Ground Stop Pushes US College Football Games Back by Hours, One Moved to Sunday

The US Federal Aviation Administration's ground stop on Friday has also hit college football. Several games on Saturday were delayed by hours, and one game was moved to Sunday.

Many college football teams were in airports on Friday on their way to upcoming games when the nationwide ground stop was issued and thousands of flights were canceled. The FAA said on Saturday that airports were returning to normal operations, but that delays and cancellations would continue through the day.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged the ground stop's impact on college football at a news conference on Saturday. He said some games were being moved, and that the aim was to move teams around the country so the playoffs could happen.

Utah, ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, will kick off against Arizona in Tucson at 8:30 p.m. local time — a three-hour delay.

The Auburn vs. Mississippi State game was pushed back more than four hours to start at 3:15 p.m. local time in Mississippi.

The Florida Atlantic Owls were unable to fly to Oklahoma on Friday, so their Saturday game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane was moved from 2:30 p.m. local time to 6:15 p.m.

The biggest hit fell on No. 19 Ole Miss, which was not able to fly to Oklahoma as planned on Friday. Its game against the University of Oklahoma Sooners, scheduled for Saturday, will now take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, according to the Southeastern Conference. The game will compete with several NFL games televised at the same time; NFL teams were largely unaffected by the ground stop.

To help alleviate fans' frustration, Oklahoma on Saturday announced 'fan appreciation' promotions for the rescheduled game. Oklahoma students can attend free with their student ID, and concession items such as popcorn or a 16-ounce beer will be reduced to $2.