No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama, both unbeaten, remained on schedule as of Friday for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, with Hurricane Isaias bearing down on the Gulf Coast. Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, formed as a tropical storm early Wednesday off eastern Mexico. It strengthened to a Category 3 on Friday and was projected to make landfall near the Alabama-Florida border that evening before moving north and east toward the Carolinas.
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Butler High School on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Vandalia, Ohio.
Alabama announced on Thursday that it had barred tailgating until 1 p.m. ET and banned tents, and ESPN’s College GameDay moved its Saturday morning broadcast inside Coleman Coliseum. The most high-profile guest expected in Tuscaloosa is now out as well.
President Donald Trump announced on Friday afternoon that he would no longer attend. “Based on the fact that a huge Hurricane/Storm is coming, it is important to have our wonderful First Responders, Law Enforcement, and others, focused on that Storm, and in no way be thinking about the safety, or presence, of the President of the United States, ME!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I will be visiting both of those teams at a later date,” he added in the post. He also said he hoped the game would go on as planned, and he kept a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, on his schedule. The original plan had him flying to Tuscaloosa after that afternoon rally.
On Wednesday, asked if the storm could change his plans, Trump had sounded set on going.
“Well, hurricane and football? I love Alabama. I gotta go to the game. It’d be awfully hard,” Trump said.
Alabama, Florida and Georgia declared states of emergency as the forecast hardened, and National Guard members were deployed to areas in the projected path.
NEW: President Donald Trump will no longer attend the Georgia vs. Alabama game due to Hurricane Isaias, @JournoRyan reports.
https://t.co/7CsS73hSvo
— On3 (@On3) October 9, 2026
Will Hurricane Isaias affect the Georgia vs. Alabama game itself?
Tuscaloosa sits under a tropical storm warning but outside the projected path of the eye. Projections had the storm reaching northern Alabama around kickoff, and the early expectation was that the game itself might avoid the worst of it.
College football officials were still discussing the storm’s potential impact on Friday.
Apr 28, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; President Donald Trump honors the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles at The White House in Washington D.C., on April 28, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY via Imagn Images
Trump’s visit would have been his 10th college football game as president since 2017. He was in Knoxville in late September for Texas’ 20-17 win over Tennessee, which made Saturday his second scheduled college football trip in three weeks. For fans in Tuscaloosa, his absence removes one layer of game-day logistics, since a presidential visit means heavier security and arriving early to clear it.
He was also at Bryant-Denny for the 2024 meeting between these teams, when Alabama built a 28-point lead and held on to win 41-34.
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