South Carolina moving SC State game to Thursday due to hurricane

Hurricane Ian is heading toward the United States and schools across the South are making preparations, including one of Kentucky’s future opponents. According to The State, South Carolina is moving its home game vs. SC State from Saturday to Thursday night to avoid the storm. Ian is expected to make landfall in the Tampa, Florida area on Thursday and move north into Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday.

Here is the latest projected path from The Weather Channel:

Why do we care about South Carolina’s schedule? The Gamecocks come to Lexington next Saturday, October 8, for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with the Cats. Now, they’ll have more time to prepare for the game, their third vs. a ranked opponent this season. South Carolina is 2-2, with wins over Georgia State and Charlotte and losses to then-No. 16 Arkansas (44-30) and then-No. 1 Georgia (48-7).

Kentucky has won seven of eight games over South Carolina. Mark Stoops has never lost to South Carolina at home. The Gamecocks’ last win in Lexington was a 38-17 victory for Steve Spurrier over Joker Phillips in 2012.

Florida still monitoring storm ahead of Eastern Washington game

Elsewhere in the SEC, Florida’s game vs. Eastern Washington is still set to be played on Saturday, Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin announced yesterday. Florida canceled classes for Wednesday through Friday.

“Currently, Saturday’s football game between UF-Eastern Washington is scheduled as planned,” Stricklin said on Twitter. “The UAA is working with campus, local & state officials to closely monitor Hurricane Ian and its potential impact on Gainesville and the surrounding communities.”

NC State vs. Clemson, the site of College Gameday this week, could also be impacted. We’ll gladly welcome the crew in Oxford if they need to switch sites. Even though SEC Nation will already be there, the more the merrier.