Riding into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday afternoon with his Oklahoma teammates, Hayden Hansen felt the tears start to well up in his eyes.

Gainesville, Fla., had been Hansen’s home for four seasons. The tight end had started 34 games for Florida, and had made plenty of memories playing in The Swamp including a touchdown catch against Florida State in what proved to be his final game as a Gator.

All those memories flooded back during the trip to the stadium as a visiting player for the first time.

“You never really realize how much a place means to you until you come back for the first time after leaving,” Hansen said after he came up with a touchdown reception to help the Sooners knock off Florida 23-7. “... You pour your heart and soul into a place for four years, you come back and you want it so bad.”

After Billy Napier’s firing in the middle of last season, Hansen decided to seek a new opportunity for his final season of college football.

When he settled on Oklahoma, committing ahead of Jason Witten’s official hiring as tight ends coach but with a good idea Witten would be joining the staff, Napier made a call to Sooners coach Brent Venables.

“Man, you’re getting one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around in coaching,” Napier told Venables. 

Venables remembered that call Saturday night.

“He’s overdelivered,” Venables said. “He’s been everything we wanted and then some. His passion, his investment, his connection with the guys, his care for his opportunity at Oklahoma — not just a hired hand, but a guy that really makes everybody around him better.”

Witten said he appreciated Hansen’s contributions far beyond the catches or blocks he’s made.

“He’s all about the team — the team, the team,” Witten said. “That’s what he stands for. Whatever is best for the team. (He) kind of does the dirty work as the tight end and for him to get that touchdown in the goal line was a special moment.

“To have played as much football as he has and to come in in January and be open to new ideas, new techniques, new schemes, that wasn’t lost on me just his readiness to take on new coaching and to be challenged in a different way.”

Witten told Hansen all week that he planned to dial up a play for Hansen should a goal-line situation arise.

And on second-and-goal from the Florida 3 early in the second quarter, Witten sent in the call and Hansen delivered, with his second touchdown catch of the season.

"It meant everything to me," Hansen said. "It's a lifetime memory."

In a trying season for the Sooners’ offense, Hansen has been a steadying force.

This week, when those challenges ramped up with the switch in offensive coordinators coinciding with his return to Gainesville, Hansen’s leadership once again took center stage.

“He was one of the leaders that stood out front this week for us,” Venables said, adding that he presented Hansen with a game ball after the victory.

The ball will be with Hansen for quite awhile.

“I’ll put it in my house for the rest of my life,” Hansen said.