Tropical storm-like conditions rolled through Orlando, Florida on Saturday which made for an extremely messy college football game between Appalachian State and Miami (Ohio) in the Cure Bowl. It was wet.
Everything was totally fine during pregame.
And then the skies opened up. The storm arrived.
Here is how things looked on the doppler radar as the game neared halftime:
Needless to say, there was a lot of rain in the area! The field on campus at UCF, known lovingly as the Bounce House, was almost unplayable.
Players were covered in paint from the midfield logo, yard-markers, and end zones.
The rain got so heavy at times that they could hardly see each other while standing on the field!
As a result of the constant torrential downpour, neither the Redhawks nor the Mountaineers were able to operate as per normal. They combined for just 311 total yards and nine points during the first 30 minutes of play.
Miami fumbled five times and App State fumbled twice… IN THE FIRST HALF!
Simply holding onto the football was a significant challenge. Handing it off was even more difficult.
Every single second of the first half was chaotic, however, one particular sequence stood out above the rest. A fumble at midfield led to an all-out scrum on top of the most painted part of the field.
The center judge came running in from behind the line of scrimmage to blow the play dead after the loose ball was recovered. He couldn’t keep his footing, slid a full two yards and took a tumble.
It was straight out of a cartoon! The referee fell straight on his tucchus.
Playing college football in Florida will always be a gamble with the weather. That said, the Cure Bowl was a different level of downpour!