Tropical Storm Isaias is on a collision course with the U.S. Gulf Coast, threatening to hit as a hurricane this weekend, just hours before the massive No. 2 Georgia at No. 6 Alabama game. And get this: President Donald Trump is still planning to be there.
Hurricane Watch Is On, And It’s No Game
Seriously, folks, this is wild. Forecasters are saying Isaias could beef up into a full-blown hurricane by Thursday, potentially making landfall late Friday or early Saturday. We’re talking somewhere along the Alabama-Mississippi-Florida coastlines, before it heads north. What does that mean for the gridiron? We could be looking at canceled games, kickoff times getting shuffled, or even entire games getting moved to different spots. Alabama meteorologist James Spann even told AL.com that pushing the game to Sunday night would be the smartest move. This storm is no joke, threatening flash floods, dangerous winds, heavy rain, and even tornados. Some events in Alabama are already off the books because of this.
Trump’s Travel Plans and the Uncertainty on the Sidelines
President Trump, who was just at another Southeastern Conference game on September 26 for Texas’ win over Tennessee, was asked about the storm on Wednesday. His take? “I love Alabama. I’ve got to go to the game.” He did add that he didn’t want to “take the focus” away from first responders and police, saying “We’ll have to see” about his travel plans. Meanwhile, the Georgia and Alabama camps are playing it cool. The game’s slated for 7:30 p.m. Eastern in Tuscaloosa, which is a good 200 miles inland from the coast. Alabama put out a statement saying “at this time there are no plans to alter the contest,” but they, along with the SEC, are keeping a close eye on everything. And let’s be real, the SEC calls the shots on this one.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart summed it up perfectly: “It’s uncertainty beyond my control.” He’s trying to keep his team focused on game planning, not the weather. Smart mentioned they went through this last week with a severe weather threat around their game against Vanderbilt, which turned out to be a total non-event in their 38-14 win. He said you can’t really practice conditions, so it’s all about educating the team and learning from past experiences. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer echoed that, saying he’s “not really involved in too much, just updated on kind of where things stand.” He hasn’t heard of any adjustments needed recently.
This isn’t unprecedented, either. Back in 1988, Alabama had to postpone a game against Texas A&M to December because of Hurricane Gilbert. And in 2016, Georgia’s game at South Carolina got pushed to Sunday due to Hurricane Matthew, with the LSU-Florida game that same Saturday getting moved all the way to November. So yeah, this isn’t just some regular rain delay. We’ll have to keep an eye on this one, because right now, this huge matchup’s fate is hanging by a thread.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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