Hurricane Irene Postpones Miami Game Against Temple

For the second year in a row, a game involving the Miami Hurricanes was postponed because of a hurricane.

Today’s game between No. 24 Miami and Temple was postponed until Dec. 4 because Hurricane Irene prevented the Owls from arriving for the game.

“This is a tremendous disappointment for us not to be able to have a home game this weekend,” Miami Athletic Director Paul Dee said. “But our first concern is for the safety of our players, fans and opponent.”

Temple planned to fly from Philadelphia to Miami on Friday, but most airlines suspended service to South Florida after Irene hit the area with strong winds and more than 16 inches of rain.

Three of Miami’s last four home games have been threatened by hurricanes.

The postponement last year didn’t work out badly for the Hurricanes. The Miami-UCLA game was postponed from Sept. 26 to Dec. 5 because of Hurricanes Georges. Miami won, 49-45.

Hurricane Floyd threatened Miami’s showdown last month against Penn State, but the game was played as scheduled at the Orange Bowl. A week later, the Hurricanes’ game against East Carolina was moved from Greenville, N.C., to Raleigh because of flood waters resulting from Floyd.

Bethune-Cookman College postponed its game against South Carolina State at Daytona Beach. The game, which had been scheduled for tonight, will be played Thursday night.

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Oregon starting cornerback Tamoni Joiner has been suspended indefinitely for “repeated violation of team rules,” Coach Mike Bellotti said.

Joiner, a junior from Tucson, will not play in Oregon’s game Oct. 23 at Arizona, in his hometown. The Ducks are idle this week.

Joiner also was suspended for a Sept. 11 game against Texas El Paso. The reason Bellotti gave then also was unspecified violation of team rules.

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Florida quarterback Doug Johnson sat out passing drills for the second day in a row because of a sore right shoulder.

Coach Steve Spurrier said he will make a game-time decision on whether Johnson or backup Jesse Palmer will start tonight at Auburn.

Spurrier said Johnson’s shoulder had been sore since last Sunday, after No. 7 Florida’s 31-10 victory over Louisiana State. Johnson did not throw Monday but worked out the next two days. The soreness didn’t abate, however, so Spurrier kept him out of drills again to close the week.