ASU Kickoff Delayed After 17-Hour Flight Delay Due to FAA Ground Stop

Arizona State arrived in Orlando for its game against UCF after a 17-hour flight delay caused by a nationwide FAA ground stoppage.

Originally scheduled to depart on Friday afternoon, the Sun Devils finally took off at 7:25 a.m. local time on Saturday morning. Favorable jet streams and pilots who understood the situation helped the charter flight land at Orlando International Airport in just three hours and 22 minutes.

Kenny Dillingham and his team touched down at 12:47 p.m. EST, leaving less than three hours before kickoff. Game officials adjusted the start time from 3:30 p.m. EST to 5:30 p.m. EST, giving the program a narrow window for a hotel meal and meetings before heading to the Bounce House.

ASU is scrambling to make its cross-country trek — 2,000 miles—to face UCF. The Sun Devils are now scheduled to fly out early Saturday morning, pending their flight crews' availability, with the hope of getting out as early as possible. ASU coach Kenny Dillingham told… https://t.co/7mYjspwoqA

— Post by @BruceFeldmanCFB on X

“I’ve coached high school games before where we’ve had four-hour bus rides, so let’s dance! There’s really nothing you can do about it. It is what it is. And it’s not like they’re gonna count it as .75 in the loss column if you lose. If you make a big deal about it with your team, then it’s a big deal. I’m trying to make it as un-big of a deal as we can,” Dillingham told The Athletic.

The travel disruption extended well beyond Tempe. The Sports Business Journal tracking data showed 19 college football teams grounded by the FAA stoppage, including several Big 12 programs such as Baylor, Utah, and Kansas State.

Seven total games across the college football schedule received kickoff adjustments on Saturday morning. The updated times include Kansas versus West Virginia at 3:30 p.m. EST, Auburn versus Mississippi State at 4:15 p.m. EST, and Tulane versus Rice at 4:30 p.m. EST.

Arizona State and UCF will kick off at 5:30 p.m. EST, alongside Washington and Michigan State. Baylor and BYU are set for 7 p.m. EST, while FAU and Tulsa cap the adjusted slate at 7:15 p.m. EST.

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The rest of the Big 12 Saturday lineup features Cincinnati at Iowa State, Kansas State at TCU, Kansas at West Virginia, Arizona State at UCF, Baylor at BYU, Texas Tech at Oklahoma State, and Utah at Arizona.