It looks like the whole world will descend on Tuscaloosa this weekend, including Tropical Storm Isaias. The storm — which is expected to bring heavy rain and possible flooding — could impact this weekend’s marquee showdown between No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama.
Despite speculation that the storm could move the game to another day or location, the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs plan to play at Bryant-Denny Stadium this Saturday, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports. It’s possible the kickoff time could be moved, but the current plan is to play as scheduled.
Earlier this week, an SEC spokesperson told CBS Sports that the conference was “keeping an eye on the forecast and remaining in communication with schools whose games may be affected by the weather.”
The storm is expected to bring locally heavy rain, potential flooding and strong winds across the Southeast this weekend, although the exact track and timing are unknown. With that in mind, Alabama released a statement Tuesday saying there are currently “no plans to make any changes to the competition.”
As it stands, the forecast calls for lots of rain and wind in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, but conditions could be playable.
Current predictions for Alabama vs. Georgia
- Temperature: 69 degrees
- Precipitation risk : 90 percent chance of rain
- Amount of precipitation: 1.19 in
- Wind: 20 mph with gusts reaching 38 mph
- Visibility: 5 miles
Forecast via Accuweather
What Kalen DeBoer and Kirby Smart say
During their SEC teleconference, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and Georgia coach Kirby Smart both discussed the possibility of Tropical Storm Isaias affecting the game.
Smart said it was difficult to simulate tropical storm conditions in practice. Neither Georgia nor Alabama can import a special effects department from Hollywood to create a monsoon on the practice field, but players can learn from how teams have handled messy conditions in the past.
“It’s uncertainty. (It’s) out of my control,” Smart said, according to 247Sports. “As coaches, we plan to deal with several situations – the weather conditions – when they are there. We had the same preparation last week with the threat of these things. It doesn’t change much in training. You have to train well over well. You have to train for the long term of the season, not just for a week.
“You can’t really practice the conditions. You can’t simulate them, so you’re much better off educating, learning from the past of other people who have played in those conditions, and preparing your team to play and not succeed.”
DeBoer echoes Smart’s sentiment, saying there’s not much to do other than prepare as usual. The Crimson Tide will implement wet ball drills for the second straight week after preparing for rainy conditions ahead of last weekend’s win over Mississippi State.
“It depends on the weather level, it would affect what happens,” DeBoer said, according to 247Sports. “It’s just…it’s not my area of expertise. I’m just preparing our football team. It hasn’t affected us much, other than we’re doing wet ball drills and involving the wet ball in some of our team reps, just like we did sometimes last week, preparing for the rain a week ago. I’m not really involved in much.”
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