Violent Weather Postpones Game

Sophomore quarterback Michael Vick was supposed to provide the thunderbolts and lightning Sunday night at Lane Stadium.

Mother Nature beat him to it.

Literally seconds before Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech were set to kick off in the Black Coaches Assn. Classic, a violent thunderstorm swept through the area and forced the game’s postponement.

“We could literally see what was coming with the naked eye,” Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver said of the weather front.

Weaver said the game possibly would be rescheduled for the first weekend in December since neither the Big East nor Atlantic Coast conferences host championship games.

It also is possible, because this was an additional 12th game for both schools, that the game will not be played unless it impacts either team’s bowl chances or rankings in the bowl championship series ratings.

It was the first postponement of a Division I-A game since Hurricane Georges washed out UCLA at Miami in September 1998.

UCLA was 10-0 when it finally played Miami on Dec. 5, remembered now as one of the darker days in Bruin football lore. Miami handed UCLA a crushing 49-45 defeat, snapping the Bruins’ 20-game winning streak and ultimately costing them a berth in the national title game.

No one can say in August what will be at stake in December for Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech.

Virginia Tech is coming off its best season in school history, finishing 11-1 and No. 2 in the final Associated Press poll. In the national title game against Florida State, Virginia Tech held a 29-28 lead in the second half on the Seminoles before falling, 46-29.

Vick electrified the nation in defeat, accounting for 322 of the Hokies’ 503 total yards.

Sunday was to mark the start of Vick’s Heisman Trophy charge, but events were disrupted by far more significant charges.

Players from both squads were chased off the field by the storm, as bolts of lightning cracked in the sky and sheets of rain deluged the field.

It was confirmed that one lightning bolt struck a car in the parking lot.

“It’s a shame,” Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer said of the postponement. “I think both teams put a lot into preseason preparations and you were as close as teeing off as you possibly can be. All the official had to do was blow the whistle. I am sure both teams are disappointed. I will be honest with you. I have never seen that much lightning.”

The teams remained in their respective locker rooms at the stadium, as it was hoped the storms would pass and the game could be played.

But when it was learned another storm was moving toward Blacksburg, officials from both schools agreed the game should not be played and it was called off at 9:08 p.m. Eastern time.

“Electricity and water are two things you don’t fool around with,” Georgia Tech Coach George O’Leary said. “In the best interest of the players, I think we made the right decision.”

There was talk of the game possibly being played today, but Weaver said that was not an option because both schools play Saturday.

Virginia Tech now will open its season at home against Akron, and Georgia Tech will return to Atlanta to play host to Central Florida.

Each team was to receive $600,000 for Sunday’s game, but will not get the money if the game is not played.

Virginia Tech had earmarked the funds for new turf and a drainage system.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Beamer said.