Meteorologist Jim Cantore Reveals Which College Football Game He’s Most Worried About

Undefeated James Madison visits Statesboro for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff as Georgia Southern delays parking and tailgating while Hurricane Isaias pushes storms across south Georgia.

Jim Cantore, of The Weather Channel, does a live report at Crocker's Landing in Wilmington, North Carolina, before Hurricane Florence arrived. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore named James Madison at Georgia Southern as the college football game he’s most worried about Saturday, warning that Hurricane Isaias could spin up tornadoes around Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.

Cantore said storms should wind down at Georgia Tech and Florida later in the day, but he singled out the Eagles’ Sun Belt Conference home game. “The Georgia Southern game has the possibility of tornadoes, so that’s actually my biggest fear right now,” Cantore said.

What did Jim Cantore say?

Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel host known for covering hurricanes in Florida, visits Tallahassee. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Cantore ran through several Southeast games in the storm’s path, including Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, before he got to Statesboro. He said Florida’s concerns in Gainesville were about football and not weather.

“The biggest question there in Gainesville is which Gators team is going to show up, right? It’s not about the weather,” Cantore said.

The longtime storm chaser was more direct about the Eagles. “At that game, we have a lot of storms that could produce some severe weather with some tornadoes,” Cantore said. He added that the storm “came and went on the coast and continues to move north.”

Georgia Southern’s game-day weather plan

Georgia Southern Eagles quarterback Max Johnson (7) throws a pass against the Clemson Tigers | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Georgia Southern said Thursday that it was monitoring Isaias with the Sun Belt and James Madison because of the potential for inclement weather in the afternoon and into game time. On Friday, the school pushed back the opening of game-day parking lots, tailgating and suite operations around Paulson Stadium from 8 a.m. to noon ET.

Kickoff remains 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Savannah-area forecasters expected strong storms and a low-end tornado risk from before daybreak into the early afternoon, with showers and gusty winds continuing into the evening.

The game carries conference title weight. James Madison is 5-0 and 2-0 in Sun Belt play under first-year coach Billy Napier, but the Dukes have lost all six of their trips to Statesboro. Georgia Southern is 2-3 after a 31-24 win at Coastal Carolina last weekend in coach Clay Helton’s fifth season.

“When I look at them on tape, they look like a top-25 football team and are playing like it right now,” Helton said of the Dukes.

Hurricane Isaias college football schedule changes

11 am Friday, Oct. 9, 2026 update: Isaias is currently a Category 3 Major Hurricane with max sustained winds of 120 mph. Impacts like wind, surge, flooding rain (considerable flash flooding possible), and tornadoes (some potentially strong) will extend far from the center. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Isaias made landfall around 8:30 p.m. Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, and the storm forced seven college football games to change dates or kickoff times. West Florida canceled its home game against Northeastern State in Pensacola, Florida.

Rice at East Carolina became the only FBS game to shift as of Friday afternoon, moving up to a 1 p.m. ET kickoff. No. 2 Georgia at No. 6 Alabama remains on schedule in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, though ESPN moved College GameDay into Coleman Coliseum. Georgia Southern Athletics said it will post any schedule changes for the James Madison game on its website and social media channels.