This college football squad endured a rough start to Week 0

Delaware State University Hornets head coach Lee Hull. Benjamin Chambers/Delaware News Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK

Planes, delays and a hurricane: Rough start to Week 0 for this college squad

By Austen Bundy | Last updated Aug 22, 2024 3:17 PM ET

What they wanted was to play a football game in Hawaii. What they got was three days of delay of game.

The Delaware State Hornets football team will play the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu on Aug. 24 but just getting to the island state required multiple audibles this week.

The team was originally scheduled to take a 10.5-hour direct flight from New York City's JFK airport on Tuesday, which it needed charter buses to transport the players and equipment roughly three hours and 180 miles from Dover.

But that's where the snafus began. Delaware State missed its flight on Tuesday due to the charter buses showing up late.

Wertz Motor Coaches provided a statement to HBCU Gameday apologizing for an "internal scheduling malfunction."

The team stayed in a Queens hotel on Tuesday night, with the players taking it all in stride by posting videos online about the episode.

Looks like vibes are still high for Delaware State football even after they missed their flight to Hawaii pic.twitter.com/iEMETpf6R5
— Stan Becton (@stan_becton) August 21, 2024

“It was unfortunate with the bus company, but that’s another matter,” Delaware State president Tony Allen told The News Journal.

“I can tell you these are resilient guys,” Allen added. “Things like this happen. They got it. I know they’ll be uber-focused on the game.”

On Wednesday morning, the team made its new flight to Hawaii — well, most of the team.

According to Delaware Online, multiple flights were needed to get all the players and equipment to Honolulu. Some players had to take a plane departing at 2:15 a.m. on Thursday.

The last of the Hornets have arrived at HNL!

Flight left at 2:15 AM - JFK

College Football is Back!#SMSports #NCAAF pic.twitter.com/FYPxLYeuEj
— KC Smurthwaite (@KcSmurthwaite) August 22, 2024

With everybody finally in "The Aloha State," the team can begin gameday preparations — or so it hopes.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center put out an advisory Thursday stating it's watching a tropical depression that could threaten the Hawaiian islands by the weekend.

With kickoff set for 6 p.m. local (midnight ET) on Saturday, Delaware State will have to hope it can catch a break after an already nightmarish saga before the start of its college football season.

Austen Bundy

Austen Bundy is a journalist and sports junkie from the Washington, D. C. area

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