The University of Utah football team remained grounded in Salt Lake City on Friday after a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop disrupted air travel. The outage has threatened the team's arrival in Tucson for a high-stakes matchup against the Arizona Wildcats.
University officials confirmed to Roundtable Sports that the team's charter flight was unable to depart Salt Lake City because of the FAA communications outage. The team eventually returned to the Eccles Football Center on campus. As of 8 p.m. ET on Friday, the team was waiting for further information regarding next steps.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Duffy noted that FAA technicians are investigating the issue. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also addressed the disruption at the White House, stating that officials had not established a timeline for resolving the communications outage.
The travel uncertainty comes at a critical point in the season for the undefeated Utes, who hold a 9-0 record and the No. 2 position in the College Football Playoff rankings. The team is coming off a 28-20 victory over BYU.
Utah's defense has been a significant factor, including a performance where they forced Bear Bachmeier to throw four interceptions. The offense has been led by quarterback Devon Dampier. Meanwhile, Arizona enters the Saturday matchup with a 7-2 record, led by quarterback Noah Fifita.
As of now, Utah and Arizona are scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. It remains unclear whether the Utes will reach Tucson in time for the kickoff or if the Big 12 will consider alternative travel arrangements.
