Add another game from the college football schedule being scratched from this week’s lineup thanks to the incoming Hurricane Florence. South Carolina has announced the cancellation of their home game this weekend against Marshall.
South Carolina Home Football Game vs. Marshall Canceled https://t.co/AdvDump1CW
— Gamecock Athletics (@GamecocksOnline) September 12, 2018
South Carolina was originally scheduled to host Marshall on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. At this point in time, no makeup date has been announced, but South Carolina’s press release says the Gamecocks are looking for an opportunity to play a 12th game later this season.
“Whether or not the game could have been played, we made the decision we think is best for the state and those who are evacuating the coast,” said South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “There is no question this is the right thing to do and the decision was supported by President Pastides, Coach Muschamp, our Board members and myself.”
The latest projected path of Hurricane Florence suggests the storm will be arriving on the coast of South Carolina, so it makes perfect sense why South Carolina would choose to play it safe for their program and fans as well as Marshall’s program and traveling base expected to make the trip to Columbia. The cancellation of the game will also allow for more help to anyone who had to evacuate their homes as hotels will be opened up as a result.
South Carolina and Marshall do not have overlapping bye weeks this season so any makeup game between the two would have to be tacked on at the end of the season during championship weekend. Of course, there is a chance at least one of the schools could be playing in their conference championship game that weekend, so scheduling that weekend is not an ideal alternative. South Carolina has also already scheduled an FCS school for the regular season (Chattanooga on Nov. 17), so scheduling a second FCS opponent may not be in the cards either.
Marshall has a bye week on October 27. Other schools with vacancies on the schedule that could need a 12th game include Nebraska, UCF, and East Carolina.
Iowa State is off the books too after scheduling a home game with Incarnate Word for December 1 as a makeup game.