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USF journal: Hurricane not expected to affect Bulls’ travel plans

Hurricane Michael is expected to make landfall a full day before the Bulls leave for Tulsa
 
Published Oct. 10, 2018|Updated Oct. 10, 2018

The Bulls' travel plans for Tulsa remained unchanged Tuesday afternoon, though school officials continued monitoring the path and pace of Hurricane Michael.

Michael, which reached Category 3 status late Tuesday, was expected to make landfall around midday Wednesday in either the Panhandle or Big Bend area. The Bulls are scheduled to leave for Tulsa in the early afternoon on Thursday, when a bulk of the storm is expected to be out of the Gulf.

Related: Hurricane Michael now a Category 3 storm

The only modification to this point for USF is an adjustment to the practice schedule. The Bulls pushed Wednesday's practice to later in the afternoon. Gusty winds, thunderstorms and possible flooding in some areas were expected for Tampa Bay for most of Wednesday.

Surprisingly, only six Bulls players hail from the Panhandle. Senior WR Tyre McCants, raised in Niceville (on the Panhandle's western end), said he has been in steady communication with his mother.

"She said the way the hurricane's coming, it's not gonna really hit them that hard; they're gonna get a lot of rain," McCants said Tuesday. "But if they need to evacuate, they can. I'm gonna talk to them daily and check on them."

The No. 23 Bulls (5-0, 1-0) play the Golden Hurricane (1-4, 0-2) Friday at 7 p.m. in an American Athletic Conference game to be televised live on ESPN.

ENCORE PERFORMANCE?

Junior TB Jordan Cronkrite, the Bulls' resident du jour since his 302-yard performance Saturday at UMass, said he reached the triple-century mark once before, at Miami's Westminster Christian.

According to MaxPreps, Cronkrite also ran for 302 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries (the exact same numbers he posted at UMass) in a 46-23 victory against Fort Lauderdale University on Oct. 30, 2014.

He said he was honored Coach Charlie Strong chose to keep him in Saturday's game so he could have a chance at 300.

"Usually if you have a big game or something like that, like 200 yards, they put everybody else in. He wanted me to get an achievement for myself personally, and I love him for that."