The first Saturday of Week 1 of the college football season is coming to an end, but it has yet to feature the game that everyone is looking forward to: Clemson traveling to LSU to play at Tiger Stadium in Death Valley.
But everyone will need to wait a little longer to watch both Tigers go at it.
The game is originally scheduled to start at 7:49 p.m. ET on ABC, but it doesn’t appear it will start then.
Clemson-LSU has Been Hit With Weather
On3’s national college sports reporter Wilson Alexander reported on X at 6:28 p.m. ET that pregame warmups can’t start yet for LSU-Clemson because of lightning in the area.
That update came about an hour and 20 minutes before kickoff, which means the game will likely start with a delay.
College football teams aren’t allowed to be on the field if there is a lightning strike within an eight-mile radius of the stadium. And they can’t return to the field until 30 minutes after the last lightning strike occurs.
247 Sports LSU reporter Zack Nagy updated the stadium’s condition at 6:59 p.m. ET, writing on X that there is a torrential downpour in Baton Rouge.
The players were still not on the field warming up at 7:00 p.m ET.
ESPN updated that the Clemson vs. LSU game will kick off at 9:40 p.m ET. Both teams couldn’t go on the field to warm up because of the rain so that they will get their full 90-minute warm-up time.
“College GameDay” Faced Weather Issues Saturday Morning
Since Clemson vs. LSU was one of the biggest matchups of Week 1, ESPN brought its “College GameDay” show to Baton Rouge. “College GameDay” usually broadcasts outdoors, with students and fans surrounding it, and they were there for a while at LSU Saturday morning. However, bad weather struck during the event.
“College GameDay” moved inside for a few segments until the weather cleared. GameDay moved back outside for the end of the show, when the analysts make their picks.
The guest picker on GameDay was Louisiana native country music artist Lainey Wilson, who, of course, picked LSU to take down Clemson.
Wilson also performed a live version of ESPN’s “College GameDay” song “Comin’ To Your City”. She was featured on the song in 2023, with Darius Rucker and The Cadillac Three.
The 34-year-old country artist has six songs that reached No. 1: “Things a Man Oughta Know,” “Heart Like a Truck,” “Watermelon Moonshine,” “Wildflowers and Wild Horses,” “4x4xU,” and “Somewhere Over Laredo.”
Why is the Clemson-LSU Game Delayed Today? When Will It Start?