Update Tuesday 12:40 PM:
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva held a brief press conference before coach Ed Orgeron’s weekly luncheon.
“First thing I want to do is give our thoughts and prayers to Houston,” Alleva said.
Alleva went on to add that both LSU and BYU have been in constant contact with ESPN, but that he is “not prepared to tell you where the game will be played.”
Alleva said that Tiger Stadium was offered, but he doesn’t view that as a likely venue.
“Barring something crazy happening, I am very confident the game will be played.”
Update Monday 6:25 PM:
Alleva says that the LSU-BYU game will almost certainly not be played in Houston, but that LSU is not in control of the situation. Where the game will be played is ESPN’s decision.
Update Monday 1:00 PM:
SMG Vice President Doug Thornton has offered the Superdome as a contingency option if the game cannot be played in Houston.
With Hurricane Harvey stalling near Houston, the area has seen around two feet of rain with more to come.
With the unprecedented amount of rain, Houston is currently suffering from widespread flooding.
According to a report by SB Nation, ESPN and both school officials are meeting on Sunday to discuss relocating the game from Houston’s NRG Stadium to another venue. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans and LSU’s Tiger Stadium are being looked at as two possible sites.
BYU’s athletic director Tom Holmoe sent out a tweet saying that all parties involved are working on a solution to play the game this weekend.
Superdome officials have been in contact with both schools, ESPN and NRG Stadium about hosting the game.
“I have been in contact with NRG Stadium officials to let them know that the Superdome is available and an option if needed,” Thornton said. “It’s my understanding that the preference of everyone involved is to try to play the game in Houston, but they are looking at all of their options at this point in case the game has to be moved. We are standing by.”
Thornton is the Vice President of SMG, which manages both the Superdome and NRG Stadium. Thornton is said be expecting a decision by Tuesday at the latest.
During the LSU60 radio show on Monday, associate communications director Bill Franques relayed the following message from Alleva.
“He wants fans to know that LSU is not in control of this game,” Franques said. “It is not an LSU home game. This game is organized by NRG in Houston and by ESPN. Ultimately, it’s up to NRG and ESPN, the organizers of the game, to decide where the game will be played if the game is moved.”
“Mr. Alleva went on to say that almost certainly it will not be played in Houston. He has not been told that officially, but he is almost certain the game will not be able to be played in Houston on Saturday. It most certainly, very certain, almost certain, that it will be moved to another venue.”
“What venue that will be, he wasn’t able to say,” Franques continued. He knows game officials have been in contact with several different venues and that a decision will be made as soon as possible, naturally as early in the week as possible so that the teams, management officials and everyone, including ESPN, can be prepared for wherever the game may be played.”
Franques added that five different venues are being considered, but did not specifically say what venues.
This is the third straight season LSU has seen a game affected by weather. In 2015, LSU’s game against South Carolina was moved to Baton Rouge following historic flooding in South Carolina. The annual LSU-Florida game was moved from Gainesville to Baton Rouge in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Florida.
Story will be updated as more information becomes available.
http://www.lsunow.com/daily/update-alleva-says-lsu-byu-game-will-almost-certainly-not/article_5e9469ca-8b3c-11e7-a588-d7451753913e.html
Update: Alleva confident game against BYU will be played somewhere
By Brandon Adam
August 27, 2017
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