When the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles take the field Saturday night for their annual rivalry game, over 65,000 fans of both schools will be cheering for their favorite team.
What will be missing from the game will be the presence of state law enforcement officers from the Florida Highway Patrol and other agencies.
The administration of Florida Governor Rick Scott reportedly told both schools that no officers from state agencies would be available to assist with either team’s security or escort details for Saturday’s game.
The move comes as officers and other state officials are being sent to the areas affected the most by Hurricane Matthew over the past few days across the state.
Miami traditionally has an escort group that includes both FHP officers and members of the Miami-Dade Police Department. Opposing teams, such as FSU, usually use just state officers to get them from their hotel to the stadium and later to the airport after the game.
The Seminoles, who have won six in a row in the series, flew into Fort Lauderdale late Friday morning. They were scheduled to fly in Thursday night, but delayed the flight when Matthew looked like it was going to strike Broward County with more force.
Three other games across the state were postponed from their scheduled Saturday spot. The Florida Gators’ game against LSU has yet to be rescheduled, while UCF’s game against Tulane will now take place November 5th and FAU’s game against Charlotte is tentatively scheduled for Sunday.
