FSU-Wake Forest still on as scheduled, but school officials considering 'alternate plans'
If it goes off as scheduled, it will be the first game between ranked opponents inside Doak Campbell Stadium in over four years, and the first one this late in a season since 2016.
But that “if” will get a lot of scrutiny between now and the planned 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday between No. 22 Florida State and No. 21 Wake Forest.
Hurricane Ian, which was approaching Cuba on Monday and is expected to intensify as it threatens the state of Florida this week, has FSU officials in constant communication with their counterparts at Wake Forest, the Atlantic Coast Conference and government agencies.
While no final decisions had been made as of early Monday afternoon — and the plan is to play the game as scheduled — FSU head coach Mike Norvell said they are working to have “alternate plans ready.”
“It’s something we talked to the team about last night,” Norvell said. “Nobody knows exactly what is going to occur as the week goes on, but we are prepping for this game. And we will have plans in place if anything does occur that needs to alter that.”
Most forecasting models have the hurricane landing somewhere east and south of Tallahassee, and likely well before Saturday. But if other parts of the state are dealing with emergency efforts, that could be a factor even if the Tallahassee area is spared.
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Norvell said he couldn’t get into specifics about contingency plans, but he added that the program’s thoughts are, “with everybody within the state.”
At 1:30 p.m. on Monday, FSU athletics director Michael Alford issued a statement saying the game is still scheduled to be played at its original time.
“Nothing has changed right now in terms of the 3:30 p.m. kickoff for our football game with Wake Forest on Saturday,” Alford said. “We are closely monitoring the projections regarding the hurricane and will be in constant contact with both local and state officials as well as the administration at Wake Forest and the Atlantic Coast Conference. As always, the safety of the student-athletes, game staff and fans will be our top priority.”
FSU is 4-0, 2-0 in the ACC and ranked No. 22 in the country. Wake Forest is 3-1, 0-1 and ranked No. 21.
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