The Charlotte 49ers’s Conference USA football opener vs. Old Dominion has been moved to 4 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 13, due to forecasted weekend weather conditions related to Hurricane Florence.
"We appreciate everyone's patience as we worked closely with Old Dominion Athletics Director Wood Selig and the conference office to make this decision,” said Charlotte 49ers Director of Athletics Mike Hill. “Our primary goal in playing this game is to ensure the safety of student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans, and do so without creating an undue burden on our community and its emergency services. I also want to acknowledge the incredible cooperation of Coach Bobby Wilder, Coach Brad Lambert, emergency management officials and our campus partners in this difficult process.
“We waited as long as possible to finalize a decision because of the hurricane's fluctuating path. With the significant change in the hurricane's overnight forecast, our options became clear -- move the game to Thursday afternoon or cancel it. Because ODU had already traveled to Charlotte earlier this week, we are able to play the game on Thursday. The 4 p.m. start allows ODU's football team to begin its trip back to Virginia ahead of the storm.
“We fully recognize that moving the game date and time inconveniences many of our fans, for which we apologize. However, these are highly unusual circumstances which require uncommon solutions in order to safely complete this football game."
ODU Director of Athletics Wood Selig said, “On behalf of our Old Dominion football program, I want to thank Mike Hill and the Charlotte administration for keeping the safety of our student-athletes and fans paramount while working with league and other officials to ensure this conference match up could be maintained despite challenging and changing inclement weather predictions.”