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Report: B1G game in jeopardy because of flooding from Hurricane Ida
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Rutgers’ season-opener vs. Temple is reportedly in jeopardy because of flooding in New Jersey.
Hurricane Ida, which began the week in Louisiana, continued its march through the United States on Wednesday and caused flash flooding in Middlesex County. The county was also under a tornado warning at one point.
A Flash Flood Warning has been issued for Middlesex, Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk County until 9/02 6:00AM
Flashing flooding may be occurring right now. Never drive into a flooded road. pic.twitter.com/XxGRQmVtjn
— Jacob Wycoff (@4cast4you) September 2, 2021
Tornado warning issued for Middlesex, Morris, and Somerset county until 8:15pm. This storm is moving northeast at 40mph. pic.twitter.com/Fn49a6bbIW
— Brittany Bell (@BrittanyBabc7) September 1, 2021
According to NJ.com, Rutgers officials are concerned that roads leading to the Scarlet Knights’ stadium may not be passable by Thursday night due to the flooding.
If the game is played as scheduled on Thursday night, Piscataway Township is calling for fans to not be permitted due to the damaged infrastructure and ongoing search and rescue operations.
“While Piscataway is a strong supporter of Rutgers University and fervent fans of Rutgers Football, if the Rutgers-Temple football game is still going to take place this evening, the Township is calling on the University to do so without fans,’’ the statement said, per NJ.com. “Township infrastructure is overwhelmed by the damage of Hurricane Ida and evacuations are still taking place this morning. Most importantly, search and rescue operations are ongoing. Piscataway Public Works and our first responders worked through the night to help residents and significant work continues today. Roadways in the Township cannot handle an influx of tens of thousands of people coming to the football game especially with the closure of Landing Lane Bridge.’’
Due to the pandemic, Rutgers has not had fans in attendance at a game since Nov. 23, 2019. Rutgers has announced a sell-out crowd of more than 50,000 fans was expected for the game vs. Temple.
This would not be the first college football game to be impacted by Hurricane Ida. Oklahoma’s matchup with Tulane had to be moved to Norman due to the storm’s havoc on New Orleans over the weekend.
It’s currently unclear if a similar option — re-locating this game to Temple — is a possibility in this situation.
Kick off is currently still scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.