Key ACC games still on as Hurricane Ian scrambles college football schedule

By Brian Murphy, WRAL sports reporter

Hurricane Ian is already forcing changes to this weekend’s college football schedule across the Southeast.

But, so far, no moves have been made to two big ACC games that could be impacted by the storm. No. 10 NC State is scheduled to play at No. 5 Clemson on Saturday night. No. 22 Wake Forest visits No. 23 Florida State on Saturday afternoon.

Officials at NC State and Wake Forest said the schools are monitoring the situation, but have not yet altered their travel plans. NC State is thinking through alternate travel plays if necessary.

“You certainly hope the ACC office makes the right decision,” Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said Tuesday. “If they don’t, we will. We’re not going to travel down there and put anybody at risk.

“… If we feel there’s any danger to our players going down there, we’re not going to go.”

Clawson said the home team and the league office have the first decisions, then the visitor gets input. In 2017, Florida State’s game with Louisiana-Monroe was canceled due to Hurricane Irma. The game was later rescheduled for December as Florida State chased bowl eligibility.

“At any point, Florida State can say, ‘No. We’re not playing.’ Or the ACC can say it and then our say doesn’t matter,” Clawson said. “If they say they feel they can host the game and it’s safe and the ACC feels that way, then it’s in our hands whether we feel traveling is safe.”

He said the considerations go beyond traveling to the site. Wake Forest plans to charter into Tallahassee for the game.

“It’s not just the flight,” Clawson said. “It’s the hotel. Does it have electricity? Are they going to be able to feed us? You can’t just go down there and not have food. If all those things are checked and we feel it’s safe and the ACC determines that it’s safe and we feel that it’s safe, then there will be a game.”

Clawson said the week reminded him of the 2020 COVID season when many games were up in the air during the week. He said he did not know of a deadline to make the decision.

“We want to play,” he said. “We absolutely want to play, if it’s safe and appropriate.”

Florida State athletics director Michael Alford said in a statement that the school is “confident that we will be able to safely host Saturday’s football game against Wake Forest at its scheduled time.” He said there was a briefing with authorities, university administration, transportation officials, security, law enforcement and emergency responders Tuesday.

Other games have already been moved:

– South Carolina moved its home game against South Carolina State to Thursday night due to the hurricane.

– East Carolina’s game against South Florida has been moved from Tampa to Boca Raton.

– Florida’s home game against Eastern Washington, scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Sunday at noon.

– Fayetteville State moved its game against Chowan University to Thursday.

– SMU’s game at UCF was moved to Sunday at 1 p.m.

ESPN’s College GameDay is scheduled to broadcast from Clemson in the morning, a huge national spotlight for both the Tigers (4-0) and Wolfpack (4-0).

Ian is forecast to make landfall near Tampa by Thursday as a Category 3 storm. It could bring heavy rain throughout the Southeast, including into the Carolinas this weekend.

Games during Hurricane Matthew

NC State and UNC played home games on Oct. 8, 2016 with the remnants of Hurricane Matthew bringing heavy rain to the Triangle.

Before the game, NC State coach Dave Doeren said he discussed alternative game plans in case the weather made a traditional plan impossible.

“Maybe we won’t even be able to throw a pass,” Doeren said. “How are we going to win? So we talked about things like that.”

The Wolfpack did pass, but only 14 times for 41 yards in the win. Notre Dame attempted 26 passes, but managed just nine completions and 54 yards through the air in NC State’s 10-3 victory. A blocked punt keyed the Wolfpack’s win.

In Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech whipped UNC in another game without much passing. UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky passed for 58 yards on 33 attempts. Virginia Tech had 75 passing yards in bad weather conditions.

“In hindsight, I don’t think we should have played that game,” UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham told WRAL on Monday.

The Tar Heels are scheduled play Virginia Tech on Saturday with Ian likely to bring rain.

Cunningham said the process for moving or canceling a game begins with conversations with the opponent, whose travel could be impacted, and game officials. Then, UNC considers whether it can safety host the game. The conference also weighs in.

Cunningham said he would consider playing the game with no fans, if necessary. If the game must be rescheduled, Cunningham said UNC could move the game to Sunday.

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