College football in the South waits out Hurricane Gustav.
September 1, 2008
LSU and Troy share a common bye week should their game this week in Baton Rouge be cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav or its after effects.
Troy coach Larry Blakeney said Monday that his program was in a “holding pattern” on deciding whether to play the game scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. Gustav hit the Gulf Coast on Monday putting several college football games in peril. It’s hard, though, to think about football considering the potential damage that could be caused.
“We’re hopeful that everybody is OK down there,” Blakeney said during the Sun Belt Conference teleconference on Monday. “I’d like to play the game, I’m sure they would too. We’ll see what the storm holds for that area.”
LSU moved Saturday’s season opener to 10 a.m. CT to ease traffic for the massive evacuation ahead of Gustav. Coach Les Miles released his team to be with their families on Monday. There are no plans, he said, for the team to evacuate.
Ironically, Troy, located in Alabama, will be traveling to Baton Rouge. Tulane already has relocated to Alabama after the campus was closed in anticipation of the storm. The Green Wave play at Alabama on Saturday.
Lafayette, La. was close to the eye of the storm on Monday. The Louisiana-Lafayette campus is closed through Wednesday. The Ragin’ Cajuns don’t play this week.
“I’m not really thinking about (football) right now,” said coach Rickey Bustle. “We’re right in line with it. We’re probably about 45 minutes away from the eye. It’s really windy and kind of crazy.
“After the game the other night (a loss to Southern Miss) a number of our kids went home with their families … They’re scattered everywhere.”
Sun Belt Conference employees have been released for their own personal evacuation plan for the moment. Commissioner Wright Waters has relocated from the conference headquarters in New Orleans to Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Hookscenter.com wire report (Dodd).
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