Hurricane Ian Wednesday morning he made landfall on the west coast of Florida. It forced changes to the college football schedule this weekend across the Southeast.
No moves were made for ACC Games that could be affected by the Storm. No. 10 North Carolina State is set to play at No. 5 Clemson on Saturday night, No. 22 Wake Forest visits No. 23 Florida State on Saturday afternoon, and North Carolina hosts Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon. In the arrangement, Ian Cooper says “may lead to severe damage, including widespread power outages” in the state. The governor’s office said North Carolina residents are expecting heavy rain, flooding and possible tornadoes on Friday and Saturday.
No. 10 NC State at No. 10 Clemson (Saturday, 8 p.m.)
The Wolfpack plans to rent to Greenville, South Carolina a few hours before Friday, but otherwise stays on track to play one of the biggest games in the school’s history. NC State will fly to Clemson on Saturday and plan to fly from Greenville after the game.
Head coach Dave Doeren was part of Wolfpack’s memorable 10-3 home win over Notre Dame in 2016 during torrential rain from the remnants of Hurricane Matthew.
“I hope we don’t have to play in something like the Notre Dame game,” Doreen said earlier this week. “That was crazy.”
ESPN’s College GameDay is scheduled to air from Clemson in the morning, which is a national highlight for both teams and the ACC.
A Clemson spokesperson told WRAL Wednesday afternoon that there were no changes to the schedule.
Virginia Tech in UNC (SatorToday, 3:30 p.m.)
Coach Mac Browne opened his press conference Wednesday by expressing his support for Florida residents, noting that a number of staff and players hail from the state or have family in the state.
“It’s going to be some light rain and it’s going to be windy, but it looks like everything is in place so we can go ahead and play the game,” Brown said.
UNC and Virginia Tech played during the remnants of Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Virginia Tech beat Tar Heels 34-7 in wet conditions. “In hindsight, I don’t think we should have played this game,” North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham told WRAL this week.
But the sports department plans to play on Saturday.
“Saturday’s football match between North Carolina and Virginia Tech is still scheduled to be played at Kenan Stadium, as planned,” the sports department said in a statement. “Caroline Athletics is working with the university and local and state officials to closely monitor Hurricane Ian and its potential impact on Chapel Hill and surrounding areas.”
Games moved or rescheduled
The East Carolina v South Florida game was moved from Tampa to Boca Raton.
Fayetteville State moved its game against Tshwane University to Thursday.
The North Carolina Central game at Campbell was moved to early Saturday afternoon. The match was originally scheduled to start at 6 pm.
– South Carolina moved its home game against South Carolina to Thursday night due to the hurricane.
Florida’s home game against Eastern Washington, scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Sunday noon.
– The SMU match at UCF has been moved to Sunday at 1 p.m.
Wake Forest in Florida (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.)
Florida State Athletics Director Michael Alford said in a statement Tuesday that the school is “confident that we will be able to safely host Saturday’s football game against Wake Forest on schedule.” He said there was a briefing with authorities, university management, transportation, security, law enforcement and emergency response officials on Tuesday.
Much of Florida appears to be out of the storm’s path, but conditions in other parts of the state are much worse.
“You certainly hope the ACC makes the right decision,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said on Tuesday. “If they don’t, we will. We will not travel there and put anyone at risk.
“…If we feel there is any danger for our players to go down there, we will not go.”
The home team and the league office make the first decisions, then the visitor gets input, Clauson said. In 2017, Florida State’s game with Louisiana Monroe was canceled due to Hurricane Irma. The game was later rescheduled in December as Florida chased pot eligibility.
“At any time, Florida can say, ‘No, we’re not playing.’ Or the ACC can say that and then it doesn’t matter what we say.” “If they say they feel they can host the match and it’s safe and the ACC feels that way, then it’s in our hands whether we feel the travel is safe.”
He said the considerations go beyond travel to the site. Wake Forest plans to lease to Tallahassee for the game.
“It’s not just the journey,” Clauson said. “It’s the hotel. Does it have electricity? Will they be able to feed us? You can’t just go down there and you don’t have food. If all this stuff is checked and we feel it’s safe, and the ACC decides it’s safe and we feel it’s safe, then there will be a match.”
Clawson said the week reminded him of the COVID 2020 season when several matches were in the air during the week. He said he did not know a deadline for a decision.
“We want to play,” he said. “We definitely want to play, if it’s safe and appropriate.”
Triangle teams played during Hurricane Matthew
NC State and UNC played home games on October 8, 2016 with the remnants of Hurricane Matthew bringing torrential rain to the Triangle.
Before the match, Doreen said he discussed alternative game plans in case the weather made a traditional plan impossible.
“We probably won’t even be able to throw a pass,” Doreen said. “How are we going to win? So we talked about things like that.”
He passed and rolled you, but only 14 times for 41 yards in a win. Notre Dame attempted 26 passes, but managed only nine completions and 54 yards in the air. Return Punt Forbidden to Land Wolfpack Win Key.
At Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech whipped UNC into another game without much passing. UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky passed for 58 yards in 33 attempts. Virginia Tech had 75 passing yards in bad weather.
“In hindsight, I don’t think we should have played that game,” UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham told WRAL on Monday.
Cunningham said the process of moving or canceling a game begins with conversations with the opponent, whose travel may be affected, and game officials. Next, UNC considers whether it can safely host the game. The conference also weighs.
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