Lightning over Tuscaloosa has put Alabama’s Week 3 game against Florida State on hold before the opening whistle.
The first delay came before kickoff even arrived. The matchup was already pushed from 2:30 central to 2:45 to satisfy television commitments, but lightning within eight miles of Bryant-Denny Stadium has now stalled pregame warmups and sent the game into a longer wait. The current expectation is that kickoff will slide to around 3:30 central, though that is still subject to change.
Under the rule, the clock has to stay clean for at least 30 minutes after the last lightning strike. Because Alabama and Florida State never finished warming up, that delay stretches even further. A projected start time may not be set until the lightning stops resetting that window.
The weather may at least take the edge off the heat. Temperatures were expected to climb close to 100 degrees, so the rain and cloud cover could make the day a little more bearable for fans in the stadium.
Still, it is an annoying pause for a game Alabama has had circled for a long time. The Crimson Tide have been waiting more than a year to answer last season’s shocking loss to Florida State in Tallahassee, and they’ll have to sit with that anticipation a bit longer.
Lightning delays have become a familiar part of college football, and this one is Alabama’s first of the season, even though the threat hovered over the Tide in each of the first two weeks. For Kalen DeBoer, the challenge now is keeping his team locked in while it waits. That’s not easy in a game that carries extra juice, especially when players are stuck inside the locker room instead of building toward kickoff.
The storm could linger through the afternoon, with isolated storms expected across the state. For now, Alabama and Florida State wait, and the clock keeps getting reset.
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