Joint statement issued about Florida-Miami Football game

A joint statement from the College Football 150th Anniversary Organization, ESPN, Florida, the Florida Citrus Sports Association and the Miami football program was sent out on Thursday according to WVUM Sports Director Josh White.

The joint statement issued by the Miami football program, Florida, and Florida Citrus Sports states the four organizations were approached by the College Football 150th Anniversary Organization and ESPN about pushing the game between Miami and Florida up a week to have a marquee matchup to begin the 2019 season.

The 2019 college football season marks the 150th anniversary of the first game won by Rutgers 6-4 (yes, you saw that correctly) over the College of New Jersey which is now Princeton. That game was played November 8, 1869.

The Florida and Miami football programs are hoping to get an answer from the NCAA soon on when the Camping World Kickoff will be played. The NCAA would have to grant a waiver to move the game up a week.

The game being played a week earlier would also mean that the Hurricanes and Gators would be allowed to begin practice a week sooner. It would also give Miami a bye week in between their season opener and their week two game against North Carolina.

The NCAA now has the date of the 2019 Miami football season opener and potentially who their starting quarterback is in their hands. The Hurricanes are still waiting for a decision from the NCAA on Ohio State transfer Tate Martell‘s eligibility.

The statement joint statement goes into detail about when and why the schools were contacted about playing the game a week earlier.

"“This past December, Miami, Florida and Florida Citrus Sports were approached by ESPN, who had the College Football 150th organization’s support (the entity overseeing the upcoming season-long celebration), to explore interest in moving the Camping World Kickoff game in Orlando to August 24 as part of a special kick off day celebrating the sports 150th anniversary season,” a joint statement from Miami, Florida, ESPN and Florida Citrus Sports.“This is a unique and rare opportunity that would showcase college football, both storied programs, and the state of Florida. In January, a waiver was submitted to the NCAA seeking approval to move the game under this premise. Both schools, along with ESPN, College Football 150th Anniversary organization and Florida Citrus Sports, understand that fans, and the teams themselves, need time to make necessary arrangements should the waiver be granted. A decision is anticipated shortly.”"

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson spoke with Miami Athletic Director Blake James about where everything stands that relates to the Florida-Miami football game. With four potential dates listed depending on which organization or website you believe the game of the game is very much in flux and seems to be a mess at this point.

"“It’s 150th year of college football and they [an organization called CFP 150] along with ESPN are looking to have a marquee matchup to open up the year,”"

Jackson went on to say that James declined to say if Miami and Florida would like to see the game moved or the possibility of it happening. No matter what happens with the date of the game it is expected to air in prime time on ABC or ESPN per Jackson. It’s tough to imagine that it will be televised by anyone but ABC.

The 2018 season opener for the Miami football team aired on ABC on Sunday night of Labor Day weekend. The Hurricanes played two Saturday night prime time games on ABC at Hard Rock Stadium in back to back weekends in November during the 2017 season.

Miami won those games in blowouts. They forced four turnovers in each game. That helped build the mystique on the mystique of the turnover chain.

"Jackson also spoke with James about what will happen with fans who have already made plans to attend the game on August 31. James stated “If this were something that were to happen, a lot of things have to be figured out. Those are issues.”"

Miami Superfans Cutler Ridge Laz and Becky 070811 led a thread on Twitter on Sun Sentinel Miami Hurricanes beat writer Christy Chirinos’ account about the dissatisfaction from the Canes fanbase about the possibility of the date of the game being changed.

There are some excellent points made in the thread by Laz, Rebecca and other fans in the full thread available by clicking on the link in the above Tweet. There is no reason this wasn’t thought out before by ESPN and the College Football 150th Anniversary Organization.

It does seem genuine that it wasn’t thought out ahead of time and was nothing more than that. Playing opening weekend would be great publicity for both the Florida and Miami football programs. Fans should realize that the game is bigger than their individual plans. It’s easy to see both sides.