'Time is of the essence' as IU looks for Oct. 7 replacement for canceled FIU game

BLOOMINGTON – The aftereffects of Hurricane Irma on southern Florida have forced the cancellation of IU’s home football game Saturday against Florida International.

Indiana is currently seeking a replacement opponent, with a potential makeup game to be played on Oct. 7, the Saturday of the Hoosiers’ bye week.

“Their AD, Pete Garcia, called me, left a message late Saturday,” IU athletic director Fred Glass told IndyStar. “I talked to him early Sunday and multiple times on Sunday and Monday. Really, I’d say late yesterday, early today, it didn’t sound too promising and they were going to make a call late tonight.

“Pete was really good to work with and was transparent through the whole thing.”

Located in Miami, FIU is one of the schools most directly affected by Irma, which has prompted multiple postponements and cancellations for the coming weekend.

Garcia’s department actually displaced 170 athletes across eight sports, including football, to Birmingham, Ala., last week to avoid the storm and continue practicing. The Panthers picked up their first win under former Miami coach Butch Davis on Saturday, in a game played in Birmingham.

Indiana and FIU had been hopeful the Panthers could return home and then travel to Bloomington this weekend. But Garcia told Glass he and his athletes couldn’t return to Miami until at least Wednesday, assuming the Miami airport had reopened, and that they didn’t feel they could turn back around so quickly.

Glass said IU offered to fly FIU’s entire displaced group to Indianapolis this week, but understood when Garcia declined.

“I told Pete, ‘Look, the most important thing is the safety and wellness of your players,’” Glass said. “‘We’d like to play, but you do what’s right for your guys.’”

Now, Glass and IU coach Tom Allen approach previously unexplored terrain.

Football schedules are typically laid out years in advance — indeed, FIU’s trip to Bloomington was part of a series that included Indiana returning to Miami, and Glass said he and Garcia agreed Saturday’s canceled game would be made up on a future schedule.

But the Hoosiers need a 12th opponent now. They had only six home games to begin with this season, one less than Glass would prefer for both competitive and financial reasons, and the FIU cancellation knocks that down to five. Replacing the Panthers will have a direct impact on both IU’s budget and its bowl hopes.

Given the number of cancellations that have already impacted programs across college football, the Hoosiers will have options.

Georgia Tech, for example, had its game this weekend against Central Florida called off, and the Yellow Jackets have a bye the same weekend as IU.

Indiana would also be permitted to schedule a Football Championship Subdivision opponent if they could find one willing, per a Big Ten rule that allows conference teams with just four home games to dip into the FCS once without penalty. Big Ten teams with five home games in a season, in the unbalanced nine-game conference schedule, are not permitted to schedule FCS teams.

Glass is focused on finding an opponent willing to come to Bloomington. It isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s close.

“Non-negotiable may be a strong word when you find yourself in our situation, but I’d say we would strongly prefer to have a home game,” Glass said. “And I think that’s what we’ll get.”

Mostly, Glass just wants to move as quickly as possible.

“I think time is of the essence,” Glass said. “We have fans that plan their weekends around games. We have people who were expecting to go to a game this Saturday. Those plans have changed, and if we’re going to have a good crowd on Oct. 7, we need to organize that as quickly as possible.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.