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Florida Game Rescheduled

The University of Florida’s season-opening football game with Middle Tennessee State University has been moved to October 16th due to the potential impact of Hurricane Frances.

The game is now scheduled to be played October 16th in Gainesville at Noon. Television plans for the game will be announced at a later date.

“Given the information we currently have about Hurricane Frances, we have decided to move the date of our football game,” said Athletics Director Jeremy Foley. “Our number one priority is the safety and welfare of our student-athletes, staff and all fans attending the game. Even if the path changes and our area is not affected, we must be sensitive to state evacuation plans and the availability of medical and emergency personnel in other areas of the state. The threat of this hurricane is very real and we hope the citizens of Florida take the necessary precautions to minimize the risks.”

It marks the fourth time a Florida football game has been moved or postponed and the second time it has affected a season opener. In 1957, the University of Florida’s season opener with UCLA was canceled when a flu epidemic struck the Gator players. The game was not made up that year, however, they did play at UCLA the following year.

In 1964, the Gators were scheduled to play at LSU on October 3rd, but Hurricane Hilda hit Louisiana, forcing the game to be postponed until December 5th of the same year.

On September 15th, 2001, the Gators’ were scheduled to face Tennessee at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium before the events of September 11th took place and the Southeastern Conference ceased all athletic competition that weekend. The Gators made the game up on December 1st, 2001.