Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida late Thursday and is making its impact on the college football Week 5 schedule.
The Florida Gators have their bye week this week, but the Miami Hurricanes are scheduled to host Virginia Tech on Friday evening. Florida State travels to Dallas to take on SMU in the Mustangs’ home opener; though the impacts of the hurricane itself don’t seem to be impacting the Dallas area, FSU’s travel plans could be affected. UCF will host Deion Sanders and Colorado in Orlando, where FOX’s ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ will be live from this weekend.
Alabama-Georgia in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, could also be another game impacted by the potential storm with rains and winds with the size of the storm.
Hurricane Helene impacts on college football live updates
This section will be updated. All times Eastern.
Friday, Sept. 27
12:20 p.m.: Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, App State announced that its home game on Saturday against Liberty was canceled. The game between the Mountaineers and the Flames will not be rescheduled.
Thursday, Sept. 26
11:40 a.m.: FSU football is heading out a day earlier than normal for its road game at SMU on Saturday, as a precaution ahead of the storm. The Seminoles are flying to Dallas out of Jacksonville, as noted by FSU’s head equipment manager Jason Baisden. The Weather Channel has noted that Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall later tonight.
Wednesday, Sept. 25
6:08 p.m.: FSU’s volleyball match vs. Miami on Wednesday was moved up one hour from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. as a precaution ahead of the storm. The latest advisory from the National Weather Service now projects Hurricane Helene to hit Florida, specifically the Tallahassee area, as a Category 4 hurricane.
South Florida also announced schedule changes for the week’s athletics, including postponing Friday’s volleyball match to Saturday and canceling of the FSU Pre-Regional Meet in Tallahassee. USF football is still scheduled to play Tulane at noon on Saturday in New Orleans.
1:50 p.m.: Florida State’s marching band, the Marching Chiefs, announced it was canceling sending its two-bus for the pep band to Dallas for the SMU-FSU game on Saturday.
11:34 a.m.: Here’s an update look at Helene from The Weather Channel, who has declared Helene as a Category 1 hurricane:
11:30 a.m.: The National Hurricane Center has declared Helene a hurricane, as it continues to grow and intensify on its way towards Florida.
9:02 a.m.: According to the a 5 a.m. ET advisory message from the National Hurricane Center, Helene’s growth is continuing to intensify as it moves its way towards Florida. The storm is expected to bring ‘tropical storm conditions’ to parts of the Florida Big Bend coast starting tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 26.
Tuesday, Sept. 25
7:18 p.m.: FSU announced on Tuesday evening that Thursday’s soccer game vs. Clemson was postponed and is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.
4:11 p.m.: According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida State athletics said it is monitoring Tropical Storm Helene for potential changes to its football and soccer schedules. FSU football coach Mike Norvell did not specify if the storm will impact the Seminoles’ usual Friday afternoon departure for road games but said plans are in place for several scenarios.
FSU soccer coach Brian Pensky said that as of Tuesday afternoon, there are no changes to FSU women’s Thursday game against Clemson. The Seminoles are the defending national champions.
Read more about FSU athletics here in the Tallahassee Democrat.
3:44 p.m.: Though Orlando is on the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida, with the storm’s size, the Orlando area could also see rain and wind from Hurricane Helene if it makes its projected landfall just south of Tallahassee, as currently projected. Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has already altered the plans for his team’s travel ahead of the Buffalo’s game against UCF.
‘We don’t want to take that chance and the storm hits Thursday, now we can’t get there until Friday evening; now, it’s a rush,” Sanders said of the team departing on Wednesday instead of Thursday. “So, we’re trying to get ahead of the curve and be smart with it.’
12:59 p.m.: James Spann, a television meteorologist in Birmingham, tweeted from his personal X account (formerly Twitter) about the impacts of the Alabama-Georgia top-five matchup from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
12:16 p.m.: The football game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and Alabama A&M Bulldogs has been postponed to Nov. 29. Saturday’s game was supposed to be the Rattlers’ SWAC home opener, but the school announced the decision to postpone it due to Hurricane Helene, which could be a major Category 3 hurricane when it approaches Florida.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
