Byrum Brown #17 of the Auburn Tigers looks to pass during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium Saturday in Starkville, Mississippi. The game was delayed due to the FAA ground stop Friday.
Justin Ford/Getty Images
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Justin Ford/Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration’s ground shutdown Friday led not only to travel problems, but also to schedule changes and delays in college sports.
Many college football teams were at airports Friday en route to upcoming games when the nationwide ground shutdown was issued and thousands of flights were canceled. The FAA said Saturday that airports were resuming normal operations, but delays and cancellations would continue throughout the day.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged the impact of the ground stop on college football. Several Saturday games were delayed for several hours.
“If you look at the cost of what happened yesterday, we’re talking about if you like football. I know we’ve had some disruptions in the college football schedule. Some games are being moved,” Duffy said during a news conference Saturday. “It’s not the most important thing, but we want to move teams around the country so we can make the playoffs.”
Utah, ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, will kick off against Arizona in Tucson at 8:30 p.m. local time, a three-hour delay. The Auburn vs. Mississippi State game was pushed back more than four hours to start at 3:15 p.m. local time in Mississippi due to the ground stoppage. The Florida Atlantic Owls were also unable to travel to Oklahoma on Friday before their game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Saturday’s match, which was scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. local time, has been moved to 6:15 p.m. local time.
While other college teams were able to arrive at their destination and proceed with Saturday’s games, the University of Mississippi was not.
No. 19-ranked Ole Miss was unable to travel to Oklahoma as planned Friday for its game against the University of Oklahoma Sooners. The game between the two teams, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, will now take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, according to the Southeastern Conference. The game will compete with several NFL games that will be televised at the same time. NFL teams were not affected by the shutdown.
To help ease fan frustration, the Sooners announced “fan appreciation” promotions Saturday for the rescheduled game. Oklahoma students can attend the game for free with their student ID and receive discounted prices on concession items such as $2 for popcorn or a 16-ounce beer.
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