COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hurricane Ian has upended plans for South Carolina Gamecocks and SC State Bulldog's game this week.
The University of South Carolina Athletics Office announced Tuesday the game against the Bulldogs will now be played Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium. Previously, the game was set for Saturday at noon.
Due to the potential impact of the hurricane on Columbia and the surrounding area, it is in the best interest of safety to play the game on Thursday rather than Saturday afternoon,” South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner said. “I appreciate the cooperation of South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough, the South Carolina State administration and the Southeastern Conference officials who worked closely to make the appropriate operational adjustments in order to accommodate this change in the schedule.
Tanner said he's been working with law enforcement, state officials, the SEC, and the National Weather Service, and says they believe they can host the game on Thursday. Television coverage will be on the SEC Network.
All tickets issued for Saturday will be honored on Thursday night. Fans with an account with the USC ticket office are encouraged to use their account manager on GamecocksOnline.com to resell any unused tickets. The reunion honoring the 2010-13 football teams from has been postponed.
The last time a USC game was moved due to weather was in 2016, when the game against Georgia was shifted to Sunday because of Hurricane Matthew. A year earlier, the game against LSU was moved to Louisiana due to the massive flooding in the Midlands.
College football isn't the only one making an adjustment. Most high schools in South Carolina are shifting games to Thursday due to the chance of heavy rain on Friday.
Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall on the Florida coast Wednesday. After that, Ian's track is unclear. Some hurricane models have Ian staying overland and tracking over Georgia and into the Carolinas on Thursday and Friday. Others have the storm crossing Florida and heading back into the Atlantic, skirting the South Carolina coast this weekend.
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