Texas’ trip to Baton Rouge hit a snag Friday when a nationwide FAA ground stop left the Longhorns stuck on the ground ahead of Saturday’s game against LSU.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the stop at 2:54 p.m. Central Time after air traffic control communications problems affected facilities across the country. The agency said the move was made for safety reasons, and departing aircraft were told to remain grounded until further notice.
Texas was one of several college football programs caught in the mess. According to On3 and Pete Thamel, College Football Senior Writer for ESPN, teams across multiple conferences were affected as travel plans unraveled heading into the weekend.
Among the schools reported in limbo were Baylor, Kansas State, Utah and Arizona State from the Big 12; Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas from the SEC; all visiting ACC teams; and Minnesota, Purdue and Washington from the Big Ten. Oregon State, Wyoming and North Texas were also confirmed to be in limbo.
On3 also reported that Tennessee, Tulane, Ole Miss, Baylor and Kansas State were among the programs whose travel plans were disrupted. Some teams had already made it to their destinations, including Florida, Missouri, Texas Tech and Duke.
The timing is especially awkward for Texas, which is scheduled to meet LSU at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14. At this point, it’s still unclear how long the Longhorns will be delayed or whether the travel issue will have any effect on the game.
The ground stop was the first issued by the FAA since January 2023, when a computer system outage caused flight disruptions nationwide.
The Southeastern Conference Football (SEC) released the following statement:
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