The UCF Knights and Penn State Nittany Lions were almost all set to open the college football season in Dublin, Ireland, until the threat of a volcano eruption arose.

According to the Associated Press, next week's oversees matchup could be cancelled if the risk of the Eyjafjallajokul volcano erupting is too great. While the volcano is in Iceland, the ash it could potentially send into the air would likely disrupt a myriad of European flights.

The Iceland Civil Protection Department has evacuated some 500 people most in danger from the potential eruption, as the volcano has been exhibiting signs for weeks. Recently, Iceland officials raised the volcano's warning level to orange, the last stage before red, the most severe one. While orange indicates "intense seismic activity," red means an eruption is imminent.

The two teams will play Saturday, Aug. 30, but their flight would depart Aug. 26. If the game goes on in Dublin, kick-off will be aired in the U.S. at 8:30 a.m. on ESPN 2.

"We're aware of that and we're monitoring that situation," Michael Hazel, Penn State's director of football operations, said in a statement to the Centre Daily Times. "We have to lean on United Airlines and the folks that are handling our cargo as it relates to that. That's kind of out of our area of expertise."

Said Brian Ormiston, a spokesman for UCF, "We are aware of the situation of the volcano in Iceland and we are monitoring the situation."

In 2010, the same volcano erupted and spewed enough ash into the air to cancel more than 100,000 flights across Europe for about a week.

"Basically, the warning level goes up and down depending on the other activity," Dr. Kevin Furlong, a Penn State professor of geosciences, told Onward State. "For Iceland, the main thing they are monitoring is the small earthquakes. They're very small, but the instruments pick them up. If they increase, the level of warning could increase, but if they stop, the level goes down."