After having their season opener against Louisiana Tech postponed to Oct. 13 due to Hurricane Isaac, first-year coach Kevin Sumlin's Texas A&M Aggies will now be forced to play 12 games over 12 consecutive weeks.
"As much as both teams wanted to play, the safety of everyone took precedent over a football game, even one of this magnitude," Louisiana Tech athletic director Bruce Van De Velde said Tuesday. "We simply couldn’t move forward with Thursday’s kickoff in good conscience knowing what this storm may do."
To make matters worse, the ill-timed storm on the Louisiana coast also means the Aggies will instead open their 2012 campaign with new SEC rival Florida on Sept. 8, which represents a stark contrast for a program that has kicked off recent seasons with opponents like Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas State and New Mexico.
In addition to having to deal with the rigors of breaking in a freshman quarterback in Johnny Manziel as well, the schedule switch also creates a devastating six-game stretch on the Aggies' slate that is daunting to say the least. Beginning on the road against Ole Miss on Oct. 6, Texas A&M will have to play five of six games away from home, with the lone home date scheduled against none other than LSU. While it's certainly unfortunate that Manziel and the offense weren't able to open the season with a manageable non-conference opponent in Week 1, the decision to postpone was clearly for the best despite the ramifications.
Stay with this StoryStream for more coverage of Texas A&M's postponement, and be sure to visit Team Speed Kills for more SEC news and analysis. Also check out SB Nation's college football hub for more coverage from around the country.