The University of Florida football fan who went viral during the Gators’ statement 52-28 win over Ole Miss last weekend has identified herself — and she’s embracing her newfound fame.
Peyton Blomquist is a freshman on the Gainesville campus and was seated in the lower level of The Swamp when an ESPN cameraperson found her on Saturday, September 26. She was on screen for only a few seconds, but not before attracting the attention of fans across the country watching from home.
Blomquist, 18, later took to Instagram where she shared a series of photos from her first weeks of college life, including a screenshot of her viral moment.
“Work the cut,” she wrote in the caption, a nod to Florida coach Jon Sumrall’s mantra for the team.
The comments were exactly what you’d expect (“Comment section about to be diabolical😂,” wrote one fan).
“ESPN camera man started wildin’ when he saw this cut 😂,” the College Sports Only account wrote.
Another fan added, “I was wondering why this popped up on my feed and then slide 6 answered my question 😂,” referring to the screenshot of Blomquist on ESPN.
But amid the usual torrent of desperation, creepiness and outright spam, one commenter offered Blomquist some support.
“I’m an old woman now, but I was young and wild in the 80s and 90s,” she wrote. “(Thank God we didn’t have social media back then) and I just wanted to tell you that I hope you embrace your youth and beauty and enjoy every moment of it. You go girl!! 🍻.”
Blomquist’s social following has skyrocketed since the game. She now has more than 45,000 followers on Instagram and 33,000 on TikTok.
Not much more is known about Blomquist — she is a premed student and graduated as salutatorian of her high school class, according to her TikTok page. She is also a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
Her viral moment in the stands came three weeks after an Ole Miss fan named Sara Smith had a similar experience during the Rebels’ Week 1 win over Louisville. When ESPN’s cameras found her in the stands, she revealed she received a flood of DMs from interested fans.
“Let’s go through my favorite DMs over the last 24 hours,” Smith began in a video shared via TikTok the Monday after the game.
“God fearing. 6’1. 260. Business owner. 500K take home annual,” one fan wrote.
Another tried a more casual approach, writing, “Going to Whole Foods, want me to pick up anything?”
Of course, those were the tame ones. Much like Blomquist, Smith also saw first-hand that internet commenters often leave subtlety on the sidelines.
