Lightning delays start of No. 10 Miami's game against Ball State

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Ball State waited a long time to play Miami. And on Saturday, the Cardinals had to keep waiting.

Lightning in the area delayed the start of the game between the 10th-ranked Hurricanes and the Cardinals, two programs that were set to play for the first time. The game kicked off at 5:55 p.m., or nearly 2 1/2 hours later than originally planned.

The first delay was called shortly after 3 p.m., about a half-hour before the scheduled 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Teams were told they could take the field for warmups around 4:10 p.m. — just as pouring rain began to fall at the stadium.

And around 4:30 p.m., more lightning was detected in the area, starting yet another delay. By rule, the lightning being within 8 miles started another mandatory pushback of at least 30 more minutes. That also meant all fans who had already found their way to their seats had to seek shelter under cover in the concourses once again until the all-clear was announced at 5:34 p.m.

There were other delays around the Sunshine State on Saturday because of storms, which are common in Florida at this time of year. Florida's game against Texas A&M was delayed for about 45 minutes because of lightning on Saturday afternoon, and an NAIA game in Miami Gardens between Florida Memorial and Clark Atlanta was also halted in the second half because of the weather.

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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press