Hurricane Delta could result in wet, rainy conditions for Arkansas-Auburn
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas and Auburn could potentially have to deal with severe weather when they square off Saturday afternoon.
Although it is forecasted to make landfall in Louisiana, Hurricane Delta - which intensified into a Category 4 storm Tuesday - could impact the Razorbacks’ and Tigers’ 3 p.m. kickoff if it hits further east in the Gulf Coast.
The LSU-Missouri game has reportedly already been moved from Baton Rouge to Columbia and the SEC released a statement Tuesday afternoon that it was monitoring the situation and will “remain in contact with member schools in preparation for athletics events this week.”
As of Tuesday evening, rain appears to be the biggest threat in the forecast for eastern Alabama, where Auburn is located, so head coach Sam Pittman said they’re preparing for it in practice.
“We are aware that there's a great possibility it'll rain, so we're starting today in practice throwing and catching and handling and snapping wet balls,” Pittman said Monday. “And we will do that throughout the week."
Although most fans are salivating at the thought of the Chad Morris revenge game being moved to Fayetteville, the Razorbacks are excited about getting a chance to play in the rain.
“It's always fun to play in the rain, get a little messy,” left tackle Myron Cunningham said. “I think it'll be good for us, especially if it starts raining. In practice we've been running a lot of wet ball stuff, but obviously if it's raining you'd like to run the ball a little more, so it will give us a chance to prove we can run the ball.”
That is a typical opinion of an offensive lineman, but as senior De’Vion Warren pointed out, quarterbacks and wide receivers have to focus harder when the ball is wet to ensure ball security.
Despite being from Louisiana, Warren said he’s never played in a hurricane before. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, he initially indicated playing in wet, rainy and muddy conditions wasn’t fun, but he eventually talked himself into it.
“You’re slipping and sliding everywhere and everybody’s just all over the place, getting stuck in the mud,” Warren said. “You might lose a couple of shoes, socks. It’s a whole bunch of just mess and then you’ve got to take that off. Oh, that’s just, it ain’t too pretty. But it’s fun though! It’s actually pretty fun.”
Safety Joe Foucha said the Razorbacks want to “keep showing the world” what they’re capable of coming off an upset win at No. 16 Mississippi State and that they’ve embraced the message from Pittman this week, which involved the two schools’ mascots.
“Like Coach Pittman said today in meetings, you have an eagle and you have a hog,” Foucha said. “An eagle when it's raining and cold go inside, right? You know a hog, we love that mud and that water, so that's what we're going to be out there Saturday.
“We're going to be some wild hogs getting dirty, muddy, rainy. We're going to be in that weather, so we're not concerned about that.”