Big Ten title game delayed due to stadium turf issue
The Big Ten title game was delayed for more than 10 minutes because of an issue with the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
After Wisconsin cut Ohio State’s lead to 24-19 early in the fourth quarter, the officials stopped the game because one of the seams holding the end zone turf together busted as Ohio State defenders dug their cleats in to try to keep Wisconsin’s Chris James out of the end zone.
Several of the officials tried to tend to the spot to make it tenable for the game to continue, but it quickly became apparent that this was a more serious issue.
From there, an operations person from the stadium came out, and with 70,000 stadium spectators and millions more at home looking on, went to work.
In all, it took about 15 minutes, but the field was finally in good shape. The worker got a nice ovation as he left the playing surface.
Not all heroes wear capes or have rakes. pic.twitter.com/VZqlgllKgM
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) December 3, 2017
Wisconsin’s offense then returned out to the field and converted a two-point conversion, cutting OSU’s lead to 24-21. The Badgers coaching staff sure had a long time to choose a play.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
