Hurricane Delta is heading for the Gulf coast. Alabama and Ole Miss are hoping that by moving the kickoff later, they’ll get to play Saturday night in Oxford.

The weather was a popular topic on Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban’s weekly radio show Thursday night. Saban noted rain that will put pass defense at a disadvantage while wind could hurt a team’s passing offense. Both figure to be a factor when a hurricane moves through the area.

“It’s much harder to play pass defense,” Saban said. “Everybody says, ‘Well, you won’t be able to throw the ball if it’s raining.’ If it’s a bad field and it’s raining, it’s much easier to play offense and it’s much easier to pass the ball than it is to play defense because the defense is at a disadvantage in reaction.

“Now, wind, which there may be some wind with this, is probably the one thing that’s most difficult in terms of throwing the ball — with the wind, against the wind, crosswind, swirling wind. Same thing in the impact that the wind can have in the kicking game can be really a tremendous factor in having the wind at your back in certain circumstances and certain situations in the game.”

For now, the game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT in Oxford. We’ll see if two of the SEC’s most high-powered passing offenses are able to operate or if Mother Nature turn it into a battle of the ground games.