FSU pleased with response to storm
FSU may have lost two football games to the hurricane, but president John Thrasher said Tuesday university facilities were relatively unharmed and he lauded the school’s overall reaction.
TALLAHASSEE – For the second consecutive season, a hurricane has affected the annual college football matchup between Florida State and Miami.
While Hurricane Matthew did not prevent FSU from flying to South Florida and playing against UM in a thrilling 20-19 victory at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens last October, Hurricane Irma this week forced the Atlantic Coast Conference to postpone the game scheduled for Saturday until Oct. 7.
While hindsight is 20-20 and Irma affected some portions of the state of Florida more than others, the decision to postpone the game was the right move for all parties involved, FSU president John Thrasher said Tuesday.
“Football is not as important when it comes to the safety of our students,” Thrasher said. “We did the right thing based on the information we had. Football, we can make up those games. To the extent we can, we will.”
The Seminoles’ Week 2 home game against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 9 was canceled and is not expected to be rescheduled. A FSU spokesman said the school is “communicating directly with ticket holders” regarding both games.
None of the school’s sporting facilities sustained “any significant or long-lasting damage” during the storm.
The FSU football team is scheduled to return to action on Sept. 23 at noon, hosting NC State at Doak Campbell Stadium.
FSU will remain closed for classes through Friday, while dining halls, libraries and several recreational facilities re-opened Tuesday.
The school was proactive in its hurricane prep plans this year after Hurricane Hermine left as many as 100,000 people without power in Tallahassee last September.
“We learned a lot from last year. We were out of electricity in some places on campus for a week or so. We were preparing for that again, and it didn’t happen, thank goodness. But we kept everybody safe,” Thrasher said.
“When you have these things, you have to remember we have 42,000 students here that are from all over the country. Some of them have experienced hurricanes before. Some of them haven’t, so there’s a lot of anxiety.
“We have to do something to bring the anxiety down, and make sure that everybody is safe and they have an environment they feel comfortable in. That’s what we did. I’m very proud of that.”
On Monday night after Irma passed through Tallahassee as a tropical storm, FSU’s office of student affairs organized a cookout for students who didn’t evacuate. Athletes from several FSU teams greeted students and served hot dogs and hamburgers among other items in the Champions Club section of Doak Campbell Stadium.
The Seminoles are collectively working toward returning to a daily routine.
“We talk a lot about Florida State being a family, and I think this week really proved it,” Thrasher said. “We really are.”
During the storm, the FSU football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, beach volleyball and cross country teams were also safely housed on campus.
Members of the men’s golf team were in New York for a tournament, while the women’s basketball team, members of the women’s golf team that did not return to their respective homes, and members of the men’s golf team not participating in New York evacuated to Orange Beach, Ala. They were expected back in Tallahassee on Tuesday.
The football team returned to practice Tuesday, before the Florida A&M football team used the Seminoles indoor practice facility later Tuesday night.
First responders in the city have been staging at Florida A&M’s Bragg Memorial Stadium and Galimore-Powell Field House, but the Rattlers hope to return to their practice facilities as early as today.
FAMU will play its Tampa Classic game, hosting Tennessee State at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday. The stadium will also host No. 22 USF’s game with Illinois on Friday and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ NFL opener against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
FAMU spokesman Vaughn Wilson said initial surveys indicated the school’s athletic facilities sustained no damage.