Saturday night, the Akron Zips were to open their 2018 football season traveling to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers from the Big Ten in a nationally televised contest (FOX)
However, just before kickoff, the game went into a weather delay at Memorial Stadium. A delay that lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. Then at 9:55 CDT (10:55 EDT) NU Officials announced that the game was canceled and no makeup date was announced.
Neither UA or Nebraska have any joint open dates the remainder of the 2018 season. The only other date was Saturday, December 1st which was a day after the Mid-American Conference Championship Game in Detroit and the day of the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.
The day began sunny, warm, and humid in Lincoln as the fans gathered in what would have been the 362nd consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium.
Both teams had taken the field however just before kickoff at 7:10 CDT the teams were told to return to their locker rooms and the game was in a weather delay as lightning was detected within an eight-mile span of the stadium.
About an hour later, the steady rain became a downpour. Many of the fans waited out the storm in the stadium concourses while others, donning pain ponchos, and other foul weather gear stayed in their seats.
At 9:10 school officials made an announcement for fans to clear the stadium and seek shelter in the nearby buildings on campus.
While the stadium was being evacuated, both Athletic Directors Larry Williams and UA and Bill Moos at NU were meeting with representatives of the MAC and the Big Ten along with weather people. According to reports, there were continuous lightning strikes in the area.
At 9:55 an announcement was made that the game had been canceled.
There was a post on twitter that the game would be played at 10:35 AM on Sunday morning. However, Nebraska officials immediately said the tweet was erroneous.
For UA, last season in a game at Western Michigan they waited out an all-day rain that flooded the field and the locker rooms at Waldo Stadium. The game was played the next day with the Zips defeating the Broncos. It was a key victory en route to the Eastern Division championship.
Another aspect of the game is the money. According to the Omaha World-Herald, posted in their online edition on Sunday, the contract was for UA to be paid between $1.17 and $1.2 million. No indication on whether the school will be paid for even reimbursed for their expenses.
The Zips return home on Saturday to play their tenth opener inside InfoCision Stadium against Morgan State.