A clash between two of college football’s top programs could end up making a splash — quite literally.
Saturday’s matchup between No. 6 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., is expected to be in the path of tropical storm Isaias, which continues to make its way north toward the Gulf Coast.
As of now, the Alabama athletic department is saying this in a statement: “… there are no plans to alter the contest.”
According to The Weather Channel, there is a 96% chance of rain Saturday in the Tuscaloosa area with winds as high as 23 mph from the east-southeast.
“You can’t really practice conditions, you can’t simulate them,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “So, you’re much better off to educate, learn from the past of other people that have played in them and prepare your team to play and not make it about that.”
Both teams have perfect 5-0 records this season, while each are 3-0 in SEC play. But Saturday’s weather forecast throws an entirely different challenge into the mix for both teams.
“I’m just getting our football team ready,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “It hasn’t affected us much other than we’re doing the wet ball drills and getting wet ball involved with some of our team reps, just like we did last week at times, preparing for the rain a week ago.”
DeBoer said he has not heard of a plan to alter the schedule of Saturday’s game by either moving it to Friday or possibly Monday, or even if there is any benefit to adjusting the scheduled 6:30 p.m. local kickoff time. Smart called the situation, “uncertainty beyond my control.”
Currently projected to become a hurricane over the next 24 hours, the storm is expected to revert back to a tropical storm by the time it reaches Tuscaloosa in the central part of the state.
The storm is expected to make landfall as a hurricane somewhere between Louisiana and the Florida panhandle late Friday or early Saturday.
“We will continue to observe conditions throughout the week and remain in communication with the Southeastern Conference office, as needed,” the Alabama athletic department said in a statement.