Ruston Expecting Heavy Rain For UTEP and La Tech Football

As Hurricane Delta prepares to hit the Gulf Coast, it is now categorized as a Category 3 storm. Parts of Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi could receive damaging wins and flooding as it approaches landfall tomorrow. LSU moved their home football game against Missouri to to Columbia, Mo. and the Louisiana home game against Coastal Carolina was postponed. However, Louisiana Tech plans to keep their home homecoming football game against UTEP at 5:30pm MT in Ruston.

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN 2, with the broadcast team consisting of Dave O'Brien, Mike Golic, and Eric Wood. Despite losing last week at BYU, La Tech is still 2-1 this season and 1-0 in C-USA. The game will be the first conference contest for the Miners, who were off last week.

There were rumors that the game could have been moved to the Sun Bowl, Shreveport, or even Dallas, but La Tech interim athletic director Mary Kay Hungate is committed to keeping the game in Ruston unless C-USA intervenes to move it to another location. Assuming the game is played at Joe Ailett Stadium, there is a good chance that rain will be in the forecast from now through kickoff Saturday night. The good news is that Field Turf Revolution is the playing surface at Joe Ailett Stadium, and its composition should keep players from slipping and sliding during the game. It is designed with 70-percent sand and 30-percent rubber which form a sturdy surface so cleats can get traction no matter how wet the field gets. It also has an excellent drainage system which keeps water from building up on the surface no matter how hard the rain gets.

Obviously strong winds and lightning could also affect the game, as well as possible power outages in the area. Given UTEP's power running game, rainy conditions could play right into the hands of the Miners. UTEP is currently a 15-point underdog to the Bulldogs. Jon Teicher and Mike Perez will have all the action beginning at 4:30 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso.