Isnt There A Domed Stadium Nearby I Forget

Maybe for LSU, but remember Florida had a game canceled last year due to the same scenario.

The bigger issue is why hasn't the NCAA set up contingency plans since we've seen it happen twice in the last two seasons?

 

Next year

 

The only reason more games haven't been cancelled is because in the past there was no lightning safety rule. There was a Georgia Tech game 2 or 3 seasons ago in Atlanta where lightning destroyed Lee Corso's rental car right in the stadium parking lot. I think that game had progressed to the point where they could just walk off and declare Georgia Tech the winner since they were comfortably ahead in the second half.

 

Problem is the logistics of moving the game even to a nearby indoor field (never mind including the fans) make it unrealistic. Also schedules are so tight there often are no mutual off weeks for the game to be made up. Playing on Sunday, Monday then having a potentially critical game the next Saturday would penalize the team's too much to be fair.
What reasonable contingency can they make?

 

What's done is done but the easiest way to get the game in would have been to round up some mattresses and cots for the McNeese people an put them in the PMAC. Get them food and rest and then play in Tiger Stadium Sunday afternoon. I don't think playing McNeese a day late would have an adverse effect on LSU greater than not being able to play and work out the kinks and miscues. You have heard of Monday Night Football. The teams play on short rest the following Sunday.

 

Setting McNeese aside for a second ...

I'd have no problems with games being played the following day. Hell, kick 'em off on Sunday morning. Yes, they'll be a little more tired for the following Saturday ... but that would just be one of the breaks of the game.

It's really no different than a team playing on Thursday night with a big game coming up nine days later but their opponent played Saturday night.

 

You can't just say we're going to throw together a major college football game together in 12 - 18 hours and expect the product to be anything like it would have been on Saturday night. Very likely the people clamoring for the game would be complaining about it afterwards. There would be no crowd atmosphere, reduced support people, and just a shadow of a game because the player focus would be different. It's one thing to plan to have a Sunday morning game; its another to ad hoc it.

 

When one team is an overwhelming underdog the dog team players get pumped up to try to do the impossible. This spirit lasts until they are proven to be vastly inferior and the the game quickly gets out of hand. Sometimes they even give the favorite a respectable game.

The favorite goes into games like this not especially pumped up but more lets take care of business. Once the ge was postponed and the teams had cooled down in the locker rooms McNeese was never going to get that pregame rush back but LSU would still just do what they had to do. Superior talent would have been evident whether the game had been resumed after an hour,'s delay or if they had played on Sunday. It would have been much, much worse for McNeese than if the game had never been interrupted