The Utah Utes will have to wait a little longer to defend their unbeaten record against Arizona after travel chaos forced them to scrap their Friday flight to Tucson.
No. 2 Utah’s road clash with No. 23 Arizona has been moved back three hours to 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. The game was originally set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
The delay stems from a nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday afternoon that halted departing flights across the country. The stop lasted about five hours before it was lifted Friday night, but by then, Utah’s travel plans had already fallen apart.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel explained why the Big 12 had to push the game back.
“Utah won’t leave until 10:50 a.m. tomorrow, which is the reason for pushing back the game. The Utes attempted to get out tonight and couldn’t,” Thamel wrote on X.
That means the Utes will fly out of Salt Lake City on the morning of the game, leaving little time to settle in before facing the Wildcats. It is far from an ideal setup for a team trying to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Utah has rolled to a 9-0 record this season. The Utes most recently took down rival BYU 28-20 at home last Saturday to stay perfect.
Article Continues BelowArizona, meanwhile, sits at 7-2 and will have the comfort of home. Led by quarterback Noah Fifita, the Wildcats would love nothing more than to hand Utah its first loss of the season.
The Utes were not the only team affected by the ground stop. Dellenger also reported that BYU’s home game against Baylor is moving to 7 p.m. ET after the Bears were stuck in Waco on Friday. Elsewhere, Auburn, Purdue and Tulane opted to travel by bus instead.
For Utah, the focus now shifts to getting to Tucson safely and staying unbeaten under the lights.