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The Miami Dolphins and several college football programs are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Matthew's path ahead of games this weekend. A Category 4 storm, the hurricane ravaged Haiti's southwestern coast with a reported 145 mph winds, flash floods and destructive waves on Tuesday morning. National Hurricane Center analysts say that Matthew will be a Category 3 storm when it is expected to reach South Florida on Thursday.
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"Obviously, right now we're thinking about the people in Haiti," Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel told the Miami Herald. "There's a lot of uncertainty around what will happen in the next few days and we're watching it very closely. We'll be prepared to react however we need to when we have more information."
Hard Rock Stadium, which is built to withstand Category 4 force winds, is hosting No. 23 Florida State (3-2) against No. 10 Miami (4-0) on Saturday night in addition to the NFL Week 5 game between the Titans (1-3) and Dolphins (1-3).
University of Miami officials reportedly met around 7 a.m. on Tuesday to discuss contingency plans for the storm. Athletic director Blake James initially told reporters on Monday that he is not planning to make changes to Miami's scheduled practices throughout the week.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday after a briefing on the hurricane's trajectory that a "direct hit" could not be ruled out. Scott told residents to "prepare for the worst, hope for the best."
"It is absolutely deadly," Scott said. "If Matthew directly impacts Florida, there will be massive destruction we haven't seen in years."
Flooding and travel plans are also being taken into account by the Dolphins, who said they are working on contingency plans to be executed if necessary.
The Florida Gators are also at home in Gainesville against LSU and the current plan is for the game to be played.
LSU players faced a similar situation last season due to flooding in South Carolina. The game was eventually moved to Baton Rouge due to the issues.
"We'll see. It kind of reminds us of South Carolina," kicker Colby Delahoussaye told The Advocate. "As far as the way my mindset goes, either we go there or go somewhere else or go here, I'm ready to play. I try not to think of where the venue is at, just be prepared for whatever gets thrown in front of us."
Weather impacts could be felt north of Florida's coasts.
Notre Dame, scheduled to play Saturday at North Carolina State, has been in direct contact with Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford.
Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly said Notre Dame provided a 24-hour window -- Saturday at noon through Sunday at noon -- in which the program would be willing to play the game.
South Carolina is scheduled to host Georgia and Gov. Nikki Haley has already called for evacuations beginning Wednesday. Haley doesn't think the Gamecocks will be hosting the Bulldogs on Saturday but said the decision is up to the university and the SEC.
"It's a complete decision based on the schools," Haley said during a press conference. "As of now I can't imagine that happening but certainly we're going to continue to watch this. I would love nothing more than to see this take a right-hand turn and go out to sea.
"As it looks right now, we're looking at Friday afternoon into Saturday being pretty brutal."
South Carolina coach Will Muschamp is focusing solely on football.
"Our administration is handling all that through the SEC office," Muschamp said. "All of my energy is game planning for the game. Whatever happens happens. I'm not the least bit worried about it."
The SEC released a statement pertaining to the LSU-Florida and Georgia-South Carolina contests.
"As a matter of practice, the SEC communicates regularly with schools on significant weather issues and will remain in contact with the schools involved in both football games that have potential to be impacted by Hurricane Matthew this weekend," the conference said.
