Ranking College Football’s 5 Craziest Weather Games Ever Amid Hurricane Isaias

Hurricane Isaias pushed College GameDay indoors and put Saturday’s Georgia at Alabama showdown under a weather watch, which makes this the right week to rank the five craziest weather games in college football history.

Isaias became the 2026 Atlantic season’s first hurricane on Oct. 7, the latest date for a season’s first hurricane in 121 years, and No. 2 Georgia’s trip to No. 6 Alabama is still scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Which weather games barely missed the list?

Oregon State at Oregon, Nov. 19, 1983: Heavy rain at Autzen Stadium produced the “Toilet Bowl,” a 0-0 tie with 11 fumbles, five interceptions and four missed field goals. It’s still the last scoreless tie in major college football.

Alabama vs. Boston College, Nov. 25, 1983: Rain and sleet hit Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., and the electricity went out during the game. Quarterback Doug Flutie’s Eagles won 20-13 while the Crimson Tide fumbled six times.

LSU at Florida, Dec. 12, 2020: Dense fog covered the Swamp late, and LSU kicker Cade York hit a school-record 57-yard field goal with 23 seconds left despite barely being able to see the uprights in a 37-34 upset.

5. Oklahoma State at Tulsa, 2011

Ranking College Football’s 5 Craziest Weather Games Ever Amid Hurricane Isaias — The 2011 OSU Cowboys take the field before a college football game against the University of Arizona Wildcats at Boone Pickens Stadium | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Date: Kickoff at 1:16 a.m. ET on Sept. 18
Site: H.A. Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, Okla.
Conditions: Lightning and heavy rain forced a 3-hour, 13-minute delay
Result: Oklahoma State won 59-33

Tulsa’s band had already played the national anthem when lightning sent fans out of the stands to find shelter. Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham and Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder agreed to call off the game if lightning struck near the stadium after 11:30 p.m. local time, and the storms kept resetting the NCAA’s 30-minute waiting period.

Kickoff finally came at 12:16 a.m. local time, believed to be the latest start in Tulsa and Conference USA history. Referee Randy Smith asked the captains before the coin toss, “Are you guys ready to finally play some football?”

Oklahoma State didn’t show any fatigue. Cornerback Justin Gilbert returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, quarterback Brandon Weeden threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns and running back Joseph Randle added 128 yards and three scores on the ground.

The final whistle blew at 3:35 a.m. local time, or 4:35 a.m. ET. The storm didn’t decide the outcome, but it’s the only game on this list pushed entirely into the next calendar day.

4. Notre Dame vs. Houston, Cotton Bowl Classic, 1979

Date: Jan. 1, 1979
Site: Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Conditions: High of 24 degrees, low of 14 and northwest gusts up to 38 mph after an ice storm
Result: Notre Dame won 35-34

Sleet, freezing drizzle and freezing rain coated Dallas on Dec. 30 and 31, and arctic air arrived on game day. The stadium was less than half full, and Houston coach Bill Yeoman said his punter couldn’t move the ball against the wind. “We were kicking the ball 10 or 12 yards into the wind,” Yeoman said.

Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana was already battling the flu, and his body temperature dropped to 96 degrees. He stayed in the locker room when the second half began while the medical staff wrapped him in blankets and fed him chicken soup. The game has affectionately been nicknamed the Chicken Soup Game.

“It was beautiful, beautiful if you were spending the day looking out the window,” Montana said of the conditions.

Houston led 34-12 when Montana returned with 7:37 left, right after the Irish returned a blocked punt 33 yards for a touchdown. Notre Dame scored 23 fourth-quarter points with two 2-point conversions, and Montana hit wide receiver Kris Haines for an 8-yard touchdown on the final play before kicker Joe Unis made the winning extra point.

3. Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M, 2000

Date: Dec. 31, 2000
Site: Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La.
Conditions: Snow began about 30 minutes before kickoff and fell all game; Shreveport Regional Airport recorded 2.2 inches, the city’s highest daily total since 1985
Result: Mississippi State won 43-41 (OT), Independence Bowl

Snow blew into Shreveport with a strong wind whipping from one end zone to the other, and the turf was covered by the second quarter. Crews ran plows during timeouts so players could see the goal lines, end lines and hash marks, and many of the 36,974 fans left at halftime.

The 1950 Snow Bowl produced 12 points, but this one produced 84. Texas A&M running back Ja’Mar Toombs helped build a 14-0 lead, and Mississippi State answered with two touchdowns in the final 8:16 of regulation to force overtime.

Toombs scored on a 25-yard run on the first play of overtime, but Bulldogs defensive tackle Willie Blade blocked the extra point. Mississippi State’s Eugene Clinton scooped the ball out of the snow and flipped it to Julius Griffith near midfield, and Griffith ran the rest of the way for a defensive 2-point conversion that cut the deficit to 41-37.

Quarterback Wayne Madkin won it with a 6-yard scramble. Bulldogs coach Jackie Sherrill beat the program he coached before taking over in Starkville in 1991.

2. Notre Dame at NC State, 2016

Date: Oct. 8, 2016
Site: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, N.C.
Conditions: Hurricane Matthew brought constant heavy rain, standing water and winds up to 45 mph, plus a lightning delay that stretched the game to four hours
Result: NC State won 10-3

NC State was celebrating the 50th anniversary of Carter-Finley Stadium, and Hurricane Matthew left standing water across the field. The teams combined for 10 fumbles and five turnovers, and Notre Dame managed 113 total yards on 64 plays, including just 41 through three quarters.

Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 9 of 26 passes for 54 yards and was sacked five times. Notre Dame’s only points came on a 40-yard field goal by kicker Justin Yoon after an errant NC State snap.

The deciding play came early in the fourth quarter after Notre Dame switched to a two-man punt protection scheme so punter Tyler Newsome could try rugby-style kicks. Wolfpack tight end Pharoah McKever blocked Newsome’s punt, and safety Dexter Wright returned it 16 yards for the game’s only touchdown with 12:43 remaining.

Wolfpack running back Matthew Dayes ran for 134 yards on 23 carries, outgaining Notre Dame’s entire offense, and called it “probably the most fun game I’ve ever played in.” The Irish reached the red zone late, but a shotgun snap sailed past Kizer on fourth-and-8 with 1:52 left.

1. Michigan at Ohio State Snow Bowl

Date: Nov. 25, 1950
Site: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Conditions: Afternoon temperatures of 12 to 16 degrees, wind chills as low as minus 5, gusts over 35 mph, visibility down to a quarter mile and 7.5 inches of snow
Result: Michigan won 9-3

The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 buried Ohio, and the 7.5 inches that fell on Columbus that day still stand as the city’s November single-day record. Officials from both schools met to decide whether to play one of college football’s biggest rivalries, and a cancellation would have handed Ohio State the Big Ten title while Michigan needed a win for a Rose Bowl berth.

The game went on, and the snow wiped out both offenses. Michigan won without a first down, went 0-for-9 passing and gained 27 total yards, while Ohio State managed three first downs and 41 yards.

The teams combined for 45 punts and 1,408 punting yards, often kicking on early downs to win field position. All of the scoring came off blocked punts: Ohio State turned one into a field goal, and Michigan’s blocks produced a safety and a touchdown.

The decisive block came with 47 seconds left in the first half, when Ohio State coach Wes Fesler had halfback Vic Janowicz punt on third-and-6 from the Buckeyes’ 13. Michigan’s Tony Momsen fell on the ball in the end zone, and the Wolverines went on to beat California 14-6 in the Rose Bowl.

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