Florida State AD Michael Alford 'confident' game against Wake Forest can be played Saturday despite Hurricane Ian

With Hurricane Ian bearing down on the Gulf Coast of Florida and expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, several college football games around the state have been relocated or rescheduled. Florida State is slated to host Wake Forest at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon and Seminoles athletic director Michael Alford is confident the game will be played then.

He expressed as much in a statement released on Tuesday and shared by Warchant.com. He did add that they will continue to monitor the situation and reassess as necessary.

“Following out most recent briefing today with authorities, University administration, transportation officials, security, law enforcement and emergency responders, we remain confident that we will be able to safely host Saturday’s football game against Wake Forest at its scheduled kickoff time. We will continue to monitor the hurricane and all weather advisories and take action if needed to ensure the safety of all involved,” Alford said in the statement, in part.

FSU A.D. Michael Alford remains confident Wake Forest game will be played as scheduled. pic.twitter.com/Tv3Zo90Bna

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) September 27, 2022

Beyond the mid-afternoon kickoff in Tallahassee, there are a number of other games around the state and further up the eastern seaboard that have been or could be affected by the storm.

South Carolina has moved a game against South Carolina State to Thursday, Florida and Eastern Washington are now slated to play on Sunday at noon and late on Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that the UCF–SMU game scheduled for Saturday in Orlando will now be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

🚨Sunday Knights Football🚨

Due to Hurricane Ian, this week’s matchup with SMU has officially been moved to Sunday at 1:00PM

📺 = TBD on an ESPN network pic.twitter.com/vArhj2WfLq

— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) September 27, 2022

While a network for the game is TBD — it will air on some ESPN property — the move to Sunday gives even more time for better conditions and lowers the chance of having to do some last-minute rescheduling.

For FSU, slightly to the northwest and potentially out of the path of the worst from Hurricane Ian, the hope for a usual Saturday kickoff remains.

But beyond football, the real hope is that Hurricane Ian comes to pass a dud.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the forecasted impact area in South Florida and others affected by the storm,” Alford said to conclude his statement.