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LSU's Alleva: "Never" saw anything like Saturday storm before

8 years 6 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, September 08 2015 Sep 8, 2015 September 08, 2015 9:05 AM September 08, 2015 in News
Source: WBRZ
By: Russell Jones

BATON ROUGE - LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said Monday he was more disappointed than anyone about Saturday night's weather cancellation.

"I've never been through something like (this past) Saturday night," he told ESPN Baton Rouge's "Culotta and the Prince" morning radio program. "No one wanted them to play the game more than me."

Alleva said the final call to cancel the game came down to the safety of the players, who had to leave the field for 30 minutes each time lightning stuck within eight miles of Tiger stadium. Each hour spent waiting put more strain on the players according to the team's doctors, since neither team had eaten and were pushing themselves close to midnight. Alleva said "that's when injuries happen."

"Our players were ready to play," Alleva said. “The way it turned out, we probably wouldn’t have been able to start that game until one o'clock in the morning, and it just wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Other options were discussed, including replaying the game Sunday or moving to an indoor facility. With the Labor Day weekend and the time it would take to ready the stadium again for the teams and fans, Alleva said cancellation was the only real option left.

The only saving grace was Saturday's game was non-conference. Alleva said if it had been against a Southeastern Conference opponent they would have somehow had to make the game up, "though I don't know how."

LSU said they will have an announcement about ticket refunds or other options for ticket holders by Wednesday at the latest.

The Tigers (0-0) will face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road Saturday night at 8:15 on ESPN.

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