Illini opener postponed until Saturday
Illinois’ bizarre start to 2015 got a little more bizarre on Friday night.
After a lengthy lightning delay, Illinois postponed its season opening game against Kent State to Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will not be televised but will be streamed on BTN2go.
Originally scheduled for an 8 p.m. CT start, Illinois evacuated fans 40 minutes prior to the kickoff because of lightning in the area. NCAA rules state that a game cannot start until 30 minutes after the last lightning strike within 10 miles of the area. The game wasn’t officially canceled until over two hours after its scheduled start.
Friday was the first time in Illini history that it canceled a game because of weather.
Illinois is a week removed from firing head coach Tim Beckman over player mistreatment allegations. Offensive coordinator Bill Cubit took on the interim role and was set to make his debut on Friday night.
All tickets for Friday night’s game will be valid with the stubs on Saturday.