The Red Sox are going to need to redo their entire outfield sod after SMU and Boston College destroyed the Fenway Park field during a college football bowl game on Thursday morning. It was wickedly wet.
What began as a slight drizzle quickly became a torrential downpour come kickoff.
The Mustangs 🤝 The Monster@SMUFB | @BowlSeason pic.twitter.com/tZS8jHC6tU
— Wasabi Fenway Bowl (@FenwayBowl) December 28, 2023
Boston’s baseball grounds crew worked overtime throughout the game. They had to fill divots — with the same sand used on a golf course — in between drives and during stoppages of play because the grass never stood a chance of surviving four quarters of cleats and tackles in the rain.
It was a mud pit.
The Mustangs finished with the No. 13-ranked total offense in college football this season. They averaged 40.2 points per game and went for 6,060 yards on 956 plays.
More than half of the yardage came through the air. That was much more difficult in the driving rain.
It’s hard to pass in such terrible weather. It is even harder to catch.
In an effort to ensure that his hands were ready for the ball, SMU wide receiver Romello Brinson got creative. He did something that legitimately may not have ever been done before and used nearest referee became his own personal towel.
Brinson jogged over to the line judge, rubbed him down to dry his hands, and proceeded to walk back to the line of scrimmage as if it was totally normal. The official was baffled.
Despite the potential penalty involved with making contact with an official, Brinson’s hand wipe was harmless and the line judge was so confused that he didn’t even think to throw a flag. Nothing came of the hilarious sequence.
Play continued as normal.
The official went back to judging his line. Brinson set back up at the line of scrimmage!