While it was the SEC that ultimately made the decision to postpone Saturday's LSU-Florida game because of uncertainty about Hurricane Matthew, it's the Gators who have taken most of the heat.
That trend can be traced in part to LSU's statements on the situation, most notably that it offered to host the game in Baton Rouge or travel to Gainesville to play the game Sunday but was rebuffed in every effort by Florida.
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Whatever the complicated reality — and there are still plenty of moving parts with no makeup date scheduled — Gators coach Jim McElwain has had about enough of suggestions that his team simply didn't want to play the game.
“Nineteen deaths, 2.5 million devastated without power, families in dire needs. Obviously they don’t know me, they don’t know the Florida Gators, they don’t know our players,” he said Monday at a news conference, via SEC Country. “Dodging a game? Wow. … I obviously growing up in Montana have never gone through a hurricane, but I think a lot of people around here have, have seen the devastation. How anyone can even think that way is beyond me.”
Y’all, Florida has 52 players on its current roster from the PINK area on this map.
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) October 6, 2016
You want them to worry about a football game???? pic.twitter.com/cFwWTg3kdj
McElwain said reaction among his players to the postponement was mixed, and ultimately the situation was "hard on everybody."
“Our guys were prepared to play in the game, excited to play in the game and wanted to play the game, and yet as we sat there late Saturday afternoon there were a lot of those things that went through our minds," he said. "It was great to get back with our players yesterday, give them a hug, see a look of relief on their faces.”
