Options if the Georgia at South Carolina game has to be moved

Photo: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Georgia Bulldogs are scheduled to play at the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:30pm ET.

However, due to the current projected path of Hurricane Matthew, the Georgia-South Carolina game might need to be moved or postponed.

Earlier on Tuesday, both Georgia and South Carolina officials stated that they were monitoring the situation. Later, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley stated that she “can’t imagine” the game being played as scheduled.

“That’s a decision based on the schools, but as of now I can’t imagine that (the UGA-SC game) happening,” Haley said. “But certainly, we’re going to continue to watch this.”

“Look, I would love nothing more than to see this (Hurricane Matthew) suddenly take a right-hand turn and go out to sea,” Haley continued. “But as it looks right now, we’re looking at Friday night into Saturday afternoon being pretty brutal.”

If the game is moved or postponed, rather than canceled, here are some options for staging the game:

Play at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA

The Georgia-South Carolina game could be held at Sanford Stadium in Athens. South Carolina would most likely be dubbed the “home” team.

A similar scenario occurred just last season when LSU was scheduled to play at South Carolina. Due to flooding and devastation caused by torrential rain, the game was moved to Baton Rouge. The Gamecocks were the home team and LSU handled the ticket sales. All profits from ticket sales were given to South Carolina.

Play at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA

Georgia and South Carolina could meet at the Georgia Dome, which would serve as more of a neutral site. However, Georgia State is currently scheduled to host Texas State on Saturday at 3:30pm ET.

One option would be to move the Georgia State game up to noon or 1-2pm and then have the Georgia-South Carolina game played later around it’s originally scheduled time of 7:30pm.

Crowd control and parking likely wouldn’t be an issue with the two games even if their kickoff times were set closer. In Georgia State’s first and only home game this season, they recorded an official attendance of just 12,233.

If the doubleheader isn’t doable, Georgia and South Carolina could play in the Dome on Thursday, Friday, or even Sunday due to the Atlanta Falcons playing in Denver.

Play the game on December 3

A third option would be to play the game on Saturday, Dec. 3 in Columbia, South Carolina. Of course, that would be contingent on both Georgia and South Carolina not finishing first in the SEC East.

Georgia is currently 1-2 in the SEC and, due to the loss to Tennessee, a full three games behind the Volunteers. South Carolina is 1-3 in conference play, but has yet to face Georgia, Florida (2-1 SEC) or Tennessee.

Play the game at Bobby Dodd Stadium

Tech is at Pitt on Oct. 8, so ha ha ha ha lol lol lol lol.

Cancel the Georgia-South Carolina game

The final option would be to simply cancel the game. That would be unlikely, but is certainly possible because the safety of student-athletes, fans, public safety officials, residents and all others is of the utmost importance.