Tropical Storm Joaquin could affect Michigan game on Saturday

Submitted by FabFiver5 on

Tropical Storm Joaquin has formed in the Atlantic and forecasts call for lots of rain beginning tomorrow through the entire weekend along the Eastern Seaboard. Some predicitions call for heavy rain and high winds Saturday when Joaquin could be blowing just east of the DC area.

Obviously, this could have an effect on our game. For those of us traveling to College Park for the game (like me), keep an eye on things throughout the rest of the week.

With heavy rains, we can just pound the ball with our stable of RBs, right?

WEATHER UPDATES HERE

GOBLUE4EVR

September 29th, 2015 at 9:18 AM ^

working in the suite during that game and it was it was crazy up there... you can't hear the announcements from the PA in the suites so people didn't know that the game had been called early and the ushers up in the suites were the last stadium workers to know...

since i worked for the food service company i couldn't go any where and had to wait for everyone to leave so i could clean up my suites... the west side tower of suites took a lightning strike and lost power a couple of times (i was working on the east side)... 

ijohnb

September 29th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^

but an absolutely unrelenting downpour with wind gusts that will move the football from a resting position might.  I don't think it is likely, but if the weather approaches hazardous in any way they would probably call the game.  How would that even work at this point if they had to do that.  Hope their bye weeks matchup or what?  Move it to Monday?

EDIT - Their bye weeks do not match up.  My guess is that they would move it to Monday or move it more inland and indoors.  They would have to play the game at some point though, right?

EDIT 2 - From the looks of the models on Saturday evening it could be torrential downpours with 65 mile per hour max winds along the coast moving a little inland.  They won't play that game if that holds up.

James Burrill Angell

September 29th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

This is a conference game (unlike WMU obviously) so they have to play it. Logic would state the most likley options would be to either schedule it after the season or they may wait until Sunday or Monday to play. Could they either (a) move it to a neutral NFL site (can't be in the area since they won't want to play in a storm area or (b) move it to Michigan?

Whats the precedent on this?

jmblue

September 29th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^

I don't think there is a precedent.  The severe-weather rule is only about a decade old.  I don't know if a Big Ten game has been delayed before.

This is where the Big Ten championship game causes headaches, because that weekend would have been ideal for rescheduling a game.  What do you do if Michigan is 6-1 and OSU is 7-1, and we have the head-to-head?  Postpone the conference title game so this can be played?

 

ijohnb

September 29th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^

like those are always at the beginning of the year though and they have ample time to figure out how to fit it in somewhere, somehow.  This was fairly unforeseen and it is a conference game with less wiggle room as to how they would make it up.  They would absolutely have to find a way to play it this weekend or Monday at the latest.  These kids can't play a Wend. and a Saturday game next week.  I don't think they would move it to Michigan because that creates a substantial home field advantage that would very much play into the result.  I could see them doing it at nuetral site that will take it somewhere in the midwest though if it comes to it.

charblue.

September 29th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^

moving the game in the DC area. I mean the Redskins play in a stadium that is only miles away from the Maryland campus. And the old RFK Stadium is on the banks of the Potomac near Nationals Park. 

In short, the weather pattern would impact all available football sites and none are covered. 

Here in Carolina, we've had the same weather since Saturday, cloudy, humid with periodic light rain and heavier downpours. This forecast is supposed to remain in effect through Friday. 

charblue.

September 29th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^

on the Saturday after 9/11 and that game was rescheduled because Western didn't want to lose a payday at Michigan Stadium. Michigan had an early bye that season and the game was moved to that date after Western rescheduled another game that Saturday. If available bye dates don't match for competing teams, then they might employ Western's strategy of finding another bye date that matches with an upcoming opponent and switch those dates. 

The other option is moving the site of the game and allowing the home team to collect all the revenue from that contest. In which case, Maryland might be OK with that development, given that it would make more money by switching the game. But since it's a night game, there would be different concerns in place. I would think a weather-related decision would have to be made no later than Wednesday. 

MI Expat NY

September 29th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^

CCGs being pushed back a week gave everyone the flexibility to get it done.  

The prevalence of conference championship games has made it difficult to reschedule games.  Games I can remember being rescheduled in the past (UCLA-Miami, for instance) were scheduled on the last saturday of the regular season.  Which is almost impossible now with even conferences that don't have CCGs pushing their regular season schedules to that last week.  Now, the only way a game gets rescheduled is if bye weeks happen to coincide.

I agree, if the weather is so bad on Saturday that the game can't get played, the storm should have sufficiently moved out so that Sunday is fine.  Hopefully the athletic department is booking hotel rooms for Saturday night, just in case.

JHendo

September 29th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^

I had just moved back to Ann Arbor the day before and hadn't been to a Michigan game in like 6 years.  Needless to say, I was kinda bummed it got called due to weather...especially since my wife and I had parked all the way down Seventh St.

charblue.

September 29th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^

weather games over the years. There was a home game in 1995 against Purdue that Michigan won 5-0, and then an incredible night game in Evanston where the teams played in steady rain throughout. It was just an awful atmosphere for a game, but it got played. 

Most of the time, unless a weather forecast predicts hurricane weather, for the safety and comfort of fans, games are played as scheduled because the problems in rescheduling are so thorny as we've discovered in merely debating possible choices for that prospect. 

Wolvie3758

September 29th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^

It was actually kind of fun..The rain and wind were intense and the stands flooded, the food areas, restrooms etc were all flooded but everyone took a what the hell attitude.. However it was warm so it wasnt all that bad...Had it been cold I wouldve been outta there but we stayed to the end and won a very hard fought game 

True Blue Grit

September 29th, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^

I remember finally bailing on the game and starting to leave the stadium and looking west to see more dark clouds forming.  I thought, we aren't making it back to the car before that arrives.  Sure enough, we got even more soaked.   It's funny because all the years when I was a student and grad student, we never had a game delayed or cancelled due to shitty weather.  But it's happened a number of times in the last 4 years.

Olaf

September 29th, 2015 at 8:58 AM ^

Jake doesn't throw the ball more than 15 times. Short 5-6 yard passes to TE. I doubt you'll see any razzle dazzle with Northwestern (why are we fearing Northwestern again????) and MSU coming up.

Bodogblog

September 29th, 2015 at 9:08 AM ^

Really good defense.  Their offense should be hapless against our D, and though I'm not familiar with their special teams, I've got to believe we have the advantage there as well. 

Harbaugh may open it up and take calculated risks, but it's likely both teams will be racing to run out the clock, keep it close, and pull out the win.  Upside is definitely to M, but any team with a good defense is a tough win.