Torrential rainfall from Hurricane Harvey has already left the sports world scrambling to relocate and reschedule events affected by the storm’s path. LSU was scheduled to play its season opener against BYU in Houston on Saturday, but the impact of the storm in Southeast Texas has forced the game to relocate to the Superdome — home of the New Orleans Saints — on Saturday night.
https://twitter.com/BYUCougars/status/902297988479021056
The game had to be moved because of the hurricane, and there are only so many options available on short notice, especially because BYU cannot play on Sundays for religious reasons. This is a “neutral-site” game, although that was barely true to begin with. LSU is just a few hours away from Houston. But now the game will be right in the Tigers’ backyard in New Orleans.
Unsurprisingly, the Tigers are excited to play even closer to home.
LSU RB Derrius Guice @DhaSickest says he's excited to "put on for the state of Louisiana," when LSU plays BYU at the Superdome. pic.twitter.com/JHJe2YClBU
— Brandon Saho (@BrandonSaho) August 28, 2017
According to Ross Dellinger of The Advocate, Nashville, Orlando and Jacksonville were also possible sites.
This is the third straight season LSU needed to relocate a game due to inclement weather. Last season, the Tigers had to move their road game against Florida to Baton Rouge because of Hurricane Matthew. In 2015, historic flash flooding forced a road game against South Carolina to move to Baton Rouge as well. The Tigers’ 2015 opener against McNeese State was cancelled due to lightning and never made up.
Earlier on Monday, the NFL announced the Texans’ preseason game against the Cowboys this weekend would be relocated from Houston to Dallas.
