Fans gather in the concourse during a weather delay at halftime of a Saturday NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and South Florida in South Bend, Ind. Officials evacuated the stadium due to severe weather. MICHAEL CONRAY/AP Photo
Anyone else see how much rain other college football areas got and just want to cry a little, looking at how dry things are turning here again?
First, let's start with the one that had two delays but actually finished: Notre Dame hosting the University of South Florida in South Bend, Ind. on Saturday afternoon.
According to the Associated Press, Notre Dame officials said the evacuation of the football stadium, because of lightning reported within 10 miles of the stadium, was successful and that it avoided any injuries among the 80,000 fans.
It was the first-ever evacuation of the stadium, but you won't hear local businesses complaining: Hundreds of fans reportedly packed nearby restaurants during the halftime evacuation, the AP reports. Here is a shot of what an evacuated stadium looks like in heavy rain:
Did I mention that they had to evacuate... twice?
You would never know by that stadium shot that there was a football game scheduled. Severe weather caused the second evacuation in the fourth quarter of the game, that South Florida eventually won. (AP Photos by Michael Conroy)
Moving slightly north and slightly east to Ann Arbor, Michigan, also Saturday afternoon, we answer the following question: What is the last thing football fans want to see on the Jumbotron:
Answer: The weather radar.
The game between the universities of Western Michigan and Michigan was called in the third quarter, when once again, like Notre Dame, officials called for a stadium evacuation. ESPN reported that this was the first time since 2002 that a college football game ended early due to weather, and, but Wolverine fans probably aren't complaining: officials gave Michigan the win 34-10.
Because this is just something you don't see at a football game every day, another shot of the weather. (All Michigan/West Michigan AP Photos by Tony Ding).
Also of note, this was Michigan head football coach Brady Hoke's first game as head coach of Michigan. Here he is in the middle of the storm:
The third game was Sunday afternoon in Morgantown, W.V., where the universities of West Virginia and Marshall played their opening game of college football season.
So football fans, if you aren't seeing a giant radar image on Jumbotron, what is the other worst thing to be shown at a college football game?
Here, the scoreboard warns fans to leave during a weather delay midway through the third quarter with West Virginia leading 27-13. (Marshall/West Virginia AP Photos by Jeff Gentner)
Those giant puddles in West Virginia would be welcomed here in Oklahoma, wouldn't they?
Of course, not everyone in the tens of thousands can evacuate immediately due to stadium congestion. So, what better way to wait out the lines then dance mid-field?
That game ended early in the fourth quarter, with West Virgina winning over Marshall, 34-13.
Full disclosure: I am a University of Oklahoma alum. Further full disclosure: I was part of the OU marching band in 2002, when the teams were called to the locker rooms when OU hosted UTEP as severe weather approached. However, when the announcer advised fans to seek shelter rather than stay in the stands, the band was on the field (we wouldn't have all fit in the ramps, anyway) and the fans danced in the stands. Here is photographic proof in a Tulsa World File photo:
We were drenched, but it was all right, because it was still practically summer. However, when we hosted South Florida later that season and it started raining, we were freezing from the rain. And that time, there was no lightning to call us, the teams, or the other spectators to shelter. It was, without a doubt, the most miserable OU game (not factoring wins or losses, because we won both UTEP and South Florida games that season) I've ever attended, because of the weather alone.
--Althea Peterson
