NC State officials reveal next steps, contingency plans for restart vs. Notre Dame

It could be a while before NC State and Notre Dame start Saturday’s game back up — if it happens. Weather moved into the area late in the first half, and ABC’s Molly McGrath said it could create headaches when it comes to a possible restart.

McGrath provided an update in the middle of the delay, which was called with 14:45 left in the second quarter, and said officials are planning to reconvene soon to decide what to do. Until a decision comes down, the two teams have to stay in the locker rooms until 30 minutes after lightning moves at least eight miles away from the stadium.

Because of the timing of the delay, McGrath said talks of a shortened halftime have been floated.

“Right now, officials are meeting with the coaches in their respective locker rooms, as well, to talk about a condensed halftime,” McGrath said. “Now, because this delay happened at the very beginning of the second quarter, both of these teams — when they take the field — will have a mandatory 10-minute warmup, and then they’ll have to play the entire second quarter, and then they’ll have to go back for halftime again. So they’re talking to the coaches about a condensed halftime — 5, 10, 15 minutes. The coaches have to agree on what they’re going to do.”

The weather doesn’t look like it’s moving out of the area anytime soon. Because of that uncertainty, it’s worth wondering what would happen if it hangs around and causes the game to be delayed longer than expected.

McGrath asked about that, and the two teams have a deadline of midnight ET to play the game, per ACC rules.

“Because this weather has been so unpredictable, I asked the officials and the stadium staff, in what situation would this game be postponed completely? And they said according to the ACC, as long as they’re able to resume play by midnight tonight, they are going to play this game,” McGrath said. “So it could be a very long day here in Raleigh.”

Notre Dame had a 3-0 lead at the time of the delay, only scoring on a 54-yard field goal from Spencer Shrader in the first quarter. Neither offense got much going in the early going — NC State had 44 total yards of offense when the stoppage occurred and Notre Dame totaled just 39 yards.

It’s still a developing situation in Raleigh as Mother Nature gets in the way of what could be a pivotal Week 2 game for both teams.