Clemson vs. Georgia Southern lightning delay: When will Week 2 home opener kick off?

For the second week in a row, the Clemson Tigers will have to wait a little bit longer than expected to take the field. After seeing Week 1's road game in Baton Rouge be delayed by roughly two hours, Clemson's home opener versus Georgia Southern will be delayed as well. This is due to lightning being detected within eight miles of Memorial Stadium. It was supposed to be a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

The countdown clock for the original opening kickoff time of 7:30 p.m. ET got all the way down to about 25 minutes before the lightning delay was implemented at 6:51 p.m. ET. The Clemson Athletics official account on X announced the delay and asked for fans to go shelter in place to ride out the storm. Clearly, Clemson's home opener will be going much later into the night than we ever expected.

The forecast for Saturday evening indicated there would be light rain with thunder around 7:00 p.m. ET. Those thunderstorms are supposed to continue into the 8:00 p.m. ET hour. After that, it will clear up once the sun goes down, allowing for a pleasant kickoff experience for those watching the game. It will be temperatures in the mid-70s once we presumably see toe meet leather down in Death Valley.

How does a lightning delay work in college football?

If lightning is detected in the area, the teams trying to play must wait 30 minutes until after the final lightning strike in the area has been recorded. Should another lightning strike occur in the same 8-to-10-mile radius within that 30-minute window, the clock will reset, and it would delay the game further. This will be the third game Clemson has been delayed due to inclement weather in the last two years.

Clemson vs. Georgia Southern lightning delay update: When is kickoff?

With thunderstorms rolling in and probably not stopping until around 8:15 p.m. ET, we may not see the players be able to take the field and properly warm up until 8:45 p.m. ET, maybe 8:30 p.m. ET at the earliest. This is all contingent on when the last lightning strike occurs in the area. No matter how long the game is delayed, the players are not allowed go onto the field until 30 minutes after the last strike.

Unfortunately, another lightning strike was recorded in the area, delaying the start to the game even more so. Chapel Fowler of The State reported that another update will be coming at 8:00 p.m. ET. He also mentioned that "some fans are starting to trickle back into [the] stadium now."

Shortly before 8:00 p.m. ET, the Memorial Stadium video board told everyone in attendance that the lightning delay will be extended through 8:30 p.m. ET. With presumably an hourlong warm-up period, we may not get to see the Tigers kick off with the Eagles until potentially 9:30 p.m. ET now. Clemson Athletics shared out this message over on X about when the game could potentially be kicking off.

And guess what? We have good news! The lightning warning has been canceled. The gates will reopen at Memorial Stadium at 8:20 p.m. ET. This gives us an estimated kickoff time of 9:30 p.m. ET.

We will keep you updated about the weather delay ahead of the Clemson-Georgia Southern game.

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