Hurricane Irma forces UF, FSU, USF to cancel games

Sep 8, 2017 - 3:36 AM The threat of Hurricane Irma led the University of Florida, Florida State University and University of South Florida to postpone their scheduled college football games Saturday.

USF was scheduled to visit Connecticut, Florida was slated for a visit from Northern Colorado and Florida State was to play host to Louisiana-Monroe.

The major hurricane stormed through the Atlantic Ocean with winds measured over 180 mph in the Caribbean. While the storm could weaken before making landfall in the United States this weekend, some models project Hurricane Irma as a Category 4 or Category 5 storm when it blows over Florida.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered all public schools and universities to close from Friday to Monday.

Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin analyzed the situation and concluded that playing the game in Gainesville was not in best interests of anybody.

"We have been in constant communication this week with university and government officials," Stricklin said in a statement. "As the Hurricane's track has approached the state of Florida, it's become obvious that playing a football game is not the right thing to do.

"The focus of our state and region needs to be on evacuations and relief efforts. There is a tremendous amount of stress currently on the roads of this state, and the availability of gas, water and other supplies are at critical levels. Playing a college football game Saturday would only add to that stress.

"Gainesville is also close to some of Florida's heaviest traffic points this week, specifically Interstate 75, which is a key statewide evacuation route."

The game won't be made up later as the teams don't have a mutual open week.

However, USF could visit UConn later this season, but the schedule is not yet clear.

"Obviously we are disappointed for our team and our fans, at the cancellation of a home game," said UConn athletic director David Benedict. "Our thoughts are with USF and all the areas in the path of this storm."

Earlier this week, Florida moved the contest from a night kickoff to a noon start in hopes of getting the contest in before weather conditions became treacherous.

Florida State was originally scheduled to play Louisiana-Monroe in a night game, but it was moved to noon ET on Saturday before the cancellation. There was no immediate word whether the game will be rescheduled.

Also, Miami canceled its road game at Arkansas State due to the impending storm.