The University of Florida has canceled its home game against Northern Colorado this Saturday due to the incoming Hurricane Irma.
The Category 5 storm is forecast to strike Florida this weekend. The university initially made the decision to move up Saturday’s kickoff from 7:30 p.m. to noon while trying to change Northern Colorado’s travel plans from a commercial flight to a charter. This afternoon, however, they announced that the teams would not play this weekend and the game would therefore need to be canceled altogether, as Florida and Northern Colorado don’t share an open date to reschedule.
“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,” athletics director Scott Stricklin said in a statement. “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.”
The university also announced today that campus would be fully closed on Sunday and Monday.