The Week 3 non-conference game between UCF and North Carolina will not be played as scheduled due to Hurricane Florence approaching the east coast. The UNC athletic department announced the game's cancellation on Tuesday, along with cancellations or postponements for the rest of its home athletic events this weekend.
"Hosting a major college football game is a massive undertaking that on a good day involves fans and thousands of state, local and campus personnel, including public safety officials, traveling from all over the area," North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said Tuesday. "The current forecast for both the impact and aftermath of the hurricane would require those officials to divert critical resources from what could be much more significant duties. We can't know for certain the amount of damage the storm will inflict, but the sensible decision at this time is to not play the game."
This is the second straight season UCF has had a game canceled because of inclement weather. Last season during the undefeated campaign, the Knights had a non-conference game against Georgia Tech canceled as schedules were rearranged following Hurricane Irma.
"I'm confident our student-athletes will adjust to this change," UCF head coach Josh Heupel said. "Many of them have, unfortunately, been through similar scenarios here the last two seasons. Our concern is with the safety of everyone being affected by the storm. Our team will turn its focus toward the game with FAU and we look forward to seeing all of Knight Nation back out at Spectrum Stadium next Friday."
North Carolina and UCF "will continue to discuss the feasibility of playing the game at a later date this season," but given the schedules for both teams, it's possible the game won't be made up. UCF only has one true open weekend on the schedule (Oct. 27), and it falls prior to a short week with a Thursday night game against Temple on Nov. 1.
