Report: Atlanta likely destination if USC-Georgia is moved

The Georgia Dome in Atlanta would be the probable destination of South Carolina’s game against Georgia on Saturday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, should the contest be moved because of impending impacts from Hurricane Matthew.

The AJC’s Chip Towers published a report Tuesday evening that suggests USC-Georgia could be played at the Georgia Dome at 8 p.m. Saturday. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.

“All indications are they’re not going to play this game in South Carolina, folks,” Towers said in his report. “That said, the Gamecocks desperately want to keep it there.”

USC moved a home game against LSU in 2015 to Baton Rouge, La., after flooding devastated parts of the state, including Columbia.

South Carolina hasn’t played in Atlanta since the 2010 season, when the Gamecocks played there twice: once for the SEC championship and again in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

A decision regarding the game will be made later this week in consultation with state and local officials, USC said earlier Tuesday.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley didn’t sound so confident that the game will take place without a hitch.

The governor, in a news conference Tuesday to declare a state of emergency because of the hurricane, said the ultimate decision on whether the USC-Georgia game happens as scheduled is up to the school and the SEC.

“It’s a complete decision based on the schools,” Haley said. “As of now, I can’t imagine that happening but certainly we’re going to continue to watch this. I would love nothing more than to see this take a right-hand turn and go out to sea. As it looks right now, we’re looking at Friday afternoon into Saturday being pretty brutal.”

USC’s downtown Columbia campus will close Wednesday in preparation for Hurricane Matthew. USC expects classes to remain canceled the rest of the week.

In anticipation of the storm, USC’s equestrian and volleyball matches vs. Georgia, scheduled for Friday, have been postponed. The volleyball match was moved to Athens.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Report: Atlanta likely destination if USC-Georgia is moved."