Hurricane Florence: Georgia moves kickoff time up, South Carolina, others cancel
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Thursday:
Middle Tennessee State at Georgia has been moved from a 7:!5 p.m. game to a Noon kickoff due to Hurricane Florence.
ESPN has also provided a list of changes to its Week 3 coverage schedule:
| Date | Time | Matchup/Commentators | Network |
| Thu, Sept 13 | 5:30 p.m. | Boston College at Wake Forest Dave Flemming, Dan Orlovsky, Paul Carcaterra |
ESPN |
| Sat, Sept. 15 | Noon | Middle Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman |
ESPNEWS |
| Noon | Georgia Southern at No. 2 Clemson Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks, Alex Corddry |
ESPNU | |
| Noon | *CANCELED* No. 18 UCF at North Carolina Mike Couzens, Kirk Morrison |
||
| 12:20 p.m. | *CANCELED* East Carolina at No. 13 Virginia Tech |
||
| 3:30 p.m. | *CANCELED* No. 14 West Virginia at NC State Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky, Paul Carcaterra |
||
| 3:30 p.m. | *CANCELED* Southern Mississippi at Appalachian State |
||
| 4:30 p.m. | Ohio at Virginia (Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville) Joel Meyers, Forrest Conoly |
ESPN2 | |
| 4:30 p.m. | *CANCELED* North Carolina Central at South Carolina State Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker |
||
| 7 p.m. | Oregon State at Nevada Trey Bender, Tyoka Jackson |
ESPNU | |
| 7:30 p.m. | *CANCELED* Marshall at South Carolina Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey |
||
| 7:30 p.m. | Louisiana at No. 16 Mississippi State Mark Neely, Barrett Jones, Olivia Dekker |
ESPN2 |
Wednesday afternoon:
South Carolina has canceled its game against Marshall, which was scheduled for Saturday in Columbia, S.C.
“Whether or not the game could have been played, we made the decision we think is best for the state and those who are evacuating the coast,” South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner said in a press release. “There is no question this is the right thing to do and the decision was supported by President [Harris] Pastides, Coach [Will] Muschamp, our Board members and myself.”
Clemson announced that its game with Georgia Southern has been moved up from a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff to Noon in hopes of avoiding the effects of Hurricane Florence.
OFFICIAL UPDATE || In response to the potential effects of Hurricane Florence, kickoff for the @ClemsonFB vs. Georgia Southern game on Saturday has been moved up from 3:30 p.m. to noon.
Additional details here: https://t.co/LE3zzUvHtF
— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) September 12, 2018
Wednesday update:
App State has canceled its scheduled game with Southern Miss. The game was set to be played in Boone, N.C.
“While the scope of the storm’s impact in the High Country is still unknown, university officials have worked in partnership with Southern Miss and emergency management personnel to reach a decision that is in the best interests of the safety and well-being of fans, student-athletes and game day personnel,” the school said in a statement.
Officials from both schools are reportedly open to rescheduling the game.
Latest as of Tuesday evening:
Other games that have been impacted by the storm:
- Campbell at Coastal Carolina — moved to 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday Sept. 12, 2018 moved from South Carolina to North Carolina
- Boston College at Wake Forest: moved from 7:30 p.m. ET to 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday Sept. 13, 2018
- Norfolk State at Liberty — game moved to Dec. 1, 2018
Tuesday afternoon update.:
A third game has been canceled, ECU at No. 13 Virginia Tech. ECU announced on its website that the Pirates would not be making the trip to Blacksburg, Va. for its game against the Hokies. The school, based in Greenville, N.C., cited the fact that a state of emergency has been declared in both North Carolina and Virginia (as well as South Carolina).
It was also announced this afternoon that one game will be moved. Virginia vs. Ohio will be played at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville instead of Charlottesville, Va. as originally scheduled. Admission to that game will be free.
The original post is available below:
With Hurricane Florence on a path projected to hit the east coast, multiple college football games have been canceled.
RELATED: Will Muschamp asked how Hurricane Florence could affect South Carolina’s upcoming game
Two North Carolina teams, UNC and NC State, were scheduled to host ranked teams (No. 18 UCF and No. 14 West Virginia) in Week 3, but due to the storm, neither game will be played this weekend.
NC State posted an official announcement Tuesday afternoon that its game with West Virginia had been postponed due to Florence. Ticket holders for the game have not been refunded yet as the schools are working to reschedule the game. NC State campus, which is in Raleigh, N.C., will be closed Thursday and Friday.
UNC also made the announcement Tuesday that the UCF-UNC game will not be played on Saturday Sept. 15 as originally scheduled.
“Hosting a major college football game is a massive undertaking that on a good day involves fans and thousands of state, local and campus personnel, including public safety officials, traveling from all over the area. The current forecast for both the impact and aftermath of the hurricane would require those officials to divert critical resources from what could be much more significant duties. We can’t know for certain the amount of damage the storm will inflict, but the sensible decision at this time is to not play the game,” Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham said in a statement on the UNC website.
“We are disappointed for both teams and their fans,” Cunningham continued. “We wish UCF good luck the rest of the season and appreciate (athletics director) Danny White’s and (executive associate AD) David Hansen’s consultation and cooperation in making this decision. We look forward to our game at Kenan Stadium against Pitt on Sept. 22.”
UNC’s announcement states all ticket holders for the game will automatically be refunded, though it also says that the two schools will attempt to reschedule the game.
A Tuesday update from the National Hurricane Center says that tropical-storm-force winds could arrive in the South Carolina-North Carolina-Virginia region as early as late Wednesday evening.
The earliest reasonable time that tropical-storm-force winds could arrive in the United States from #Florence is late Wednesday, and the most likely time is Thursday morning. Wednesday should be the last full day to prepare, so plan accordingly. https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/eD2onAT1sd
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 11, 2018
Saturday Down South will continue to monitor this developing story.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
