The Florida-Idaho game from Saturday that was suspended due to lightning will not be played this season, the two schools announced this evening.
Florida Athletics Director Jeremy Foley and Idaho Athletics Director Rob Spear declared the game a “no contest” and determined that “not rescheduling the game is the only viable option for both programs.”
“We looked at a number of options and, in the end, we both thought it was in the best interest of our student-athletes and football programs to play out the remainder of our respective schedules as they stand,” Foley said.
Florida will honor the contract guarantee to Idaho, which was $975,000. In addition, all tickets purchased through the schools will be refunded.
“I want to thank UF, especially AD Jeremy Foley, for the professional and first-class way they worked through this issue and the focus on student-athlete welfare,” Spear said.
As a result of the cancellation of the 2014 game, the two schools have agreed to meet again in Gainesville in 2017. An exact date will be announced later.
Florida and Idaho mutually shared an open date on Oct. 25 this season, but neither school wanted to play on that date. The Gators wanted to preserve their open date prior to the annual rivalry game against Georgia in Jacksonville.
Idaho, on the other hand, would have had to play games on 11 consecutive weeks if the Florida game was moved to Oct. 25.
The addition of Idaho to the 2017 schedule gives Florida three non-conference games for that season. The Gators open vs. Michigan in Arlington, Texas and the close the regular-season at home vs. Florida State.
Idaho now has their non-league slate tentatively completed in 2017. The Vandals also host UNLV and travel to Nevada and Western Michigan.
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