Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
3:34pm: UPDATE--
SDSU coach Chuck Long tells ESPN's "College Football Live" he is "pushing for a postponement," saying "it's hard to think about football at this pont."
*******
SDSU head coach Chuck Long doesn't sound like a coach preparing for a football game on Saturday--and that's understandable. He says the team will not practice today, and would obviously prefer not to play without a full week of game prep. In addition, players and coaches' families have been affected by evacuation orders, and many in the program visited displaced citizens last night at Qualcomm Stadium.
*******
I spoke this morning with SDSU Assistant AD/Media Relations Director Mike May. He says the school is still hoping to stage the BYU game at Qualcomm Saturday night, but that a clearer picture would develop by the afternoon.
*******
May added that SDSU looked within a two-hour radius for a suitable practice facility (with cleaner air), and could not find one. Ironically, the campus area is among the areas least affected by the fires, while air quality is generally unhealthy throughout the Greater San Diego area.
*******
While thousands have taken refuge at Qualcomm Stadium, the majority are people who have been asked to leave their homes, as opposed to those who have lost their homes. As evacuation orders are lifted area by area, the evacuee population at Qualcomm should drop considerably. Whether the Stadium will "clear up" enough to stage football games Saturday and Sunday remains a key question.
*******
Rumblings are BYU and the MWC would very much like to see the game take place as scheduled Saturday, but clearly, SDSU officials will determine the status of the game. No one in Provo or the league office wants to be seen as insensitive to a difficult situation, even though as of this morning, the outlook for the game's prospects was said to be "improving."
*******
In regards to Long's unwilingness to play a game after as few as two days' practice, bear this in mind: when BYU follows a Saturday game with a Thursday game, the Cougars only get in two full days of practice--Monday and Tuesday. The team does not practice on Sunday, and Wednesday is always a walk-through day. So, should conditions improve, a "two-day" week is certainly not unprecedented, in terms of game prep.
*******
LB Markell Stafferi's family in Del Mar remain evacuated from their home, but the latest update is while some homes in the area have been confirmed destroyed, there is no confirmation on the status of the Staffieri residence.
*******
