FAU football played against the Wisconsin Badgers last Saturday, but they’ve been trapped there since this past Wednesday thanks to the hurricane.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Daniel Parr said that while the team was stranded, they’ve still been able to practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To him, the hurricane hasn’t been much of a distraction.

“The last few days have been pretty much football, just hanging out in the hotel,” Parr said. “It’s not the worst thing that could happen, it’s probably a blessing in disguise. We’re just focused on playing next Saturday.”

Despite being far away from his family in Palm Beach Gardens, Parr has been able to get in contact with them and get updates from home.

“I know my family’s fine, I just hope everyone else’s is OK,” he said. “I’m just focused on football.”

During their time in Wisconsin, senior running back Greg Howell said that the team has made the most of the situation.

“Just relaxing, playing cards, really coming together as a team after a loss, that’s huge,” he said. “Most people go their separate ways and this brought us together.”

A big factor for Howell was how Wisconsin cared even though the team didn’t know them.

“They treat us like they treat their athletes, let us use their weight room, eat their food, they really are a class act,” he said. “They put our arms around us and made sure we stayed safe and not have to rush back with the hurricane, that is utmost respect. You just have to be grateful for the opportunity.”

Another thing that shocked Howell was the fact that the other team came over to ask how they were doing with the hurricane after the game.

“It was unexpected and cool that someone from the other team would go out of their way to ask how they were doing.”

FAU will be playing Bethune-Cookman as planned, according to a tweet Monday from the FAU Public Affairs account.

Athletic director Pat Chun said to independent sports outlet Owl Access that there was “minimal damage to the stadium and should be ready for gameday.”

Exterior damage to the stadium included some art and lights on the scoreboard being ripped and the home game list on the south stands falling off.

Zach Evans is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @zackevanstweets.