Southern defeats Langston in home opener called in third quarter due to lightning

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  -- The Human Jukebox blared in the background as the few remaining handfuls of Southern faithful sat on bated breath watching the battle unfold across the field at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

The scoreboard read Jaguars 33, Langston 18 — ultimately the game’s final score — with a little over a minute to play in the third quarter, but the fate of the game rested on one last call.

The only problem? Not a single player from either team was in sight.

Just a few minutes earlier, teams were sent back to the locker room for the game’s second lightning delay of the night, and the schools’ athletic directors had to decide whether they would come back out to play the final 16 minutes.

According to NCAA guidelines, as the home team, Southern had the final say, but SU athletic director Roman Banks allowed Langston to be included in the conversation. The game did not need to be finished as it was not a conference matchup.

The decision was that teams would not return and Southern would be declared the winner of the inaugural Pete Richardson Classic for the home opener.



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