Mother Nature has forced the unveiling of Florida’s new-look offense to be delayed by a week.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m. ET, UF announced that its season opener at The Swamp against Idaho has been “terminated due to unsafe field conditions.” The game had been scheduled to kick-off at seven o’clock local time, but severe thunderstorms prompted what turned into a nearly three-hour delay.
NCAA rules dictate that any lightning strike within eight miles of a stadium triggers a delay of no less than one hour.
Play resumed around 10 ET, but yet another lightning strike immediately following the opening kickoff return prompted yet another delay. Once that second delay happened, the NCAA rulebook kicked in again.
Here are the rules regarding a game in suspension: #IdahovsUF pic.twitter.com/UGbget10Dn
— ESPNU (@ESPNU) August 31, 2014
There has been no makeup date scheduled, although it was initially reported that the game wouldn’t be rescheduled and the two teams would instead settle for 11-game seasons. However, it was subsequently reported that the game could be made up.
Both teams have off-weekends Oct. 25, so that’s certainly a possibility.
As for photographic evidence of why the game was cancelled, it’s very easy to see:
Looking real swampy now...#Gators pic.twitter.com/dIrbGji0QW
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) August 31, 2014