Ole Miss – Alabama kickoff time moved back due to Hurricane Delta

Published 11:09 am Thursday, October 8, 2020

While talk about moving Ole Miss’ game against No. 2 Alabama due to the potential threat of Hurricane Delta took place on Wednesday and Thursday morning, the game will stay on Saturday as scheduled.

There is a change to when the game will start, though. On Thursday, the school and the Southeastern Conference announced the game will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT. The move is a delay of 90 minutes from its original start time of 5 p.m. CT. The change in time is to allow for a better forecast and improved game conditions.

“This decision was made with the safety and wellbeing of our student-athletes, staff and fans as the priority,” said Keith Carter, Ole Miss vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics. “I appreciate the cooperation of the SEC, Alabama and ESPN in changing the start time, and we will be prepared to make any other necessary operational adjustments to ensure a safe gameday environment. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those that could be impacted by the storm.”

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With the delay, gates will now open to fans at 4:30 p.m. with parking lots opening at 3:30 p.m.

As for the game itself, wet conditions tend to make offenses rely more on a ground attack. Current forecasts and tracking have Delta becoming a tropical depression between Grenada and Oxford before shifting to a post-tropical cyclone somewhere northeast of Oxford in Tennessee.

All indications have the storm arriving in Oxford, with the eye of the storm currently tracked to come right over Ole Miss’ campus, sometime on Saturday afternoon. There is currently a 100-percent chance of rain and winds from 10 to 20 miles per hour.

“It happened a lot in south Florida. So, it makes it difficult on both sides (of the ball),” Kiffin said of experience in playing in inclement weather. “Offense, obviously the passing game becomes difficult. Don’t have a magic formula for it.”

The game will still air on ESPN.