Lightning in Tuscaloosa within eight miles of Bryant-Denny Stadium has stalled the pregame warmups for Alabama's Week 3 matchup against Florida State, thus delaying the kickoff.
A scheduled 2:30 central kickoff was already delayed to 2:45 to accommodate television commitments, and the current expectation is that kickoff will ultimately be delayed until around 3:30 central, though further updates are still pending. They likely won't set a projected time for the game to start until the lightning clears up and stops resetting the 30-minute clock.
(Update at 3:00pm CT: James Spann reports that the lightning appears to be cleared. It looks like Alabama-Florida State is going to kick off around 4:15pm.
The rule is that a delay has to be at least 30 minutes from the last lightning strike. Considering the teams never finished warming up, you have to add that time on as well.
The rain and stormy weather in Tuscaloosa might be a blessing in disguise for those attending today's game. With temperatures expected to approach 100 degrees, cloudy skies and rain should cool the temps ever so slightly.
But it's still a frustrating delay for this game in particular.
Alabama has been waiting over a year to get revenge on Florida State after last season's stunning upset loss to the Seminoles in Tallahassee. They'll have to wait at least a little bit longer.
Alabama vs. Florida State delayed by lightning in Tuscaloosa
Lightning delays seem more and more prevalent in college football nowadays. You seem to see a few every week. This is the first one for Alabama so far this season, though the threat loomed in each of the first two weeks of the season.
The key for Kalen DeBoer will be to keep his team's energy level during the delay. This game obviously means a little something more for the Crimson Tide, and they are undoubtedly amped to play this game. It's easy to lose your edge sitting around the locker room waiting to get back out there to warm up and play the game.
The threat of lightning and rain could continue throughout the afternoon with isolated storms throughout the state. Hopefully things clear up, and the teams can take the field and play before too much longer. After waiting over a year for this opportunity, an extra hour or so won't matter much in the grand scheme.
We'll provide updates here as we have them.
Add us as a preferred source on Google