The college football season is drawing near the end. With the two bowls, Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, looming around the corner, the fans’ excitement is hitting the roofs. Sadly, the whole nation is now perturbed. Los Angeles County is battling devastating wildfire, leaving thousands of people homeless. That’s when the world of college football came together.

The Texas Longhorns First Lady Loreal Sarkisian was one of the first ones to send her prayers. She expressed her concern on social media as the Longhorns are gearing up to face off against Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes. 

Loreal Sarkisian puts Cotton Bowl glam aside amid crisis

It has been only a few days since the college football fans witnessed an unfortunate incident. The New Orleans attack. The mishap led to the Sugar Bowl getting postponed. Just when the fans planned to enjoy the season’s ending, they received yet another bad news. This time, it’s the natural calamity, the wildfire whose devastating after-effect can only be speculated from the images and videos that went viral. The college football world had been prepping up for the Cotton Bowl. But the excitement had hit a pause after some chilling video from the Pacific Palisades fires started to drop in. That’s what stirred Longhorns HC Steve Sarkisian’s ex-wife, Loreal. On January 8, she posted a story on IG.

Re-sharing the post from Timeless Journal, she wrote, “Praying for California 🙏🏿.”  The Palisades Fire exploded in size as powerful winds hit northwest Los Angeles. As per the reports, at least 10,600 acres of land have been gulped by the blaze. Not just praying for the people in need, Loreal is also trying her best to share important information in this time of crisis. 

In her earlier IG story, Loreal re-shared a post from The Peoples Platform. The caption of the post read, “Please help us spread the word to anyone evacuated from the Los Angeles fires who need a place to stay. We’ve reserved a large block of rooms at a hotel in Sherman Oaks through the weekend.” As per the reports, the 20-acre fire appeared to be burning south toward Hollywood Boulevard. Meanwhile, an evacuation zone was established for the area between the 101 Freeway on the east and Laurel Canyon on the west. In such times of distress, the pre-Bowl discussions have obviously taken a backseat. 

College football world comes together to express concern

As Retired Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Bob Goodman told KTLA News, “It only takes one small ember to land several blocks downwind in areas that are very populated to start a conflagration that could result in people being killed because they waited too long to get out of those neighborhoods.” So, while Loreal shared her concern, other college football stalwarts joined in. 

It probably hurts the USC Trojans’ HC Lincoln Riley a bit more. After all, the Santa Ana winds blasted across Southern California, the sweet home for the Trojans. Back there, tens of thousands of people are evacuating as wildfires like the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fires are eating up acres after acres of land. But the fire department is at its best. Even the USC head coach Riley thanked them and the 1st responders by dropping a folded-hand emoji. 

Besides, Loreal Sarkisian and Lincoln Riley, analyst Kirk Herbstreit too shared his concern. He wrote on X, “Just woke up and seeing how devastating the fires are in Southern California obviously just left that area calling the Rose Bowl-know so many people that are in harm thinking and praying for everyone’s safety in that region 🙏🏼.” While this fire is not going to have any impact on the Cotton Bowl, there are some other concerns. As per the reports, Snow, black ice, sleet, and dangerously cold temperatures in the Dallas and Arlington Areas look concerning.