Georgia Tech players expressed disappointment over not being able to play against Central Florida on Saturday after the game was canceled Monday because of effects of Hurricane Irma.
“We’re always ready to play,” quarterback TaQuon Marshall said Wednesday following the team’s practice. “We were looking forward to playing. I know a lot of the guys from Florida were looking forward to going down and playing in their hometown. It’s disappointing, but we’re happy we can get a break also and rest our bodies and move on to next week.”
After the game was canceled Monday, the team practiced and then took Tuesday off to rest after having played two games last week, against Tennessee on Labor Day and then Jacksonville State on Saturday. The team practiced Wednesday and will go again Thursday before taking the weekend off.
A-back Clinton Lynch was likewise disappointed, “but it is what it is, and just got to be ready for nex week,” he said.
Coach Paul Johnson acknowledged that getting an open date after playing on short rest against Jacksonville State might be beneficial, “but you always want to play. You’re usually measured on how many wins you have, and if you don’t play, it’s like losing because you lose that game and you don’t have a chance to win. I think our guys are disappointed. We’ve got several guys from Florida that were looking forward to going back, but I understand. It is what it is.”
UCF athletic director Danny White said Wednesday morning on an Orlando, Fla., radio station that the school’s decision to cancel the Tech game was precipitated by its decision to send home players Friday to be with their families in advance of Hurricane Irma, which had been forecast to hit Orlando.
White told 96.9 The Game that, after making that decision, there were “huge question marks” Monday as to whether the team could be reassembled quickly enough to prepare for Tech. Some team members had not yet returned to campus as of Wednesday morning, he said.
