Hurricane Ian impacts Knights-Mustangs' CFB game schedule

October 1, 2022

The college football game between the UCF Knights and the SMU Mustangs has been rescheduled due to Hurricane Ian’s impact.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but Hurricane Ian forced the American Athletic Conference (AAC) to move it to Sunday. Then, it changed to next Wednesday, October 5, citing the same reasons.

This Week 5 game will begin at 7 p.m. ET, as both teams will play their final game in Week 6. The Mustangs and Knights will both be playing in their first AAC conference game.

Game delay announcement

On Friday, the AAC announced the game's second postponement. It was due to the fact that the cyclone made landfall on Florida's west coast and impacted the state.

The hurricane made landfall in the southeastern U.S. The states are dealing with the aftermath of Ian—this year's first major tropical storm.

According to reports, the storm has caused significant damage in parts of Florida and is expected to continue moving through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina by the weekend.

The Knights-Mustangs game was not the only college football game that forced a reschedule, as per NBC Sports. The game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the South Carolina State Bulldogs has also been rescheduled for next Thursday night, October 8.

The Week 5 game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, on the other hand, is still scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Tallahassee, Florida.

“Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with all those impacted by Hurricane Ian,” Florida State said in a statement.

“We have conducted another operational briefing today and have been in regular communication with the Atlantic Coast Conference and Wake Forest’s administration.

The Seminoles reportedly worked with the ACC and the Demon Deacons to finalize their Saturday schedule.

“As of now, there is no change in plans to host Saturday’s football game with the existing 3:30 p.m. kickoff time,” the Seminoles’ representative said.

Malzahn’s statement ahead of the matchup

Gus Malzahn, the Knights' head coach, expressed his thoughts on game rescheduling earlier this week. According to the Orlando Sentinel, he discussed the first delay and mentioned that the Knights would handle the situation normally.

“They’ve been working on all of the ‘what ifs?’” Malzahn said. “From my standpoint, I addressed our team, ‘We’re moving forward like a normal week. Obviously, we’ll keep you updated. If things change on a daily basis, we’ll be able to adjust.’”

Currently, the Knights are on a 3-1 win-loss record, while the Mustangs have a 2-2 overall record.

The Knights won their first game of the season with a convincing 56-10 score against the Bulldogs, followed by their 14-20 loss in Week 2 against the Louisville Cardinals. They were able to get back on track with a 14-40 win over the FL Atlantic Owls in Week 3 and another one over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last week.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs are on a two-game losing streak following their 34-27 loss to the Maryland Terrapins in Week 3. Last week, they were defeated 34-42 by the TCU Horned Frogs.

Jake
Jake Williams
Jake Williams is a sports gambling expert. He's been writing in the sports betting and DFS industry for over a decade. He specializes in MLB and NBA, along with College Basketball and College Football.