Kentucky football fans waited just over eight months to see their beloved Wildcats play their first game following the 2023 college football season.
In this regard, Week 1 of the 2024 schedule was expected to offer some relief for supporters of the program, marking a long-awaited return to college football during Mark Stoops’ consistently strong tenure.
However, fans will have to wait another week to see the team actually complete a game.
After several weather delays in Lexington that pushed the Wildcats’ season opener against Southern Miss into the early hours of Sunday, both teams decided to call off the rest of the game with 9:56 remaining in the third quarter. Consequently, the game was deemed complete, resulting in a 31-0 victory for Kentucky.
This was communicated by the Southeastern Conference and Kentucky football’s official accounts on X (formerly Twitter):
By mutual agreement of the participating institutions as permitted by NCAA rules, tonight’s game between Kentucky and Southern Mississippi has been terminated and is considered a complete game with a final score of 31-0 in favor of Kentucky. All statistics in the game are… pic.twitter.com/SYqwQzWgT4
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 1, 2024
Here’s what you need to know about NCAA rules regarding game cancellations, and why Saturday’s contest was ruled a complete game in favor of Kentucky:
Kentucky’s game was canceled due to severe weather that caused multiple delays over several hours. Originally scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. ET, the players could only participate in pregame warmups at that time because of the conditions. The kickoff was then pushed to 8:15 p.m. ET, but lightning strikes in the area delayed it further to a 10:05 p.m. start.
According to the NCAA’s lightning policy, play can only resume after 30 minutes have passed since the last lightning strike within 8 miles of the venue. Kentucky and Southern Miss managed to complete a half, with the Wildcats jumping to a 31-0 lead just five minutes into the third quarter.
The game was ultimately called at 12:30 a.m. after another lightning strike was detected nearby Kroger Field.
NCAA Rules on Canceled and Suspended Games
According to Rule 3, Article 3 of the 2024 NCAA football rule book, officials may “temporarily suspend the game when conditions necessitate such an action,” which includes scenarios involving multiple weather delays.
As per NCAA Rule 3-3-3-c, if a game cannot be resumed, the competing teams must select one of four options:
- Resume the game at a later date.
- End the game with a final score.
- Forfeit the game.
- Declare a no contest.
The NCAA states that “the choice that takes effect will be based on conference policy if both teams belong to the same conference. In nonconference games, the athletic directors or their designees from each institution, in consultation with the coaches, must agree on one of the four options. This agreement should include the final score if the game is terminated (Rule 8-1-2).”
According to the SEC and Kentucky, Saturday’s game was called “by mutual agreement of the participating institutions,” which meant there was no need to reference the SEC rule book to determine a winner. This conclusion was likely influenced by Kentucky’s significant 31-0 lead at the time.
As a result, Kentucky ended the day with a 1-0 record for the season, despite playing only half a game.
Leave a Reply