Florida head coach Jim McElwain is still bothered by the comments LSU AD Joe Alleva made in an email chain about the Gators’ decision to postpone the game between the teams because of Hurricane Matthew.
LSU and Florida were originally scheduled to play on Oct. 8, but the game was postponed because of Hurricane Matthew. The sides spent a week negotiating before agreeing to play the game on Nov. 19 in Baton Rouge. Both programs had to buy their way out of previously scheduled games, while LSU accused Florida of not wanting to play the game in order to make their path to winning the SEC East easier.
Alleva called the whole situation “a joke.”
Florida’s AD said LSU was unreasonable in the discussions.
“We made this decision to play the game in Baton Rouge,” Jeremy Foley said in a statement provided by the school. “The conference office asked us to find a solution in working with LSU, yet LSU was never a true partner in our discussions. The Southeastern Conference offered some other solutions and the LSU administration made it clear that they were unwilling to consider other reasonable options.”
Florida agreed to travel for the game even though it was initially set to be played in Gainesville.
The Gators ended up winning Saturday 16-10 thanks to a goal-line stand at the end of the game. After the victory, an emotional McElwain did an interview with SEC Network and alluded to the strained negotiations with LSU with scheduling the game.
Jim McElwain is really emotional. "What amazes me is people call people out when there's actually tragedy happening. Unbelievable to me."
— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonCBS) November 19, 2016
McElwain also noted that Florida had gone on the road to win a home game.
In the end, maybe justice prevailed in the situation with the Gators winning. They clinched the SEC East with the victory, and you know McElwain felt some extra satisfaction.
