Hurricane Helene forces FSU football to change travel plans ahead of SMU game

Posted by author September 26, 2024 Football

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With Hurricane Helene expected to make landfall later Thursday night along the Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State football has changed its travel plans for Saturday’s road game at SMU in Dallas.

The Seminoles, who had been monitoring the storm all week, left Tallahassee Thursday morning to fly out of Jacksonville, as noted by FSU’s head equipment manager Jason Baisden on X (formerly Twitter). The Tallahassee Democrat confirmed that FSU will fly out this afternoon from Jacksonville.

During a normal week, FSU normally travels to its road game the day before.

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The National Weather Service reported Wednesday that it projects Hurricane Helene to hit Florida’s Big Ten, including Tallahassee, as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday. In a post on X Thursday morning, The Weather Channel said that Hurricane Helene is sustaining winds of 105 mph as it continues to move its way toward land.

As already noted by The Tallahassee Democrat, FSU’s pep band canceled its bus trip to Dallas for the game on Saturday due to the storm.

“Our thoughts with everybody that’s going to be affected,” FSU football coach Mike Norvell said earlier this week. “We are praying everything goes as smoothly and as easily as possible for all that will be affected.

“The number one thing is the health and the well-being of this team and the staff and everyone that’s involved. We have our plans if we need to adapt and adjust.”

FSU is coming off a 14-9 win over Cal last Saturday in Week 4, one in which DJ Uiagalelei completed 16 of 27 passes for 177 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Seminoles are slated for an 8 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday against the Mustangs at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.