Week 11 college football games involving the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Utah State University may be impacted after a nationwide FAA ground stop put a halt to all outgoing flights across the United States.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the ground stop Friday afternoon following problems with the nation’s air traffic control system, temporarily preventing flights from departing airports across the country.
ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel reported that several college football teams were affected by the disruption, including teams scheduled to play in Utah.
University of Utah
The Utes have been unable to depart for Tucson, Arizona, where they’re scheduled to face the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Arizona’s game against Utah was moved to 10:30 p.m. Eastern time because the Utes were unable to leave Friday night and were not scheduled to depart until 10:50 a.m. Saturday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported, citing sources.
Utah enters the matchup undefeated at 9-0, with a 6-0 record in Big 12 play. The Utes are ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and remain in contention for the Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff.
Brigham Young University
BYU’s opponent, Baylor, was among the teams affected by the ground stop while attempting to travel to Provo for Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
BYU announced its game against Baylor was rescheduled to 5 p.m. Mountain time Saturday because of the nationwide FAA ground stop.
The No. 10 Cougars enter the game at 7-2 overall and 4-2 in Big 12 play, looking to rebound from their loss to Utah.
Big 12 Adjustments
Officials from the Big 12 Conference released a statement Friday night, acknowledging the air travel issue and hinting at changes.
“Due to the national FAA ground stop impacting travel, the Big 12 Conference is evaluating potential changes to Saturday’s football schedule. The conference will continue to monitor the travel disruptions alongside its member institutions and provide updated for Saturday’s games,” the statement read.
Utah State University
Utah State was also reportedly among the programs facing travel uncertainty because of the nationwide ground stop. University officials confirmed late Friday night that the team was able to depart from the Logan Airport just after 8 p.m.
Thamel reported multiple teams from the Big 12, SEC, and Big Ten conferences were among those facing travel delays. He also reported all team visiting ACC opponents were having problems.
Among the nationally ranked teams affected were No. 2 Utah, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 19 Ole Miss, according to reports of the travel disruptions.
Utah Mammoth
Sports reporter Natalie Noury posted about delays the NHL’s San Jose Sharks were also experiencing as a result of the air traffic control issue.
The Sharks were scheduled to play the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake Saturday at 7 p.m.
Noury reported the team was still in San Jose, and did not have information about when they would depart for Utah.
The nationwide ground stop was one of the rarest disruptions to U.S. air travel in recent history. The FAA previously halted domestic departures in January 2023 after a computer system failure disrupted its pilot notification system.
Federal officials said Friday’s ground stop resulted from communication problems affecting air traffic control centers across the country. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said technicians were investigating the outage, while Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no evidence of a cyberattack.
The ground stop was lifted shortly before 7 p.m., and the airspace slowly reopened.
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Source: kutv.com
