Miami Canceled Their Game At Arkansas State Due To Hurricane Irma, And - For Some Reason - Their Coach Was Forced To Explain Himself

"I get the safety concerns, but this is suspicious." @CoachNeuheisel on #Miami not wanting to play Friday night at @AStateFB pic.twitter.com/bWETYEyMZX

— ESPNU Radio on SXM (@ESPNUonSiriusXM) September 7, 2017

To set the record straight we have not practiced since Tuesday and we won't til everyone gets back in town after this CATEGORY 5 hurricane!

— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) September 8, 2017

Nor have meet as a team or a staff. The safety of our players and staff and the ability for them to be w/ Family is our priority!

— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) September 8, 2017

Very sad to read some of the comments of some football fans and some members of the media believing we had some other motive! U Family!!

— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) September 8, 2017

Was Miami overly cautious in immediately dismissing the notion of traveling to Arkansas State for a football game as soon as they heard that a natural disaster was en route?

Potentially.

Could they have compromised with a cupcake opponent that was desperate for the national attention and moved up a lopsided matchup to well before Hurricane Irma literally broke ground?

Probably.

However, I can't - in good conscience - say there is anything odd about their decision not to, and I don't just say that because I think Mark Richt wanted to play it safe. Making sure that his staff and players were well prepared for the arrival of (what has the makings of) a historically destructive storm definitely played a factor, but so did the fact that they had no interest in inconveniencing themselves to do a huge favor for a program that can't possibly return it.

If I were Arkansas State I would take the date and time that the game was supposed to be played, throw it on a plaque, and hang in the trophy case, because getting Miami to schedule an away game with a school from the Sun Belt Conference was an accomplishment in and of itself. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing suspicious about not wanting to waste your time steamrolling your way to a sure victory when it could be better spent doing literally anything possible to make your region doesn't get completely steamrolled by unprecedented winds. 

Simply put, if Mark Richt wanted to rally his troops to battle anything other than flood waters then he would have taken a job at A state instead of The 'U'. When you're the head coach of Miami you're afforded the luxury of tending to Hurricanes - of any kind - above all else. As they say, better safe when your competition is sorry.