UNT-LSU football game delayed

Harry · August 31, 2005

Contest had payout for Mean Green; teams trying to reschedule

07:33 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The University of North Texas football team’s game Saturday against Louisiana State University was postponed on Tuesday because of the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on the area.

“We have discussed this with the people at LSU and feel like we should cancel the game,” UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal said. “The damage is substantial and gets worse as time goes on. Baton Rouge is becoming a triage unit for much of the New Orleans area. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them and especially the student athletes on that campus who are unsure of where their families are at this time.”

Officials from UNT and LSU were trying to reschedule the game on Tuesday night. The teams do not have a common open date during the season and were working to shuffle other games already on their schedules to find a date that would fit into both teams’ schedules.

Villarreal said the teams hoped to reach an agreement within the next 24 hours to reschedule the game.

UNT’s ability to reschedule the game could have a dramatic impact on the entire athletic department.

UNT signed a contract that guaranteed a $500,000 payout to play at LSU, a total that represents a significant amount of the athletic department’s budget. The department worked with a $12.2 million dollar budget during the 2005 fiscal year that ends today.

“It’s important to play this game because the guarantee is already a part of the athletic budget that we have turned in,” Villarreal said. “If we have to cancel the game, we would have to find a way to raise additional money or cut money from the budget as we go along in the year to meet the bottom line.”

Villarreal said UNT would make every effort to reschedule the game.

Canceling the game also left UNT without a contest heading into a key early-season game against Middle Tennessee State University to open Sun Belt Conference play. The Mean Green head into league play with a 25-game conference winning streak, which ranks second nationally to a 26-game winning streak by Boise State University in the Western Athletic Conference.

Middle Tennessee is seen as one of UNT’s key rivals for the 2005 Sun Belt title.

UNT is scheduled to begin the season with eight players in the starting lineup who started in the Mean Green’s loss to the University of Southern Mississippi in last season’s New Orleans Bowl.

Those concerns took a backseat Tuesday while people in Louisiana were coping with a horrendous event.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people who are suffering from this disaster,” UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. “Out of respect for those involved, our team is making plans to assist in the relief effort.”

The UNT-LSU game was one of several affected by the storm.

The Tulane-Southern Mississippi game scheduled for Sunday in Hattiesburg, Miss., has been moved to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Nicholls State’s game at Utah State on Saturday has been canceled. Nicholls State is located in Thibodaux, La.

Also, Southern University’s game Saturday at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., has been canceled. Southern is in Baton Rouge. Also, Jacksonville’s game Thursday night at Hammond — a city between New Orleans and Baton Rouge — has been postponed indefinitely.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Green Lantern · August 31, 2005

Lots of talk around campus about moving Homecoming into November in order to accomodate the LSU game this year. Don't know if this will be actually happening or not...but thats the talk right now.

mrsgreengoblin · August 31, 2005

Here is an article in Shreveport Times that mentions we are looking at playing LSU 10/29 and will move the Louisiana-Monroe game to Dec. 3rd. Wasn't sure if the article had been posted yet or not. Didn't see it.

LSU postpones opener

Marty · August 31, 2005

"UNT signed a contract that guaranteed a $500,000 payout to play at LSU, a total that represents a significant amount of the athletic department’s budget. The department worked with a $12.2 million dollar budget during the 2005 fiscal year that ends today. "

After travel expenses, how much of that $500,000 is left over? It would seem to cost quite a bit of money to fly, feed, and house a football team plus all the coaches, trainers, equipment managers, etc.