Boise State and Boston College both had respectable seasons and were believed to be two evenly-matched teams heading into their bowl game on Wednesday, but we will never know which one would have emerged victorious.
The First Responder Bowl was cancelled after a lengthy weather delay due to lightning. There were still more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter at the time it was ruled a no contest, and BC was leading 7-0.
The @FRBowl has been canceled.
— First Responder Bowl (@FRBowl) December 26, 2018
The game has officially been ruled a no contest.
— First Responder Bowl (@FRBowl) December 26, 2018
While the game wasn’t exactly one of the most highly anticipated of bowl season, plenty of fans are upset that there will be no result. It’s highly unusual for a football game to be canceled, but lightning was expected to continue in Dallas for several more hours. Twitter was left stunned.
So a bowl whose sponsor (Servpro) is a disaster restoration business and is named after first responders has been canceled due to a lightning delay?
Can't make this up.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 26, 2018
Imagine flying from Boise or Boston to Texas to see your team play in a bowl game for 9 minutes and 52 seconds of clock time. pic.twitter.com/HQNGTSBUXo
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 26, 2018
Thanks to the first responders who who were ready in case of emergency at the First Responder Bowl that never happened.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 26, 2018
Cancelling a bowl game is up there with the world’s biggest sports tragedies and I don’t think I’m being dramatic whatsoever
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) December 26, 2018
Looking forward to reading in 10 years the oral history of this year's First Responder Bowl.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) December 26, 2018
This is why the college football bowl season is meaningless outside of BCS and yet another reason to expand the existing playoff format. Screw eight teams. Give me 16. A true bracket. Make a trillion dollars. Everyone wins, but the athletes, of course. https://t.co/rlfCkOinaZ
— Brad Evans (@YahooNoise) December 26, 2018
BC didn't lose its bowl game! https://t.co/LOWXpRthqu
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 26, 2018
The First Responder Bowl has been canceled. There was lightning in the area during the first quarter so they just called off the game entirely. But remember: If any player on either team had declined to play for fear of injury, that player would be unbelievably selfish.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) December 26, 2018
It's too bad there aren't any indoor stadiums in the DFW area they could move the game to.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 26, 2018
Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted that the athletic directors from both schools were part of the decision, so there were probably issues with flights and scheduling that could not be overcome. Whatever the case, it’s hard to imagine a more disappointing way for the season to end for players on both sides.
