas Cowboys play in.

The Gators lost 17-33 to go 0-1 on the season.

This is a top-notch facility and the photographer workroom was no exception. We had all we needed from Ethernet landlines to pretty fast wireless. Larger organizations like Getty Image and the AP had their own workrooms off to the side. Best part: it was only a few steps from the field.

GM 3: Tennessee (W 26-20)

Game 2 of the season was cancelled due to the potential threat of Hurricane Irma. This left Gator fans anxiously awaiting the match-up vs. the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Gators won 26-20 on a last second Hail Mary play from QB Felipe Franks to WR Tyrie Cleveland.

Hail Mary

Wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland catches a 63-yard "Hail Mary" pass from quarterback Felipe Franks to break the 20-20 tie and give the Gators the lead.

GM 5: Vanderbilt (W 38-24)

The Gators returned to The Swamp after defeating Kentucky (28-27) in Lexington.

GM 6: LSU (16-17)

Game 6 featured a game that Gator fans had been waiting for since the season prior: LSU. The stadium was packed and the energy was high throughout the game. There were a ton of celebrities on the sidelines.

The Gators ultimately lost 16-17 and this started a 5-game losing streak which led to the dismissal of their head coach, Jim McElwain.

Celebrities

GM 7: Texas A&M (L 17-19)

Game 7 featured a Nike football uniform specially made for the Gators but had a nighttime start. We thought the uniforms looked great but many fans were split on their opinion. The Gators Marketing team also debuted a viral tribute to the late Tom Petty in the third quarter that sent chills through the fans in attendance.

The Gators lost 17-19 to go 3-3 on the season.

GM 8: Georgia (L 7-42)

The annual Florida-Gator game is played in Jacksonville, FL at Everbank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. At the beginning of the game, a few big name Gators were named to the Hall of Fame team: Tim Tebow and Lito Sheppard.

This was Jim McElwain's final game as the Gators' head coach as he was terminated the following day.

The Gators were blown out 7-42 to go 3-4.

gm 11: UAB (W 36-7)

This was Randy Shannon's first home game as interim Head Coach. The Gators were 3-5 and coming off a 5-game losing skid. Gator Nation need a win.

The Gators won 36-7 to go 4-6.

GM 12: FSU (L 22-38)

The annual end of the regular season match-up vs. Florida State was played this year in Gainesville over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Gators were coming off a rare win and had a senior day match-up with the "team from up north."

The Gators lost 22-38 and finished the 2017-18 season with a 4-7 record.

The following day, the Gators would hire former assistant coach and current Mississippi State head coach, Dan Mullen as the 27th head coach of the program.

Behind-the-Scenes

Throughout the season, we get to work alongside some of the best sports photographers in the game. Here's a few shots of those photographers in action. Football games are minimum 12-hour commitments. In many cases, we experience high heat and monsoon rain but still get the shot.