GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 22 Florida has canceled its home opener against Northern Colorado because of impending Hurricane Irma.
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin says it has “become obvious that playing a football game is not the right thing to do.”
The game will not be made up.
“The safety and well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans have been of the utmost concern during our ongoing communications with the University of Florida officials,” Northern Colorado athletic director Darren Dunn said in a news release. “Our thoughts and well wishes are with the university and whole state of Florida during what is expected to be a difficult next few days.”
Officials initially moved the start time from 7:30 p.m. Saturday to noon, but Stricklin says it became clear that getting to and from the game would create more problems for a state preparing for a Category 5 hurricane.
Stricklin says “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 Denver Post contributed to this story.
