LSU vs. BYU Moved from Houston to New Orleans Due to Hurricane Harvey

The LSU Tigers and BYU Cougars have moved their season-opener Saturday from NRG Stadium in Houston to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. 

LSU confirmed the move in a statement on its official athletic website.

"ESPN had to make a difficult decision and we are well aware of the awful circumstance that led to this move," athletic director Joe Alleva said. "Every storm is different, but we in Louisiana understand a little about what all of those in Harvey’s path are going through right now. It’s heartbreaking and our prayers go out to all who are impacted."

Pete Derzis, ESPN's senior vice president of college sports programming and events, said Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando, Florida, Nashville, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida, had all offered to host the game.

According to the Advocate's Ross Dellenger, the game will kick off at its regularly scheduled time, 8:30 p.m. ET.

The move comes after Hurricane Harvey, which is now a tropical storm, flooded portions of Houston and surrounding areas.

The weather has also forced the Houston Texans and Houston Astros to move games that were previously scheduled in Houston. The Texans announced they relocated Thursday's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, while the Astros confirmed they will play the Texas Rangers at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, for a three game series.

According to The Advocate, ESPN had final say in where LSU and BYU would play since the network owns the rights to the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff, an annual game in Houston that began in 2013.

This is the third straight year LSU has had to move a game because of inclement weather.

In 2015, the Tigers agreed to host the South Carolina Gamecocks when flooding in Columbia, South Carolina, made Williams-Brice Stadium an unsuitable location. Last year, LSU and Florida made a deal to push back their October matchup to November as a result of Hurricane Matthew. As part of the agreement, the game was also in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, meaning Florida will get LSU at home in 2017 and 2018.