After a nearly 90-minute lightning delay, ServPro First Responder Bowl officials ruled Wednesday’s matchup a no contest, marking the first postseason cancellation due to weather in FBS history.
Boston College (7-5) led No. 25 Boise State, 7-0, with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter when the first lightning strike sent both teams to the locker rooms. Seven more strikes hit the Dallas area, each bringing an additional 30-minute delay along with it. At around 3:20 EST, coaches, athletic directors, and bowl officials opted to call the game given that thunderstorms were expected to continue well into the night. All statistics, including A.J. Dillon’s 19-yard touchdown run, are deemed obsolete.
“When I learned that the one [storm] coming in at 3:00 was five times bigger with 350 lightning strikes, that was all I needed to hear,” Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond said. “In all my years of college athletics, I’ve never seen this.”
Jarmond then returned to the locker room to break the news to a team of seniors who had worked so hard for a shot at eight wins. The scene was bittersweet as head coach Steve Addazio personally thanked every one of his outgoing players.
“I told them I loved them, how much they’ve done for our program,” he said in an emotional postgame press conference. “Four or five years I’ve been with these guys, this is the best group of guys I’ve ever been around.”
It appeared as if Addazio and the Eagles were going to end their 2018 campaign on a high note after they marched 75 yards on their opening scoring drive. With Bowling Green head coach and former offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler up in the booth for one final game, BC opened up room in the passing game with play-action fakes as Anthony Brown found Kobay White and Jeff Smith to move the chains into the red zone. Dillon, who looked fresher after a month of rest, easily broke a tackle on his way to the end zone to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Even without Zach Allen and Isaiah McDuffie, BC’s defense was aggressive at the line of scrimmage and limited the Broncos to just 33 yards over nine minutes of action. Hamp Cheevers nearly pulled down his eighth interception of the season, Brandon Sebastian recorded a nice stop and pass breakup, and Wyatt Ray halted BSU’s opening drive with a sack of Brett Rypien.
Graduate linebacker Connor Strachan, for one, expressed his frustration that the Eagles weren’t able to finish the job.
“Unfortunately, we don’t control the weather,” Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin said. “None of these players do. Their responses are what you’d imagine. The game’s over. You go back to player safety, that’s the most important thing.”
Rypien, BSU’s star senior quarterback, did not seem thrilled to be cheated out of one last game as a Bronco--and one final opportunity to showcase his talents for NFL scouts.
“It sucks,” he said. “That is the only way you can put it. You fly all the way down here and unfortunately the weather wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t safe enough to play. I will be able to go out and enjoy a meal with my family tonight and hopefully others will too but unfortunately for the fans that flew down here that sucks.”
Fans who purchased their tickets through BC will be eligible for a refund through Jan. 2, Jarmond announced after the cancellation. The city of Dallas, which agreed to pay $300,000 over two years, isn’t so lucky.
“Unless God issues refund checks for bad weather, no,” said Willis Winters, director of Dallas' Park and Recreation Department. “That’s not in the contract."
Boston College (7-5) led No. 25 Boise State, 7-0, with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter when the first lightning strike sent both teams to the locker rooms. Seven more strikes hit the Dallas area, each bringing an additional 30-minute delay along with it. At around 3:20 EST, coaches, athletic directors, and bowl officials opted to call the game given that thunderstorms were expected to continue well into the night. All statistics, including A.J. Dillon’s 19-yard touchdown run, are deemed obsolete.
“When I learned that the one [storm] coming in at 3:00 was five times bigger with 350 lightning strikes, that was all I needed to hear,” Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond said. “In all my years of college athletics, I’ve never seen this.”
Jarmond then returned to the locker room to break the news to a team of seniors who had worked so hard for a shot at eight wins. The scene was bittersweet as head coach Steve Addazio personally thanked every one of his outgoing players.
“I told them I loved them, how much they’ve done for our program,” he said in an emotional postgame press conference. “Four or five years I’ve been with these guys, this is the best group of guys I’ve ever been around.”
It appeared as if Addazio and the Eagles were going to end their 2018 campaign on a high note after they marched 75 yards on their opening scoring drive. With Bowling Green head coach and former offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler up in the booth for one final game, BC opened up room in the passing game with play-action fakes as Anthony Brown found Kobay White and Jeff Smith to move the chains into the red zone. Dillon, who looked fresher after a month of rest, easily broke a tackle on his way to the end zone to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Even without Zach Allen and Isaiah McDuffie, BC’s defense was aggressive at the line of scrimmage and limited the Broncos to just 33 yards over nine minutes of action. Hamp Cheevers nearly pulled down his eighth interception of the season, Brandon Sebastian recorded a nice stop and pass breakup, and Wyatt Ray halted BSU’s opening drive with a sack of Brett Rypien.
Graduate linebacker Connor Strachan, for one, expressed his frustration that the Eagles weren’t able to finish the job.
“Unfortunately, we don’t control the weather,” Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin said. “None of these players do. Their responses are what you’d imagine. The game’s over. You go back to player safety, that’s the most important thing.”
Rypien, BSU’s star senior quarterback, did not seem thrilled to be cheated out of one last game as a Bronco--and one final opportunity to showcase his talents for NFL scouts.
“It sucks,” he said. “That is the only way you can put it. You fly all the way down here and unfortunately the weather wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t safe enough to play. I will be able to go out and enjoy a meal with my family tonight and hopefully others will too but unfortunately for the fans that flew down here that sucks.”
Fans who purchased their tickets through BC will be eligible for a refund through Jan. 2, Jarmond announced after the cancellation. The city of Dallas, which agreed to pay $300,000 over two years, isn’t so lucky.
“Unless God issues refund checks for bad weather, no,” said Willis Winters, director of Dallas' Park and Recreation Department. “That’s not in the contract."
